I've found myself wondering just that while watching Lost. At first watching and recalling the ancient symbolisms I thought "Could the Black Smoke Monster be the Angle of Death that was part of the last plagues upon Egypt during the Exodus?" You have to admit there are many biblical parallels here with the characters.
As Ben explored the chamber beneath the Others' temple that seems to be Smokey's lair, he comes across a variety of hieroglyphics etched into the walls. But one in particular caught his eye: A strange creature kneeling in front of a snake-like (Smokey-the-monster-like?) entity. The creature on the right looks like it could easily resemble the four-toed statue. Even though the only full-size glimpse we've had of the statue was from the back, many are speculating that the statue is of Anubis, the Egyptian god associated with the afterlife who protects the deceased and guides them to the great beyond. Anubis is usually portrayed as half-jackal (top), half-human (bottom).
Thinking on those grounds the animal-headed human in the hieroglyphic Ben is fixated on is probably based on Anubis, though in actuality, no Egyptian scene looks like what's shown on Lost. I suspect that the colossus is also meant to be Anubis, too. But it would appear to be actually more of a hybrid of Anubis and Taweret, the demon-wife of the Apep, the Egyptian's original god of evil. (It's said that Apep was only present at night, and therefore any evil happenings during the daytime were attributed to Taweret). The thing on the head definitely looks like Taweret's, but she never wears a kilt, which is clearly there in the back shot of the colossus. The colossus is probably holding two ankh-signs, like the one Anubis holds in this image, but he's holding them like Taweret holds the two signs she holds, which are 'protection' signs, not ankhs. We should also note that the four toes on the statue fragment are more Taweret than Anubis, who has a human body and therefore five toes.
Another interesting fact about Taweret: She's the goddess of maternity and childbirth, the protector of women and children who was said to guard mothers and their newborn children. The creatures she's made up of—hippopotamus, crocodile and lion— are all animals that would kill to protect their young. So if the statue does have elements of Taweret, and it was destroyed, could that explain why mothers who conceive on the island can't carry to term?
The other hieroglyphics in Smokey's Lair are actually quite good, even though they don't really say anything. I suspect they were copied from some publication of the Book of the Dead, the ancient Egyptian funerary text.
We could theorize until the cows come home about what this all means—is the smoke monster supposed to represent Apep, the god of evil, or is he more akin to Anubis, determining the afterlife of the dead? —but I'll leave that up to you.
Actually, research shows that Anubis presides over the judgment; Thoth merely records it. That's not to say Thoth, the keeper of knowledge, and god of magic, writing, mathematics, science and medicine, isn't connected to Lost, but the closest parallel in the EBotD is Ammemit, the Devourer of Souls, identified with Anubis, whose hieroglyph can clearly be seen on the Temple wall.>>>" Is there some egyptian island we don't know about?" Given that it's historical fact that the Phonaecians were seafaring Egyptians and the Argonauts were similarly Egyptian in origin and originally led by Herakles (which makes for a nice lil' Cerebus connection), it's quite possible that there are many islands which were colonized by Egyptians at some point in history.>>>" The four toed statue is of Isis, the wife of Osiris and the mother of Horus(the Egyptian Jesus)." highly doubtful. Isis' headdress is different, and she's never depicted naked from the waist up, being the veiled Goddess,after all, she values her modesty. More likely, it's Anubis, or a combination of Anubis and another god (which wouldn't be unprecedented in Kemetic-based religion). Also, calling Horus the Egyptian Jesus is like calling Michael Jordan the old-school equivalent of LeBron James.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that the others don't have a name for the smoke monster is interesting. While there may be a tie to egyptian religion, i think to try to connect anything in the show with only one world religion is problematic. The pillar of smoke monster may also have some connection with the picture of Yahweh leading the people in a pillar of smoke during the day and pillar of fire at night. The not naming the thing may be connected with the fact that the jewish people never spoke the name of God.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the smoke monster will be shown to be a manifestation of Egyptian myth's idea of THOTH. The connection to the book of the dead, which Thoth is said to have written, and Thoth's role as mediator between forces in keeping the balance after major cosmic battles, and his role in the judgement of souls before they enter the afterlife. With just a little research, it seems like the idea of THOTH absolutely has a strong connection, and the upcoming title "Some Like it Hoth" seems to somehow be connected to it." actually, with just a little research, you would have discovered that Thoth only records the weighing of one's heart against a feather and doesn't actually do any of the judging. that role is performed by Anubis, who sends the unlucky souls to Amemit, the devourer. PS Miles Straum is a play on the word maelstrom. there's no connection to Thoth.
