Figurine:
Back when the world and I were younger and hard work alone seemed to solve everything I was leafing through a catalogue and ran across this terra cotta figurine from ancient Sumer. This is the one that I mentioned in “The Prince and the Sparrow.” Were I superstitious I would wonder whether somehow she had taken over my soul. She is sort of like a goddess of reproduction. But she is so ancient that using the word “goddess” is only a guess. It was so long ago that formalized religions had not been instituted, at least so far as we can tell. I think it’s safe to say she has something to do with fertility, since there are countless goddesses that would answer for that.
But whether she represented an abstract deity that was worshiped, whether she was just supposed to be pretty, whether she was a goddess herself and was worshiped in her own rite, none can tell. But I think it is clear that fertility declines were so frequent throughout history and pre-history that the topic of fertility dwarfed all others combined until the advent of warfare and tribalism. She dates to before there is any record of such mischief. And the topic of fertility dwarfs all other issues in the modern world, so completely have we abandoned the routines that served us well so long.
I shall be including her along with the “retrocarnation” joke on the title page.
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