What God in each major ancient civilization is closest to the one supreme God?

[Aupmanyav]

In the video I posted earlier, the Hindu teacher proposed that Brahman and Bhagavan were like a mountain. From far away, it looks like Brahman, but close up it is Bhagavan, he said. It seems to me that to equate Bhagavan and Brahman in this way reflects Advaita, right?
Also, is this person an Advaita Hindu:

Don't know, not interested in videos, too much clap trap. For an advaitist how can Brahman be far way when the person him/herself is none other, as also all the things that he sees around him/her? Nothing is closer to me than my own self. Brahman is my own self. 'Aham Brahmasmi'. Even Bhagawan is far away being something other.

 

[Rakovsky]

For those who are interested, I made two threads in the Asian Religion and Taoist sections on ancient Chinese beliefs in the Most High Lord, below.

Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Christian missionaries have commonly seen strong correlation between ancient Chinese beliefs in the Most High Lord (Shang Di) and Jewish beliefs in the Most High God. The Bible uses both the Most High and the Lord as names for Israel's God, as in Genesis 14, when Melchizedek tells Abraham: "And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand."

Shangdi is commonly given the same attributes that the Israelite God is given, like omniscience and being all powerful. There are other similarities like major biannual animal sacrifices in the main temple and a lack of idols in the main temple.

Ancient Chinese beliefs in Shang Di, 上帝
http://www.religiousforums.com/threads/ancient-chinese-beliefs-in-shang-di-上帝.187873/

Does Taoism believe in the Supreme Deity/Highest Emperor/Shangdi 上帝?
http://www.religiousforums.com/thre...ghest-emperor-shangdi-上帝.187867/#post-4770993

 

[Riverwolf]

but he correlates with the main figure of the proto-Indo-European pantheon, Dyeus Pater, the sky father. This deity can be found as Zeus and as Jupiter in Greece and Rome.

How do you know that Dyēus Phter was the "main figure" in PIE religion?

 

[Rakovsky]

How do you know that Dyēus Phter was the "main figure" in PIE religion?

Wikipedia's essay on PIE religion says:

((*Dyēus Ph2tēr (literally "sky father") is the god of the day-lit sky and the chief god of the Indo-European pantheon. The name survives in Greek Zeus with a vocative form Zeu pater; Latin Jūpiter (from the archaic Latin Iovis pater; Diēspiter), Sanskrit Dyáus Pitā, and Illyrian Dei-pátrous.))

The word deity meaning god comes from the PIE Deus. Hence Deus is the chief deity. Or on modern English, God is the chief god.

 

[Riverwolf]

Wikipedia's essay on PIE religion says:

((*Dyēus Ph2tēr (literally "sky father") is the god of the day-lit sky and the chief god of the Indo-European pantheon. The name survives in Greek Zeus with a vocative form Zeu pater; Latin Jūpiter (from the archaic Latin Iovis pater; Diēspiter), Sanskrit Dyáus Pitā, and Illyrian Dei-pátrous.))

The word deity meaning god comes from the PIE Deus. Hence Deus is the chief deity. Or on modern English, God is the chief god.

How do you know that Wikipedia is correct in this regard?

After all, some things to consider:
-The English form of Dyeus, Tiw, isn't chief tiw, nor is the Norse counterpart Tyr.
-Pretty much every "fact" regarding PIE language and culture (including religion) is inherently speculative.
-Even though Zeus and Deus (Jupiter was also named Deus) were the Kings of their pantheons, both were still subject to Fate.

 

[Rakovsky]

How do you know that Wikipedia is correct in this regard?

After all, some things to consider:
-The English form of Dyeus, Tiw, isn't chief tiw, nor is the Norse counterpart Tyr.
-Pretty much every "fact" regarding PIE language and culture (including religion) is inherently speculative.
-Even though Zeus and Deus (Jupiter was also named Deus) were the Kings of their pantheons, both were still subject to Fate.

*The theory is that Deus was the main deity, but then as Germania religion progressed, Odin became main, while Deus/Tiw/Tyr took a backseat.
*In Taoism, the highest god, the jade emperor, is still subject to to the Dao.

 

[Riverwolf]

*The theory is that Deus was the main deity, but then as Germania religion progressed, Odin became main, while Deus/Tiw/Tyr took a backseat.

This is apparently what seems to have happened. However, we cannot be certain, given that we know almost nothing about the various religions practiced among the Germanic-speaking tribes. It's not so much a theory, as it is a mere hypothesis at best.

