A
ceremonial pole symbolizes a variety of concepts in several different religions. For example, in the
Miao culture in
Yunnan China. In
The Evolution of the Idea of God, Grant Allen notes that
Samoyeds of Siberia, and
Damara of South Africa plant stakes at the graves of ancestors. According to Zelia Nuttall in
The Fundamental Principles Of Old and New World Civilizations, tree and pole reverence to
Anu in ancient Babylonia-Assyria may have evolved from the fire-drill and beam of the oil press, stating that it was extremely probable that the primitive employment of a fire-stick by the priesthood, for the production of "celestial fire," may have played an important role in causing the stick, and thence the pole and tree, to become the symbol of
Anu.