The 7-dot glyphs (or ''globes'') are first known in

Mittani Mitanni (; Hittite cuneiform ; ''Mittani'' '), c. 1550–1260 BC, earlier called Ḫabigalbat in old Babylonian texts, c. 1600 BC; Hanigalbat or Hani-Rabbat (''Hanikalbat'', ''Khanigalbat'', cuneiform ') in Assyrian records, or '' Naharin'' i ...

an art (Turkey, or ancient

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...

), but is possibly older. It appears in the iconography of

cylinder seal A cylinder seal is a small round cylinder, typically about one inch (2 to 3 cm) in length, engraved with written characters or figurative scenes or both, used in ancient times to roll an impression onto a two-dimensional surface, generally ...

s, and later on reliefs, or other motifs. With origins on cylinder seals, its meanings may come from paleohistory back to the 4th millennium BC, or even further into the 6th to 5th millennium with the origins of Europe, or Turkey's Çatal Hüyük. The 7-dot glyph was at first six dots surrounding a central dot; later two rows of 3-dots ended with a 7th as the finial.

Later iconography of seven gods

Originally the seven dots probably related to the Sumerian ''Sebittu''. Later gods included

Seven (gods) 7 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 7 or seven may also refer to: * AD 7, the seventh year of the AD era * 7 BC, the seventh year before the AD era * The month of July Music Artists * Seven (Swiss singer) (born 1978), a Swiss recording artist ...

, ''the Seven'', possibly referencing the Elamite god Narudu. For '7' being the first prime number after '5' (easily represented by the 5-fingered human hand, with

šu The cuneiform šu sign is a common, multi-use syllabic and alphabetic sign for ''šu'', ''š'', and ''u''; it has a subsidiary usage for syllabic ''qat''; it also has a majuscule-(capital letter) Sumerogram usage for ŠU, for Akkadian language ...

–. , as the cuneiform for the "''hand''"), and later associated with the Seven Sisters, or sometimes the constellation

Pleiades The Pleiades (), also known as The Seven Sisters, Messier 45 and other names by different cultures, is an asterism and an open star cluster containing middle-aged, hot B-type stars in the north-west of the constellation Taurus. At a distance ...

, it became iconographic. In ancient Egypt, the idea of '7' was associated with a person's birth. At birth, the

Seven Hathors Hathor ( egy, ḥwt-ḥr, lit=House of Horus, grc, Ἁθώρ , cop, ϩⲁⲑⲱⲣ, Meroitic: ) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion who played a wide variety of roles. As a sky deity, she was the mother or consort of the sky ...

determined the fates in an individual's life. File:Adad-Nirari stela.jpg, File:Cylinder seal Assur.JPG,

References

Bibliography

* *

Later iconography of seven gods

References

Bibliography

See also