According to Tacitus, the Ingwina (Ingvaeones in Latin) worshiped Mother Earth above all other Gods, and they're the cultural progenitors of English-speaking peoples. Even to this day, Mother Earth/Mother Nature is revered among most English-speakers just shy of being a legitimate Goddess in her own right.

But of the other Tribes, Tacitus mentioned that they revered "Mercury" (believed to be Woden) "above all others." This suggests that Woden (who has no clear PIE cognate and so could very well be an indigenous deity) might always have been King.

*In Taoism, the highest god, the jade emperor, is still subject to to the Dao.

I know virtually nothing about Daoism, and so will refrain from saying anything.

 

[Rakovsky]

This is apparently what seems to have happened. However, we cannot be certain, given that we know almost nothing about the various religions practiced among the Germanic-speaking tribes. It's not so much a theory, as it is a mere hypothesis at best.

According to Tacitus, the Ingwina (Ingvaeones in Latin) worshiped Mother Earth above all other Gods, and they're the cultural progenitors of English-speaking peoples. Even to this day, Mother Earth/Mother Nature is revered among most English-speakers just shy of being a legitimate Goddess in her own right.

But of the other Tribes, Tacitus mentioned that they revered "Mercury" (believed to be Woden) "above all others." This suggests that Woden (who has no clear PIE cognate and so could very well be an indigenous deity) might always have been King.



I know virtually nothing about Daoism, and so will refrain from saying anything.

In ancient China, Sumer, Greece, and Egypt, the God of the heavens or sky is much more primary than the war or hunting Gods, and we can infer the same about PIE. This might be a bit debatable for Egypt though. Ra and Horus were sky gods, while one of Neiths attributes was as a warrior, and early on Neith was quite important.

More interesting is the question of whether the primordial mother goddess was more important, central, or even preceded the heavens god in PIE or in other prehistoric religions.

It's kind of tough to see what they thought about God in the time before writing.
In Egypt they thought that the gods came from the primordial god Nun, which was like the material basis of creation. Yet some other gods were considered eternal by Egypt.

Sumer said the goddess of the primordial waters Nammu produced the heavens god An, but I don't know if they always thought this.

In the Bible on Day 1, Gods Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, and on Day 2 he divided the waters. But wait a minute, where did the waters come from? Did God make them? Or did He come from the waters like An did?

 

[Riverwolf]

In ancient China, Sumer, Greece, and Egypt, the God of the heavens or sky is much more primary than the war or hunting Gods, and we can infer the same about PIE.

Why? They're a completely different group. We don't know who or where they were.

More interesting is the question of whether the primordial mother goddess was more important, central, or even preceded the heavens god in PIE or in other prehistoric religions.

It probably varied from Tribe to Tribe, depending on what was most important to them.

It's kind of tough to see what they thought about God in the time before writing.

Indeed. DX Makes things hard for those of us trying to revive them.

 

[Rakovsky]

Why? They're a completely different group. We don't know who or where they were.

I think that when you get back to 5000 to 3000 BC, you get closer to a time when west Asian and SE European cultures and religions were closer. If you see a common pattern there, it makes it more likely that it's true for PIE.

 

[Riverwolf]

I think that when you get back to 5000 to 3000 BC, you get closer to a time when west Asian and SE European cultures and religions were closer. If you see a common pattern there, it makes it more likely that it's true for PIE.

Only if the PIE culture (or possibly cultures) is actually from that region and/or traded with Semitic-speaking tribes. Fact is, we don't know. While they almost certainly existed, we simply don't know much beyond what little we can reconstruct of their cultural-linguistic paradigm.

After all, remember that the Greco-Roman cultures were geographically very close to the Celto-Germanic cultures, but there was almost no interaction between them until Caesar.

 

[Rakovsky]

Only if the PIE culture (or possibly cultures) is actually from that region and/or traded with Semitic-speaking tribes. Fact is, we don't know. While they almost certainly existed, we simply don't know much beyond what little we can reconstruct of their cultural-linguistic paradigm.

After all, remember that the Greco-Roman cultures were geographically very close to the Celto-Germanic cultures, but there was almost no interaction between them until Caesar.

Scholars debate if PIE is from the Kuban of southwest Russia, or if they are from Asia minor like Anatolia.

