Snapshots of Creation
The Ra-Sign: As the determinative for “sun” in ancient Egyptian and Chinese hieroglyphic systems, there is much reason to believe that this particular image captures an early phase in the history of the polar configuration and that other stellar forms familiar from the Mesopotamian cylinder seals are later historical developments, representing subsequent phases in the visual appearance of the polar configuration. See Ozguc for early Ra-signs in Anatolian cylinders.1 Note: In Mesoamerican iconography, the ra-sign is the locus of the fire-drilling.2 So, too, it will be noticed that the “hearth” of the fire-drilling in Codex Borbonicus plate 34 is a perfect shen-sign.
Quatrefoil: “The quatrefoil, a four-lobed flower-shaped symbol, is ubiquitous in Mesoamerican iconography and traces its roots back to the Preclassic period.”3 “Four-petaled flowers are common in Olmec iconography.”4 Compare the beautiful example from figure 1:f in Taube to figure 2.13 in Pittman (figure a below), which depicts a virtually identical image from roughly 2300BCE.5
Figure a (Pittman)
1 N. Özgüc, The Anatolian Group of Cylinder Impressions from Kültepe (Ankara, 1965). See Plate 29:figure 88. 2 Codex Borbonicus, folio 34. See also K. Taube, p. 295, figure 10, 15b. 3 J. Guernsey, “A consideration of the quatrefoil motif in Preclassic Mesoamerica,” RES 57/58 (2010), p. 75. 4 K. Taube, 90. 5 H. Pittman, “Administrative Role of Seal Imagery in the Early Bronze Age,” in M. Ameri et al eds., Seals and Sealing in the Ancient World (Cambridge, 2018), p. 33. Taube, “Flower Mountain,” RES, p. 71.
Commented [EC1]: Note that Maya quincunx forms show Ra-like images with four dots (see below) Commented [EC2]: This is a stamp seal from Konar Sandal South, Trench III. Analogous images come from level five. “The evidence I consider here comes from recent excavations on the Iranian plateau at the site of Konar Sandal South…During the third millennium KSS was a large entrepot or nexus located at the crossing of routes that linked the greater Iranian plateau to both the east and west.” (21) Evidently ED I (22) C14 gives dates of 2480-2280 (24)
Exemplary examples of the ˙wn-sign are depicted in Figure 14a, 15c of Taube.6 Mazariegas figure 1b shows a classic ˙wn-sign with four circles in the form of a perfect Lamat-sign (see second figure b below). 7 Note: This is simply the full T510 sign. It is this glyph that appears atop the “earth/caban” sign in the so-called “Earth-star” verb. Figure 14 shows Jaguar God with T510 on or as his headdress. 8 For a classic ˙wn, see figure 3:13 in N. Ozquc, “Seal Impressions from the Palaces at Acemheyak,” from circa 1800 BCE.9 A beautiful ˙wn as a star sign appears in figure 20:5 of Greg, said to depict “an ancient Assyrian” solar disc from 1200 BCE.10 A beautiful image of the ˙wn appears on a Karpathe Painter Rhyton.11 For various examples of ˙wn-images employed as decorative patterns in ancient Egypt, see Egyptian Art, figure I25 on p. 253. For a classic example of a four-fold ˙wn-flower with accompanying “rings” suggesting a formation in a whirl of cosmic activity, see K. Taube (see figure d below). 12
See Tony Peratt, Physica Scripta, figure 15 for an example generated by synchrotron radiation (see figure C below). 13 A very early perfect ˙wn occurs during the prehistoric period (dated to the late Ubaid period from Tepe Gaura, circa 4500 BCE: See figure F below). 14 Another is illustrated in X.15 A good example of an ˙wn-star set within a
6 See also the Nuzi cylinder seal depicted as figure one in Chronology & Catastrophism 2019:1, p. 29. 7 Mazariegas, “Cosmos and Warfare on a Classic Maya Vase,” RES 47 (2005), p. 108. See also figure 6d, from J. Guernsey, “A Consideration of the quatrefoil motif in Preclassic Mesoamerica,” RES 57/58 (2010), p. 81 where she points to a Tlatilco roller seal that depicts 7 dots surrounding the innermost kernel of the flower. 8 Mazariegas, “Cosmos and Warfare on a Classic Maya Vase,” RES 47 (2005), p. 122. 9 In E. Porada ed., Ancient Art in Seals (Princeton, 1980). 10 R. Greg, On the Meaning and Origin of the Fylfot and Swastika (Westminster, 1884), Plate 20, p. 27. 11 See figure 466 in H. Bossert, The Art of Ancient Crete (London, 1937), p. 262. 12 Flower Mountain, p. 92, figure 18:b. See also K. Taube, The Major Gods of Ancient Yucatan, figure 38c. 13 A. Peratt & W. Yao, “Evidence for an intense solar outburst in prehistory,” Phys. Scr (2008), p. 12. 14 A. von Wickede, Prähistorische Stempelglyptik in Vorderasien (München, 1990), figure 240. 15 Figure 537 in plate 34 from P. Amiet, La glyptique mésopotamienne archaique (Paris, 1961), labeled Glyptik Proto-Elamite. Commented [EC3]: Does this signify the birth of the sun/Zeus from the earth? Commented [EC4]: More like a half-510 or the “eye glyph” typically identified with Venus. Note: the headdress has finger-like projections not unlike the projections emanating from Ishtar in Mesopotamia.
crescent can be found in Teissier.16 Of ˙wn images in Halaf and Susa, van Buren remarks: “Occasionally a four-petalled rosette approximated so closely to a cross that it is hard to decide whether a floral or a geometrical motive was intended.”17 Interestingly, she notes: “The cross seems to disappear completely for a long time, but re-appears towards the middle of the second millennium on a few seals under Syrian influence.”18 For a classic example of a cross set within a crescent, see figure 12b in Grace White.19 See also the same author’s classification system on page 146. “Two other seals of the same period show the cross ‘in the sky’, once with a crescent, the other time with a big star, and in this second example four wavy lines spring from the angles where the arms of the cross intersect, just like the rays on a sun-disk. These facts seem to lend support to the theory that the cross was a sun-symbol.”20 Van Buren’s findings are strongly supported by the fact that, in the Egyptian hieroglyphic script, the four-petaled wn rosette (M-42) becomes indistinguishable from the cross (Z11) in later hieratic script.21 The very same connection is evident in Mesoamerica, as evidenced by the different forms of the Lamat sign in Glyph T510 below (where a four-pointed star is replaced by a cross: See figure E below). Note: In very early Mesopotamian glyptic a Lamat-like image is set in a slightly rotated position, thereby suggesting a pyramid ala the early images from Susa.22
16 B. Teissier, Egyptian Iconography on Syro-Palestinian Cylinder Seals of the Middle Bronze Age (Fribourg, 1996), p. 67, figure 80. 17 E. van Buren, Symbols of the Gods, p. 111. 18 Ibid., p. 112. 19 See also analogous images in figure one, p. 25. 20 Ibid., pp. 113-114. 21 J. Allen, Middle Egyptian, p. 486. 22 Figure 1255 from P. Amiet, plate 95.
Lamat23
Figure C
23 For a possible prototype for the Lamat sign from prehistoric Mesopotamia, see A. von Wickede, Prahistorische Stempelglyptik in Vorderasien (Munchen, 1990), p. 219, figures 3 and 4. See Z. Nuttall, p. 46 for an interesting picture of a Lamat-sign as a World Tree like form.
Figure D 24
Figure X
Figure E
24 See Plate 30, figure 479 in Amiet? Cylindres en steatite Brulee.
Figure F
For a perfect ˙wn with four balls, see plate 16 in Grace.25
Of ˙wn images in Halaf and Susa, van Buren remarks: “Occasionally a four-petalled rosette approximated so closely to a cross that it is hard to decide whether a floral or a geometrical motive was intended.”26 She also drew attention to figure Z, wherein a quincunx is set inside a star. The close affinity between the quatrefoil and the cross is further indicated by the fact that the Egyptian wn-sign (M-42) is indistinguishable from a variant depicting a cross (Z-11).27 Likewise, early Mayan images of the Lamat show the quatrefoil, while variant images show the internal star as a cross-like object.28 Already by 3100 BCE the quatrefoil had morphed into the cross as evidenced by the fact that images featuring a Maltese Cross show four tiny orbs in the corners (see figure G below).29
Note the remarkable resemblance between the ˙wn sign depicted in figure F above to the four-fold star set in the crescent in figure Y.30 The latter image dates from the first half
25 Plate 16, Grace White, “The Religious Iconography of Cappadocian Glyptic in the Assyrian Colony Period…” Dissertation for the University of Chicago (1993), p. 445. 26 E. van Buren, Symbols of the Gods, p. 111. 27 See James Allen, Middle Egyptian (Cambridge, 2014), p. 486. 28 See E. Thompson, Maya Catalog, glyph 510. 29 See figure 17 in B. Teissier, Ancient Near Eastern Seals (Berkeley, 1984), dating to 3100 BCE. 30 For the latter image, see plate 3B in Grace White, op. cit., p. 432.
of the second millennium BCE. For a similar four-pointed star set in a disc and evidently showing a winged sun-disk, see figure 20 in Stein.31
Figure three32
Maltese Cross (figure G)
The Blossoming of the Sun-god
31 “Mythologische Inhalte der Nuzi-Glyptik,” in V. Haas ed., Hurriter und Hurritisch (1988). Figure 30 shows a very similar image. 32 This form is taken from plate 34 (531) in X and is listed as Glyptik Proto-Elamite.
