In eastern Asia and various parts of India, particularly in the East and the South, Buddhism and Hinduism began to fuse through the vehicle of Tantra. The texts make clear that the flow of culture was in both directions.
From Tibet, Burma and China, probably known collectively as Mahacina we hear of substantial Tantric influence. The yab-yum philosophy of the Tibetan Bon religion and the related yin-yang doctrine of Taoism are quite evident in Tantric literature including the Mahacinatantra.
The goddess Tara, who was of utmost importance in both Buddhist and Hindu tantrism, shared many similarities to eastern Asian sea goddesses. She was herself the patron deity of seafarers in Tantric tradition.
In Southeast Asia, we see the rise of important Buddhist learning centers. When I Ching visited Foshi in the seventh century, he stated that "the level of the sciences has reached such a state, that one can say all the knowledge of the world flows from this island."
The great Tantric Buddhist teacher Atisha traveled to insular Southeast Asia to study under the master guru Suvarnadvipi.
Tantric forms of Buddhism like Vajrayana and Kalacakra became strongly identified with this region known as Suvarnadvipa "the Golden Isles." This region was part of what what we have described before as Sakadvipa "the Isles of the Saka (Teak) Tree."
These islands form part of the eastern quarter of the world known as Bhadrasva in the Puranic literature. The Sita River was the great river of Bhadrasva and was said also to be one of the rivers of Sakadvipa. The kingdom of Shambhala was said to lie on the north side of this river.
The region was famed as fragrant with the scent of cloves and rich in gold and other precious metals. The The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea a first century Greek work on Indian Ocean trade mentions the commerce between the markets at the mouth of the Ganges and Chryse "the Gold Isle" the very farthest land to the East.
Among the products from Chryse was said to be the finest tortoise shell in all the Indian Ocean trade. Reports of near-by gold mines are also mentioned. The Chryse merchants apparently used "very large" ships known in the text as colandia.
The Tantric doctrine of Kalacakra will play an important role in the history of this area beginning in about the 8th or 9th century. The Kalacakra like all Tantras has strong dualistic elements combined with the predominant doctrine of cyclic time. The supreme Kalacakra Deity is, in fact, a sort of personification of time, particularly time as a destroying and hence rejuvenating factor.
In the Kalacakra doctrine we see a very strong emphasis on messianism and end-times prophecy linked specifically with the kingdom of Shambhala. This was at a time when the Dragon and Bird Clan was maybe at its highest height but also preparing to face its greatest challenge.
A Tibetan representation of the kingdom of Shambhala
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
Thursday, February 03, 2005
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Back East
We will leave Europe for now and go back east to India. It was to here, as we have mentioned, that the Nusantao merchants brought their goods for distribution to points beyond on the Clove Route.
Good relations with India would have been important especially for the Dragon and Bird Clan who mostly controlled this northern route as opposed to the southern transoceanic Cinnamon Route. The gradual migration of Indian religious influences into Southeast Asia helped foster good relations.
While it is difficult to gauge when these influences began, by the time of the Chinese traveler Fahsien in the 5th century, the influece was apparently strongly established. Fahsien mentions that in Ye-po-ti an island on the last leg of the journey from India to China, he found a form of Brahminism in practice. When I Ching traveled to India and back a few centuries later, he found at Foshi, again the last stop from India to China, that Buddhism was flourishing instead .
Indeed, there are some who believe that the syncretic forms of belief that combined Hindu worship of Siva and the Sun together with Buddhism originated in Southeast Asia and were carried back to India.
I suggest in one of my articles that the location known as Sakadvipa to the Indians was in Southeast Asia. In Hindu texts, Sakadvipa is associated strongly with Sun worship.
Indeed, in insular Southeast Asia we find that Siva is combined with local manifestations of the Sun god. Solar worship was and is widespread among indigenous religions of this region and also beyond into the Pacific. Forms of Siva such as Batara Guru and Maharaja Dewa (Mahadewa) are closely identified with the Sun in local forms of Hinduism or Kebatinan, and even in the genie lore of Muslims.
Apparently people from Sakadvipa also migrated to India forming the caste known today as the Sakadwipi brahmins. These Sakadwipis are dispersed mainly in eastern India where we also find syncreticism of Sun and Siva worship as in the Bhairava sect. Orissa on the eastern coast, in particular, becomes a center of Sun worship and pilgrims often visit to worship at Sun temples here.
One of the specific forms of solar worship was to bathe in the sea or to meditate in the forest (vana) and this was recommended especially to be done in Orissa.
The Sakadwipi brahmins became established mainly in Bihar, Bengal and Orissa, and from these places migrated to other regions. This occured during a time of significant recorded contact between East India and Suvarnadvipa (insular Southeast Asia). Specifically we know that Gauda and Varman kings of Bengal were said to have brought Sakadwipi brahmins into their courts. The Sakadwipis of today are often of the Sakta sect, which worships the goddess in the form of the spouse of Siva. They generally are held in low esteem by brahmins who claim North Indian origin (Pancha Gauda).
However, at one time they were leaders in the fields of astronomy and ayurvedic medical sciences. Even today, many are found practicing traditional astrology and healing.
The Sakadwipis are located where Siva/Sakti worship combines with Sun worship as in northern Bihar where the Chhath Sun festival is still of great importance. Here one encounters many syncretic temples combining Siva/Sakti images with those of the Sun god.
Sakadwipis were apparently very important in the astronomical circles around Magadha and latter in Avanti. The great astronomer Varahamihira was a Sakadwipi. It was during the period starting around the fifth century that we see a real flourishing of astronomy and geography in India.
One important feature of this astronomy/geography is found in the relation of the place known as Yamakoti or "Yama's peak." As mentioned previously, Yama is the Indian god of death and the Underworld. According to the astronomical text Surya Siddhanta we find from Lanka "at a quadrant of the earth's circumference eastward, in the clime Bhadrasva, is the city famed as Yamakoti, having the walls and gateways of gold."
Bhadrasva is the eastern region in the Puranas fed by the Sita, the river which also happens to be linked with both Sakadvipa and Shambhala.
Varahamihira states that when it is midnight in Yamakoti, it is sunset in Lanka and midday in Romaka, which refers either to Rome or Alexandria. If we accept Romaka as the latter, then Yamakoti would be roughly at the same meridian as Mt. Pinatubo.
Lanka is said to be on the same longitude as present-day Ujjain or at about 75° East longitude. Alexandria is at about 30° East and Pinatubo is at about 120° East, so they are both separated by about 45 degrees from Lanka.
Of course, 45 degrees is only one half of a quadrant of the earth's circumference. Rome would be much closer to a quadrant although still far off the mark.
We should note that Marinus of Tyre and Ptolemy of Alexandria tend to give similar indications in respect to longitude. If you remember, we mentioned that when Magellan landed in the Philippines he was heading for the port known as Cattigara.
In Ptolemy's Geographia, we find that Alexandria, Cattigara and the approximate location as best we can determine of Ujjain, are about proportionately equidistant from one another.
A medieval rendition of Ptolemy's world map by Girolamo Ruscelli in 1561
Marinus of Tyre states that the distance from the Fortunate Isles (Canary-Madiera Islands) to Cattigara was 230 degrees. The actual distance is about half that amount. Thus, both the Indian and Greek astronomers appear to overestimate distance in degrees by the same amount at least a these long ranges.
If Yamakoti mentioned by the Indian astronomers coincides fairly well with the Cattigara of the Greeks and Magellan, then we can see the Mt. Pinatubo would definitely be a good candidate for "Yama's Peak."
