Religion: The Vulture
Many shrines and walls had huge skeletal representations of vultures. The murals often depicted vultures eating corpses of human beings; this is believed to be some kind of funeral ritual. It is a funerary ritual called excarnation, where a body is laid in a
Dakhma (a circular stone tower) to be picked at and eaten by vultures. In Catal Huyuk, shrine murals mirrored
Dakhma's, they were called "Towers of Silence" (high wooden towers). It was believed that the soul would depart the body and embark on the journey to the ''otherworld" under the protection of the vultures wing. In Egyptian hieroglyphs the vulture was said/shown to be carrying the
Ba or 'soul'.
Archaeologists think that the Catal Huyuk citizens found the bird to be quite feminine. A discovery of human chests were found molded onto walls through the use of plaster, with vulture skulls (and beaks) protruding through the chest in a way that seemed to form nipples.
Works Cited:
Information: "Çatal Höyük: (The 'Forked Mound')."
Ancient Wisdom. WiserHosting. Web. 12 Sept.
2014.
"Catal Huyuk: Origins of Civilizations."
Alternative Archaeology. alternativearchaeology. Web.
12 Sept. 2014.
Picture:
http://arthistoryworlds.org/catal-hoyuk-paintings/
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