Soma and the Indo-European Priesthood : Cereal Cultivation and the Origins of Religion

247 Pages·2018·3.635 MB·English

by  William Scott Shelley

S
oma and
I -e p
the ndo uropean rIeSthood

S
oma and
I -e
the ndo uropean
p
rIeSthood
W S S
IllIam cott helley
Algora Publishing
New York
© 2018 by Algora Publishing.
All Rights Reserved
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No portion of this book (beyond what is permitted by
Sections 107 or 108 of the United States Copyright Act of 1976)
may be reproduced by any process, stored in a retrieval system,
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data —
Names: Shelley, William Scott, author.
Title: Soma and the Indo-European priesthood: cereal cultivation and the
origins of religion / William Scott Shelley.
Description: New York: Algora Publishing, 2018. | Includes bibliographical
references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018043269 (print) | LCCN 2018045556 (ebook) | ISBN
9781628943535 (pdf) | ISBN 9781628943511 (soft cover: alk. paper) | ISBN
9781628943528 (hard cover: alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Indo-Europeans—Religion. | Grain—Religious aspects.
Classification: LCC BL660 (ebook) | LCC BL660 .S445 2018 (print) | DDC
299/.1—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018043269
Printed in the United States

table of contentS
chapter 1: the Indo-europeanS and Indo-aryanS 1
chapter 2: IntroductIon to the Soma enIgma 89
chapter 3: ergot and barley 93
chapter 4: the preparatIon of Soma 101
chapter 5: Soma and Surā In the Sautrāmaõī 107
chapter 6: mead and honeydeW of ergot 127
addendum 139
chapter 7: the Indo-aryanS of central aSIa 147
chapter 8: the relIgIon of the Indo-aryanS 159
chapter 9: the “Soma VeSSelS” of the templeS of margIana 163
chapter 10: the contentS of the temple VeSSelS 167
chapter 11: the mySterIeS of eleuSIS 173
chapter 12: propoSed methodS of preparIng the KyKeon 177
chapter 13: lySergIc acId hydroxyethylamIde: ISomerIzatIon and
extractIon 189
ix