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
References
Burgess, Rev. E.(trans), Gangooly, P.(ed.), The Surya Siddhanta: A Text-Book of Hindu Astronomy: Motilal Banarsida Publishers Private Ltd., Delhi, India, 1860 (reprinted in 1935 and 1989).
Varahamihira, Panchasiddhantika, Translated by G. Thibaut and Mahamahopadhyaya Sudhakara Dvivedi. Benares: Medical Hall Press, 1889.
Good relations with India would have been important especially for the Dragon and Bird Clan who mostly controlled this northern route as opposed to the southern transoceanic Cinnamon Route. The gradual migration of Indian religious influences into Southeast Asia helped foster good relations.
While it is difficult to gauge when these influences began, by the time of the Chinese traveler Fahsien in the 5th century, the influece was apparently strongly established. Fahsien mentions that in Ye-po-ti an island on the last leg of the journey from India to China, he found a form of Brahminism in practice. When I Ching traveled to India and back a few centuries later, he found at Foshi, again the last stop from India to China, that Buddhism was flourishing instead .
Indeed, there are some who believe that the syncretic forms of belief that combined Hindu worship of Siva and the Sun together with Buddhism originated in Southeast Asia and were carried back to India.
I suggest in one of my articles that the location known as Sakadvipa to the Indians was in Southeast Asia. In Hindu texts, Sakadvipa is associated strongly with Sun worship.
Indeed, in insular Southeast Asia we find that Siva is combined with local manifestations of the Sun god. Solar worship was and is widespread among indigenous religions of this region and also beyond into the Pacific. Forms of Siva such as Batara Guru and Maharaja Dewa (Mahadewa) are closely identified with the Sun in local forms of Hinduism or Kebatinan, and even in the genie lore of Muslims.
Apparently people from Sakadvipa also migrated to India forming the caste known today as the Sakadwipi brahmins. These Sakadwipis are dispersed mainly in eastern India where we also find syncreticism of Sun and Siva worship as in the Bhairava sect. Orissa on the eastern coast, in particular, becomes a center of Sun worship and pilgrims often visit to worship at Sun temples here.
One of the specific forms of solar worship was to bathe in the sea or to meditate in the forest (vana) and this was recommended especially to be done in Orissa.
The Sakadwipi brahmins became established mainly in Bihar, Bengal and Orissa, and from these places migrated to other regions. This occured during a time of significant recorded contact between East India and Suvarnadvipa (insular Southeast Asia). Specifically we know that Gauda and Varman kings of Bengal were said to have brought Sakadwipi brahmins into their courts. The Sakadwipis of today are often of the Sakta sect, which worships the goddess in the form of the spouse of Siva. They generally are held in low esteem by brahmins who claim North Indian origin (Pancha Gauda).
However, at one time they were leaders in the fields of astronomy and ayurvedic medical sciences. Even today, many are found practicing traditional astrology and healing.
The Sakadwipis are located where Siva/Sakti worship combines with Sun worship as in northern Bihar where the Chhath Sun festival is still of great importance. Here one encounters many syncretic temples combining Siva/Sakti images with those of the Sun god.
Sakadwipis were apparently very important in the astronomical circles around Magadha and latter in Avanti. The great astronomer Varahamihira was a Sakadwipi. It was during the period starting around the fifth century that we see a real flourishing of astronomy and geography in India.
One important feature of this astronomy/geography is found in the relation of the place known as Yamakoti or "Yama's peak." As mentioned previously, Yama is the Indian god of death and the Underworld. According to the astronomical text Surya Siddhanta we find from Lanka "at a quadrant of the earth's circumference eastward, in the clime Bhadrasva, is the city famed as Yamakoti, having the walls and gateways of gold."
Bhadrasva is the eastern region in the Puranas fed by the Sita, the river which also happens to be linked with both Sakadvipa and Shambhala.
Varahamihira states that when it is midnight in Yamakoti, it is sunset in Lanka and midday in Romaka, which refers either to Rome or Alexandria. If we accept Romaka as the latter, then Yamakoti would be roughly at the same meridian as Mt. Pinatubo.
Lanka is said to be on the same longitude as present-day Ujjain or at about 75° East longitude. Alexandria is at about 30° East and Pinatubo is at about 120° East, so they are both separated by about 45 degrees from Lanka.
Of course, 45 degrees is only one half of a quadrant of the earth's circumference. Rome would be much closer to a quadrant although still far off the mark.
We should note that Marinus of Tyre and Ptolemy of Alexandria tend to give similar indications in respect to longitude. If you remember, we mentioned that when Magellan landed in the Philippines he was heading for the port known as Cattigara.
In Ptolemy's Geographia, we find that Alexandria, Cattigara and the approximate location as best we can determine of Ujjain, are about proportionately equidistant from one another.
A medieval rendition of Ptolemy's world map by Girolamo Ruscelli in 1561
Marinus of Tyre states that the distance from the Fortunate Isles (Canary-Madiera Islands) to Cattigara was 230 degrees. The actual distance is about half that amount. Thus, both the Indian and Greek astronomers appear to overestimate distance in degrees by the same amount at least a these long ranges.
If Yamakoti mentioned by the Indian astronomers coincides fairly well with the Cattigara of the Greeks and Magellan, then we can see the Mt. Pinatubo would definitely be a good candidate for "Yama's Peak."
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
References
Burgess, Rev. E.(trans), Gangooly, P.(ed.), The Surya Siddhanta: A Text-Book of Hindu Astronomy: Motilal Banarsida Publishers Private Ltd., Delhi, India, 1860 (reprinted in 1935 and 1989).
Varahamihira, Panchasiddhantika, Translated by G. Thibaut and Mahamahopadhyaya Sudhakara Dvivedi. Benares: Medical Hall Press, 1889.
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Dolmens II
The dolmens of the world tend to lack any of the markings of the more established religions. Even the more specific known symbols of the pre-Christian religions of Europe rarely find a place on the dolmens. These monuments and other megaliths though do have carvings and other marks quite commonly and the meanings of these symbols has fueled much speculation.
To sort this out we can explore the traditions connected with the European megalithic sites. As noted, the greatest monuments often have only relatively late notices in the literature. Stonehenge is first mentioned only in 1135 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. The impressive ruins of Carnac despite rather detailed early descriptions of the surroundng area are only related in 1779 by Sauvagère in Recueil d'Antiquités dans les Gaules who attributes them mistakenly to the Romans.
However, it may be through the folklore linked with these monuments that we can work back and connect with the more ancient literature. In northern Europe, the dolmens and other megaliths are often associated with fairies, elves and other folkloric peoples or creatures. These mythological beings may at one time have been real cultures that over the centuries or millennia became transformed through the telling of tradition.
In the medieval literature, these peoples play a rather distinct role and are often associated with faraway mystical places. In the chansons de geste, Arthurian cycles and other romantic epics, the fairies are linked with the lush paradisical place called the "island of apples" or Avalon.
A land of apples is also found in earlier Greek and Norse myths. In the Greek versions, this place is located "beyond the river Oceanus at the outer limits of the world." As mentioned earlier, the river Oceanus was seen as existing both to the west and to the east. This could be either according to the astronomical view of a globular world or to the popular and medieval one of a flat circular world.
The golden apples of the Garden of Hesperides were a gift from Gaea during the wedding of Zeus and Hera, have been located in many places including Africa and America. The golden apples in many ways resemble the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden. The tree possessing these apples was said to be guarded by a serpent or dragon sometimes called Ladon.
