Hymn to the Galley-Grave Goddess

A Hymn to the "Gallery-Grave Goddess"

This is loosely based on texts dating back to 2230-1700 BCE.
If the images from Brittany had represented a universal Mother-Goddess
and if the cult had spread from the Middle East
and if the people spoke English,
this might have been the type of hymn used in Her worship.

Let us revere the mistress of all peoples
     She is the most awesome of Goddesses
Let us revere the Queen of Women
     She is the most awesome of Goddesses
Let us revere the jewelled heirodule
     She is the most awesome of Goddesses

She is clothed with pleasure and love
     She is vital and voluptuous
She is sweet of mouth and of lips
     She is vital and voluptuous
She is radiant of face and of eyes
     She is vital and voluptuous

She preserves slave, girl and mother
     The fate of everything is in her hand
She preserves the flood-land and the hills
     The fate of everything is in her hand
She preserves all who acclaim Her
     The fate of everything is in her hand

In Her presence there is wise counsel
     Women and men together receive Her light
Her word is powerful and gracious
     Women and men together receive Her light
The wise ones kiss the ground before Her
     Women and men together receive Her light

She enters the chamber of divine joy
     She comes to Her consort in beauty
In the darkness She whispers tenderly
     She comes to Her consort in beauty
She reveals the holiness of Her heart
     She comes to Her consort in beauty

Who can pay Her enough homage?
     Who can fathom Her great Rites?
Who can render Her sufficient fruits?
     Who can fathom Her great Rites?
Who can sing Her joyous chants so sweetly?
     Who can fathom Her great Rites?

Let us sing Her chants to the South Wind
     Let us exalt the Queen of Heaven
Let us repeat Her verses at mid-day
     Let us exalt the Queen of Heaven
Let us offer Her wild prayers to the rising moon
     Let us exalt the Queen of Heaven

The texts used as the basis for this poem are hymns to Ishtar and Inanna, "Enheduanna's Hymnal Prayer to Inanna", dating to about 2320 BCE and an "Akkadian Hymn to Ishtar", dating to about 1,600 BCE.

The naked priests with baskets of fruit, vegetable and gifts of offerings are from a 5,000-year-old vase found at Uruk/Warka.

The image of the Goddess is from a rock-cut tomb in Coizard, Marne and is reproduced in Andrew Fleming's article "The Myth of the Mother Goddess", in which he identifies several localised types of Goddess image rather than one over-arching one.

The term "Gallery-Grave [Death] Goddess" was, as far as I know, coined by Professor Ron Hutton to describe this "Northern" group of images in his book "The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles".

Fleming indicates that the image may date from the 2500-1500 BCE bracket, roughly contemporary with the Akkadian and Babylonian texts.

It was at this point that a fit of whimsy overtook me.