 

[GoodbyeDave]

Only if the PIE culture (or possibly cultures) is actually from that region and/or traded with Semitic-speaking tribes. Fact is, we don't know. While they almost certainly existed, we simply don't know much beyond what little we can reconstruct of their cultural-linguistic paradigm.

Since the proto-Semitic word for wheel is clearly derived from the IE (as is the object), such trade across the Caucasus did occur.

After all, remember that the Greco-Roman cultures were geographically very close to the Celto-Germanic cultures, but there was almost no interaction between them until Caesar.

Contact between Greeks, Romans and Celts goes back a long way before that. The Greek colony at Marseilles was founded about 600 BC and traded up the river with the Celts. If one looks at prehistory, there would have been a stage when the proto-languages were together in the northern Balkans: hence common roots in Celtic and Latin like reg "king" and the preservation of the a/o distinction in those groups (unlike Germanic, Slavonic, Anatolian, etc).

 

[Riverwolf]

Scholars debate if PIE is from the Kuban of southwest Russia, or if they are from Asia minor like Anatolia.

Right, those are the two most accepted hypotheses, respectively called the "Kurgan Hypothesis", and the "Anatolian Hypothesis." The former is the one with the highest degree of acceptance, but these are still just hypotheses, not theories. There's a few other possibilities that don't have anywhere near as much recognition, but they are technically just as valid.

However, the question is whether or not the PIE people were in frequent communication with Semitic peoples, and simple geographic proximity is not enough to determine that. The terrain at the time has to be taken into account, together with the probability that these were people who did a lot of moving around. Of course, given the wide reach of Indo-European languages, we can pretty readily assume that the latter is the case: these were people, or at least a culture, that did do a lot of moving around. However, that movement was so disparate that it really can't be said that they, as a unified whole (assuming one ever even existed), interacted with the same peoples all the time.

The final issue at hand in this tangent of mine is whether the PIE people had some kind of equivalent to the modern Supreme Deity of monotheist religions; I don't really think such a thing can be determined to exist. Maybe there was, maybe there wasn't. Even under the assumption that Dyeus Phter was a "chief God", that doesn't necessarily mean he received the most worship, or was revered by everyone in that culture. As a God of Kings, it's not necessarily unlikely that his primary worshipers were almost exclusively Kings, while people in other roles worshiped other (most likely local) Gods.

BTW, I want to clarify that I'm not calling you wrong. I just want to offer some suggestions.

Since the proto-Semitic word for wheel is clearly derived from the IE (as is the object), such trade across the Caucasus did occur.

I'd have to look into that further, since I know absolutely nothing about Proto-Semitic.

Contact between Greeks, Romans and Celts goes back a long way before that. The Greek colony at Marseilles was founded about 600 BC and traded up the river with the Celts. If one looks at prehistory, there would have been a stage when the proto-languages were together in the northern Balkans: hence common roots in Celtic and Latin like reg "king" and the preservation of the a/o distinction in those groups (unlike Germanic, Slavonic, Anatolian, etc).

Fair enough, given that plenty of Celtic (and possibly Germanic) speaking Tribes did live in places that were readily accessible to, and frequently accessed by, Greeks and Romans. (Apparently I also forgot completely about the Gauls' sack of little baby Rome plenty of centuries before Caesar. That's a legitimate brain fart on my part. DX) So allow me to clarify by geography rather than linguistic group.

There might have once been some contact between these groups during the early days after PIE split and these groups spread through Europe, however by the time of Caesar, it seems to me that the Romans (at least) seem to have forgotten all about the people who lived much further North (think the region of the North Sea Coast, Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia, etc.) except for the fact that they existed. I also think I remember reading something about a Greek King having some Celts from just a bit further North as guests, and being shocked and offended by their barbaric practice of wearing pants!!! (Though I don't remember where I read that, and it was years ago.)

This does make some sense, given that sea travel was way easier, faster, and safer than overland travel in those days.

 

[Vouthon]

I would the argue that the Vishishtadvaita theology adhered too by the Sri Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism is the probably closest to the Judaeo-Christian-Islamic conception of the Supreme God, certainly in terms of the mystical theologies of Catholic Contemplation/Hesychasm, Sufism and Kabbalah. The most famous exponent of this theology, and indeed its premier systematic theologian, was Ramanuja. I reckon he is something like the St. Thomas Aquinas of Vendanta.