Figure one33
Figure two34
According to Collon, “Centre-dot circles, made with a tubular drill, appear on all these examples.”35
Of the nascent sun-god Nanahuatl it was reported that he suddenly “blossomed” (cuecueponi) upon being incinerated in the turquoise enclosure that constituted his hearth: “Like so he burns, he blossoms, his flesh sizzles.”36
33 Cairn T from Loughcrew. 34 This is figure 34 from D. Collon, First Impressions, p. 21. There she dates it to Period II, 3000-2334 BCE. “The Diyala has provided the best stratified sequence of Piedmont seals which can be dated to the very beginning of the third millennium BC (ED A).” Ibid., p. 23. 35 Ibid., p. 23. 36 K. Read, Time and Sacrifice in the Aztec Cosmos (Bloomington, 1998), p. 53. See also K. Read & J. Gonzalez, Mesoamerican Mythology (Oxford, 2000), p. 100.
“Then descended Ppizlimtec, to take the flower…he took the figure of a humming bird with green plumage on its breast, when he descended…Then the five-petaled flower took him for her husband. Thereupon the heart of the flower came forth to set itself in motion. Four-fold [or four-branched] was the plate of the flower, and Ah Kin Xochbiltun was set in its center.”37
Quincunx:
Figure one
A closely related symbol is the quincunx (see figure one), which seemingly shows the Ra-sign together with four beams of synchrotron radiation before the stellar “rays” radiated outwards to the four directions. According to Karl Taube and other scholars of Mesoamerican religion, the quincunx is intimately connected to the Aztec fire-god: “For the Aztecs, the quincunx represented turquoise, xiuitl, an important morpheme in the name Xiuhtecuhtli.”38
There is much reason to believe that this so-called quincunx image constitutes one of the earliest phases assumed by the nascent sun (Mars and Venus in conjunction, with Mars as central core and rays from Venus forming the floral pattern). There is a wealth of evidence that the quincunx later evolved into the four-fold star pattern depicted in figure X and then into the cross pattern so popular in Mesopotamian cylinder seals (see figure
37 R. Roys, The Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel, p. X (online). 38 K. Taube, The Major Gods of Ancient Yucatan (Washington D.C., 1992), p. 125. See also P. Hajovsky, On the Lips of Others: Moteuczoma’s Fame in Aztec Monuments and Rituals (Austin, 2015), p. 94.
Commented [EC5]: Compare inner circle to Shen bond.
Y). Elizabeth van Buren already called attention to the resemblance between the quincunx and the solar cross, concluding that both were likely images of the sun.
A quincunx-like image is intimately connected with the “Morning Star” in various Maya codices—the so-called Lamat Sign, or T-510 (see figure two).39 When coupled together with the T-109 prefix chac, the phrase in question is known to denote “Great or Red” Star—i.e., the Morning Star.40
Figure two
Note: The classic Nahuatl logogram for “Tonatiuh/sun” depicts exactly this star, but with four smaller discs set at the semi-cardinal directions.41 Figure 18 of Stein shows a perfect Lamat sign. 42 This figure is thought to date from the end of the Nuzi period (several of these seals are dated to the reign of Silwa-tessup). Note that figure 20 from Stein shows the very same scene with the four-cornered star substituted for the Lamat. Note that figure 15 shows a six-pointed star with six orbs between the respective rays.
39 Adapted from M. Macri & M. Looper, The New Catalog of Maya Hieroglyphs (Norman, 2003), p. 229. 40 B. Stross, “Venus and Sirius: Some Unexpected Similarities,” Kronos XII:1 (1987), pp. 26-27. 41 See M. Leon-Portilla & E. Shorris, In the Language of Kings (New York, 2010), p. 4. 42 D. Stein, “Mythologische Inhalte der Nuzi-Glyptik,” in V. Haas ed., Hurriter und Hurritisch (1988), pp. 173-209. See also figure 12 which appears to show a Lamat. Figure 15 shows a 6-rayed star with dots between each ray. Figures 32 and 34 show a perfect Lamat as a winged sun-disk.
Commented [EC6]: The two symbols are cognate: 9 just shows the shen-sign before the flaring up or “blossoming” of the central sun.
Note: Early examples of the quatrefoil/Lamat-sign show what appear to be seven satellites in close proximity to the central core (figure eight).43
Figure eight
For a beautiful image of a sun-disc which offers a cross between a tonalli-sign and a Maltese cross, see figure 1:13c in X.44
Four-cornered star: A classic example of the four-cornered star set in a crescent appears in figure 67 (Plate 22).45 Here the central disc/planet appears to be embossed (see figure Z below).
43 See figure 6d in J. Guernsey, “A Consideration of the quatrefoil motif in Preclassic Mesoamerica,” p. 81 (this is Joralemon, figure 135). 44 Evidently excavated by Luis Gamboa Cabezas relatively recently. See M. Smith, “The Archaeology of Tezcatlipoca,” p. 31. 45 N. Özgüc, The Anatolian Group of Cylinder Impressions from Kültepe (Ankara, 1965).
Figure Z
In Plate 4:19 from the same text the star morphs into a cross-like object. A classic example of the four-cornered star occurs in figure 513 in B. Teissier, Ancient Near Eastern Cyllinder Seals (Berkeley, 1984), p. 325 (circa 1850). See also figure 3b in Grace White, where the star appears within a crescent. H. Cain, Petroglyphs of Central Washington (Seattle, 1950), figure 55. Amiet, figure 484 from Susa. For an early Nuzi image on a standard, see figure 18 in D. Stein, “Mythologische Inhalte der Nuzi Glyptik,” in V. Haas ed., Hurriter und Hurritisch (1988), pp. 173-209. For examples of winged stars, see Stein, figures 30 and 32, 34. For the second image, see D. Collon, “The Near Eastern Moon God,” figure 8. H. Hammade, Cylinder Seals from the Collections of the Aleppo Museum (X, 1987), figure 73 (this is a classic symbol of Shamash). Note: Chris Woods says that this image dates from the Sargonic period.46B. Teissier, Egyptian Iconography on Syro-Palestinian Cylinder Seals of the Middle Bronze Age (Fribourg, 1996), figures 80, 84, 247. (See chronology below) Early examples from Egypt are said to come from “mid-4th millennium BC.”47 Note: The example provided by Wilson is an exact duplicate of the classic “Great Star” design from the American Southwest. “Since the period of the Akkade Dynasty (XXIV-XXII centuries BC), a four-pointed star inscribed in a disc is a standard symbol for depicting the solar deity Utu (Shamash) on seals, and later on boundary stones.”48 For an example from Mesoamerica, see K.
46 C. Woods, The Sun-God Tablet of Nabu-apla-iddina Revisited,” Journal of Cuneiform Studies 56 (2004), p. 50. 47 Eva Wilson, Ancient Egyptian Designs (London, 1986), p. 8. 48 G. Kurtik, op. cit., p. 508.
Taube.49 A great star appears on Olmec monuments at La Venta Colossal Head 1.50 Figures 20 and 36 in Stein show a perfect Great Star sans central sun.51 A close parallel is to be found in plate 3 in Grace White.52 See plates 3, 46 of Grace for a Great Star image.
53
49 Flower Mountain, p. 87, figure 15c. 50 A. Stone, Heart of Creation, p. 58 (figure 4:12a). 51 D. Stein, “Mythologische Inhalte der Nuzi-Glyptik,” in V. Haas ed., Hurriter und Hurritisch (1988), pp. 173-209. 52 Grace White, “The Religious Iconography of Cappadocian Glyptic in the Assyrian Colony Period…” Dissertation for the University of Chicago (1993), p. 432. 53 Figure 77 from A. Vanel, L’Iconographie du Dieu de L’Orage (Paris, 1965), p. 185.
Egyptian Great Star
The Celestial Cross
Figure X54
For a precise counterpart to this image, see W. Gaerte, figure 41.55 Citing Gaerte, Eliade writes: “As early as 1914, W. Gaerte had collected a large number of prehistoric signs and images that could be interpreted as cosmic mountains, navels of the earth, and paradigmatic rivers dividing the ‘world’ in four directions.”56 Gaerte’s example came from J. de Morgan’s Memoires, which includes numerous examples from prehistoric Susa (circa 4000-3000 BCE).57 Note: Virtually identical images appear in Harappa circa 3200-2600 (Mehrgarh VI-VII). 58 The very same design appears several millennia later on Greek vases (figure X below). 59 The author refers the designs to the end of the 5th millennium BCE.60 “The Halaf tradition of the ancient Near East spans from approximately 6000 to 5100 B.C.E, which largely covers the sixth millennium B.C.E and sits chronologically between the development of agriculture and the rise of urban centers. The name is derived from the eponymous Syrian site of Tell Halaf, where distinctively painted pottery unlike found before was first confirmed (von Oppenheim and Schmidt
54 J. de Morgan, Memoires, Vol. 12 (Paris, 1912), figures 11:3, 12:2, 4, 6, 7; 13:1-4, 6- 7; 14:2, 4; 15:1-7; 16:1, 3, 4-7; 17:4, 5, 7; 18:1-6; 41:3; and 42:1, 2, 4, 5. 55 W. Gaerte, “Kosmische Vorstellungen im Bilde prähistorischer Zeit: Erdberg, Himmelsberg, Erdnabel und Weltströme,” Anthropos 9 (1914), p. 977. 56 History of Religious Ideas, Vol. 1, p. 26. 57 J. de Morgan, Memoires, Vol. 12 (Paris, 1912), See figures 11:3, 12:2, 4, 6, 7; 13:1-4, 6-7; 14:2, 4; 15:1-7; 16:1, 3, 4-7; 17:4, 5, 7; 18:1-6; 41:3; and 42:1, 2, 4, 5. 58 A. Parpola, The Roots of India (Oxford, 2015), p. 190. 59 Tomb 40 Agora d’Athens; Double-handled amphora, Athens 850; Geometric Amphora, Dipylon of Athens; Painter of Athens 216 (850 BCE). 60 Ibid., p. 94.