The serpent Ladon protecting the golden apples
Earlier I mentioned that the forbidden fruit of the Bible has often been equated with the banana. Could this also be the case with the "golden apples." The tree was cared for by the sisters known as the Hesperides. As one of his labors, Hercules went to fetch the golden apples and came to a land known as Hyperborea.
The country of Hyperborea was said to be located in the far north beyond the north wind or the Boreas in Greek (Latin Aquilon).
However, like Avalon, Hyperborea was described as a lush warm paradise where the natives ran naked and carefree. Abaris, a Hyperborean priest, was said to have carried a magic arrow and is linked with the founding of magic and shamanist traditions in Greece and also to a particular school of medicine. It was said that the Sun was worshipped here in the form of Apollo, and both Kronus and Leto, the grandfather and mother of Apollo were stated to have come from Hyperborea.
It was here that Hercules finds Atlas or in some versions Prometheus. Interestingly, Titans alone seemed to know the way to the mystical Garden of the Hesperides.
The Norse myth of Iðunn also mentions golden apples and contains the following motifs: 1) The tree's fruit provides eternal youth to the gods of Asgard, 2) Loki takes the form of a bird to steal Iðunn and the golden apples, 3) Loki and Thor hide the apples in the belly of the Midgard serpent.
You may notice here the combination of the tree, the bird and the serpent that we discussed earlier.
Vennemann believes the Hesperides are linked with North Africa and that even that the name is of Afro-Asiatic origin. He has suggested pre-Indo-European peoples like the Picts and the Scandinvian Vanirs were Afro-Asiatic speakers.
However, like Avalon, the Hesperides and Hyperborea are linked in some ways with voyages to the north as well as the west. While there is some indication of polar days and nights, these lands are thought of as having warm, even tropical climates.
Could we have here some vague recollection of northern journeys that eventually led to the South Seas as postulated by Hornell and others? In the medieval romances, Ogier the Dane was said to have spent a long time in Avalon where he reportedly made many conquests in the "Indies."
We find later too that Prester John becomes entwined in the romance literature connected, for example, with Parzival and Ogier, often with the further geographical link of the Indies. We will discuss this in greater detail later on in the blog.
Vennemann has also suggested that the word "apple" was borrowed into Indo-European from Afro-Asiatic 'abol "genitals." However, Pedersen notes that the apple words like those for "river bank," i.e., German uber and Welsh aber, show an alternation between the letters "a" and "u" and he believes this may be related to Austronesian influence.
Of the symbols found on the megaliths, one of the most common is the cup mark. Monuments in Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Korea, Europe, India and other regions all display, often profusely, these concave etchings.
Oppenheimer notes that in Sumatra and eastern Indonesia, these cup marks are found in parallel rows in a pattern similar to a Mancala board game (Sungka in the Philippines). In fact, these cup etchings are actually used to play this Indo-Pacific-wide game locally. Similar patterns have been found on megaliths in Turkey and East Africa, and amongst the rock carvings of Scandinavia. That a game would be played on a sacred tomb should not be thought of as strange. In many ancient cultures, ancestral tombs were looked at as not less than a home away from home, where family activities such as eating and playing were encouraged.
Other cup marks seem to represent something else entirely and are often shown with surrounding concentric rings. In the view of the dragon and bird clan, these symbols might represent the holy volcano in a Mt. Meru design with the concave cup symbolizing the volcanic crater.
Megalithic cup and ring marking from Achnabreck, Scotland
Megalithic cup and ring marking from Ballochmyle, Scotland
In some cases, these cup markings are connected by grooves that follow the natural contours of the stone. They have been thought of in many ways to include outlines of tomb structures and representations of constellations. Some believe the groove system is designed to help drain water off the rock although this is usually not obvious. It may be that the builders saw the stone's contours as a representation of a natural landscape and that the grooves represented water ways leading from one mountain (cup mark) to another.
The early Greeks divided history into different ages of which the first was the Golden Age. During this period, Kronus ruled over the Titans, the Golden Race, in Hyperborea also sometimes described as the "Saturnian isle." After the volcanic overthrow of the Titans, the Golden Age continued in the mysterious otherworldly "Isles of the Blessed." The period was known as one of innocence and natural living.
Plato writing in Cratylus notes that the Golden Race were also known as "demons" although the meaning of that word was different in earlier times. Referring to Hesiod, he states:
Hesiod described the early Golden Race as "holy demons upon the earth, Beneficent, averters of ills, guardians of mortal men."
It is probably not by coincidence that the word "demon" has come to refer to the "fallen angels" of Biblical lore.
Indeed we have shown that the fallen angel camp "ruled" first through their willingness to exploit the trade routes without moral reservation. However, the eruptions and corresponding alliance of the dragon and bird clans allowed for the "overthrow" of the old regime and their expulsion from "Eden."
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
References
On the folklore of the megaliths
Evans-Wentz, W. Y., The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries, 1911.
Dumézil, Georges, “The Gods: Aesir and Vanir,” in Gods of the Ancient Norsemen 3-25 (1973).
MacRitchie, David. Ancient and Modern Britons : A Retrospect, W. Preston, 1986 (reprint).
On Vennemann's and related theories
Linguistic abstracts, http://www.germanistik.uni-muenchen.de/theoretische_linguistik/vennemann.html#abstracts
To sort this out we can explore the traditions connected with the European megalithic sites. As noted, the greatest monuments often have only relatively late notices in the literature. Stonehenge is first mentioned only in 1135 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. The impressive ruins of Carnac despite rather detailed early descriptions of the surroundng area are only related in 1779 by Sauvagère in Recueil d'Antiquités dans les Gaules who attributes them mistakenly to the Romans.
However, it may be through the folklore linked with these monuments that we can work back and connect with the more ancient literature. In northern Europe, the dolmens and other megaliths are often associated with fairies, elves and other folkloric peoples or creatures. These mythological beings may at one time have been real cultures that over the centuries or millennia became transformed through the telling of tradition.
In the medieval literature, these peoples play a rather distinct role and are often associated with faraway mystical places. In the chansons de geste, Arthurian cycles and other romantic epics, the fairies are linked with the lush paradisical place called the "island of apples" or Avalon.
A land of apples is also found in earlier Greek and Norse myths. In the Greek versions, this place is located "beyond the river Oceanus at the outer limits of the world." As mentioned earlier, the river Oceanus was seen as existing both to the west and to the east. This could be either according to the astronomical view of a globular world or to the popular and medieval one of a flat circular world.
"As for Okeanos, the Greeks say that it flows around the whole world from where the sun rises, but they cannot prove that this is so." - Herodotus 4.8.1
"The unending flow and ebb of Tethys, of the sacred flood of Okeanos fathomless-rolling, of the bounds of Earth that wearieth never of her travail, of where the Sun-steeds leap from orient waves." - Quintus Smyrnaeus 2.115
"[The] rivers [of the world] are many, and mighty, and diverse, and there are four principal ones, of which the greatest and outermost is that called Okeanos, which flows round the earth in a circle; and in the opposite direction flows Akheron, which passes under the earth through desert places." -Plato Phaedo 112E
"The root-fixt bed of refluent Okeanos surrounds the circle of the world and its four divided parts, girdling the whole earth coronet- wise with encircling band." –Dionysiaca 2.247
The golden apples of the Garden of Hesperides were a gift from Gaea during the wedding of Zeus and Hera, have been located in many places including Africa and America. The golden apples in many ways resemble the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden. The tree possessing these apples was said to be guarded by a serpent or dragon sometimes called Ladon.
