Connection Between Ancient India And Mesopotamia-Sumerian Civilization
Did you know that ancient Sumer and Mesopotamia, often regarded as the ‘Cradle of Civilization’, were already a part of ancient India? The religion of the sages and ascetics of ancient India was prevalent all across the civilized world.
Before we begin an in-depth understanding of the topic, let’s begin with a brief introduction that explains the origin legends, and society of ancient India.
Ancient India & Mesopotamia Connection
Very different from our present modern societies, the ancient societies were structured around bloodlines and dynasties. People formed societies and kingdoms based on common ancestries and were ruled by nobles and aristocrats who claimed noble birth, often claiming descent from the race of the gods.
The clans were united by common ancestry and ruled by Kings of noble birth
By hearing the term “India” one would immediately picture the modern map that describes India with its present geographical boundaries. Speaking of ancient times, the civilization of Dharma was widespread, ruled by alliances of noble kings with common Aryan ancestry. There were many differences in cultures and appearances due to differences in language, but they were allied by the law of Dharma and by common blood. For example, there was a Sanskrit-speaking royal family lineage among the Sumerian nobility. Historian Laurence A. Waddell confirmed with linguistic evidence that this was the dynasty of the first Priest-King, ‘Manu’ (Vaivasvat Manu), whose two sons out of many, Iksvaku and Ila went on to produce lineages of warrior-kings that ruled over the Indo-Sumerian civilization.
The English word “Aristocracy” stems from the ancient Greek origin “Aristos” which has the same meaning as the Sanskrit term “Arya” (आर्य).
Among the aristocratic bloodlines of the ancient world, the clans of the sages, religious scholars, and ascetics were the most respected ones. Many of the old sects and religions in ancient India that focused on ‘Gnosticism’ or ‘God-realisation’, spiritual healing, and priestcraft were associated with the individuals who introduced their sacred laws and techniques, and only those from the common population that qualified through their intense trials were initiated into the orders.
2nd Century B.C. Sculpture of Rishi Dirghatapas teaching Disciples
The first known people to introduce sacred laws and give birth to civilization were the Seven Sages (Saptrishi) who rescued ancient knowledge of the Vedas from a worldwide catastrophic flood, starting from ancient India, they brought knowledge to different parts of the world. According to the ‘Srimad-Bhagavatam’, their noble descendants became the rulers and nurturers of ancient Bharat.
The known origin of the seven sages is that they were considered “mind-born sons of Brahma”, as their original home was in the astral dimension, and descended into our 3-D reality to enable the spiritual growth of humans.
Divine ‘mind-born’ Sage (art by Gilbert Williams)
The subject of Theosophy states further that these sages were the cause behind many ascetic and religious orders across the world. Their teachings were the inspiration behind many orders and sects that performed the highest and most respected form of ascetic work: ‘The realization of Soul’ or simply ‘God-realisation’. Their teachings became the source of the Upanishads.
So what is the evidence that connects Indian sages to the other priestly sects around the ancient world?
There is much scholarly evidence that connects the order of the Brahmins, monks, and ascetics of India to other similar sects around the world. Let’s begin with the one that stretches the influence of Dharma to the fullest limit, from Brahmins of India, all the way to the Celtic Druids of Western Europe, and everything in between. *Most scholarly works of the past couple of centuries claim that the sect of Druids of Celtic people were Brahmins, who taught the same laws and practiced a similar sage-like lifestyle.*
One of the most blatantly clear evidence we find is within the history of the pagan Cymry people in the country of Wales, where Celtic Druidism originally began in ancient times. Scholar and Researcher Edward Davies in his book ‘Celtic Researches and Origins’ states that the Druids (priests) of the Cymry people practiced a mysterious and sacred science called the ‘Veds’ that was given to them by a king named ‘Menu’. Davies goes on to state that in an old Celtic language, they called him ‘Menu ab Teirgwaedd’, which translates to ‘Manu of the Three Vedas’.
Celtic Druids
Brahmins
Both the Druids and the Brahmins sought to perform their teachings under a sacred tree.
India’s connection in the Oera Linda Book and the Indus Valley symbols 3000 BC –
Oera Linda Book
What is Oera Linda’s Book (OLB):
The Oera Linda Book (OLB) is one of the most ignored texts in history. It describes in detail the history of the Frisian people of Northern Germany and the Netherlands. The Frisian people claim their ancestry from their progenitor Mother-figure named Frya. Historians have confirmed that Frya was the same as the mother goddess Lakshmi and the Roman goddess Venus. The day of Friday (शुक्रवार) is named after the Frya, and in ancient India it was considered the day of the mother goddess where Lakshmi was revered by Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains. The prophet of the Frisian people was Friso. He was a royal descendant of Frya / Lakshmi and came from the Himalayas through the ‘land of the five rivers’ (Punjab).
