Literary Discussions

It is important to recognize in all this the phenomenon of "the protestant reformer" not in the sense of Martin Luther and the Reformation but in the broadest sense that Zoroaster was possibly a reformer protesting the Vedic beliefs, Abraham was a reformer protesting the Animistic beliefs, Jesus was a reformer protesting Jewish practice, and Mohammed was a reformer staking out Arab territory and identity against Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism on one side, and the sundry Vedic/Animistic religions at the Kaaba in Mecca on the other side.  Proto-prehistoric religions have no names/authors/personalities but are anonymous. Each reformer who breaks away and protests lends his name and persona to the new movement and reform. In the proto-religions of pre-history there ARE no enemies or devils or heretics. Notice in the excellent link I posted today how in the Vedas there is a vague division of the Deities into two camps but they are not enemies or opponents.  The Zoroastrian Avestan word Haoma (a sacred beverage) is the Vedic Sanskrit word Soma. There are linguistic connections between the Vedas and Avestas. Note the relationship between the progression from Neanderthal to Homo Sapen, and from wandering hunter-foodgatherers to wandering herder-shephards to stationary farmers who create villages, towns, cities and finally the Roman Empire.  Notice that "property" has no meaning for the wandering hunter/gatherer but the herder/shepherd has some notion of pasture rights, and the farmer/city dweller has very definite notions about property ownership, boundaries and the foreigner (consider where the word "outlandish" comes from in the Bible).