The serpent Ladon protecting the golden apples
Earlier I mentioned that the forbidden fruit of the Bible has often been equated with the banana. Could this also be the case with the "golden apples." The tree was cared for by the sisters known as the Hesperides. As one of his labors, Hercules went to fetch the golden apples and came to a land known as Hyperborea.
The country of Hyperborea was said to be located in the far north beyond the north wind or the Boreas in Greek (Latin Aquilon).
However, like Avalon, Hyperborea was described as a lush warm paradise where the natives ran naked and carefree. Abaris, a Hyperborean priest, was said to have carried a magic arrow and is linked with the founding of magic and shamanist traditions in Greece and also to a particular school of medicine. It was said that the Sun was worshipped here in the form of Apollo, and both Kronus and Leto, the grandfather and mother of Apollo were stated to have come from Hyperborea.
It was here that Hercules finds Atlas or in some versions Prometheus. Interestingly, Titans alone seemed to know the way to the mystical Garden of the Hesperides.
The Norse myth of Iðunn also mentions golden apples and contains the following motifs: 1) The tree's fruit provides eternal youth to the gods of Asgard, 2) Loki takes the form of a bird to steal Iðunn and the golden apples, 3) Loki and Thor hide the apples in the belly of the Midgard serpent.
You may notice here the combination of the tree, the bird and the serpent that we discussed earlier.
Vennemann believes the Hesperides are linked with North Africa and that even that the name is of Afro-Asiatic origin. He has suggested pre-Indo-European peoples like the Picts and the Scandinvian Vanirs were Afro-Asiatic speakers.
However, like Avalon, the Hesperides and Hyperborea are linked in some ways with voyages to the north as well as the west. While there is some indication of polar days and nights, these lands are thought of as having warm, even tropical climates.
Could we have here some vague recollection of northern journeys that eventually led to the South Seas as postulated by Hornell and others? In the medieval romances, Ogier the Dane was said to have spent a long time in Avalon where he reportedly made many conquests in the "Indies."
We find later too that Prester John becomes entwined in the romance literature connected, for example, with Parzival and Ogier, often with the further geographical link of the Indies. We will discuss this in greater detail later on in the blog.
Vennemann has also suggested that the word "apple" was borrowed into Indo-European from Afro-Asiatic 'abol "genitals." However, Pedersen notes that the apple words like those for "river bank," i.e., German uber and Welsh aber, show an alternation between the letters "a" and "u" and he believes this may be related to Austronesian influence.
Of the symbols found on the megaliths, one of the most common is the cup mark. Monuments in Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Korea, Europe, India and other regions all display, often profusely, these concave etchings.
Oppenheimer notes that in Sumatra and eastern Indonesia, these cup marks are found in parallel rows in a pattern similar to a Mancala board game (Sungka in the Philippines). In fact, these cup etchings are actually used to play this Indo-Pacific-wide game locally. Similar patterns have been found on megaliths in Turkey and East Africa, and amongst the rock carvings of Scandinavia. That a game would be played on a sacred tomb should not be thought of as strange. In many ancient cultures, ancestral tombs were looked at as not less than a home away from home, where family activities such as eating and playing were encouraged.
Other cup marks seem to represent something else entirely and are often shown with surrounding concentric rings. In the view of the dragon and bird clan, these symbols might represent the holy volcano in a Mt. Meru design with the concave cup symbolizing the volcanic crater.
Megalithic cup and ring marking from Achnabreck, Scotland
Megalithic cup and ring marking from Ballochmyle, Scotland
In some cases, these cup markings are connected by grooves that follow the natural contours of the stone. They have been thought of in many ways to include outlines of tomb structures and representations of constellations. Some believe the groove system is designed to help drain water off the rock although this is usually not obvious. It may be that the builders saw the stone's contours as a representation of a natural landscape and that the grooves represented water ways leading from one mountain (cup mark) to another.
The early Greeks divided history into different ages of which the first was the Golden Age. During this period, Kronus ruled over the Titans, the Golden Race, in Hyperborea also sometimes described as the "Saturnian isle." After the volcanic overthrow of the Titans, the Golden Age continued in the mysterious otherworldly "Isles of the Blessed." The period was known as one of innocence and natural living.
Plato writing in Cratylus notes that the Golden Race were also known as "demons" although the meaning of that word was different in earlier times. Referring to Hesiod, he states:
And therefore I have the most entire conviction that he called them demons, because they were daemones (knowing or wise), and in our older Attic dialect the word itself occurs. Now he and other poets say truly, that when a good man dies he has honour and a mighty portion among the dead, and becomes a demon; which is a name given to him signifying wisdom. And I say too, that every wise man who happens to be a good man is more than human (daimonion) both in life and death, and is rightly called a demon.
Hesiod described the early Golden Race as "holy demons upon the earth, Beneficent, averters of ills, guardians of mortal men."
It is probably not by coincidence that the word "demon" has come to refer to the "fallen angels" of Biblical lore.
Indeed we have shown that the fallen angel camp "ruled" first through their willingness to exploit the trade routes without moral reservation. However, the eruptions and corresponding alliance of the dragon and bird clans allowed for the "overthrow" of the old regime and their expulsion from "Eden."
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
References
On the folklore of the megaliths
Evans-Wentz, W. Y., The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries, 1911.
Dumézil, Georges, “The Gods: Aesir and Vanir,” in Gods of the Ancient Norsemen 3-25 (1973).
MacRitchie, David. Ancient and Modern Britons : A Retrospect, W. Preston, 1986 (reprint).
On Vennemann's and related theories
Linguistic abstracts, http://www.germanistik.uni-muenchen.de/theoretische_linguistik/vennemann.html#abstracts
Sunday, January 30, 2005
Dolmens
The worldwide distribution of megaliths has spawned theories of a megalithic culture that spanned the globe at some early epoch. Grafton Elliot Smith was among the first to speculate on such hyperdiffusion.
The concept of moving or raising large stones for purposes ranging from marking boundaries to building tombs is natural enough to have risen independently in many cultures. However, one type of megalith does attract our attention.
The dolmen tomb occurs over a wide distribution in an arrangement that does not lead one to think of independent origin. The dolmen often occurs as a "stone table" consisting of a massive flat capstone lying horizontally on smaller upright stones acting as "table legs."
What make the dolmen unusual is that it usually is found surrounded by a mound or tumulus. Underneath the dolmen, one will again usually find a stone cist containing one or more burials. A large hole in one of the rocks, apparently symbolic in nature, will also be associated with the dolmen. The Marquis of Nadaillac commented on the unlikely possibility of this occuring independently:
Dolmens in Europe and eastern Asia appear divided mainly into Neolithic and Bronze Age categories. In some cases, iron is found in these tombs but often along with evidence that this metal was deposited only long after the dolmen was erected. This is different than in other areas such as India where megalithic burials are often associated with iron. Heine-Geldern thus thought there were two "waves" of megalith builders in Europe and Southeast Asia who were in fact linked.
The strongest evidence that would suggest the dolmen builders of Europe came from far away in the East is found in the megalithic fields of France. Here burials with jade, nephrite and jadeite (chloromelanite) hatchets and celts have been found.
Jade is not found in Europe and turns up only very far to the east. There is a difference of opinion on nephrite and jadeite. Some limited deposits have been found of both although most experts tend to agree that jadeite was probably imported from an eastern source. Nephrite deposits have been found with workshops in proximity although without evidence that the deposits had ever been worked.