1943).”61 Refers to “four-pointed star bordered by a checkered pattern” on Halaf pottery.62 “Halaf pottery has other patterns that can also be interpreted in referring to later written and pictorial (iconographic) sources of ancient Mesopotamia. These patterns are a rosette, usually eight-pointed, and a four-pointed star. Both patterns are so similar that we could consider them as variations of one and the same graphic element.”63
Here it will be noted that many of the earliest artworks from Susa depict the four-fold star as set within a kite-like image. The kite-like image, in turn, definitely resembles a pyramidal-like form when viewed from “above,” as a four-sided pyramid whose “arms” are composed of the radiating “rays” of the central star.64 See here the close parallel in H. Frankfort (see below).65 Note: Here the encircling bird forms are following a sunward direction. The very same “kite-like” form is depicted in Megalithic art from Ireland.66 Virtually the same image is found in Aztec art. 67
61 G. Gessner, “A Brief Overview of the Halaf Tradition,” p. 777. 62 Ibid., p. 84. 63 Ibid., p. 79. 64 See figure 5 from Vases Peints Trouves dans la Necropole de Suse. 65 H. Frankfort, The Art and Architecture of the Ancient Orient (New Haven, 1954), p. 333. 66 67 See J. Olko, Insignia of Rank in the Nahua World (Boulder, 2014), figure 3.43, p. 279.
Commented [EC7]: “The predominance of decoration over representation which marks the painted pottery of the fifth millennium is also characteristic of Achaemenian sculpture of the fifth century BC.” (333) Commented [EC8]: This example is particularly striking.
Figure X
Note: In several examples the four-pointed star is encircled by a larger band, as depicted here.68 In other early examples the outer border is composed of a crenallated design. 69
Note: Certain sun-images in the ancient Near East show abbreviated “cross-like” projections identical to the Mesoamerican nik-flower glyph (see figure Z below). 70 Cross-sun depicted in crescent during Period IVa (circa 2000-1500).71 For a perfect examples of the Shamash-cross, see plates one and twelve of Grace.72 For cross with lightning-like projections, see plates 20, *28, 41. For cross where the inner forms look like arrows, see plate 27b. For a perfect tonalli-image from the First Dynasty.73
Figure Z74
68 See image 3, 4, 5, and 6 from Premiere Period. 69 See figures 1, 5, 6, and 7 on Vases Peints Troubes Dans la Necropole de Suse (Premiere period). 70 See plate 7 in Grace White, “The Religious Iconography of Cappadocian Glyptic in the Assyrian Colony Period…” Dissertation for the University of Chicago (1993), p. 436. 71 D. Collon, First Impressions, Figure 140 on page 42. 72 Grace White, “The Religious Iconography of Cappadocian Glyptic in the Assyrian Colony Period…” Dissertation for the University of Chicago (1993), p. 430. 73 See Figure 16.8 in J. Baines, “Sources of Egyptian Temple Cosmology,” in Heaven and Earth, p. 413. 74 This is figure 84 in B. Teissier, op. cit. p. 67.
Greek amphora (early Geometric)75
tonalli
75 See B.B. Shefton, “East Greek Influences in Sixth-Century Attic Vase-Painting and Some Laconian Trails,” pp. 41ff for references to “quatrefoil star patterns”
Figure one76
Four-wind sun: See M. Dijkstra, “The Weather-God on Two Mountains,” UF 23 (1991), figure 3 (Plate 1). Here it stands inside a crescent. For a classic example from the New World, see Prehistoric Art of the Eastern Woodlands (figure 14). For a classic example of the four-fold “sun” with streaming wind, see Trajan’s Column scene 42, where the central orb is represented as knob-like.77 See especially the classic artwork of Ur Nammu depicting Shamash with a central boss.78 Naramsin’s victory stele seems to show embossed suns as well.79 Note the word asterioskion, “boss, knob, little star.”80 Note: In a prehistoric mother goddess figurine depicted in Gimbutas, allegedly from the fifth millennium BCE, the central boss of the lozenge protrudes. 81 Figure 190, in turn, shows “a central embossed knob with four outspreading rounded ovals that look like a large four-petaled flower…This unusual design may be a rather crude version of the sun disk or star.”82 Comments: “The design of an embossed sun disk with rays or a star seems to have been used frequently in the ancient world, and many examples parallel to those from Marlik have been found…Circular pendants with a central boss and eight rays, with a smaller knob between each two rays and a curled tang, found at Tell el-‘Ajjul, are dated by Maxwell-Hyslop to 1550-1300 BC.…Similar pendants found in Talish have been dated to the fifteenth to fourteenth centuries B.C. and to the late second millennium B.C.”83
76 For perfect tonalli-signs from Mississippi Valley cultures (Missouri), see figures 15 and 20 in Z. Nuttall, p. 50. 77 M. Speidel, Ancient Germanic Warriors (London, 2004), p. 63. 78 H. Frankfort, The Art and Architecture of the Ancient Orient (New Haven, 1954), p. 103. 79 H. Frankfort, The Art and Architecture of the Ancient Orient (New Haven, 1954), p. 86, figure 91. 80 H. G. Liddell & R. Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon (Oxford, 1996), p. 261. 81 The Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe, figure 204. 82 E. Negahban, Marlik: The Complete Excavation Report (Philadelphia, 1996), p. 147. 83 Ibid., p. 147.
Commented [EC9]: Mars= Horo-pukupuku: “Quick swelling.”1 Puku: “to be swollen; as the flesh from an infection or blow; a lump, boss, knob, bump, protuberance, excrescence; a pimple, bubo, eruption; a hill, mound, hump.”1 Note: Latin umbo, “boss on a shield” is cognate with umbilicus, “navel.” (Mallory, 181) Commented [EC10]: First king of Ur III period, circa 2100 BCE.
Eight-fold flower or star: A classic example of a rosette set within a crescent appears in figure 438 of B. Teissier, Ancient Near Eastern Cyllinder Seals (Berkeley, 1984), circa 1850. Amiet, figure 850, 1750. D. Stein, op. cit., figure 40, 42. Amiet figure 1745 (9- fold). Classic Ishtar flower, R. Boehmer, Die Entwicklung der Glyptik während der Akkad-Zeit (Berlin, 1965), figure 387. P. Phillips & J. Brown, Pre-Columbian Shell Engravings (Cambridge, 1978), figure 139. For flower-like object with knob-like extensions, see D. Stein, op. cit., figure 23. For a classic example with Shamash, see W. Ward, The Seal Cylinders of Western Asia (Washington, 1910), p. 91, figure 264. B. Buchanan, Catalogue of Ancient Near Eastern Seals in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford, 1966), p. 151. This design apparently came from “pre-Akkadian rubbish.” D. Matthews, The Early Glyptic of Tell Brak (Fribourg, 1997), figure 239. B. Teissier, Egyptian Iconography on Syro-Palestinian Cylinder Seals of the Middle Bronze Age (Fribourg, 1996), figures 184, 186. F. Boas, Primitive Art (New York, X), p. 286. Note: page 167 shows a classic example of the rosette on a Zuni pot, slightly displaced from the axis. “The eight-pointed star is one of the earliest Mesopotamian astral symbols. As an independent grapheme…it appears in the archaic texts from Uruk, and on the seals of Uruk III and the Jedmet Nasr period.”84 “The images of eight-pointed stars are rather rare in the Early Dynastic period, and not always are they easily distinguishable from the images of rosettes.”85 Note: Figure 199 shows a classic rosette-like star, which the author dates to Halaf or early Ubaid Periods (5th millennium or second half of 4th millennium. “The ‘star’ or ‘wheel’ designs of the Halaf period are symmetrical with an even number of ‘rays’ or ‘spokes’.”86 The same author adds: “Rotating stars or ‘wheels’ with an uneven number of ‘rays’ or ‘spokes’ as on the present piece [199] are found on stamp seals impressions in the Gawra/early Uruk period…The motif is not found on any excavated stamp seal from the later Uruk/’Jamdet Nasr’ period or from the Early Dynastic Period.” Of Early stamp seals showing an eight-pointed star or “wheel”: “Patterns are often based on the rosette which can be enclosed in a circle or surrounded by a hatched, circular band.” (Collon 1993: 23, Nos. 34-38, Jamdet Nasr, Iraq).87 A classic example of the eight-fold wheel set in a crescent occurs in figure 456 in B. Teissier, Ancient Near Eastern Cyllinder Seals (Berkeley, 1984), p. 323 (circa 1850).