ReplyDeleteThe four toed statue is of Isis, the wife of Osiris and the mother of Horus(the Egyptian Jesus). When Horus was a baby his mother took him to a magical hidden island to protect him from his uncle seth, who had murdered his father. The island is protected by Anubis, the Egyptian god of judgment and the underworld(his hieroglyph was on the wall, calling the monster, when Ben was judged). And the cherry on top. Horus was crippled as a boy then miraculously healed, died and rose again after 3 days, and had a line/scar under his right eye(image search the eye of Horus and you will see). when Jack was cleaning the class room there was a time line of ancient Egypt. Long story short, John is Horus reincarnated and is here to save everyone. I think Richard might be an ancient Egyptian left to protect the island. There it is. Hope I didn’t burst your bubble!
ReplyDeleteThe smoke monster is definately the Eater of Souls. Anubis was the protector of the dead and would judge them to go either to the underworld or to the eater of souls. So, I think smokey is just that: The Eater of Souls. Just a theory.
ReplyDeleteThe island is the lost Island of Atlantis- The Egyptians are meant to be descendants of Atlantis (according to some people) The statue is Anubis, but there is another one above ground (one is for life and one is for death) Miles is marvin candles son Nuff said
ReplyDeleteThen we might assume Richard Alpert is Ra (R.A.)the sun god who also represents rebirth and renewal.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the statue is going to represent an actual Egyptian god; I think it's going to be a statue of one of the characters from the show. Although there are a ton of references to religion in the show, they never really say anything outright about it.
ReplyDeleteThe statue was destroyed before DHARMA got to the island, and Amy gave birth to Ethan after it was destroyed so the theory that it being destroyed is the reason women can't conceive doesn't hold water.
ReplyDeleteI think Locke broke the statue when he turned the wheel (Juliet or Miles said that flash seemed like an earthquake).
ReplyDeleteBut, remember what miles said... it might not be the actual view of the producers of the show, but he presents the case for time travel; that is, that in the timeline that we see the previous seasons, is the same timeline that they are currently in ( 1970 ). They were, in fact there, and whatever has happened, has happened.
ReplyDeleteThat totally makes sense that the statue was destroyed in the "war." But I'm still confused about the was a war -- Does it still happen now with Sawyer et. al. as part of the Dharma Iniative? Did his little mediation with Richard Alpert prevent the war from even happening in the first place? If so,then maybe in the "new" present day, the statue still exists, and people can once again have babies on the island, so all the other babies/moms who would have died are now living ... HENCE THAT's WHY BEN WANTED THEM TO RETURN TO THE ISLAND -- SO THEY CAN PREVENT THE WAR FROM HAPPENING AND THEREFORE PREVENT THE STATUE FROM BEING KNOCKED DOWN AND THEREFORE SAVING ALL BABIES AND MOMMIES FOREVER! Because we know he has a thing for kids and their moms. But I don't think that's very likely.
ReplyDeleteSo then does Horus of DARMA represent the the god Horus, god of war? Was Loche just reincarnated as Jacob's counterpart, Seth, the god of war, storm and chaos? Maybe the un-named man in the beginning will be named Seth
ReplyDeleteThe smoke monster is Jacob's counter part, Esau if you will. He apparently can change form. Anyone who has been dead and made an appearance is also Jacob's counterpart. Notice that when dead people and the smoke monster are in the same episode, they are never in the same scene. Esau can only be one or the other. An idea that has come to mind since I re-watched some episodes is that Jacob too may be taking the form of a smoke entity. Locke mentioned to Ecko way back that when he saw the monster, it was a bright light. Jacob's shirt = white Esau's = black Smoke monter / Esau is black >.>
ReplyDeleteMaybe the nuke detonation initiated by Jack and Juliet destroyed the statue and is also the reason for infertility on the island in the future. I agree that the smoke monster is the devourer of souls, can take the form of the dead (Christian Shepard, Charlie, Ana Lucia, Locke, etc.) I'm not sure who Jacob is and why he and smokey are in opposition. It's interesting that the ship that Richard (Ricardo) arrives on is a metaphor for the plane crashes in the future and Jacob "bringing" people to the island.
ReplyDeleteI think Richard, with his dark eyeliner has always looked Egyptian. He also has been in all eras shown on the show.
ReplyDeleteCould the remains of the civilisation not be a composite of different ancient cultures or at least the beginnings of what would be the Ancient Egyptian culture we all know and love? Thids would make sense in an artistic way as it would give the programme makers more creative license to do their own thing, not have to stick to existing interpretations of history and would also explain the small inconsistencies such as the fact that people on this site cannot agree on the identity of the statue? Just a thought.
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