Jupiter: God of the Sky

In Roman mythology, Jupiter was the God of the Sky, Thunder and Lightning, Law, Order, and Justice. He was the central deity in the Archaic Triad, the pre-Christian Trinity if you will. The Archaic Triad was made up of 3 gods. Jupiter, the father, and his son Mars and Quirinus the god of the state of Rome. (the Father Son and Holy Ghost)

In 306 AD Constantine, the Great changed the official state religion of Rome to the new religion of Christianity. He would later fold in many Roman gods into the new Christian faith at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. For example, Constantine’s patron god was Apollo the sun god. Apollo would become Jesus Christ in the new Christian religion.

A marble statue of Jupiter from c. 100 AD
A marble statue of Jupiter from c. 100 AD

You can trace all religions back through time starting in Ethiopia about 10,000 years ago. From Ethiopia, it was carried into Egypt through Babylon then Palestine then through Persia through Greece to Rome to the rest of Europe and the world.

Although Christianity has gone through many changes it did not start as a monotheistic religion. It would not pick up that facet until it passed through Egypt. It was influenced by Akhenaten and his sun god Aten. Unlike Constantine the Great, Akhenaten would fail in his attempts to convert his country to monotheism. An interesting side effect of Akhenaten’s attempts was that when he died the priests of Egypt’s polytheist religion erased almost all mention of Akhenaten and his family from all official records. Akhenaten’s son was Tutankhamun the boy king that Howard Carter discovered in 1922. Tutankhamun’s tomb remained undiscovered only because he was erased from the pages of history by the enemies of Akhenaten’s monotheism.

Religion followed the human expansion into the fertile crescent of the middle east as polytheism until the Palestinians would again try monotheism resulting in the birth of the Abrahamic religions about 4000 years ago.

Ships Captain The Dread Pirate Dave

David is the Editor in Chief of Postcards From the Edge. I was born on a cold November morning on the showy plains of Colorado. Like my father, before me, I am an American Nomad.

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