Pompeii Lakshmi (Venus)Standing with two children, Roman Empire
Lakshmi standing with two children, Sanchi Stupa, Maurya Empire
Aphrodite (Venus) with two children (cupids), Greek
The language of Old-Frisian of the OLB also matches with the Indus-valley symbols! One of the commonly found symbols in India, Rome, and the northern Netherlands is the six-spoked wheel (chakra) from which Old Frisian letters were derived. The word for this chakra in Old Frisian is ‘Juul’.
Frisian Manuscript Juul Chakra from which letters are derived
Dholavira in Gujarat is an ancient Indus Valley site. The symbols are the oldest of the letters that are found in the Oera Linda Book:
Minnagara on Map in Indo-Scythian (Shakya) Kingdom
Indus Valley seal with six-spoked Chakra and Sun deity (Surya).
Six Spoked Wheel
The Juul chakra is a significant symbol in the understanding of the religion of the sages. It symbolizes the wheel of time and the passing of ages. Just like Brahma, the OLB recognizes ‘Wralda’ as a singular God-principle of the universe.
Verse from Bhagavad Gita
The verse from Oera Linda’s Book
An ancient record describing the religion of ancient Persia and of their teacher, Zoroaster, is preserved by a sacred order of aristocrats of Europe and Asia called the ‘Imperial Dragon Court’ in Hungary. The record mentions that Zoroaster (Zarathustra) was a noble descendent of Indo-Sumerian Kings, who himself was a priest-lord and taught the art of alchemy and about the nature of the human soul.*
Zoroaster
The record of ‘Imperial Dragon Court’ further states that Zoroaster and his kingly bloodline of Indo-Sumnerian kings were the original ancestors of all Egyptian Pharaohs from the 2nd Egyptian Dynasty onward, and who held the position of both priests and kings. The word ‘Pharaoh’ is equivalent to the Sanskrit word ‘Prabhu’ (प्रभु) – meaning Master or Prince. The term was also used to describe someone who is “god-like”, which is why the Pharaohs were considered next to gods, given their divine ancestry.
The sacred text of the ancient Egyptians called ‘The Emerald Tablets of Thoth’ teaches the same principles as the Upanishads! — The knowledge about our inner nature, about the human soul and its relationship to the Universe.
Emerald Tablets of Thoth Upanishads
There was a great expansion of the Buddhist Monastic religion across the world due to King Ashoka’s contributions and efforts to spread the religion. The royal Shakya clan from which Siddhartha Gautama and King Ashoka belonged, at different times, played an important role in history, which we will know about later.
By scholarly evidence, the sects of the Egyptian ‘Therapeutae’, the Greek ‘Pythagoreans’, the ‘Essenes’ of the Levant region, the ‘Chaldees’ of Assyria were all Buddhist-cum-ascetic orders, inspired by the ascetics of India.
Pythagoreans of Athens (art by Fedor Bronnikov)
Buddha and his followers
In 90 AD, Roman historian Josephus confirmed that the Essenes and the Greek Pythagoreans were of the same ascetic order and practiced the same works of fasting and meditation, inspired by the Buddhist religion.
The ‘Imperial Dragon Court’ mentions that Jesus was not what the bible says about him. They mention that Jesus Christ was a descendant of the Sumerian kings and the Egyptian pharaohs, and was initiated as an ascetic and a spiritual healer from the order of the Essenes. Another piece of evidence we find about this is in a censored text called ‘The Gospel of Thomas’ which was not included in the Bible and that reveals the nature of Jesus’ true teachings.
Essene Sage initiating Jesus Christ True portrayal of Jesus
‘The Gospel of Thomas’ again teaches the same principles of the human soul and the cosmos as explained in the Upanishads. The order of the Essenes and the Therapeutae was a result of the Buddhist expansion of King Ashoka in alliance with neighboring rulers like Antiochus of the Seleucid Empire after 265 BC.
Map showing the outgrowth of ascetic orders of Buddhism during King Ashoka’s rule 265–238 BC
From the map, we can see the places of influence that emerged due to the Buddhist order. The Therapeutae in Alexandria, the Pythagoreans in Athens, and the Essenes in the region of Antioch. They were regarded as ‘Physicians of the Soul’.
