The Inside Assyria Discussion Forum #5

=> Letter to Maggie and David #1

Posted by Tiglath (Guest) - Friday, April 27 2007, 1:25:21 (CEST)
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The Feast of Resurrection

Bob Griffin
United States

Some years ago I was listening to a lecturer argue that Easter should not be celebrated by Christians. He claimed that it derived from the worship of Ishtar, and so it was a pagan festival. To this day, both Jehovah’s Witnesses and Seventh Day Adventists hold to this belief.

In order to check out his claims, which included claims that the Roman Catholic Church had instituted this pagan practice, I checked for the terminology involving Easter. First, I discovered that the term ‘Easter’ comes from Anglo-Saxon, and is mentioned by the Venerable Bede in De Tempore Ratione:

‘Eosturmonath has a name which is now translated "Paschal month", and which was once called after a goddess of theirs named Eostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month. Now they designate that Paschal season by her name, calling the joys of the new rite by the time-honoured name of the old observance.’

The Brothers Grimm, in their search of Germanic traditions, found information about a Germanic goddess Ostara, who seems to have corresponded with the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre. So, the English term ‘Easter’ seems to be related to a Germanic goddess. What then about the Christian holy day?

For the ancient Aramaic-speaking Christians of the Holy Land, it was Peskha. For the Greeks it is Paskha (also written ‘Pascha’). For French Christians it is Paque, for the Spanish it is Pascua, for Filipinos it is Pasko. When I looked up the term in an Assyrian dictionary written in the early 20th century, the translations I found were ‘Ida dQyamta’ and ‘Ida Gyura’. Nowhere was I able to find reference to Ishtar or to Tammuz. Everything seems to refer to Pesach (the Jewish Feast on the 14th of Nissan), to the resurrection, or to the importance of the day (Ida Gyura as opposed to Ida Z’ura). Only in the countries speaking Germanic languages did I find terms like ‘Easter’. The Seventh Day Adventists of course won’t believe this. Nor will the Jehovah’s Witnesses. As to the Assyrians, search it out for yourselves. Rene Labat’s “Manuel d’Epigraphie Akkadienne” can be used to look up Akitu (I’ve done this), and if you live near a major university, they may have a copy in the library. (By the way, some Celto-Pagans are now claiming Easter as an old Celto-pagan feast day, and Eostre as a Celtic goddess).

Also, while Beta (House) is spelled Bet Yud Taw, Beta (Egg) is spelled Bet Yud Tet. The Hebrew word Beytsa and the Arabic Beyd (spelled with Dad and not Dal) are both related to this word

So, following in the footsteps of Mar Aprim I celebrate the Great Feast, the Feast of the Resurrection, the Pascha.

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Letter to Maggie and David #1 Tiglath - Friday, April 27 2007, 1:25:21 (CEST)
- dear mr griffin pancho - 04/27 06:42

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