The Bhakti devotionalism underlying this tradition worships a Personal God in the Supreme Deity of Vishnu. As I understand the metaphysics, the individual soul is thought to retain its separate identity from Brahman even after moksha, unlike the monism one finds in Shankara's Advaita. Material creation is also real, not maya (an illusion) and considered to be the body of God, manifesting His glory. The soul can, nonetheless, share in God's very own bliss through eternal communion with Him. All in all, that is very much in keeping with Christian doctrine.

In fact I would say that Vaishnavism as a whole is the most similar to Judaeo-Christian-Islamic ideas about a personal, omnipresent, omniscient, Supreme Being - including both Dvaita and qualified Advaita.

I really like Vaishnavism, as you can probably tell.

 

[Rakovsky]

Names and meanings for God:

Egypt
NTR / Neter / Netjer - It means a god or else a deceased person or pharaoh. They believed that the pharaoh had a special connection to god and that the departed became gods. Further etymology of the word is uncertain - Nature (eg. Latin Natura)? Heaven (eg. Coptic word for god Noute - Heavens goddess Nut)?

The symbol used to write it is a flag or an axe. Scholars have different opinions on which one the symbol means.

Another sign for NTR is a picture of a sitting god, like on the far right:

A writer who discusses this concept of God as NTR, the concept of God itself as its own being, see EA Budge. He is a famous Egyptologist wrote in the 1920's, which was a long time ago, but his research was vast. For Budge and some other Egyptologists, NTR was not just a word meaning a god, but a name for a specific god, namely God Himself, like when people today begin their prayers addressed to "God" in English.

Sumer
Dingir - means god or heaven or sky. It may come from an idea of something bright shining, or a star.
It's sign is an eight lined asterisk (instead of a six lined one) with four triangles at the ends.

Indus Valley / India
Deva = God / Deus in Latin
Bhagavan = Sanskrit title for God - the Blessed one / the Benefited / Adored one. (Like "Bog" = god in Russian and slavic languages)
Ishvara = another Sanskrit title, meaning "the Lord"

As I understand it, in Hinduism, "deva" is not a general name for God Himself in the way that Budge proposed that NTR was in Egypt.
While the prayers to God in Egypt according to Budge could be addressed to "God", or in Egyptian "NTR", such is not the case in Hinduism, where it only refers to specific gods like Shiva or Vishnu or Ganesh.

Also in Hinduism, I am not aware of a symbol for Bhagawan other than that of whatever each Hindu sect considers its main god to be, eg. Vishnu or Trimurti.

Indus Valley script has not yet been deciphered and it has some vague similarity to Sumerian script. Sanskrit came later and is the source of the Vedas, written about 1500 BC. Indus Valley writing may, in my mind, have a symbol for god like Sumerian writing does.

An attempt to decipher some basic Indus Valley letters by Jeyakumar Ramasami using some information from Sanskrit:
Indus Script Based on Sanskrit Language
http://www.sci-news.com/othersciences/linguistics/science-indus-script-sanskrit-language-01777.html

Some scholars, such as G.R. Hunter,[8] S. R. Rao, John Newberry,[9] Krishna Rao,[10] Subhash Kak[11] have argued that the Brāhmī script has some continuity with the Indus system. While others such as Iravatham Mahadevan, Kamil Zvelebil, Asko Parpola found relation with the Dravidian language.[12][13] F. Raymond Allchin have somewhat cautiously supported the possibility,[14][15] and even many supporters of the consensus theory that Brāhmī probably derives from Aramaic influence do not entirely rule out the possibility of some Indus script influence, pending the discovery of new evidence that might illuminate the murky early history of Brāhmī.
...
"Sanskritic" hypothesis


Indus people endless knot symbol/Rangoli and Inscription possibly proto Dravidian or proto Sanskrit
Indian archaeologist Shikaripura Ranganatha Rao claimed to have deciphered the Indus script. Postulating uniformity of the script over the full extent of Indus-era civilization, he compared it to the Phoenician Alphabet, and assigned sound values based on this comparison. His decipherment results in an "Sanskritic" reading, including the numerals aeka, tra, chatus, panta, happta/sapta, dasa, dvadasa, sata (1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 12, 100).[46] He notes a number of striking similarities in shape and form between the late Harappan characters and the Phoenician letters, arguing than the Phoenician script evolved from the Harappan script, challenging the classical theory that the first alphabet was Proto-Sinaitic.[47]

