According to Mesopotamian mythology, Tiamat assembled an army of dragons and monsters led by the god Qingu, but Marduk overcame these fearsome forces. He commanded the wind to enter Tiamat’s mouth and puff up her body. He then killed her with an arrow that split her into two halves. With one half he created the heavens, and with the other, the Earth.

Is this just a fantasy story? Or is there some truth in this, that is, is this perhaps an accurate description of a historical event, or rather a series of events?

On Sunday evening 15 September 2024, starting at 21:30 Central European Time (or 8:30 pm UK time), all-round scientist Dr. Johan Oldenkamp will give an online workshop on the Enuma Elish, a four millennia old text written in Akkadian Cuneiform on seven clay tablets. In it, he will show that this mythological story is actually a historical account of events that happened more than 10.000 years ago.

This will be the first workshop in a series on the historical validity of ancient mythology. In this workshop series, also Mayan, Greek, and Germanic mythology will be explained. Together these mythologies form the puzzle pieces that help us reconstruct our distant history. How can we understand the present, let alone foresee the future, if we do not know the past?

The participation fee for each workshop is € 25 (or the equivalent of this amount in any other currency, such as, for example £ 21.25). This fee includes access to the recordings afterwards. Payment is possible via IBAN, PayPal, or via one of two possible cryptocurrencies (that is, USDT(TRC20) or BTC), whereby the costs for this payment are borne by the participant. When you register, indicate how you want to pay, so that you can receive the necessary information.

To register for the first workshop (on 15 September 2024), send a message to: Booking @ Pateo.NL (without spaces). You can also use the contact form.

At the end of this first workshop the schedule for the remaining workshops will be announced. Each workshop takes about one and a half to two hours and is held at Pateo’s Zoom room.

Recommended reading (but emphatically not required):