The strongest argument against local mining of these minerals is that their use totally disappears after the megalithic age. Like the hard-fired pottery of Neolithic Iraq and Syria, and the early lashed-lug boats of Scandinavia, the jade tools vanish either due to the loss of a culture or to a lost trading source.
We know as a fact that with the rise of urban China, jade and nephrite became increasingly harder to obtain outside of that country. For example, in the Philippines, the situation with nephrite shows clear signs that the supply diminished over time.
We find jade, nephrite and jadeite tools also among the pile dwellings or "Lake Stations" of neolithic Switzerland. Remains from this culture included perforated clay spindle whorls and net sinkers similar to those found in the neolithic shell mound cultures much further east. The Lake Stations are naturally linked with the nearby pile dwellings of northern Italy.
The dolmen burials also contained tools made of fibrolite, another material not native to Europe, and Indo-Pacific cowries.
The neolithic Shandong and related coastal Korean cultures raised dolmens. Indeed, Korea has more dolmens than all the rest of the world combined. Today, the peoples of Sulawesi and Sumba in eastern Indonesia continue to build dolmen tombs although with some modern touches.
The traditional dolmens of this region often were combined with carved totemic menhirs.
In both Europe and Southeast Asia we find evidence in the Neolithic and Bronze Age of the cult of the axe. Blades with no signs of wear are found, often in large numbers, as burial items. Sometimes these tools appear purposely broken as if due to some form of ritual.
The mounds associated with dolmens can be either artificial or natural, and some of the former are massive having circumferences of thousands of feet and standing over 170 feet high. They remind us of similarly expansive shell mounds that were also used for burial.
In many ways, the dolmen resembles also the houses, and at times, semisubterranean houses built on mounds in the northern regions. The hole found in many of these monuments may represent an opening allowing the souls interned to exit the structure. However, it has also been theorized that dolmens were used to bury entire families using secondary internment, and that dessicated skeletons were placed through the opening. Often the local folklore connected with dolmens views them as homes made by little people, or by giants for little people.
Dolmen with opening from India
Also of interest is the fact that the megaliths of Europe though extensive and spectacular in scale are hardly mentioned at all by the ancient Greek and Roman writers, or even by early medieval chroniclers. They certainly were known as there is abundant evidence especially of Roman intrusion into these monuments. However, it was almost as the memory of these structures was thought to be better forgotten.
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
The concept of moving or raising large stones for purposes ranging from marking boundaries to building tombs is natural enough to have risen independently in many cultures. However, one type of megalith does attract our attention.
The dolmen tomb occurs over a wide distribution in an arrangement that does not lead one to think of independent origin. The dolmen often occurs as a "stone table" consisting of a massive flat capstone lying horizontally on smaller upright stones acting as "table legs."
What make the dolmen unusual is that it usually is found surrounded by a mound or tumulus. Underneath the dolmen, one will again usually find a stone cist containing one or more burials. A large hole in one of the rocks, apparently symbolic in nature, will also be associated with the dolmen. The Marquis of Nadaillac commented on the unlikely possibility of this occuring independently:
We can understand how men were everywhere impelled to raise mounds above the bodies of their ancestors, to perpetuate their memory or to enclose their mortal remains between flat stones to save them from being crushed by the weight of earth above them. We may even, by straining a point, admit the idea that a large cist developed into a dolmen, but when in districts separated by enormous distances we see monuments with the wall pierced with a circular opening or combining an interior crypt with an external mound and dolmen, it is impossible to look upon these close resemblances as the result of an accidental coincidence, and equally impossible to fail to conclude that the men whose funeral rites were remarkable for such close similarity belonged to the same race.
Dolmens in Europe and eastern Asia appear divided mainly into Neolithic and Bronze Age categories. In some cases, iron is found in these tombs but often along with evidence that this metal was deposited only long after the dolmen was erected. This is different than in other areas such as India where megalithic burials are often associated with iron. Heine-Geldern thus thought there were two "waves" of megalith builders in Europe and Southeast Asia who were in fact linked.
The strongest evidence that would suggest the dolmen builders of Europe came from far away in the East is found in the megalithic fields of France. Here burials with jade, nephrite and jadeite (chloromelanite) hatchets and celts have been found.
Jade is not found in Europe and turns up only very far to the east. There is a difference of opinion on nephrite and jadeite. Some limited deposits have been found of both although most experts tend to agree that jadeite was probably imported from an eastern source. Nephrite deposits have been found with workshops in proximity although without evidence that the deposits had ever been worked.
The strongest argument against local mining of these minerals is that their use totally disappears after the megalithic age. Like the hard-fired pottery of Neolithic Iraq and Syria, and the early lashed-lug boats of Scandinavia, the jade tools vanish either due to the loss of a culture or to a lost trading source.
We know as a fact that with the rise of urban China, jade and nephrite became increasingly harder to obtain outside of that country. For example, in the Philippines, the situation with nephrite shows clear signs that the supply diminished over time.
We find jade, nephrite and jadeite tools also among the pile dwellings or "Lake Stations" of neolithic Switzerland. Remains from this culture included perforated clay spindle whorls and net sinkers similar to those found in the neolithic shell mound cultures much further east. The Lake Stations are naturally linked with the nearby pile dwellings of northern Italy.
The dolmen burials also contained tools made of fibrolite, another material not native to Europe, and Indo-Pacific cowries.
The neolithic Shandong and related coastal Korean cultures raised dolmens. Indeed, Korea has more dolmens than all the rest of the world combined. Today, the peoples of Sulawesi and Sumba in eastern Indonesia continue to build dolmen tombs although with some modern touches.
The traditional dolmens of this region often were combined with carved totemic menhirs.
In both Europe and Southeast Asia we find evidence in the Neolithic and Bronze Age of the cult of the axe. Blades with no signs of wear are found, often in large numbers, as burial items. Sometimes these tools appear purposely broken as if due to some form of ritual.
The mounds associated with dolmens can be either artificial or natural, and some of the former are massive having circumferences of thousands of feet and standing over 170 feet high. They remind us of similarly expansive shell mounds that were also used for burial.
In many ways, the dolmen resembles also the houses, and at times, semisubterranean houses built on mounds in the northern regions. The hole found in many of these monuments may represent an opening allowing the souls interned to exit the structure. However, it has also been theorized that dolmens were used to bury entire families using secondary internment, and that dessicated skeletons were placed through the opening. Often the local folklore connected with dolmens views them as homes made by little people, or by giants for little people.
Dolmen with opening from India
Also of interest is the fact that the megaliths of Europe though extensive and spectacular in scale are hardly mentioned at all by the ancient Greek and Roman writers, or even by early medieval chroniclers. They certainly were known as there is abundant evidence especially of Roman intrusion into these monuments. However, it was almost as the memory of these structures was thought to be better forgotten.
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
Architectural motifs
One can see similarities in architecture and motifs over these vast areas that seems to indicate rather continuous contacts. The interaction was probably linked with the Nusantao trade activity to some extent.
One example is the stave church of the north. Built in a manner similar to Viking ships with all wood joints and no nails. The tongue and groove method is employed. They resemble to a great extent Batak traditional architecture. The stave church is suspended on a low post base protected from soil rot by placement on stones. In the same way, the piles of a Batak home are placed on stones.
Both tend to be tiered and decorated with finials. The frames are pre-fabricated with the rest of the structure then built over the frames.
Model of Batak home
Fantoft stave church, Norway
The decorative motives in northern Europe going back at least to early Pictish times included the strong use of spirals and serpent/dragon coils. We see these also in the east starting at least by the Jomon and Neolithic periods.