John E. Mitchiner, has dismissed some of these attempts at decipherment. Mitchiner mentions that "a more soundly-based but still greatly subjective and unconvincing attempt to discern an Indo-European basis in the script has been that of Rao".[48]

Support for a continuity between Indus and Brahmi has been sought in graphic similarities between Brahmi and the late Harappan script, where the ten most common ligatures correspond with the form of one of the ten most common glyphs in Brahmi.[49] There is also corresponding evidence of continuity in the use of numerals[50][51] Further support for this continuity comes from statistical analysis of the relationship carried out by Das.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_script

China

Shang Di 上帝 = Supreme/Highest Lord/Deity
上 = Shang = Supreme or Highest or First. The horizontal line in the middle is like a raised line, meaning that something is high
帝 = Deity or Lord or Emperor . In the Chinese system, an emperor was a "son of heaven", with a special connection to God or a manifestation of God. Scholars debate whether this is a picture of a person or of burning logs like in a sacrifice.

Huang Tian 皇天 = "Ruler of Heaven" or "Royal/August/Imperial Heaven/God"
皇= Huang = royal, imperial, august, emperor, sovereign, ruler, superior
天 = Tian or Tien = Heaven or God. Scholars commonly propose that God was the original meaning because the picture is of a person. There are even early pictures of Tien that look even more like a person.

Another image of Tian, one from Bronze age ritual bronze objects. SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tian

Inscription saying "Huang Tian Shang Di" in the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, meaning "Sovereign of Heaven, Supreme Deity" or "Supreme Lord of the Great Heaven":

 

[Rakovsky]

The essay Deciphering the Indus Script proposes that the fish symbol was their way of making a pictogram for the word "deity" in Indus Valley writing:

7. Fishes and Stars: evidence for astral divinities

In most Dravidian languages the usual word for 'fish' is meen. This phonetic shape can also be reconstructed for the mother language, Proto- Dravidian. A homonym meen denoting 'star' has also existed in Proto- Dravidian. Both words refer to a glittering object, and appear to be derivatives from the Proto-Dravidian root meen 'to glitter, to sparkle'. The 'fish' pictograms of the Indus script, then, can be interpreted as denoting gods, if stars were used as symbols of deities. This is indeed most likely, for in the cuneiform script the pictogram of 'star' is prefixed to every divine name as a symbol of divinity. In the times of the Indus civilisation, the Mesopotamians associated their divinities with specific heavenly bodies. For example, Inanna-Ishtar, the goddess of love and war, was symbolized by the planet Venus. A similar system was later adopted by the Greeks and by the Romans, after whose deities the planets have their English names. In India, too, the planets have been worshipped as minor divinities for the past two millennia at least, and each of them has one of the principal gods of Hinduism as its overlord.
In the Near East, the 'star' symbol distinguished divinities not only in the script but also in pictorial representations (Fig. 6). Significantly, a seal from Mohenjo-daro depicts an Indus deity with a star on either side of his head in the Near Eastern fashion. The interpretation of the 'fish' signs as symbols for astral divinities is further supported by different kinds of proofs for the practice of astronomy by the Indus priests.

8. Fish and the God of Waters
...
In the Sumerian script, the 'star' pictogram means not only dingir 'god' but also anu 'sky', and it seems that the 'star' pictogram originally was the exclusive symbol and attribute of the sky-god Anu. As Anu was the leading divinity of the Sumerian pantheon, his symbol started also meaning 'godhead', and then 'god' in general. The 'fish' pictogram of the Indus script appears to have had a somewhat similar background. The reason why 'fish' and not 'star' was selected to represent the concept of 'god' seems to be that in the Early Harappan religion the fish occupied a central position: fish is one of the most popular motifs of the Early Harappan painted pottery (Fig. 9). As the aquatic animal par excellence, it appears to symbolize the God of Waters. The importance of this deity in the Harappan pantheon is proved by his popularity in the Harappan iconography.

The famous "Proto-Siva" wears the horns of a water-buffalo, another animal closely associated with water (Fig. 10). In one Indus-type cylinder seal from the Near East, this buffalo-horned deity is surrounded by a pair of buffaloes, a pair of snakes, and a pair of fish (drawn exactly like the 'fish' pictograms of the Indus script) (Fig. 11). In a triangular amulet from Mohenjo-daro, the same deity, squatting in "Proto-Siva's" "yoga posture", is flanked on either side by a fish, an alligator, and a snake. (Fig. 12).