Verse from the Gospel of Thomas
Verse from the Shvetashvatara Upanishad
The Shakyas and the Scythians:
The Scythians were the first warrior clans. The term itself is cognate to the Sanskrit term ‘Ksatriya’, followed by the term ‘Shakya’. These were the first warriors that were ruled by the Royal Scythians. Greek scholar Epiphanius of Salamis confirmed that the Scythians were Sumerians, who lived according to the code of Dharma.
From Left to Right: 1) Scythian / Phrygian cap.
2) Conical head-gear on Lord Krishna.
3) Conical head-gear of Egyptian Pharaoh.
Scholar Michael Witzel explained that the Shakyas were a noble clan of the Scythians. According to Vishnu Purana, the Shakya dynasty was from the Iksvaku Kshatriya lineage. It can apparently be said that the Scythians and the Shakya clan of Indo-Sumerian royal descent were well-known across the civilized world. Gautama Buddha was from the lineage of Shakya Ksatriyas. His popularity in King Ashoka’s era was acknowledged based on both his teachings and bloodline, which is evident as we find sculptures of Buddha across the world with Greek, Roman, Gothic, and even Viking designs.
Oseberg Buddha’ – found in Oseberg, Sweden, 6th Century AD
Scythian type Buddha Statue discovered in Tibet, 1930s
The Native-American priests
The Native Americans are known for their ancient sacred teachings, spiritual philosophy of the soul, and their rituals of mysticism. Manly P. Hall, a renowned mystic and spiritual philosopher interviewed a Native American medicine priest of the Hopi tribe, named Hosteen-Klah in Arizona, USA. The most fascinating part occurred when he began to talk about the history of their tribe and their spiritual teachings. He began by speaking of a race of ‘Seven Great Kings’ arriving from the ocean, west of America, and giving them spiritual knowledge, sacred symbols, and knowledge of medicine and art. The most prominent of their sacred symbols is surprisingly the Swastika!
Navajo Sand-Art of the Hopi tribe depicting a ‘Swastika’
It is of doubt that the Seven Kings described by the medicine priest were the same as the ‘Saptrishi’. Theosophical writings mentioned that these seven sages belonged to a race of people that were not just involved in teaching sacred knowledge in different parts of the world but as also mentioned by the medicine priest, they were a part of an advanced underground / subterranean civilization.
Saptrishi / Seven Sages
Legends also say that this subterranean civilization is the place where the city of Shambhala resides in the astral dimension — the true residence of a Buddha.
Astral city of Shambhala. Kalki Purana states that the final avatar of Vishnu will arrive from Shabhalla and descend into 3-D reality to destroy Evil and end the Kali Yuga.
There are many such undiscovered secrets and hidden parts of our history waiting to be revealed!
One must understand that the philosophy of the Vedas and especially the teachings of the Upanishads and other teachings such as that of the ‘Tablets of Thoth’ were never considered to be from a specific period, even though many scholars confirmed that The Vedas were from the period before the Great Flood event. The sages of old always knew these to be Universal Laws that are timeless and omnipresent, and that the Vedas and Upanishads only express such laws through written language. *‘Shruti’ texts are the most misunderstood texts of today. They comprise laws that were understood only in the astral or the heavenly dimension, a place where the eternity of the soul is realized and where elemental beings and paradise are experienced, and then recorded within texts.
We conclude that the sages and ascetics of the various orders lived in high self-discipline, focussed on cleanliness which they considered next to Godliness, and self-mastery through constant inner labor to realize the true nature of their being and the universe. Across nations and kingdoms, these were the most highly respected and greatly revered as exemplary human beings. They carried forward a special practice given by an advanced race of Rishis that blessed our land and Earth with their teachings!
Article by: Marg Trivedi
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Indus Valley civilization associated with the Sumerian civilization?
“Trade & blood are both linked with these two civilizations. Sumer and Meluhha (the Indus Valley Civilisation) had a trade route before the Silk Road was conceived.”
What is the connection between ancient India and ancient Mesopotamia?
“India and Mesopotamia were at key junctions, and they established trade links that reached other parts of the world.”
What do India and Mesopotamia have in common?
“Religion was the basis and the focus of both the Indus Valley and Mesopotamia civilizations, and they cherished it greatly.”
Which civilization is similar to the Indus Valley Civilization?
“The Indus Valley Civilisation existed around the same time as the other ancient civilizations near rivers: Ancient Egypt by the Nile, Mesopotamia by the Euphrates and the Tigris, and China by the Yellow River and the Yangtze.”
Which is the older Indus Valley or the Sumerian?
The finding that Sumer and Mesopotamia are younger than the Indus Valley civilization questions the previous timeline of ancient human civilizations.