The Picts also built houses on piles like the early pile dwellings of Italy, and some of these were suspended over water. The name "pict" refers to the tattoos painted over the entire body by these people.
Serpentine design from Urnes stave church
Borgun stave church
Batak house
Batak house during World War II
Beams of Batak house
Maori taihu canoe prow
Maori taurapa
Gold neck rings, Celtic La Tene culture
Jomon design
Jomon markings
Maori tattoo
Dragon coil on Dongson axe
The "Pictish Beast" entwined from Scotland
Recreation of a Pictish crannog home
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
One example is the stave church of the north. Built in a manner similar to Viking ships with all wood joints and no nails. The tongue and groove method is employed. They resemble to a great extent Batak traditional architecture. The stave church is suspended on a low post base protected from soil rot by placement on stones. In the same way, the piles of a Batak home are placed on stones.
Both tend to be tiered and decorated with finials. The frames are pre-fabricated with the rest of the structure then built over the frames.
Model of Batak home
Fantoft stave church, Norway
The decorative motives in northern Europe going back at least to early Pictish times included the strong use of spirals and serpent/dragon coils. We see these also in the east starting at least by the Jomon and Neolithic periods.
The Picts also built houses on piles like the early pile dwellings of Italy, and some of these were suspended over water. The name "pict" refers to the tattoos painted over the entire body by these people.
Serpentine design from Urnes stave church
Borgun stave church
Batak house
Batak house during World War II
Beams of Batak house
Maori taihu canoe prow
Maori taurapa
Gold neck rings, Celtic La Tene culture
Jomon design
Jomon markings
Maori tattoo
Dragon coil on Dongson axe
The "Pictish Beast" entwined from Scotland
Recreation of a Pictish crannog home
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
Saturday, January 29, 2005
Corded Ware and the Terramara
The Battle Axe folk are also known as the Corded Ware Culture after the cord-marked pottery that suddenly appears around the Neolithic-Bronze Age transition period.
Although scenarios vary, the Battle Axe people have been suggested as non-Indo-European speakers who are invaded or otherwise amalgamate with an early Indo-European folk described as Nordwestblock.
The resulting culture is, in turn, invaded by or met with migrations from Proto-Germanic speaking people.
Cord-marked pottery appears very early far to the east in Asia. In fact, the earliest pottery in the world is that of the Jomon of Japan. The name "jomon" refers to the use of cord-markings. Possibly this practice influenced the later corded horizon in Southeast Asia, which also has relationship to the Hoabinhian tradition.
Distribution of Corded Ware Culture
Among the reconstructions for "jar" in Austronesian are *kundu which appears related to *kundu "gourd." Dempwolff reconstructs *kenD(ih) "pitcher, water jar," and Hayes has Proto-Austric *(kEn)zeh "pitcher".
Pedersen offers the following list of possibly related words:
Pedersen feels these words belong to non-Indo-European Nordwestblock as they do not reconstruct clearly into earlier branches:
The natural frozen mummy known as Ötzi found in the Italian Alps and dating to this period might be related to this culture. The pile dwellings or terramarra of northern Italy have been linked with the shell mounds further north. They are also known as pile-middens. Like shell middens, pile-middens are mounds of accumulated rubbish.
The pile dwelling settlements were protected by plank-fortified earthen walls with a moat on the inner side, and the homes built on dry land. The earthen fortress was divided into four parts and usually located near a stream.
Recreation of a terramara
Settlements of nearly exactly the same type are constructed to this day in Southeast Asia and the Pacific (New Guinea). The earthen embankments are strengthened by logs, and middens accumulate under the pile-dwellings just as in early Italy. Even the height of the piles is usually the same. They are built over both dry land and over water.
Ötzi wore a loincloth but had plenty of other clothing to keep warm including leggings, insulated shoes, a bear-skin hat, a skin jerkin and a cape of linden tree bark fibers and feathers. He also had birch bark containers which he used to carry live embers. His stone axe was quadrangular in cross-section. His body had what may have been medicinal tattoos.
Most interestingly though, Ötzi wore barkcloth gauntlets!
Mummy of Ötzi
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
Although scenarios vary, the Battle Axe people have been suggested as non-Indo-European speakers who are invaded or otherwise amalgamate with an early Indo-European folk described as Nordwestblock.
The resulting culture is, in turn, invaded by or met with migrations from Proto-Germanic speaking people.
Cord-marked pottery appears very early far to the east in Asia. In fact, the earliest pottery in the world is that of the Jomon of Japan. The name "jomon" refers to the use of cord-markings. Possibly this practice influenced the later corded horizon in Southeast Asia, which also has relationship to the Hoabinhian tradition.
Distribution of Corded Ware Culture
Among the reconstructions for "jar" in Austronesian are *kundu which appears related to *kundu "gourd." Dempwolff reconstructs *kenD(ih) "pitcher, water jar," and Hayes has Proto-Austric *(kEn)zeh "pitcher".
Pedersen offers the following list of possibly related words:
from Danish Etymological Dictionary:
kanna "pitcher" Old Norse
kande id. Danish
kanne id. Norwegian
kanna id. Swedish
kanna id. Old Saxon
either
loan from
canna "reed, tube; flute" Latin
("clay container with spout" > "pitcher")?
cf., with suffix
cana:lis "canal" Latin
loan from
kánna "tube" Greek
loan from
qanu: Babylonian-Assyrian
gin id. Akkadian-Sumerian
or
*gan(dh)- Proto-IndoEuropean
gann "vessel, container" Middle Irish
*gandhna- Proto-IndoEuropean
kani "plate" Old Norse
kane "boat" Danish dial.
"sleigh" Danish
kane id. Norwegian
kane "bowl with handles",
"scoop" Norwegian dial.
kani "boat" Old Swedish
kana type of sleigh Swedish dial.
kani "small wooden bowl",
"trunk, snout",
type of boat Icelandic
kane "boat" Middle Low German
Kahn id. German
kaan id. Dutch
Pedersen feels these words belong to non-Indo-European Nordwestblock as they do not reconstruct clearly into earlier branches:
The restricted number of IE branches that the root occurs in (Celtic, Germanic, Italic) makes one suspicious that it is not IE, but non-IE Nordwestblock (with two other "container" words in the Germanic languages,and , we can be certain they aren't Germanic; roots in Germanic of the form CVC where the C's are unvoiced stops (p, t, k, kW), would have to be from PIE roots CVC, where the C's are voiced stops (b, d, g, gW), but such roots do not occur in PIE. Further the /a/ of the Latin word makes it likely it was borrowed into Latin too. In my opinion the root can be accounted for much more easily by assuming it travelled as a loanword from SEAsia to Europe.
The natural frozen mummy known as Ötzi found in the Italian Alps and dating to this period might be related to this culture. The pile dwellings or terramarra of northern Italy have been linked with the shell mounds further north. They are also known as pile-middens. Like shell middens, pile-middens are mounds of accumulated rubbish.
The pile dwelling settlements were protected by plank-fortified earthen walls with a moat on the inner side, and the homes built on dry land. The earthen fortress was divided into four parts and usually located near a stream.
Recreation of a terramara
Settlements of nearly exactly the same type are constructed to this day in Southeast Asia and the Pacific (New Guinea). The earthen embankments are strengthened by logs, and middens accumulate under the pile-dwellings just as in early Italy. Even the height of the piles is usually the same. They are built over both dry land and over water.
