Monday, January 21, 2019

Mystery Of Lizard-Like Figurine Of The Ubaid Culture






Are you interested in archeology? Do you aspire to know about the region of Mesopotamia? Well, there is a probability with regards to the same if you have heard about the Ubaid Period. The Ubaid Period is the prehistoric period of Mesopotamia. In fact, it is this place where modern civilization took its initial step with the Sumerians.

What is the significance of The Ubaid Culture?

In the period 5500–4000 B.C., much of Mesopotamia shared a common culture, called Ubaid after the site where evidence for it was first found. Characterized by a distinctive type of pottery, this culture originated on the flat alluvial plains of southern Mesopotamia (ancient Iraq) around 6200 B.C. Indeed, it was during this period that the first identifiable villages developed in the region, where people farmed the land using irrigation and fished the rivers and sea (Persian Gulf). Thick layers of alluvial silt deposited every spring by the flooding rivers cover many of these sites. Some villages began to develop into towns and became focused on monumental buildings, such as at Eridu and Uruk. The Ubaid culture spread north across Mesopotamia, gradually replacing the Halaf culture.

Lizard-like Figurines

Some of these objects found at Al Ubaid archeological site in Iraq are quite disturbing. A number of Ubaid statues depict strange, lizard-like humanoid figures in unique, unceremonious poses that seem to indicate they were not gods (such as the animal-headed deities of Egypt), but rather a race of lizard people. Of course, the statues have been drawn into stories and theories of reptilian aliens that used to roam the earth (and perhaps still do, according to conspiracy theorists). Although this seems unlikely, their true nature remains a mystery.
The figurines are presented with long heads, almond shaped eyes, long tapered faces and a lizard-type nose. What exactly they represent is completely unknown. According to archaeologists, their postures, such as a female figure breast-feeding, does not suggest that they were ritualistic objects. So what did these lizard figures represent? Whatever they were, they appear to have been important to the ancient Ubaidian people.
Mystery Of Lizard-Like Figurine Of The Ubaid CultureAmidst the many figurines, there is the one which is a female. It is holding a baby.
We know that the Serpent was a major symbol used in many societies to represent a number of gods, for example, the Sumerian god Enki, and the snake was used later on as the symbol for the brotherhood of the Snake.
For example ancient Mesoamerican deity Quetzalcoatl or Kukulkan which were represented in the form of a snake.
Mystery Of Lizard-Like Figurine Of The Ubaid CultureLeft: Kukulkan Mayan snake deity/ Right: Mesoamerican God of Wind and Wisdom
Is there a link between the symbol of the snake and the representations of lizards?  For now, these questions remain unanswered