Note: Early seals from Tell Brak show classic eight-fold star with a shen-bond surrounding the central orb inside the 8 rays. 88 Beautiful vase from 3100 shows a shen-bond like image wherein a turquoise disc is surrounded by a very thin gold ring.89 Does this represent Xiuhtecuhtli as the Turquoise Lord surrounded by his crown? Does this show the shen-bond before Mars descended into the turquoise enclosure? Or does it show Mars before it lost its atmosphere (i.e., when it was still conceptualized as a turquoise stone)? On examples from the Eye-temple at Tell Brak, the rosettes display a
84 G. Kurtik, op. cit., p. 508. 85 G. Kurtik, op. cit., p. 508. 86 Ibid., p. 79. 87 S. Amorai-Stark, Wolfe Family Collection of Near Eastern Prehistoric Stamp Seals (Fribourg, 1997), p. 79. 88 B. Buchanan, Catalogue of Ancient Near Eastern Seals in the Ashmolean Museum, Vol. 1 (Oxford, 1966), p. 151. 89 M. Mallowan, Early Mesopotamia and Iran (London, 1965), p. 24.
red core.90 The same is true of Salish clubs from the Northwest Coast of America.91 Note: Zuni pots show a perfect 8-fold rosette set within a crenallated border.92
90 See M. Mallowan, Early Mesopotamia and Iran (London, 1965), p. 96. 91 F. Boas, Primitive Art (New York, 1955), p. 286, figure 299. 92 F. Boas, op. cit., p. 167.
Eight-fold wheel: A. von Wickede, Prähistorische Stempelglyptik in Vorderasien (Munich, 1990), figure 66. P. Pips & J. Brown, Pre-Columbian Shell Engravings (Cambridge, 1978), figure 136. For a classic example, see W. Ward, The Seal Cylinders of Western Asia (Washington, 1910), p. 91, figure 262. B. Teissier, Egyptian Iconography on Syro-Palestinian Cylinder Seals of the Middle Bronze Age (Fribourg, 1996), figures 81, 111, 258.
The Divine Assembly
Of Shamash: “At your rising, the gods of the land assemble.”93
“Utu, great hero, focus of the assembly.”94
In ancient Egypt the divine assembly was commonly known as the “sun-folk”— ˙nmmt. Thus, in the Coffin Texts a god brags that he appears with the “sun-folk about me, about me, like Re when he was born.”95
A classic example of the Divine Assembly is depicted in figure X below.96 For an early example of satellite-like orbs around a central dot (Mari, circa 1800).97 See also William Ward, figure 213.98 For a possible example from pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, see K. Taube, “Flower Mountain,” figure 1:f (Figure Y below). For an interesting example of a Divine Assembly around a central sun, see figure 45 in R. Wilson, “On the Trail of the Triskeles,” Cambridge Archaeological Journal 10:1 (2000), p. 52, where a Gaulish coin depicts two Divine Assemblies alongside a triskeles (second or third century BCE).
Figure X
93 Line 47 from the Great Shamash Hymn as translated by W. Lambert, Babylonian Wisdom Literature (X, 2000), p. 129. 94 Line 4 from “A hymn to Utu (Utu B),” ETCSL. 95 CT 4:122. 96 Adapted from L. Werr, Studies in the Chronology and Regional Style of Old Babylonian Cylinder Seals (Malibu, 1988), figure 26. 97 E. Porada, “Introduction,” in E. Porada ed., Ancient Art in Seals (Princeton, 1990), figure 1-14. 98 W. Ward, op. cit., p. 79.
Commented [EC11]: “At sunrise, the gods assembled around the sun god to decide the destiny of the day.” (C. Ambos, p. 250) Commented [EC12]: “It is carried to the assembly of the gods To the totality of the gods.” (59)
Figure Y
Pleiades
Figure A
Rayed-sun: Amiet, figure 1459.
The Lozenge (seed within earth; primeval conjunction of Mars within Venus)
Figure X
Xiuhtecuhtli as Lozenge
In a prehistoric mother goddess figurine depicted in Gimbutas, allegedly from the fifth millennium BCE, the central boss of the lozenge protrudes.99 This phase depicts the “seed” within the earth (=Mother Earth) as well as the Thundergod set within the navel of the earth (Parjanya). As is evident from the symbolism attached to Xiuhtecuhtli (see above), the lozenge sign is intimately related to or analogous with the Thunderbolt symbol associated with the Egyptian god Min: <. Note: In a beautiful statue of the bearded bull from Ur found by Wooley, the design includes a lozenge with red inner cores.100
The Ԝ-sign=Primeval Hill (=crown of King of the Gods)
“The image of the primeval mound is preserved not only in creation texts but also in hieroglyphs. The word ‘appear’ is always written with the biliteral sign z, representing
99 The Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe, figure 204. 100 See figure 105 in M. Mallowan, Early Mesopotamia and Iran (London, 1965).
Commented [EC13]: Does the lozenge represent the Susa-design prior to the appearance of the four corners/winds? Commented [EC14]: In this sense, then, the Thundergod is the “seed” of the earth or Mother Earth.
the rays of the sun appearing over a mound of earth. In early hieroglyphs this sign has the form , where the image is even clearer.”101
Here the petal-like “rays” emanating upwards from Venus represent the “light” or corona of the ancient sun god (Horus). It is in this sense that Aya, as Shamash’s consort, was accorded the epithet UD.UD, “the light of the sun god UD.”
“It is noteworthy that te olhder writings (First and Second Dynasty) of the hieroglyph mostly display distinct rays emanating from the corona of the rising sun or primeval mound.”102
Figure one
At the time of his inaugural appearance, the Horus-star was conceptualized as a falcon with multicolored plumage (here the projecting forms are identified as the “feathers” of Horus.) It is this image that lies behind the archaic phrase: “He of Behdet, the Great God, the colorfully feathered one, who has come forth from the horizon, the perfect god, the lord of appearances.”103
Figure two
101 J. Allen, Egyptian Grammar, p. 131. 102 Ibid., p. 155. 103 N. Strudwick, Texts From the Pyramid Age (Atlanta, 2005), p. 83.
Commented [MOU15]: Compare to Columbia pictures logo.
In ancient Egyptian myth, the Primeval Hill was conceptualized as the marshland or papyrus fields of Chemmis, wherein Horus was hidden by Isis. To be more specific: Horus was hidden or “shaded” by the feathers (ßwt) of Isis. Properly understood, Isis’s fan-like feathers or “shade” are the upwards projecting “rays” or “plumes,” here identified as feathers but elsewhere as projecting uraei.
“While it is always risky to interpret objects and icons in the absence of texts, ideally glosses, and bearing in mind that all symbols are by definition multivalent in meaning, I think it is worth pointing to the (semi-)circular arrangement of ostrich feathers on royal fans and sunshades in this context. Beautifully coloured representations can be found, for example, in some scenes from Medinet Hadu…In other parts of the scene more schematic renditions of such sunshades can be found, where the artists did not execute the individual feathers but rather depicted a simple semi-circle with a striated pattern in red, dark blue, and greenish/turquoise blue that is clearly evocative of the Δœ-hieroglyph.”104
Compare the Egyptian fans to the Aztec fans, wherein the very same rich blues and greens feathers are employed.105
Goebs concludes her study of these extravagantly designed parasols as follows: “While, at first sight, their purpose would seem to lie in providing shade and cool for the god or king in the sun, the conspicuous shape of these objects may further point to a function as an iconic ‘hieroglyph’—announcing to the world that the god or king is ‘appearing’ (Δœj), as suggested by…the Egyptian designation of royal and divine processions as Δœt njswt or Δœt n®r respectively.”106
Half-star:
104 K. Goebs, “Receive the Henu—that You May Shine Forth in it like Akhty,” in F. Coppens, J. Janák & H. Vymazalová eds., Royal versus Divine Authority (Wiesbaden, 2015), p. 155. 105 See Figure 198 in E. Moctezuma & F. Olguin eds., Aztecs (London, 2002), p. 256. 106 Ibid., p. 158.
Of the image in figure one, John Carlson writes: “He wears the mosaic-style Plumed Jaguar headdress with a half-Star (Venus) Enclosure.”107 Of the image in figure 11, Carlson (?) writes: “The half-Star form of the Teotihuacan Venus glyph from pottery (after Sejourne 1966; Fig. 45 and 144).”108 Elsewhere Milbrath writes of this image: “Half-star Venus symbol has five points, indicating link with Venus Almanac of five Venus cycles equaling eight solar years.”109
Figure one
Figure two
107 J. Carlson, “Transformations of the Mesoamerican Venus Turtle Carapace War Shield,” in V. don Chamberlain et al eds., Songs From the Sky (West Sussex, 2005) p. 103. 108 J. Carlson, “X?,” figure 1h. 109 S. Milbrath, Star Gods of the Maya (Austin, 1999), p. 184.
Figure three
A beautiful example from El Zapotal, Veracruz, is depicted in Figure four: It shows the half-star as a crown-like ornament set atop a man’s head.110 As for how we are to interpret the half-star in question, scholars are in general agreement that it has some reference to the planet Venus. The image depicted in Figure eleven, for example, is commonly acknowledged to depict Venus.111 The resemblance between the forms depicted in Figures ten and eleven is obvious and confirms the likelihood that they go back to a common progenitor.
110 Adapted from V. Miller, “Star Warriors at Chichen Itza,” in W Hanks & D. Rice eds., Word and Image in Maya Culture (Salt Lake City, 1979), p. 301. 111 Adapted from E. Krupp, “Phases of Venus,” in Griffith Observer 56:12 (1992), p. 8, with permission from the author.
