"These similarities of names are certainly striking and can hardly be accidental. If the leading characters of the Book of Esther be identified with the chief gods of Babylon and of Elam, then the conflict of Mordecai and Esther against Haman, Vashti, and Zeresh must be regarded as a euhemeristic version of an ancient Babylonian myth describing a conflict of Marduk and Ishtar against Humman, Vashti, and Kirisha (or Siris), and Purim must be identified with the Babylonian feast with which this myth was connected."

...

"With the unification of Babylonia under the rule of the city of Babylon this legend became the national epic, and the exploits of Gilgamesh were transferred to his counterpart Marduk, the chief god of Babylon. As a Marduk-legend this epic eventually became known to the Jews, and was transformed by them into the story of Esther."

...

"Winckler is disposed to find analogies with the Tammuz-Ishtar myth. Haman is the deposed sun-god, who through the six winter months is condemned to dwell in the under-world. The 180 days of Ahasuerus' feast is the half-year period of Haman's reign. His name Agagite is connected with agagu, ‘be angry,' and corresponds to the myth of the drunken and tyrannical god whose rule is brought to an end with the vernal equinox. His death by hanging is a characteristic fate of solar-heroes. Vashti, the beautiful, who refuses to come at the command of the King, is the virgin Ishtar, who accompanies her lover to the under-world. She cannot come, because the period of her reign on earth is over. Mordecai and Esther are Marduk and Ishtar, the terrestrial counterparts of Haman and Vashti in the under-world. They release the earth from the tyranny of the powers of winter and darkness, and reign over the six summer months. The seven eunuchs and the seven viziers are the Annunaki and Igigi, the spirits of the upper and the lower world. The first seven are sent to bring up Ishtar out of Hades, the other seven advise that Vashti be deposed."

...

"This feast was of a Bacchanalian character, and in it Ishtar, the goddess of love, played an important part. A slave or condemned criminal was made king for five days, ruled over the nobles, and had the right to use the royal concubines. At the end of that time he was hanged or crucified to typify the death of the god of winter. During this period all the usual social relations were reversed, as in the Roman Saturnalia and the Italian Carnival, which are survivals of this same feast. This feast the Jews came to know in Susa, and they were attracted to it because of the release that it brought them from their ordinary servile position. This accounts for their adoption of it, and for their subsequent development of it into a festival of national deliverance."

A critical and exegetical commentary on the Book of Esther, Volume 24
By Lewis Bayles Paton

It is also interesting that the Book of Esther is the only book in the Bible that does not mention God.

All idol worship comes from Nimrod. He is the founder of both the Babylonian and Assyrian empires. When God dispersed the peoples at the Tower of Babel, they took their mystery religion with them where ever they settled-sun and moon worship (sun/male principle, moon/female principle). That is why you see the same step pyramyds in many cultures, they are man made mountains on a plain where their sun/moon deities are worshiped at the top of the summit. Interestingly enough, Nimrod can be considered the first anti-christ, the Bible often refers to the anti-christ as "the Assyrian", and his kingdom is Babylon the Great, Mother of Harlots - a reference to pagan deities. Hope that helps =)

TheBereangirl Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> All idol worship comes from Nimrod. He is the
> founder of both the Babylonian and Assyrian
> empires. When God dispersed the peoples at the
> Tower of Babel, they took their mystery religion
> with them where ever they settled-sun and moon
> worship (sun/male principle, moon/female
> principle).

Ah, it appears that you think the Bible is actual history?

Other cultures of course have something similar like Persephone, Hades and Demeter (Proserpina, Pluto and Ceres in Roman version), Amataratsu hiding in a cave and remerging, Cerridwen....Makes me wonder if this is just a collective concious myth or where the whole idea started and spread as humans moved out of Africa.

Itzpapalotl Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Other cultures of course have something similar
> like Persephone, Hades and Demeter (Proserpina,
> Pluto and Ceres in Roman version), Amataratsu
> hiding in a cave and remerging, Cerridwen....Makes
> me wonder if this is just a collective concious
> myth or where the whole idea started and spread as
> humans moved out of Africa.

Very possible. Some sources claim that this myth occurs in other forms in many other cultures such as:

Ishtar is the goddess of many names. She is also known as Astarte. The word “star” derives from her name, and she is said to be a star, sometimes Sirius and other times that of Venus. In her form of morning star, she is the goddess of war and carnage, and as the evening star, the goddess of love and bliss. In other words, her coming represents the moment of transition between Kali Yuga and Sat Yuga. As such, she is also the goddess who brings peace, and in that capacity has been called Semiramis (the one who holds the olive branch, in other words, the dove) and later the Roman goddess Columbia (whom we have already talked about in other teachings). In early Semitic myths, she is referred to as Adon, the Lord, which evolved into Athon, and in Greek became both Adonis and Athena. In Christianity, of course, she was transfigured from Adon to Madonna.

In Hebrew mythology, she is the Shekhinah(Mother Zion), the Holy Spirit. She is also the "beloved" of the Song of Songs, is on the one hand the harlot of the gods (the "hierodule of heaven," Belit, the Black One, known as Kali in India), but on the other hand she is the mother and virgin. She is spoken of as the "virgin womb of Chaos." In pre-Hebrew Canaanite mythology, her icon is the Tree, and her name is Asherah. In Assyria, she becomes Inanna, and later Estera, and is re-introduced into Jewish mythology as Queen Esther. In Norse mythology, she is called Freya, and is the goddess celebrated on Good Friday.

http://historyhuntersinternational.org/2011/03/21/mythology-of-easter/