Mesopotamia and the Trilogy

[Iargwath]

It has come to my attention that many ideas and names from LotR and other books link closely with Mesopotamia. The statues of Aragonath that are literally the "royal stones", link closely to the two winged bulls that mark a Mesopotamian Kings realm. The same as the statues of Aragonath marking the Gates of Gondor.
Another example is that of the helmet worn by the Noldor? (not too sure which race it is). But it does contain wings on the sides of the helmet. Wings on armour and helmets in Mesopotamia symbolise royal blood and hope in battle. I thought this was an original connection and i dont know if it can be backed up with more evidence.
But if u guys know any more connections with the trilogy and Mesopotamia could u please post them here. I have more that i will post later. Also your thoughts on the connections would be great.
Thanks guys smilies/smile.gif

[HerenIstarion]

letter 211 To Rhona Beare

The Númenóreans of Gondor were proud, peculiar, and archaic, and I think are best pictured in (say) Egyptian terms. In many ways they resembled 'Egyptians' – the love of, and power to construct, the gigantic and massive. And in their great interest in ancestry and in tombs. (But not of course in 'theology' : in which respect they were Hebraic and even more puritan

[Diamond18]

There is a city in Mesopotamina called Erech, but this is what Tolkien had to say about it:

Letter 297 to a Mr. Rang
In any case the fact that Erech is a famous name is of no importance to The L.R. and no connexions in my mind or intention between Mesopotamia and the Númenórians or their predecessors can be deduced.

[ November 15, 2002: Message edited by: Diamond18 ]

[Rumil]

The first recorded story is the 'Epic of Gilgamesh' any connection with Gil-Galad?

[ November 15, 2002: Message edited by: Rumil ]

[Nevfeniel]

And doesn't it say somewhere else on this forum that there's a city in Mesopotamia called Moriah?

[Grendel]

The Goidelic celtic "gillae" (lad) often appears as a prefixed generic element in surnames of Irish and Scottish origin, e.g. Gillespie (bishops lad or servant) or Gilfinnan. Perhaps there is a Celtic connection?. Otherwise the Mesopotamian connection is an interesting idea. Tolkien once used a metaphor of the 'ground' of one's imagination being fertilised by the surrounding world in such a way that anything "grown" in that substrate could be influenced by the said world without the imaginer's recognizance (more or less).

[Diamond18]

And doesn't it say somewhere else on this forum that there's a city in Mesopotamia called Moriah?

I said that somewhere else, but I think now that I was wrong. In the same letter Tolkien addresses 'the land of Moriah' but I have difficulty understanding what he was talking about because I was not able to read the letter he was replying to. My befuddled memory combined the two, forgetting that Erech was the city in Mesopotamia. There is a hill in Palestine called Moriah, however (I found that in the dictionary).

[Nuranar]

Mount Moriah is the ancient name of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, where the Dome of the Rock is now. I haven't heard of an actual city in Mesopotamia named Moriah, although I'll not say no such city ever existed. smilies/smile.gif

[Iargwath]

The first recorded story is the 'Epic of Gilgamesh' any connection with Gil-Galad?

The epic of Gilgamish above all, is the tale of one man's struggle with the fear of death, as he desperatley seeks immortality through glorious deeds and the delusive promise of eternal life. I do not think that it has any relation to that of Gil-Galad, even though the names sound similar.
My mother who is from a Mesopotamian background told me that Nahar is arabic for "Golden rays of the sun". Does anybody know what Nahar means in the "common tongue"?

[Kalimac]

Tolkien mentioned, in one of his letters, I believe (I should just give in and buy that book already - but the quote is mentioned in "The Annotated Hobbit") that the name Moria came from a book of Norwegian folktales he had had as a child; the story in question was called "Soria Moria Castle". He mentioned that he didn't remember the story as being particularly good, but the name "Soria Moria" stuck with him and he ended up using part of it later. (I have that Norwegian fairytale book also, as it happens, and to be honest the fairy tale is fairly run of the mill in the sense of after you read it it pretty much blends into a lot of others. Soria Moria is still a cool name, though).