portlyandprosperous:

Catal Huyuk, Earth-Mother.

In Anatolia, the Neolithic settlement from 7,500 BC, Çatal-höyük, has yielded many examples of worship of a mother goddess. Examples found show that images of the goddess greatly exceeded the small number of a male deity found in early associations and that the male images eventually ceased to appear at all after a certain time, as evidenced in the temporal stratification of the excavations of the site. (3) To date eighteen levels have been identified. These careful figurines were found primarily in areas Mellaart believed to be shrines. One, however – a stately goddess seated on a throne flanked by two lionesses – was found in a grain bin, which Mellaart suggests might have been a means of ensuring the harvest or protecting the food supply. The image above was found in excavations there and depicts a Mother Goddess seated on a throne that is flanked by two lionesses. It is dated at c. 6000-5500 BC and resides in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara.