The mother-goddess is the Caldron—the “Pot”, which, as has already been noted, was in Ancient Egypt the symbol of the inexhaustible womb of nature personified by deities like Hathor, Rhea, Aphrodite, Hera, Ishtar, &c. The “young heifer” has a similar connection, while the “waggon” seems to be another form of the “Pot”. Cloth was woven by men and women, but the production of thread was always the work of women in Ancient Egypt and elsewhere. Apparently the turning lathe was female, because the chisel was male; it may be that it was because the potter’s wheel was female that it had to be operated by a man. “A multitude” may refer to the reproductivity of the Great Mother of all mankind. The goddess was, perhaps, parsimonious because during a period of the year the earth gives forth naught, and stores all it receives.

The egg from which Pʼan Ku emerged appears to have been a symbol of the Mother Goddess of the sacred [[267]]West, remembered in Chinese legends as Si Wang Mu, “the mother of the Western King”, and in Japanese as Seiobo, who was guardian of the World Tree, the giant peach, or the lunar, cassia tree (Chapter X). Other references to her, under various names, are scattered through ancient Chinese writings. In the “Annals of the Bamboo Books” mention is made of “the Heavenly lady Pa”. She favoured the Chinese monarch, Hwang Ti, who is supposed to have reigned during 2688 B.C. by stopping “the extraordinary rains caused by the enemy”.[13]

Here we seem to meet with a vague reference to the Deluge legend. The Babylonian Ishtar was angered at the gods for causing the flood and destroying mankind, as is gathered from the Gilgamesh epic:

Then the Lady of the gods drew nigh,

And she lifted up the great jewels[14] which Anu had made according to her wish (and said):

“What gods these are! By the jewels of lapis lazuli which are upon my neck, I will not forget!

These days I have set in my memory, never will I forget them!

Let the gods come to the offering,

But Bel shall not come to the offering,

Since he refused to ask counsel and sent the deluge,