The Origin of Monotheism- Meluhha

The Origin of Monotheism- Meluhha

by Javed Rashid

The thesis that is being attempted to be established is that monotheism, which is taken to originate from the Jewish people, is a concept that was evolved within other societies and then transmitted to the Jewish people. The most likely candidate is the Indus Valley Civilization. This study attempts to investigate the linkage between the Indus Valley Civilization and the development of the One God religion in Sumer.

Religion is said to have evolved over time according to one school of thought whilst another school of thought believes that man when he attained consciousness also was given the concept of the true religion i.e. monotheism .This may have been in shape of the structure of the human brain which had prior knowledge of language and religion .The Holy Koran verse 213 Al Baqar II states

“Mankind was one community , and Allah sent (unto them ) prophets as bearers of good tidings and as warners , and revealed therewith the Scriptures with the truth that it might judge between mankind concerning that wherein they differed .And only those unto whom (the Scriptures) was given differed concerning it, after clear proof has come unto them , through hatred one of another .And Allah guideth whom He will unto a straight path” The Glorious Koran by Marmacuke Pickthall .George Allen & Unmin , London, 1976 .

The above verse is explained by religious thinkers to mean that: “One group believes that religion evolved from disbelieve of one God and only over time did man achieve accept monotheism .The Koran says that man when he first gained consciousness also gained the concept of the true and everlasting religion”, This inquiry it seems supports the Koran and identifies the IVC as one of the earliest civilization to have the concept of monotheism

There is evidence of considerable trade between Mohenjo-Daro/Harappa(IVC) and Sumer (SC).The SC was the cradle of monotheism .The issue is what impact (if any) did the IVC had upon the development of the religion of Prophet Ibrahim pbuh ? Considerable trade between IVC and SC suggests: Ethic Similarities; Ethnic linkage between IVC and SC.

The Sumerian myths can be classified in two major parts. Firstly are those which differ in content depending upon the place the myth was found and also the time in which it was composed, these include the Gilgamesh  myth  .The second category are those which do not vary in content ,irrespective the place that the myth was found or the time of composition of the myth, these include the creation myth ,the flood myth .The conclusion drawn is that the myths that do not vary in content are the primal religious text that the Sumerians brought from their place or origin, in the piedmont between modern Pakistani Punjab and the Turkish East. The origin of the Sumerians and the Harrapans is likely to be the same and therefore the primal religious text is perhaps a common heritage of the two civilizations.

The IVC is characterized by : well planned cities and system that are almost identical in all contemporary cities of the civilization : lack of any evidence of warfare between cities ; lack of evidence of belief in many gods ; rationality in burial practices ; evidence of a central authority that is not maintained by a warrior monarch ; lack of evidence of warrior kings ; lack of evidence of slavery ; urban setting ; advanced manufacturing and trading practices . All of which suggests that IVC could only have existed if the central belief system supported the structure of the society and the economy .The unity in practices and ideas could only emanate from a concept that propagates such unity .It is therefore hypothesized that monotheism is either a concept that the IVC obtained from the time of common existence with the Sumerians or a concept that evolved within the IVC . Without monotheism IVC could not have existed.

The Indus civilization excavations do bring out the following facts: -

-         There does not seem to be a large number of gods, in fact very few figurines have been found which could be gods or goddesses, although it should be said that these figures, the priest – king, dancing girl, other god figures do not necessarily indicate images of gods. The first two were not images whilst the later could be god images but these perhaps relate to the last Indus periods, a period according to this thesis, the Indus elite had already migrated to Sumer, and the whole structure and ethos of the Indus society had changed .

-         The burial practices in proto Harappa /early Harappan period changed in about 3000 BC. Burial were no longer elaborate and dead bodies did not include valuables, in contrast to the  practice which continued in Sumer and elsewhere .The Indus burials were simple and indicate the fact that these people believed that the dead had no use for the material goods which are of value to the living. Incidentally in the late Harappan period the burial practices changed again .The dead were cremated, this would indicate a major change and would support the theory that the Indus elite did migrate (to Sumer) around 2000 BC and although the cities did continue to exist but the central organizing force was not there anymore.

-         No evidence has been found to indicate intercity warfare amongst the Indus cities. It would seem that these cities were not at war with each other and the similarity in city layouts would indicate a strong central authority, which was imposed not by force but by commerce, trade and religion.

-         There is significant evidence of industrial activity, this would indicate a society that was progressive, was not warlike and therefore had structures that assisted innovation (although the fact that Indus artifacts remained exactly the same for a large period of time would indicate that there was strong central regulation which did not allow change and therefore inhabited innovation).