Figure four
Figure eleven
Figure two
Figure six
The Return of Lugalbanda alludes to the World Tree as follows: “on top of the many hued carnelian hill of Inana It stood—fixed in the earth like a tower it was.”112 hur-ßag na4gug igi-gun3 d inana-ka (30) ugu-ba u18-ru-gin7 ki he2-us2-sa ba. Note: Nineveh scenes depict half-rosettes in a similar fashion to the half-star in Mesoamerica.113 In Mesoamerica, half lozenges and half-diamond stars function in the very same role.114
Figure three115
112 Lines 29-30 of “The Return of Lugalbanda,” as translated in H. Vanstiphout, op. cit., p. 137. 113 See G. Selz on the Plant of Life for illustrations. 114 See K. Taube, “Turquoise Hearth,” p. 453. 115 Adapted from A. Jeremias, Roscher’s Lexikon.
Commented [EC16]: Compare to the variegated Earth in the Atharva Veda. Commented [EC17]: Note: Black consistently translates as “cornelian”. Typo? Commented [EC18]: “stood fast on the earth like a tower, all shaggy like an aru.” Line 30. Commented [EC19]: PSD: “to be exalted, strong.” They say the meaning of u18 is unknown. Commented [EC20]: Sharp blade stone. Compare to spd. Commented [EC21]: Typically means “flashing eyes.” Commented [EC22]: On top of.
Veracruz half-star
Rolex-sign as hand/crown.116
Half-star:
The half-star already appears on Olmec monuments. See the example from the La Venta Monument 19.117 See W. Finders Petrie, Scarabs and Cylinders with Names (London, 1917), Plate 73 for analogous images. Note: In examples included in J. Carlson’s article
116 See figure four in E. Baird, “Stars and War at Cacaxtla,” in R. Diehl & J. Berlo eds., Mesoamerica After the Decline of Teotihuacan, A.D. 700-900 (Washington D.C., 1989), which depicts a Cacaxtla enclosure-structure with half-stars and hands. 117 A. Stone, Heart of Creation, p. 41 figure 4:3d.
on Cacaxtla, there is a mound-like object surrounding the half-star.118 For a classic example of the radiating half-star from Appalachian Mississippi culture (Georgia).119
Pentagram/Duat: The mere fact that ancient petroglyphs around the globe depict the very same form—a five-pointed star set within a circle—confirms the likelihood that the Egyptian Duat-hieroglyph commemorates a celestial reality.120 For an early example from Mesopotamia, see figure 1578.121For a perfect 5-pointed star set within a circle, see Wiggermann. 122 See also Macri, p. 198: “Both full five-pointed stars and “half-star” conch shells appear on [Teotihuacan] murals and ceramic vessels from that site.”123 See classic example in Baird, figure 10:15, showing Tlaloc in a star-enclosure with perfect Duat-stars. Note: In the “full five-pointed Star form of the Teotihuacan Venus glyph” depicted in Sejourne, the inner Mars orb is surrounded by a shen-like bond within the star itself (see image below). 124 The Aztecs contains a classic example of the 5-pointed star that shows perfectly the close relationship between this form and the so-called half-star.
118 J. Carlson, Archaeology Nov/Dec., p. 69. 119 Susan Power, Early Art of the Southeastern Indians, p. 80, figure 16. 120 For a striking example from Prehistoric California, see X, p. 70, figure 5. For an example from Old Europe, allegedly dating to 5000 BCE, see M. Gimbutas, The Civilization of the Goddess (San Francisco, 2000) p. 96, figure 3-54. For an example from South African rock art, see Wilcox, p. 102, figure 13.1. For a perfect five pointed star from Tell Brak, see J. Bretschneider, “Seals, Tablets and Bricks: Fine tuning of Early Dynastic Chronology in Syria,” p. 43, figure 2f. According to Bretschneider, these seals can be securely dated to ED IIIb/EJ IIIb and are “roughly contemporaneous” with the Ebla finds (41). 121 P. Amiet, plate 118, evidently from Luristan. Discussion on p. 494. 122 Figure 21b in F. Wiggermann, “The Four Winds and the Origins of Pazuzu,” p. 149. 123 Martha Macri, “Scribal Interaction in Postclassic Mesoamerica,” in Astronomers, Scribes, and Priests (2010), p. 198. 124 See the example in J. Carlson, op. cit., p. figure 1i.
Aztec half-star
If these two stellar forms are identical in origin, one can understand why the half-star appears so often in Mesoamerican scenes of the Underworld (the Duat=Underworld=Five-pointed star). In this interpretation, the perfect five-pointed star, as depicted below, is an artificial image and simply depicts a half-star with five rays where the rays are radiating in equidistant form rather than with the two lower “rays” at 180 degree angles from each other (or exactly one half of the full-fledged eight-pointed star depicted elsewhere).
Aztec half-star as Underworld
125
For an archaic example of an 8-pointed star set within a mound-like object, see Mathews?126 For a radiating star set within a giant crescent set atop a bull (Note: the image in question appears to have a small cone-like projection emanating from its inner core).127 For a classic image of a bull-pillar set within a bull-man.128 For a classic image of a tree-like image atop a hill ala Lugalbanda hymn, see figure 537 in Amiet (see above). 129 For a bovine pillar set atop a bull.130 For early UD-like forms.131 For bifold bovines set alongside a ladder-like structure showing “ears,” see Amiet.132 For a rosette
125 J. Carlson, op. cit., figure 1:i 126 D. Matthews, The Early Glyptic of Tell Brak (Fribourg, 1997), Figure XII:90. 127 Ibid., Figure XXVIII 353. 128 Ibid., Figure XXVIII 355. 129 Plate 34, figure 537. Glyptique Proto-Elamite. 130 Plate 79, figure 1048. 131 See Plate 52, figures 722, 725, 726. 132 Plate 87, figure 1148. Note: In the same image the “sun” is set atop a crescent atop a bull.
set within a crescent-like form set atop a bull.133 For ladder-like forms set in a pyramidal shape with the disc on top. 134
Here the 7-fold Tree of the goddess assumes a pyramidal form (the ziggurat has seven stages). Compare also the goddess’s headdress, which likewise assumes a pyramidal form (i.e., the very form assumed by the “hair” of Rudra).
Coiling uroboros-like dragon. 135
Bird with red egg in its belly: M. Gimbutas, The Language of the Goddess (San Francisco, 1989), figure 331. Early 2nd millennium BCE. (Middle Helladic phase of Greek culture). Compare this image with that of the winged-sun in Woods.136
133 Plate 97, figure 1268. 134 Plate 110, figures 1458 and 1468. 135 See Amiet, Glyptique susienne (1972), number 193, here Plate 115, figure 1543 for an early example from Susa 1. 136 “At the Edge of the World,” p. 235.
Commented [EC23]: “For the third millennium glyptic of Tell Brak and Northern Mesopotamia, Donald Mathews (1997) has established a chronological frame that is generally accepted.” (J. Bretschneider, p. 34)
Sidelock:
It will be noticed that the inner orb appears to be embossed. Compare to Horus’s sidelock. It is this sidelock, evidently, which early on became detached, thereby cuasing a catastrophic display in the northern circumpolar heavens before eventually encircling the Horus-star as a headband-like object.
Commented [EC24]: “Passages in life descriptions, healing manuscripts, and morturary rituals refer to tying the headband in relation to youth; possibly, this alludes to rites of circumcision or to a band worn to mark the young man at or immediately after circumcision. The sidelock of hair that marked childhood is directly linked to knotting and tying in a composition known from two coffins of about 1850 BC and then numerous later papyri (Coffin Text 640=Book of the Dead Chapter 50, Quirke 2013): ‘A knot is tied behind me, in the sky, of the earth, by Ra, On the day of fastening the knot against the inert forces at the feet, On that day of cutting the side-lock (of hair).’ In the following lines, Ra is followed by the embodiment of disorder, Seth, and the sky goddess, Nut, in tying the knot. The passage was recited to enable the deceased to win eternal life…”1
Figure X
Ladder: H. Cain, Petroglyphs of Central Washington (Seattle, 1950), figure 55. For a classic example from Ireland, see Loughcrew, Co. Meath, Cairn T. C8 where ladder-like forms appear alongside rosettes and radiating “suns.” L. Slack, Rock Engravings from Driekops Eiland (London, 1962), figure 47 shows a “ladder” distended from a hollow “sun=like” form.
Scorpion-ladder upholding sun: Amiet, figure 1017. This image is apparently from the royal tombs of Ur. For other examples see also Amiet, figure 1245.
