List of 999 women of the Heritage Floor / goddess of fertility

This list describes the place setting for the fertility goddess on the table of Judy Chicago's art installation The Dinner Party . It is part of the list of 999 women on the Heritage Floor who are assigned to the respective place settings on the table. The names of the 999 women are on the tiles of the Heritage Floor, which is arranged below the table and belongs to the art installation.

description

The installation consists of a three-sided table, each with 13 historical or mythological personalities, thus a total of 39 people, from prehistory to the women's rights movement . These people were assigned a place setting at the table, consisting of an individually designed table runner, an individually designed plate, a goblet, knife, fork, spoon and serviette. The first page of the table is devoted to prehistory up to the Roman Empire , the second to Christianization up to the Reformation and the third from the American Revolution to the women's movement. Each place setting on the table is assigned additional personalities who have received an entry on the tiles of the Heritage Floor, which occupies the space under the table and the center of the space between the sides of the table. This list includes the personalities assigned to the fertility goddess's place setting. Your seat is on the first side of the table.

Hints

In addition to the names as they are used in German transcription or in scientific usage, the list shows the spelling chosen by Judy Chicago on the tiles.

The information on women who do not yet have an article in the German-language Wikipedia is referenced by the individual references listed under comments . If individual information in the table is not referenced via the main article, additional individual references are given at the relevant point. If there are any discrepancies between the information provided in Wikipedia articles and the descriptions of the work of art on the Brooklyn Museum website , this will also be indicated under Comments.

Place setting for the goddess of fertility

Human figure made of clay, probably the goddess of fertility Tappeh Sarab, Kermanshah 7000–6100 BC BC, Neolithic, National Museum of Iran

In a belief system of polytheism with different gods, a fertility goddess is responsible for the fertility of fields and animals. In some belief systems, it is not a single fertility deity, but a so-called sacred marriage between a god and a goddess that guarantees the fertility of the fields.

Fertility deities were often worshiped as goddesses, archaeological finds show stylized images of the female body in figurines , in which the secondary sexual characteristics that emphasize fertility are exaggerated. Well-known figurines are the Venus of Lespugue and the Venus of Willendorf . As a rule, Venus figurines are interpreted on the one hand as symbols of fertility, on the other hand as the representation of a goddess. Due to the exaggerated body parts, these figurines now appear either heavily pregnant or very overweight.

In the art installation, the fertility goddess's table setting explains that Marija Gimbutas , a leading scholar in the study of early goddess worship, associated prehistoric goddess figures with water. As part of her research, she found figures that are provided with symbols that represent water in different forms, such as rain, streams with breast milk and amniotic fluid. In her work The Language of the Goddess , she proposes that these figures and the associated symbols, which were also found in Crete in the Neolithic and Bronze Age, represent a goddess cult that was lost over time.

The settlement Çatalhöyük from the Neolithic Age excavated in what is now Turkey is important as an archaeological site for researchers of goddess worship. The Çatalhöyük settlement seems to have been one of the first urban centers in which an agricultural society lived, traded and was so rich that its citizens owned luxury goods like mirrors. Controversial is the assumption that there were many shrines in the settlement from which Chicago was based, which was based on the research of James Mellaart . However, these are now also interpreted as residential houses by Ian Hodder . Chicago also refers to the thesis of James Mellaart, who found reliefs on which beings are shown with spread arms and legs, each angled in the direction of the head, and an accentuated navel, over which there were several layers of plaster and paintings. Head, hands and feet were always chopped off. Mellaart interpreted the representation as a goddess giving birth. However, a discovery of a stamp from Çatalhöyük, which shows a bear in exactly this posture, makes it clear that the interpretation does not necessarily have to apply.

According to Judy Chicago, many scholars and archaeologists would have used the excavation site to propose theories about an early matriarchal society in which the primary divine being was the Fertile Goddess, a model for subsequent traditions of goddess worship.

The place setting of the fertility goddess contains prehistoric elements, which indicate the social role of women and the worship of the goddess for birth and the creation of food. The techniques used in making the table runner were likely used by Paleolithic women on similar objects. Bone needles were hand made from the thigh bones of cows and the wool was spun on a chopping spindle .

The spiral is the predominant form on the table runner. It refers to the early women's changing baskets and pottery. Coarse sackcloth , an early textile, is used as a base . Chicago suspects that these textiles were made exclusively by women. The table setting is reminiscent of the traditionally made pottery, wicker and textile goods of the Neolithic Age, which were made by women, many of which were used for agriculture and growing food. Since agriculture marked the beginning of the Neolithic and was responsible for the progress of civilization, the table setting also marks the role of women in shaping the ancient society.

