Mythology
The fictionalized Mesopotamian history presented in the film is largely based on Panbabylonism, as both Sumerian and Judaic stories describe the same historical events in the film. Dr. Bentley states that the Biblical flood is an established archaeological fact, and the stranding of the Sumerians atop the mountain is a clear reference to the tale of Noah's Ark.
Similarly to the protagonists of the film Ishtar descends to the underworld. There is a Panbabylonic connection between Ishtar’s descent and the Old Testament story of Joseph, which served as the basis for Thomas Mann’s Joseph and His Brothers. The descent to the underworld is a common story throughout world mythologies, as is the flood myth.
The film is erroneous in connecting Ishtar and the Sumerians. Ishtar was the Babylonian counterpart of the Sumerian goddess Inanna. The imagery associated with Ishtar in the film is entirely fictional: Ishtar’s symbol was an eight-pointed star representing Venus rather than the uneven chevron in the film.
Read more about this topic: The Mole People (film)
Famous quotes containing the word mythology:
“In the United States there’s a Puritan ethic and a mythology of success. He who is successful is good. In Latin countries, in Catholic countries, a successful person is a sinner.”
—Umberto Eco (b. 1932)
“It is not the literal past that rules us, save, possibly, in a biological sense. It is images of the past.... Each new historical era mirrors itself in the picture and active mythology of its past or of a past borrowed from other cultures. It tests its sense of identity, of regress or new achievement against that past.”
—George Steiner (b. 1929)
“This is the frost coming out of the ground; this is Spring. It precedes the green and flowery spring, as mythology precedes regular poetry. I know of nothing more purgative of winter fumes and indigestions. It convinces me that Earth is still in her swaddling-clothes, and stretches forth baby fingers on every side.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)