Sun-pillar: C. Bedlaar, The Petroglyphs in the Guianas and Adjacent Areas of Brazil and Venezuela (Los Angeles, 1986), p. 244. M. Green, Sun Gods, p. 43. Prehistoric Art of the Eastern Woodlands, p. 26. R. Willcox, Africa, p. 83. M. Gimbutas, The Language of the Goddess (San Francisco, 1989), p. 245 (figure 383). For a classic image of the polar configuration, see the Roman shield in the Notitia Dignitatum. 137 Amiet, figure 460, showing a zigzagging pillar. “Early occurrences show a strong tendency to combine the two later signs UD and NUN into a ligature as if they originally formed but one single larger sign…The sign is not a ligature but an original pictograph representing a disc placed on top of a pole or stake.”138 “For bird on the pillar, see the discussion: In the southeastern worldview, the realms were connected by a world pole, or Axis Mundi, represented visually in the art and architecture of small-scale cultures. A large wooden vertical pole was a dominant architectural feature in plazas of Mississippian ceremonial centers…The pole with a carved bird on top was evident in early southeastern villages, as well as many other American Indian tribes.”139
Bird on ladder
137 M. Speidel, Ancient Germanic Warriors (London, 2004), p. 21. 138 Jacobsen, 1968, 101 as quoted in J.Hayes, A Manual of Sumerian Grammar and Texts (Malibu, 2000), p. 263. 139 S. Power, op. cit., pp. 180-181.
Pillar & Tit-sign
It will be noted that numerous cultural symbols of the World Pillar include a band-like object tied around the pillar. This idea is evident in the band attached to the wh-pole depicted in figure X.140 See also the Aguieus-pillar in figure Y. Similar bands or wreath like objects decorated the Irminsul, Indra-pole, Xocotl-pole141, May-pole, and other ritual poles, likely representing the planet Venus as a sßd-band.142
Figure X
140 Wainwright, “Min,” p. X. 141 K. Taube, “Turquoise Hearth,” p. 325. 142 See here the illustration of the Aguieus-pillar in J. Harrison, Epilegomena to the Study of Greek Religion and Themis (New York, 1962), p. 407.
Figure Y
Sky-prop
See plates seven, 31 of Grace White.143 Is this sky-prop related to the zig-zagging form in plate 9 (lightning-bolt as terminus)? Plates 23, 47, *59 shows a kneeling bull-man holding a sky-prop looking very much like a terminus.
For a classic Shu sign see the Caven menhir statue in E. Anati, Camonica Valley, p. 69. On page 162 he shows an exact Shu-image and says it dates from style III (Figure X below). For a close parallel in the iconography of Ce Acatl from Mexico, see the illustration on page 109 in B. Brundage, The Fifth Sun.
Figure X
Ramman-helmet: M. Dijkstra, figure 1 of Plate 3.144 Here the weather-god has a long spiraling lock descending down his back. He also has a Viking-like set of horns on his crown. See also Figure 3, plate 1, Figure 3, plate 2. See classic example in A. Vanel, L’Iconographie du Dieu de L’Orage (Paris, 1965), figure 38, 42, 43. Here too the weather-god has a spiraling lock(s) trailing down his back. Notice that this helmet is intimately related to the multi-tiered helmet with the globe on top. Here too the lock is descending down the back. A. Vanel, L’Iconographie du Dieu de L’Orage (Paris, 1965), figure 62-64.
143 Grace White, p. 436. 144 M. Dijkstra, “The Weather-god on Two Mountains,” Ugarit Forschungen 23 (1991), pp. 127-140.
White Crown: A. Vanel, L’Iconographie du Dieu de L’Orage (Paris, 1965), figure 44, 54, 61, 65, 67. For a classic example from the New World, see K. Taube, “The Jade Hearth: Centrality, Rulership, and the Classic Maya Temple,” in S. Houston ed., Function and Meaning in Classic Maya Architecture (Cambridge, 1998), figure 15f, p. 455. A white crown like crown resembling Tell Brak eye idols appears on plate 9 of Grace White.145 See also plate 19, where one might compare the red ball on top of the pagoda in Buddhist symbolism.146 Compare Egyptian seal from the 2nd/3rd Dynasty, which shows a ball atop a pyramid in the writing of the word åΔti. 147 Compare strange crown in plate 46 in same source showing an elongated bowling-pin like object set within the bovine horns. On plate 50 the uppermost “ball” is shown as a planet-like object.
Atef-Crown: See figure 2 of Plate 3 in M. Dijkstra for a close variation upon Egyptian atef-crown. Here the weather-god has a long spiraling braid extending down his back.
Early Ra-signs: Amiet, figure 1639, 1641.
Roundel/Jade: Note: The perforated jade disc known as the chalchihuitl is an identical twin to the Chinese symbol of that name.148
Thunderbolt/Swastika: A beautiful example appears in Plate 9:27 from Osguc.149 Here we find a perfect cross in the middle and the wavy lines in the four intercardinal directions. In Plate 19:57 there is a similar image but here the bolt has rotated, giving the appearance of a squatter man in the middle of the solar disc. Amiet, figure 86. B. Teissier, Egyptian Iconography on Syro-Palestinian Cylinder Seals of the Middle Bronze Age (Fribourg, 1996), figures 107, 113 (Here the image is an 8-fold star set in a crescent
145 Plate 9, Grace White, “The Religious Iconography of Cappadocian Glyptic in the Assyrian Colony Period…” Dissertation for the University of Chicago (1993), p. 438. 146 Ibid., p. 448. 147 Kahl, p. 6. 148 J. Langley, Symbolic Notation of Teotihuacan, image, 171. 149 N. Özgüc, The Anatolian Group of Cylinder Impressions from Kültepe (Ankara, 1965).
with wavy “rays.”) In Amerindian designs, Powell notes that “a swirling swastika represents the movement of the four cardinal winds.”150 Compare also the Ofo tradition identifying the swastika with the center of the rotating sun. “Primarily it [the swastika] appears to have had a connection with light and fire, and to have been linked with the sun-wheel. It may have been on account of Thor’s association with the lightning that this sign was used as an alternative to the hammer, for it is found on memorial stones in Scandanavia beside inscriptions to Thor.”151 Note: The swastika evidently morphs into the whirl at some point, as evidenced by the fact that early artworks depict swastikas alongside whirls. 152 A perfect swastika appears in the Indus Valley already in the prehistoric period.153
154155
Anchor-like peß-form (lightning): See Walsem, p. 228, 232. By the time of Amenophis III it was “considered unequivocally as a double feather.” For a classic example of pesh like sign emanating from mouth, see Tlaloc-star in S. Milbrath, figure 5.8g.156 150 S. Powell, op. cit., p. 188. 151 H. Davidson, as cited in Fossil Godsp. 181. 152 M. Gimbutus, The Language of the Goddess, figure 142. Note: This terracotta image dates from circa 700 BCE. 153 A. Parpola, “Seals of the Greater Indus Valley,” in D. Collon ed., 7000 Years of Seals (London 1997), figure 3-12, p. 52. 154 This Old Anatolian image can be found in N. Ozqüç, “Seal Impressions from the Palaces at Acemhöyük,” in E. Porada ed., Ancient Art in Seals (Princeton, 1980), figure 3:38. It is dated to 1800 BCE. 155 This is figure 12 in M. Mellink, “Rivers in Anatolian Art,” in Natural Phenomena (1992), p. 211.
Min-sign: Jane Sibley, figure 4:10a (305); 3:2b (268); 5:19d (331, from Knossos); 5:34c (346). The last picture below shows the classic vajra or thunderbolt form.
156 S. Milbrath, Star Gods of the Maya, p. 194.
157
It will be noted that this image forms a close variation to the so-called lozenge-form. For an example of a lozenge design in a similar “headdress” of Xiuhtecuhtli, see Figure 5 in E. Pasztory, “Antecedents,” in Aztecs (London, 2002), p. 99. If so, and if the lozenge depicts the “seed” in the ground, as per my analysis, it stands to reason that the Min glyph originally depicted Mars as ensconced within the navel of the earth (turquoise enclosure) in the Underworld. If so, it is possible that the sharply angled “barbs” of the lozenge in Figure 5 will elucidate the analogous form of the Aztec Year sign. It will be noted that in Aztec iconography, the lozenge form seems to alternate with a pyramidal form showing two “dots” or “ears” (see the examples in Karl Taube, “The Jade Hearth,” p. 453. Half-diamonds are also present, thereby showing the structural affinity between half-star forms and half-lozenges and diamonds. That this is simply a half-lozenge is proven by the fact that the lozenge is elsewhere shown with four balls.158 Note: In an example in Gimbutas, allegedly from the fifth millennium BCE, the central boss of the lozenge protrudes.159
160
157 Adapted from Figure 229 in E. Moctezuma, “The Templo Mayor at Tenochtitlan,” in Aztecs (London, 2002), p. 284. 158 See figure 14 in K. Taube, p. 453. 159 See M. Gimbutas, The Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe, figure 204. 160 B. Teissier, Egyptian Iconography on Syro-Palestinian Cylinder Seals of the Middle Bronze Age (Fribourg, 1996), p. X.
Commented [EC25]: Compare to the barbs (qs) of the Egyptian thunderbolt=hnbw or m3wt in PT 1212 and 324. In Mesopotamia these arrow-like barbs are “teeth” (zu zu). Does this imagery explain the sharp teeth of Lahun Chan? Commented [EC26]: These ears, in turn, find precise parallels in Gaerte. Here the “ears” seem to correspond to synchrotron radiation circles.
World Mountain161:
Compare this sign to the Sumerian pictograph ARARMA2~a, which shows an UD-sign atop a ziggurat-like object (the so-called AB~a sign). It, too, shows a crescent atop the ziggurat enclosing the UD-sign.