Ötzi wore a loincloth but had plenty of other clothing to keep warm including leggings, insulated shoes, a bear-skin hat, a skin jerkin and a cape of linden tree bark fibers and feathers. He also had birch bark containers which he used to carry live embers. His stone axe was quadrangular in cross-section. His body had what may have been medicinal tattoos.
Most interestingly though, Ötzi wore barkcloth gauntlets!
Mummy of Ötzi
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
Friday, January 28, 2005
The Torc and the Valknut
The chaining of Prometheus was part of the overall conflict between Zeus and the gods versus the Titans.
According to Hesiod, when the gods overthrew the Titans the forests were set ablaze and the oceans "seethed and boiled." Homer states that Zeus "had also thrust great Cronos down beneath earth and the restless sea" banishing him to Tartaros, the Underworld.
In Greek myth, when volcanoes erupt they reveal the Titans or Giants imprisoned by Zeus beneath the earth.
The conflict in many ways parallels that between the good and bad angels in Hebrew lore with the Titans playing the role of teachers who lead humanity toward their downfall.
In Northern Europe we sometimes find the division of the banks of a river in a manner similar to that found in Austronesia. At Skelbæk, on the Kongeå in Denmark, for example, bronze age mounds are found on one side of the river while homes and agriculture are found on the other.
Torsten Pedersen also believes that the European root for "brother" is related to the word for "to bear, carry," and might be related to relationships that existed on opposite sides of a river i.e., someone who bears something across the river. This could be something in exchange for a spouse or even the spouse him/herself. Linguistic links between Austronesian and Indo-European have long been recognized although at one time they were considered genetic relationships.
Franz Bopp, often called the "father of Indo-European," and Sir William Jones, the person who first suggested a link between European languages and Sanskrit, were two early researchers who thought the Malayo-Polynesian languages and European ones were genetically related. Pedersen's research shows that these links do indeed seem valid but as borrowings rather than inheritance.
Another interesting parallel that we find in these regions separated by half the globe involves the grisly practice of human sacrifice. As noted earlier, this ritual often pops up when we see signs of sharp social stratification. In many cases it is involved directly with funerary rites and in latter times often occurs in state or community rituals.
An artifact linked with this practice is the neck ring or torc. On the island of Nias they make elaborate neck rings, which like the ancient European ones, were plaited with fiber and metal, in this case with coconut fiber and brass.
Traditionally the neck rings or kalabubu were worn only by those who had killed one of the enemy. Tacticus mentioned that the Chatti wore 'iron collars' until they had killed someone in battle.
Oppenheimer following Frazer notes that in Scandinavia the torcs were used for ritual killings. In offerings to Odin, the victims were hung and then stabbed with a spear.
Frazer notes a similar custom in the Philippines in a fertility ritual were the victim is hung and then finished off with a spear to the side. The analogy to the Crucifixion is striking.
The torcs found on peat bog mummies at Lindow, Borromese and Tolland were fashioned into triple knots resembling the valknut motif.
Celtic god Cerunnos wearing and holding neck ring on Gundestrap Cauldron
Ancestor image with neck ring from Nias (EITE)
Although the symbolism of the valknut is not well-known it is believed that it may represent death and it has been connected with the Nornir, the three sisters of fate who weave the destinies of humans. The valknut motif is often represented by three interlinked triangles or by knots forming triangular lattices.
The triangular form is similar to the method of three-way weaving found widely distributed in Austronesia and used for extensively for a variety of purposes from constructing homes to making stick maps. The sipa or takraw a wicker ball used from Thailand to the Philippines is a good example of the three-node weaving pattern. Having twenty nodes with six great circles and eighty triangulated surfaces, the sipa maximizes compression when using tensile materials.
Bunkminster Fuller believed three-way weaving was conceived in Austronesia as a means of imparting tensile strength to flexible wooden structures. In comparision to grid-pattern weaving and structures that tend to collapse, the three-node structure has much greater "bend."
Knots as symbols were used commonly in Austronesia particularly in divination. As noted earlier knots were also used to keep records, and the trigrams created by the legendary Fu Hsi may have originated in knots used to keep weather records by the Dong Yi.
The sipa or takraw three-node wicker ball
The Fenrir wolf bound in a valknut
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
According to Hesiod, when the gods overthrew the Titans the forests were set ablaze and the oceans "seethed and boiled." Homer states that Zeus "had also thrust great Cronos down beneath earth and the restless sea" banishing him to Tartaros, the Underworld.
In Greek myth, when volcanoes erupt they reveal the Titans or Giants imprisoned by Zeus beneath the earth.
The conflict in many ways parallels that between the good and bad angels in Hebrew lore with the Titans playing the role of teachers who lead humanity toward their downfall.
In Northern Europe we sometimes find the division of the banks of a river in a manner similar to that found in Austronesia. At Skelbæk, on the Kongeå in Denmark, for example, bronze age mounds are found on one side of the river while homes and agriculture are found on the other.
Torsten Pedersen also believes that the European root for "brother" is related to the word for "to bear, carry," and might be related to relationships that existed on opposite sides of a river i.e., someone who bears something across the river. This could be something in exchange for a spouse or even the spouse him/herself. Linguistic links between Austronesian and Indo-European have long been recognized although at one time they were considered genetic relationships.
Franz Bopp, often called the "father of Indo-European," and Sir William Jones, the person who first suggested a link between European languages and Sanskrit, were two early researchers who thought the Malayo-Polynesian languages and European ones were genetically related. Pedersen's research shows that these links do indeed seem valid but as borrowings rather than inheritance.
Another interesting parallel that we find in these regions separated by half the globe involves the grisly practice of human sacrifice. As noted earlier, this ritual often pops up when we see signs of sharp social stratification. In many cases it is involved directly with funerary rites and in latter times often occurs in state or community rituals.
An artifact linked with this practice is the neck ring or torc. On the island of Nias they make elaborate neck rings, which like the ancient European ones, were plaited with fiber and metal, in this case with coconut fiber and brass.
Traditionally the neck rings or kalabubu were worn only by those who had killed one of the enemy. Tacticus mentioned that the Chatti wore 'iron collars' until they had killed someone in battle.
Oppenheimer following Frazer notes that in Scandinavia the torcs were used for ritual killings. In offerings to Odin, the victims were hung and then stabbed with a spear.
Frazer notes a similar custom in the Philippines in a fertility ritual were the victim is hung and then finished off with a spear to the side. The analogy to the Crucifixion is striking.
The torcs found on peat bog mummies at Lindow, Borromese and Tolland were fashioned into triple knots resembling the valknut motif.
Celtic god Cerunnos wearing and holding neck ring on Gundestrap Cauldron
Ancestor image with neck ring from Nias (EITE)
Although the symbolism of the valknut is not well-known it is believed that it may represent death and it has been connected with the Nornir, the three sisters of fate who weave the destinies of humans. The valknut motif is often represented by three interlinked triangles or by knots forming triangular lattices.
The triangular form is similar to the method of three-way weaving found widely distributed in Austronesia and used for extensively for a variety of purposes from constructing homes to making stick maps. The sipa or takraw a wicker ball used from Thailand to the Philippines is a good example of the three-node weaving pattern. Having twenty nodes with six great circles and eighty triangulated surfaces, the sipa maximizes compression when using tensile materials.
Bunkminster Fuller believed three-way weaving was conceived in Austronesia as a means of imparting tensile strength to flexible wooden structures. In comparision to grid-pattern weaving and structures that tend to collapse, the three-node structure has much greater "bend."