In a comparable fashion, the fish (sometimes alone, but usually placed in a river flowing out of the god's shoulders) characterizes the Sumerian water god Enki in the Mesopotamian seal glyptics. The water-god Varuna of the later Indian mythology is likewise said to be the lord of all sorts of aquatic monsters. We can be sure that, like Enki and Varuna, the Harappan "Proto-Siva" was not merely the god of waters, but had other important aspects as well. It seems probable that he was also the god of death and fertility: the buffalo, fish and alligator associated with the Indus deity had such associations later.

https://www.harappa.com/script/parpola15.html

 

[Rakovsky]

Unanswered questions:
1. What is the etymology of NTR/Neter?
2. What did an axe or flag (eg. those at temples) have to do with Egypt's concept of God, NTR?
3. What symbol or logo did the Indus Valley people use for god / deity?

 

[Rakovsky]

One of my questions here would be what ancient civilizations we have writing from?

China had Jiahu symbols that we've found dating to 6600 BC on tortoise shells, but it is debated if they are writing or not.
The first cases of writing that scholars agree on as writing come from the Shang dynasty of 1700 BC-1046 BC, with the first Shang writing we have dated to 1200 BC. Jiahu is in the same part of China where the Shang dynasty ruled.

It looks like the writing we have found has not been deciphered well, although some letters have been correlated to Chinese writing like the last symbol (eye) above, a divided rectangle.

See: Neolitihic signs in China
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolithic_signs_in_China

In Romania, Bulgaria, and northern Greece, tablets have been found with symbols from 5500-4000 BC, like the Tartaria (Romania),Gradeshnitsa (Bulgaria) and Dispillo (Greece) tablets.
But they have not been deciphered. The authenticity of the Tartaria tablets is debated.

Map of the paleo-balkans

Tartaria tablets


The Indus Valley civilization's writing dates to 3500-1800 BC.
But it has not been deciphered.

Sumerian writing has been found from 3350 BC.
In 2330-2154 the Akkadian empire followed the Sumerian empire, but the Akkadian language and writing system had major overlap. The Babylonian empire began in about 1900 BC and its religion had a major relationship to Sumerian religion.

Egypt's first dynasty has left us written records in hieroglyphics and dates to 3100 BC.

Den's tomb at Abydos from the 1st dynasty

Cretan Hieroglyphics and Minoan writing on Crete date from 2500–1450 B.C.E, but they have not yet been deciphered.

The Hurrian kingdom has left us writing, the earliest of which dates to 2300 – c. 2159 BC.
It has been deciphered.

This is the earliest known sample of Hurrian writing, part of this artefact with a lion.

The Elamite empire had writing whose earliest records we have come from 2200 BCE.
But Elamite cuneiform has not been deciphered yet.

The Hittite empire had an Indo-European language and its writings date from the 16th to 13th centuries BC.
It has been deciphered.

Other writing systems:

• Ugaritic dates from 1400 BC.
• Phoenician writing dates from 1200–150 BC.
• Hebrew writing was based on Phoenician, and the earliest records are from the 10th c. BC. Yet scholars say that the language of the Torah and of Job dates to a significantly older period than the time of David (10th c.). It seems to me that the Torah's writing was about 1500-1400 BC as some scholars teach.
  
• Olmec writing that we have found dates to 1100 BC.
  
• Early Turkic writing dates from the 7th c. AD.
• Pre-Columbian civilizations in South America used khipu cord/bead writing that has not been deciphered.

 

[Rakovsky]

So we have deciphered pre-Biblical writing from Egypt, a from China, Mesopotamia (the Hurrians, Sumerians, Akkadians, and Babylonians), and the Hittites of Asia Minor.

The Balkans may have had writing in 5500 BC, but it has not been deciphered. The writings of the Indus Valley, the Elamites, and the Minoan civilization of Crete have not been deciphered either.

Narrowing things down further, the Sumerians and Egyptians seem to be the only societies we really understand well due to their writing from 3500-2500 BC.

Besides them, the Chinese, Indus Valley, Balkan, and Peruvian (eg. Norte Chico culture of 3500-1800 BC) societies had writing or other important aspects of civilization by 2500 BC, but we haven't been able to decipher their writing. This is not even to mention other noteworthy megalithic cultures like Stonehenge and the megaliths of West Europe and the Sahara, the dolmens of the Caucasus, and Gobekli Tepe of 10,000 BC.