Possible Mars-mound: This image comes from Ur-Nammu stele fragment. Ur III, c. 2100 BCE.162 For a very similar image see R. Boehmer, “Hörnerkrone,” figures 10 (New Sumerian) and 12, 14 from the Old Babylonian period.163 This very image, sans the crescent, appears on a Neo-Sumerian stele of Ur-Namma, c. 2000 BCE.164 So too on Gudea cylinders. Compare to the Chinese tradition of the fire-pearl atop the pagoda. Note: A very similar form appears in the headgear associated with Enki and Sin on certain seals which, according to Fischer, this “specific type of headgear provides a valuable tool for dating the seal because it is attested for the first time in Naram-Suen’s reign.”165 See her figure two. For a picture with Shamash bearing one of these crowns, see figure 29:1 in Grace White.166 Note: In figure 29:2 this image morphs into a White Crown. For an interesting example from Mexico, see plate 22 from the Codex Borbonicus. 167 It is likely that this particular phase of the polar configuration gave rise to the belief that Shiva’s headdress was piled up on his head like a conch-shell and had a “Moon” on top of it.
161 Adapted from W. Boltz, The Origin and Early Development of the Chinese Writing System (New Haven, 1994), figure 9, p. 45. 162 D. Collon, “Mondgott. B.,” Reallexikon der Assyriologie 8 (Berlin, 1993-1997), p. 371. 163 R. Boehmer, “Hornerkrone,” RA, p. 432. 164 See figure 11.1 in K. McCaffrey, “The Sumerian Sacred Marriage: Texts and Images,” p. 230. 165 C. Fischer, “Twilight of the Sun-God,” Iraq 64 (2002), p. 126. 166 Grace White, op. cit., p. 108. 167 Figure 3.4 in J. Maffie, Aztec Philosophy (Boulder, 2014), p. 161.
Commented [EC27]: “[Chinese graph] Fire-pearl, or ruby; the ball on top of a pagoda.”1
Bull168
For a classic illustration of the double-headed bull supporting the sun-god, see Woods.169 Gates.170 Scorpions.171
Note: If Mars formerly appeared at the top of the column in conjunction with the crescent, as depicted here, we would have an obvious explanation for its universal epithet “Bull.” Remember also that both Rudra and Cuchulainn are said to have the Moon’s horns sprouting from their heads. “Usually the Storm God is represented as a bull.”172
Mush-sign: M. Gimbutas, The Language of the Goddess (San Francisco, 1989), figure 462, 463. According to Gimbutas, this Cucuteni A2 vase design traces to 4500 BCE. It stems from NE Romania in northern Moldavia. In Gods and Goddesses, she writes: “The Neolithic period was succeeded by the twelve consecutive phases of the Clalcolithic
168 Adapted from D. Collon, “The Near Eastern Moon God,” in in D. Meijer eds., Natural Phenomena (1992), p. 36, figure 16. 169 “At the Edge of the World,” p. 227. 170 “At the Edge of the World,” p. 229. 171 “At the Edge of the World,” p. 232-233. 172 Ph. ten Cate, “The Hittite Storm God,” in D. Meijer eds., Natural Phenomena (1992), p. 108.
Cucuteni civilization.”173 For possible mush-sign extending along a star-standard, see D. Stein, op. cit., figures 27, 41. Note: A mush-like sign appears in early Ecuador, where spiraling mush’s are placed opposite each other.174
“The first evidence about the worship of Inanna as a goddess in Mesopotamia dates from the epoch of archaic Uruk (the end of the fourth millennium BC…It [the Mush-sign] was found on cylinder seals for the first time in Uruk IV-III.”175 Note: “Amiet dates from the epoch of Uruk V-IV.”176
“The latest known picture of the Inanna symbol in the form of ‘the gate post with streamer (the terra-cotta fragment of a mosaic frieze from Uruk) dates from the end of the Early Dynastic period.”177 (3100-2400 roughly)
There are several beautiful mus-signs illustrated in Henri Frankfort from Nuzi in the second millennium BCE (he calls the design a guilloche or twist).178
A possible parallel to the Sumerian mush-sign occurs in Figure 5.11 from James Maffie’s Aztec Philosophy, p. 290, which shows a mush-like form set in a half-star. There it is labeled “Sign of Venus.” Does this sign represent a Mesoamerican parallel to the Sumerian tur-sign with protruding spire? “This name, it may be noted first of all, is written with a sign tur5 (TU) which, as shown by its earlier forms, was originally the picture of a reed-hut with a tall decorative spar or spire.”179
173 Ibid., p. 33. 174 D. Fraser, op. cit., p. 76, figure 28. 175 G. Kurtik, p. 503. 176 Ibid. 177 Ibid., p. 507. 178 See figure 291 in H. Frankfort, The Art and Architecture of the Ancient Orient (New Haven, 1954), p. 251. 179 T. Jacobsen, “Notes on Nintur,” Orientalia 43 (1973), p. 279.
Rearing Uraeus180:
180 See figure 9:d from K. Taube, “The Jade Hearth,” p. 445.
Fire Drill
Figure X181
181 Image 353 JNP from D. Matthews, The Early Glypic of Tell Brak (Fribourg, 1997), plate XXVIII.
Figure Y
Figure Z
Peg
A beautiful example of a cone or peg can be found at Uruk in 3000 BCE wherein the peg descends from a perfect 8-petaled rosette.182 “Hundreds of thousands of such cones were used in the adornment of a single building, a most expensive form of decoration…The polychrome effect must have been very brilliant, and the patterns used seem sometimes to have been copied from matting.”
Atlantid figures
See discussion in Grace White, figure 35.183
Figure X
Chronology
182 Figure 23 in M. Mallowan, Early Mesopotamia and Iran (London, 1965), p. 37. 183 G. White, op. cit., p. 161.
Neolithic: “The Neolithic period in China lasted roughly from 6000 to 2000 BC…Incised signs are found on the pottery of the Yangshao Culture which is dated to 5000-4000 BC in the Yellow River Valley…Evidence also comes from the Dawenkou Culture (c. 4000- 2500 BC) on the east coast. Here on large pottery jars several signs are found, some of them comprising more than one element.”184 It is this latter culture which had a sign showing the World Mountain.
Halaf Period: there are clear examples of 8-fold stars. See S. Amorai-Stark, Wolfe Family Collection of Near Eastern Prehistoric Stamp Seals (Fribourg, 1997), p. 79: “The ‘star’ or ‘wheel’ designs of the Halaf period are symmetrical with an even number of ‘rays’ or ‘spokes’.” Author dates them to Fifth or “second half of 4th millennium (Halaf or early Ubaid periods) or Gawra/early Uruk period.”
Fara Period: “The star image before the names of deities as an indispensable element appeared for the first time only in the texts from Fara (Deimel, 1923, S. 1-4).”185 (Fara corresponds to Early Dynastic IIIa, wherein syllabic writing first appeared.)
Jemdet Nasr period: “in the texts from Jemdet Nasr [the Mush-sign] always [appears] without a determinative.”186
Early Dynastic period: this was the period in which crescents first appear (Collon, 357). “Clearly identifiable crescents are only depicted on seals from Early Dynastic I times onwards.” In Early Dynastic III the conjoined star with disc and crescent is attested (357). Crescents also appear on standards (358): “Perhaps the earliest representation of the crescent on a standard is as a sign on tablets from Uruk c. 3100 B.C.”187 Early Dynastic roughly 3100-2400 BCE. “The crescent…does not seem to be attested in Uruk period designs. Nor was it part of the usual Jamdat Nasr repertory. When it does occur in the Jamdat Nasr or post Jamdat Nasr seals, it looks more like an added filler than an object of heavenly significance.”188
“According to Jeremy Black and Anthony Green, the ußkaru, or recumbent crescent moon, is found as a motif from prehistoric periods, although associated with the god Sin (Nanna-Suen) from the Old Babylonian period onward.”189 Of the Naram-Sin stele and others like it: “On all of these monuments the disk appears alone without the crescent moon below, an innovation that appears in the art of the Mesopotamia at some point during the Ur III period (2112-2004 BC).”190
184 N. Postgate et al, “The Evidence for Early Writing,” p. 467. 185 G. Kurtik, op. cit., p. 506. 186 G. Kurtik, op. cit., p. 506. 187 D. Collon, “Mond. B.,” p. 358. 188 F. Rochberg, p. 175, quoting Briggs Buchanan. 189 F. Rochberg, p. 174. 190 P. Harper & P. Amiet, “The Mesopotamian Presence,” in P. Harper, et al eds., The Royal City of Susa (New York, 1992), p. 169.
Early Egyptian standards from the late Predynastic Period, likewise, show a falcon set atop a crescent. 191 See here the very interesting cylinder seal shown in figure 12, which shows a god standing in a crescent-like ship wherein the body of the ship is decorated with “suns” inside crescents.192
“The latest known picture of the Inanna symbol in the form of ‘the gate post with streamer (the terra-cotta fragment of a mosaic frieze from Uruk) dates from the end of the Early Dynastic period.”193
“In Early Dynastic contexts” cylinder seals show a nude hero holding two gate-posts “crowned by a horizontal moon crescent; sometimes also the gate-posts are replaced by defeated lions or erect snakes; the latter are a chthonic aspect of the symbol which is also apparent in the Akkadian period.”194 “This, curiously enough, can be closely paralleled by a similar connection between the snake and the gate-post, as seen on the vase of Gudea…where a gate-post and two upright, copulating snakes stand next to one another.”195
For a tether-like object extending from a gladiator-like circle see During Caspers, plate 34:D. Here the tether looks like the braided uraeus.