-         There is also no evidence of slavery, There does seem to be an upper and lower class but the structure does not seem to have been maintained by use of force .The elite perhaps exercised control by means of: religion; and by management and control of trade with Sumer and elsewhere.

The above would indicate that the Indus civilization was inclusive in nature and therefore would not have multiple gods; there would be a single God which could have been an abstract concept of God. Prophet Abraham (pbuh) perhaps did seem to have obtained the concept of an abstract, mono, omnipresent God from Sumer. This concept was not present in Sumerian society itself (see the reaction of Nimrod to the complaint of Prophet Abraham’s father and people, for this see both the Koranic and Talmudic versions) .The concept was not present in the Jews (see reaction of Prophet Abraham’s father and family). The only people sophisticated enough to have developed this concept were the Indus people (Egypt, Crete and China do seem to have multiple gods).

The Indus government was very complex and yet was efficient.  These were efficient and technologically advanced people. Their art indicated that these people had fine artistic sensibilities .The efficiency is manifested in the ability of the Indus people to evolve and establish a complex social structure, which integrated various ethnic and religious groups and ensured peace and prosperity.

The primitive man also is said to believe in cyclic nature of things and life , the modern mind believes in a linear forward looking approach .Burial practices where the dead body was accompanied with large amount of luxury goods and in cases where the body is cremated do suggest that the society practicing such burial procedures believes in the cyclic nature of life and the dead are deemed to return in the same or in some other shape .The Harappan burial practices , in sharp contrast to contemporary civilizations, were simple burial with very few commodities buried with the dead body , the few items that were found were very inexpensive ( there are very few exceptions to this) . This would suggest that the Harappan people were forward looking people who had a pragmatic view of things and events.

The Sumerian myths seem to be of two kinds , one that differ from time to time ,these were modified in each successive era , the other are that seem to have been kept intact for all times , these seem to be related to the sacred text that perhaps the Sumer brought from the piedmont perch from where they migrated to the plains .The concept that the human mind has a deep structure that allows it to learn language and to accept the monotheistic concept of religion has been given by a number of philosophers .This legacy, the monotheistic concept of religion, from the place of fall (Eden according to the Bible) seem to be the factor that made civilizations dominant , and this key factor passed from the dominant civilization to the succeeding one . The Indus people were the first owners of this key concept and when for unknown reasons their land became not receptive to this primal but everlasting truth they migrated and passed on this message to Prophet Ibrahim .Who in the travels spread this to the whole of middle eastern .the Jewish people became the owners or holders of this key element and this subsequently passed on to other civilizations and this process goes on to the present.

The IVC concept of religion was exported to Sumer, with whom the IVC had ethnic, cultural and economic ties .This occurred when the Indus elite migrated, for reasons not clearly established, to Sumer, around 2000 BC (various traditions related to the Mai Nanna  etc. ,in modern Pakistani Baluchistan , do point to possibility of such migration by land route from IVC to Sumer). The Sumerians had evolved very differently. They had established a number of independent cities who were in constant strife with each other and each city had a separate god, monotheism clearly did not evolve in SC. The only source of this concept could be the IVC whose elite chose Prophet Ibrahim (pbuh) and transferred the concept to the Hebrews .The concept was also clearly alien to the Hebrews as is evident from the Biblical and Koranic accounts of the life of Prophet Ibrahim pbuh in Ur, this concept did not evolve within the Hebrews and was clearly imported from other people.

The IVC concept of religion , in the sub-continent,  did not completely die out with the Aryan victory over the Indus people .Hinduism is comprised of two diverse streams, one related to the Aryan concept and another ,completely different in character and ethos to the non-Aryan traditions, that is referred to as indigenous traditions ,These are reflected in the Jain, Buddhist and Bhakthi or devotional  response to the Brahamanic Hinduism .The source of these anti-Aryan traditions must surely be the IVC .Some of these pre Aryan tradition ,especially the devotional South Asian religion, do contain a concept of a single God , and do not subscribe to the cult of sacrifice or of elitism in religious and other affairs .The Indus people are surely the source of these traditions .

Monotheism can perhaps be traced to the IVC from where it was passed on to the Hebrews .The fact that there are ancient primal sacred Sumerian myths suggest that  monotheism possibly was a legacy of the IVC from their place of origin .Perhaps the attainment of consciousness , by the first human, Prophet Adam (pbuh) also included the concept of a single God .Human consciousness  encapsulates the concept of monotheism , the full extent of the message unravels with technological and other change in human existence and will probably be completely unraveled by the time life on this earth ceases to exist .

Extract from my, self-published book:  For full text and complete book kindly email at javed47rashid@gmail.com