The decisions regarding appearance and style necessary for the production of table runners and plates are based on early depictions of goddesses such as Venus von Willendorf. It was assumed that these were ritual objects that were used by men and women. Their luscious shapes are reflected in the meaty qualities of the plate. Figures were woven into the table runner to represent early reproductions of the female body. These figures were used to worship women as creators and educators. Shells and starfish adorn the runner and refer to the sea's association with women, fertility and goddesses like Venus. The plate is decorated with round shapes intended to represent breasts and other natural elements such as seeds related to female fertility.

Surname	Spelling on the tile	Date of birth	cultural spatial assignment	Remarks	image
Bona Dea	Bona Dea	N / A	Roman mythology	In the Roman religion the goddess of fertility, healing, virginity and women, daughter of Faunus , had a temple on the Aventine in Rome . Their cult existed in Rome probably since the 3rd century BC. She was worshiped every December 4th in a ceremony where only women were allowed to be present.
Brigid	Brigid	N / A	Irish mythology	Goddess of Ireland's Celtic mythology . She is considered the daughter of Dagda and the wife of Bress and the mother of Ruadan . She is said to have been the patron goddess of the legislature, the art of healing, fertility and the blacksmith, venerated in three ways.
Cardea	Cardea	N / A	Roman mythology	Goddess of thresholds, door hinges and door handles. She belongs to the ranks of the Roman special deities. She was revered as the protector of children, who protected her from vampires and witches in particular through the power of the hawthorn .
Danu	Danu	N / A	Celtic mythology	Celtic goddess of fertility, health and prosperity. Mother of Túatha Dé Danann , the "children of Danu", a people who lived in the second millennium BC. Lived in Ireland. Danu was a symbol of abundance, usually associated with flowing waters, especially rivers and streams.
Freya	Freya	N / A	Norse mythology	Cheek goddess of fertility and spring, happiness and love, as well as teacher of magic.
Frigg	Frija	N / A	Norse mythology	In Norse mythology, Frigg is the wife of Odin and belongs to the Aesir . According to some authors, another name for them is saga . She is the patroness of marriage and motherhood. She is the guardian of the hearth fire and the household.
Hera	Hera	N / A	Greek mythology	Wife and at the same time the sister of Zeus and thus the daughter of Kronos and Rhea . She belongs to the twelve Olympic deities , the Olympioi.
Juno	Juno	N / A	Roman mythology	She was considered the goddess of childbirth, marriage, and care. The month name June is derived from Juno.
Macha	Macha	N / A	Irish mythology	In the Ulster cycle of the Celtic mythology of Ireland the name of several country deities and also legendary figures, probably these are aspects of the same goddess.
Maderakka , see → Akka	Madderakka	N / A	Sami mythology	In Sami mythology, goddess of women and children, tribal mother, goddess of fertility. She was supported by her three daughters Sarakka, Uksakka and Juksakka. Akka was the common name for female spirits in Sami mythology, with Madderakka being the first.
Nerthus	Nerthus	N / A	Germanic mythology	Deity of Germanic mythology , occasionally identified with the Eddic Njörd . Tacitus describes Nerthus as Terra Mater ( Latin : Mother Earth ).
Ninti	Ninti	N / A	Sumerian mythology	Sumerian goddess of life. She was created by Ninḫursanga with seven other goddesses to heal Enki , who had previously been cursed by Ninursanga and had eaten forbidden flowers. Ninti was responsible for healing Enki's rib. This myth was later adapted in the Book of Genesis as the story of Eve, created from Adam's rib.
Tellus	Tellus Mater	N / A	Roman mythology	Deity of the maternal earth, therefore often called Terra Mater , it corresponds to the Greek Gaia . Tellus Mater was responsible for agriculture and earthquakes, as well as marriage and fertility. Their festival, held on April 15 each year, was called Fordicia and required the sacrifice of pregnant cows.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Brooklyn Museum: Fertile Goddess. In: brooklynmuseum.org. Retrieved September 29, 2019 . 
2. ↑ Brooklyn Museum: Danu. In: brooklynmuseum.org. Retrieved September 29, 2019 . 
3. ↑ Brooklyn Museum: Madderakka. In: brooklynmuseum.org. Retrieved September 29, 2019 . 
4. ↑ Brooklyn Museum: Ninti. In: brooklynmuseum.org. Retrieved September 29, 2019 . 
5. ↑ Brooklyn Museum: Tellus Mater. In: brooklynmuseum.org. Retrieved September 29, 2019 . 

Web links

Commons : The Dinner Party  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Brooklyn Museum, goddess of fertility
• The Dinner Party on the website of Through the Flower , Judy Chicago's non-profit organization