“The association of the heavenly bodies with certain deities seems to go back to the very beginnings of Mesopotamian civilization and persists as well to the end. Astral emblems, such as the lunar crescent (Akk. ußkaru) for Sin, the eight-pointed star for Ißtar, and the solar disc (Akk. ßamßatu) for Íamaß, are a regular feature of Mesopotamian iconography throughout its history. These divine symbols can be traced on cylinder seals as early as the Early Dynastic period and as late as the Neo-Babylonian. [reference to Naram-Sin stela] Perhaps the most remarkable depiction of the solar-disk emblem is that found on the upper portion of a stone tablet of the post-Kassite king Nabû-apla-iddina of the ninth
191 T. Wilkinson, op. cit., p. 198, figure 6.4.8. 192 D. Collon, “The Near Eastern Moon God,” in D. Meijer, Natural Phenomena (1992), figure 12. 193 Ibid., p. 507. 194 E. During Caspers, “The Gate-Post in Mesopotamian Art,” Jaarbericht ex Orient Lux 22 (1971-1972), p. 214. 195 Ibid., p. 223.
century B.C.E. The scene depicts the presentation of the king to the god Íamaß, who holds the symbols of divine justice (the rod and ring) beneath astral symbols (lunar crescent, solar disk, and eight-pointed star), while two minor gods lower a huge solar symbol onto what appears to be a table.”196 “As with the ußkaru, the eight-pointed star also has prehistoric origins.”197
“Early dynastic seals nos. 62 and 64 [of Teissier’s Ancient Near Eastern Cylinder Seals] have star, star disk, and crescent elements. Whether these are firmly associated with astral gods, however, is uncertain. In Briggs Buchanan’s Early Near Eastern Seals in the Yale Babylonian Collection…the author notes that ‘the crescent, as in seals 175-176, does not seem to be attested in Uruk period designs. Nor was it part of the usual Jamdat Nasr repertory. When it does occur in Jamdat Nasr or post Jamdat Nasr seals, it looks more like an added filler than an object of heavenly significance…It is therefore possible that the convention of depicting the moon as a crescent grew out of what was originally an aesthetic device.”198
Akkadian period: the sacred iconography associated with the respective gods is established by this period (Collon, 371).
“Almost everything pertaining to the Sargonic period is a matter of controversy.”199 “From Ur III times onwards, however, the crescent is also often combined with a disc inscribed with a star which is placed within it (star-disc and crescent…). This could either be explained as different phases of the moon or, more likely, is a shorthand for the principal celestial bodies, sun (and star?) and moon.”200
“Since the period of the Akkade Dynasty (XXIV-XXII centuries BC), a four-pointed star inscribed in a disk is a standard symbol for depicting the solar deity Utu (Shamash) on seals, and later on the boundary stones…Since the same time the astral symbol of Inanna (an eight-pointed star) was frequently found inscribed in a circle. Why? The answer is
196 Ibid., pp. 174-176. 197 Ibid., p. 174. 198 Ibid., p. 175. 199 J. Westenholz, 1999, p. 18. 200 D. Collon, “Mond,” Reallexikon der Assyriologie (Berlin, 1993-1997), p. 357.
probably in some poetic texts of the New-Sumerian period (XXII-XXI centuries BC); for example, in the hymn by Iddin-Dagan devoted to Inanna her shining in the night is compared with the light of day or the Sun…the attribute of being solar is transferred to Inanna, therefore the solar disk is becoming her symbol.”201
Neo-Sumerian period:
“Since the Neo-Sumerian time (XXI century BC) in literary and religious texts the astral status of Inanna (Ishtar) is determined by the epithet u4-zal-le (the morning star) and by the expressions using the word usan (the evening star).”202
Old Babylonian period:
“The eight-pointed star also has prehistoric origins [like the crescent], but is associated with Ißtar (Inanna) from the Old Babylonian (and probably earlier), in the Early Dynastic) and persists to the Neo-Babylonian period.”203
Kassite period:
Horus pics: in marsh (Hornung 145) in Ouroboros (Hornung 164)
Neo-Assyrian Period: “The star and crescent were among the most commonly depicted motifs on Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian stamp seals.”204
Shu (separating heaven, Hornung 68; Shafer 24; Piankoff 48)
Akhet: Piankoff 24-26, 32-33, Perfect example of Peratt hour-glass column: See Figure 4.4 in J. Hegewald, “Images of the Cosmos,” in Heaven and Earth, p. 72.
D. Collon, First Impressions (London, 2005).
So called Cappadocian seals from 20th/19th centuries display diamond-sun within a crescent.205 Spiders are shown in Squatter-man roles in BM 89516, and early cylinder seal from Period 1b.206 Eight-petaled rosettes are depicted on Susa cylinder seals in
201 G. Kurtik, “The Identification of Inanna with the Planet Venus,” Astronomical and Astrophysical Transactions 17 (1999), p. 508. 202 G. Kurtik, op. cit., p. 511, citing Brushweiler. 203 F. Rochberg, “Heaven and Earth,” in S. Noegel & J. Walker eds., Prayer, Magic, and the Stars in the Ancient and Late Antique World (University Park, 2003), p. 174. 204 Eva Moller, Ancient Near Eastern Seals in a Danish Collection (Copenhagen, 1991), p. 57. 205 D. Collon, op. cit., p. 6, figures 4. 206 Figure 16 on page 17.
Commented [EC28]: Notice the counter-clockwise rotation of the fish in the encircling waters.
Period 1b.207 Classic ˙wn-images shown on Period II cylinder seals from Tell Leihan, Syria (c. 3000-2334 BCE).208 Ditto on BM 128840. Beautiful 8-rayed “sun” appears on Sargonic seal from Period III (circa 2334-2000 BCE).209 Here are included the classic images of Shamash ascending between two mountains.210 Note: Alongside ascending sun-god can be found the well-known standard which shows an UD-glyph at bottom and eight-pointed star at the top. Cross-sun depicted in crescent during Period IVa (circa 2000-1500).211 Eight-rayed wheel suns are common during this period as well.212 BM 89477 shows god with lighning bolt alongside god holding a standard with an assembly surrounding a central orb.213 Collon describes this seal as “typical late Old Babylonian.” A perfect ˙wn/Lamat sign appears atop a standard held by two bull-men in BM 89556.214 Here the standard is nothing but a series of ascending rings. Collon suggests this seal was produced during the 14th century.
Polar Configuration: If Venus and Mars are set in the middle of the sky as the hearth and central fire, respectively, the question then becomes how to explain the outermost band that circumscribes the entire cosmos, forming as it were the “border” or boundary of the polar configuration, as in figure one below.215 The most obvious interpretation is to view this outer band as the Okeanos of ancient lore. If so, the space inside this river-like Okeanos is to be identified as the “earth”, with Venus constituting the “heart” or navel of the earth.
Figure One
207 Figure 24 on page 17. 208 Figure 35 on page 21. 209 Figure 100 from page 33. 210 Figure 102-3 on page 34. 211 Figure 140 on page 42. 212 Figures 139 from page 42 and 152 from page 43. 213 Figure 195 on page 51. 214 Figure 275 on page 64. 215 Visible in the four-wind sun below, but also in image 3467 showing the prototypical Thunderbolt.
This cosmogram will explain why the sun both rises and sets from within Okeanos. It will explain why the sun is located at the “heart” of heaven or at the navel of the earth: “Extolled, the Strong [Agni] shone forth with kindled fuel to the earth’s centre, to the height of heaven.”216 This cosmogram will also explain why the Thundergod, as Parjanya, functions as the “germ” (garbha) at the center of the earth. The storm god sheds a great light—ud zagal—from the hole within the earth, much as the sun first appears from within the same hole within the earth. It will be noted that the torus surrounding Mars/Venus morphs into a lozenge-like image (see below), thereby confirming the Thundergod’s conceptualization as the “seed” or germ of the earth mother (it will be noted that the lozenge is simply a slightly elongated diamond-star). According to this interpretation of the evidence, Mars is set in the dark earth at the center of the world, as Agni is hidden in the guha or as the sun in the rock: svar yad asman. The sun is invoked as the secret “treasure” because it is to be found at the center of this rock or dark hole (Agni=Sun=hidden treasure).
Xiuhtecuhtli as Lozenge
Xiuhtecuhtli as Cross217
216 RV III:V:9. 217 See C. Coggins, “Pure Language and Lapidary Prose,” in E. Danien & R. Sharer eds., New Theories on the Ancient Maya (Philadelphia, 1992), p. 103 on the Kan Cross
Commented [EC29]: Does this explain the warrior god’s sharp (spd) face? If so, this would explain why Mars and Venus are both sharp as Horus Spd and Isis Sopdet.
“The Sea as a circumambient Great Serpent.”218 Tiamat=Tohu, encircles the world. wåƒ-wr=shen encircling the world=Green sea.
“The stationary sun stands at the apex of the world axis.”219
See the Mayan god with T510 sign on headdress and Y-shaped beard in figure 14 of X, p. 122.220
For possible dragon-slaying image, see D. Stein, Nuzi, figure 11.
and the meaning “precious stone.” At the same time the Kan denotes “fire.” K. Taube, “Turquoise Hearth,” p. 312. 218 H. Alexander, “Latin American,” in L. Gray ed., The Mythology of all Races (New York, 1964), p. 57. 219 H. Snodgrass, The Symbolism of the Stupa (Delhi, 1992), p. 26. 220 RES 47 (2005)