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So, I'm in the process of building a rather large Word Bearers army...and I am driven with all my armies to develop a backstory and personal mythology to my army as a whole, and characters within it specifically.

I just can't for the life of me seem to figure out the main cultural influence used to create the lore for Colchis and Lorgar. At times it seems Semitic, both Hebraic and Arabic; other times there are clear biblical references, or Greek names, or even a couple Germanic, and Hindu names/concepts. Also the writing tattooed on Erebus' seems like it might be based on Cuneiform... So overall I'm getting a kind of near-eastern, north-African, middle-eastern, Eurasian feel....which isn't too helpful, as roughly half of all human cultures could be described as thus

Any help or insight would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks guys.

Word Bearers are pretty much the faith based legion. Pretty much the world of Colchis had all the big religions in the crusade period and before on it.

The Wodd Bearers bring fanaticism to a whole new level. They would make the Taliban look like pacifist atheists.

Yeah I understand the Word Bearer mindset and current lore, I was just wondering what human culture their origins are based in, for example Ultramarines are based on Greek/Roman culture, Thousand Sons are heavily influenced by Egyptian and Zoastrian mythology, White Scars are space Mongolians or Huns, Space Wolves are Norse, and so on.

Not really any specific culture. You could probanly say they are monastic warriors, similar to Knights Templar, only that they take worship a bit too far. Like a lot.

Not every Chapter is based off of historic references.

I'd look at the nature of colchis rather than individuals, erebus for example is a terran as is argel Tal.

The way they depicted colchis was very arid, and its city as I remember reading it, did remind me of babylons hanging gardens.

I'm no history buff but I'd work on the premise of colchis being a derivative of that.

Yeah, I see where your going with that knights templar allegory...and now in retrospect it makes a lot of sense....a bunch or religious nut jobs from disparate backgrounds finding common cause to crusade/kill.

I'm now thinking of using a near-eastern or Berber feel to the army/lore. I'll just have to work out what i'de like to name my characters and the cohort now. I think "The Shriven" sounds cool for an army designation, as it's a fairly archaic word, and defiantly conveys a certain tone of religious fervor.

Also, I know a lot of Word Bearers were in the galactic west, holding up Guilliman and his Ultramarines for much of the Heresy, but did they play a prominent role during the siege of the Imperial Palace on Terra? I'm thinking I can perhaps models some of my tanks as bearing captured architectural bits from the Eternity Gate or some such...

The way their homeworld is presented it looks a bit like ancient Mesopotamia. Reading First Heretic gives this idea. With temples and priest cults being important on the cities of Colchis. The leader fullfills a double role as high priest and leader of the city, just like cities in ancient Mesopotamia. At least this is my view as to their inspiration. You should just look up Ancient Mesopotamia on wikipedia or something, should give some insight.

The story of Lorgar is a bit more difficult. I cant really place anyone as a real life inspiration of him. But his legion looks kind of like the inquisition, killing those that wont accept their view, sparing those who reform.