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| Name | Current message text |
|---|---|
| h English (en) | Fish themes have symbolic significance in many religions. In ancient [[Mesopotamia]], fish offerings were made to the gods from the very earliest times. Fish were also a major symbol of [[Enki]], the god of water. Fish frequently appear as filling motifs in [[cylinder seal]]s from the [[First Babylonian dynasty|Old Babylonian]] ({{circa}} 1830 BC – {{circa}} 1531 BC) and [[Neo-Assyrian Empire|Neo-Assyrian]] (911–609 BC) periods. Starting during the [[Kassites|Kassite Period]] ({{circa}} 1600 BC – {{circa}} 1155 BC) and lasting until the early [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian Period]] (550–30 BC), healers and exorcists dressed in ritual garb resembling the bodies of fish. During the [[Seleucid Empire|Seleucid Period]] (312–63 BC), the legendary Babylonian [[culture hero]] [[Oannes (mythology)|Oannes]] was said to have dressed in the skin of a fish. Fish were sacred to the Syrian goddess [[Atargatis]] and, during her festivals, only her priests were permitted to eat them. In the [[Book of Jonah]], the central figure, a [[prophet]] named [[Jonah]], is swallowed by a giant fish after being thrown overboard by the crew of the ship he is travelling on. [[Early Christianity|Early Christians]] used the ''[[ichthys]]'', a symbol of a fish, to represent Jesus. Among the [[deity|deities]] said to take the form of a fish are [[Ikatere]] of the [[Polynesians]], the shark-god [[Kāmohoaliʻi]] of [[Hawaii|Hawai{{okina}}i]], and [[Matsya]] of the Hindus. The constellation [[Pisces (constellation)|Pisces]] ("The Fishes") is associated with a legend from Ancient Rome that [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]] and her son [[Cupid]] were rescued by two fishes. |