Ian Freer

Ian Freer

Ian is married to Ramona and lives with her in an English village.
He was awarded an Exhibition in Classics to Cambridge after a childhood in Yorkshire. He co-edited the Cambridge University student newspaper in the 1970s. He is a professional person. He has been an associate lecturer with the Open University. He holds an MA Cantab Degree and a Postgraduate Certificate (with Distinction) in Refugee Studies, from London South Bank University.
His interest in ancient history, astronomy and the Middle East led him to start taking tours around the British Museum, which in turn led to this book project. The Museum's collection of Assyrian Palace Art is remarkable and contains various early examples of the Tree of Life motif.
Ian seized on Professor Simo Parpola's seminal article about the Assyrian Kabbalah which argued that, despite the lack of textual proof in cuneiform, the symbolism itself in the Kabbalah was remarkably consistent with the Assyrian (Aramaic)language names of the planetary gods of ancient Iraq. Ian has also been assisted by Michael Baigent's exposition of ancient Babylonian culture in "From the Omens of Babylon", which speculated that the the Tree of Life may have originated there. Both authors generously allowed Ian to quote them and and so gave him scope to develop his own arguments from their sure foundations.
Ian's extensive studies of what is now called "cultural astronomy", Kabbalah, and ancient history is woven here into a fascinating tapestry.

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