Knots as symbols were used commonly in Austronesia particularly in divination. As noted earlier knots were also used to keep records, and the trigrams created by the legendary Fu Hsi may have originated in knots used to keep weather records by the Dong Yi.
The sipa or takraw three-node wicker ball
The Fenrir wolf bound in a valknut
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
Thursday, January 27, 2005
The Labyrinth
Among theories used to explain the non-Indo-European influence on northern European languages is that the people known in archaeological circles as the Battle Axe Culture were the primary source.
The battle axe is an important symbol in early Europe. The double axe or double hammer is the stone weapon of Thor known as Mjolnir. As in Southeast Asia, the crash of the stone axe causes lightning and thunder.
In earlier times, the double stone axe appears as the weapon of Pelasgian and Etruscan deities. In Crete and Lydia, the double axe is known as the labrys and again is associated with lightning and possibly with the maze known as the labyrinth. The latter link is surmised mainly through the similar looking words, labrys and labyrinth.
The double axe in Aegean art is often connected with animal sacrifice and it may be that the labyrinth link is related to the divinatory sacrifice.
The labyrinth is often compared to entrails, which were used for divination in Mesopotamia. The mask of the Minotaur in the Ritual of the Labyrinth appears covered with intestines. A similar feature is found in representations of the Sumerian god Humbaba, who we linked earlier with volcanic eruptions.
Humbaba with furrowed face thought to represent intestines
Face of Humbaba
The face of Humbaba was itself used for divination purposes in Mesopotamia. The pattern on both the Minotaur mask and the face of Humbaba has been described as "unicursal" (having one path) in a manner similar to that of the Cretan Labyrinth.
The appearance also resembles that of the divinatory livers portrayed in Mesopotamian art.
In Sumerian texts, the seventh Sumerian king Enmeduranki learned the art of liver divination from the seventh sage or abgal/apkallu (fish-man) named Utu'abzu. As you may remember, the abgal were said to have come from Dilmun across the Indian Ocean in Greek texts.
The Book of Enoch states that the art of signs and other mystic arts were taught to humanity by the "fallen angels" led by Azâzêl"
Azazel was eventually chained in the wilderness for causing the "fall" of humanity. In the book of Leviticus, there are instructions to send a scapegoat carrying the sins of Israel into the wilderness for "Azazel." This has been interpreted by some as the same Azazel of Enoch although others think that it refers to a description of the place where the goat is sent.
The goat is none other than the scapegoat carrying the sins of the world and transferring them to Azazel.
In Greek mythology, Prometheus steals the fire of the forge of Hephaestus, which was believed to have been located under one or all of the volcanoes known to the Greeks. He gives the gift of fire to humanity which again causes the latter's downfall. As punishment, Prometheus is chained to a mountain where every day an eagle comes to devour his regenerating liver.
The appearance of the liver here in the punishment of Prometheus is interesting. The liver is considered in many cultures as the center of the body and the source of desire and "fire."
For stealing the fire of the forge of Hephaestus, whose own name might be derived from hepar "liver," Prometheus receives the reciprocal punishment of having his own liver, the internal source of fire, devoured daily.
The divinatory sacrifice can thus be seen as the opening of the body, which is the earth in microcosm, with the double axe. The liver, intestines and other entrails are the source of the fire. They represent the ultimate source in microcosm, or the answer revealed by that ultimate source.
And this source is, of course, the volcano deity who provides the fire for Hephaestus's underworld forge.
The battle axe also has another association of interest. The Roman fasces used by the lictors of the Etruscan kings of Rome and later by the imperial lictors consisted of a model battle axe bound to a bundle of reeds or sticks. This reminds us of the nation concept as related to the bamboo as found in the word "bansa" and its cognates.
The Roman fasces, used as a symbol of power by the Etruscans and thousands of years later by the Italian nationalists known as the Fascists
Reed bundles with ring and bandlet at top symbolizing Ishtar (Venus) and the Uruk city-state
In Sumer, a bundle of reeds was the symbol of Innana/Ishtar and also the heraldic emblem of the city-state of Uruk, the home of Gilgamesh.
Returning to the imagery of the labyrinth, if we look at the liver as representing the fiery center of the earth, then the intestines would stand for part of the path to the surface. The opening at the surface is represented by the mouth -- the symbol of the volcano and the entrance to the Underworld. Escaping the labyrinth may be looked at as escaping the clutches of fate symbolized by the Minotaur's mask and the face of Humbaba.
In the New Hebrides (Malekula), the mystic initiate must draw half of a labyrinth belonging to the female ghost Lehevhev before admission into the order. We also find survivals of the labyrinth design in Austronesia for which the meaning is apparently lost, at least to the vast majority of the people.
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
References
For more information on the labyrinth, see The Ritual of the Labyrinth,
Ta Hiera Laburinthou by John Opsopaus. http://www.cs.utk.edu/~mclennan/BA/HL/
The battle axe is an important symbol in early Europe. The double axe or double hammer is the stone weapon of Thor known as Mjolnir. As in Southeast Asia, the crash of the stone axe causes lightning and thunder.
In earlier times, the double stone axe appears as the weapon of Pelasgian and Etruscan deities. In Crete and Lydia, the double axe is known as the labrys and again is associated with lightning and possibly with the maze known as the labyrinth. The latter link is surmised mainly through the similar looking words, labrys and labyrinth.
The double axe in Aegean art is often connected with animal sacrifice and it may be that the labyrinth link is related to the divinatory sacrifice.
The labyrinth is often compared to entrails, which were used for divination in Mesopotamia. The mask of the Minotaur in the Ritual of the Labyrinth appears covered with intestines. A similar feature is found in representations of the Sumerian god Humbaba, who we linked earlier with volcanic eruptions.
Humbaba with furrowed face thought to represent intestines
Face of Humbaba
The face of Humbaba was itself used for divination purposes in Mesopotamia. The pattern on both the Minotaur mask and the face of Humbaba has been described as "unicursal" (having one path) in a manner similar to that of the Cretan Labyrinth.
The appearance also resembles that of the divinatory livers portrayed in Mesopotamian art.
In Sumerian texts, the seventh Sumerian king Enmeduranki learned the art of liver divination from the seventh sage or abgal/apkallu (fish-man) named Utu'abzu. As you may remember, the abgal were said to have come from Dilmun across the Indian Ocean in Greek texts.
The Book of Enoch states that the art of signs and other mystic arts were taught to humanity by the "fallen angels" led by Azâzêl"
Enoch 8
"1 And Azâzêl taught men to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breastplates, and made known to them the metals of the earth and the art of working them, and bracelets, and ornaments, and the use of antimony, and the beautifying of the eyelids, and all kinds of costly stones, and all
2 colouring tinctures. And there arose much godlessness, and they committed fornication, and they
3 were led astray, and became corrupt in all their ways. Semjâzâ taught enchantments, and root-cuttings, 'Armârôs the resolving of enchantments, Barâqîjâl (taught) astrology, Kôkabêl the constellations, Êzêqêêl the knowledge of the clouds, Araqiêl the signs of the earth, Shamsiêl the signs of the sun, and Sariêl the course of the moon. And as men perished, they cried, and their cry went up to heaven..."
Azazel was eventually chained in the wilderness for causing the "fall" of humanity. In the book of Leviticus, there are instructions to send a scapegoat carrying the sins of Israel into the wilderness for "Azazel." This has been interpreted by some as the same Azazel of Enoch although others think that it refers to a description of the place where the goat is sent.
The goat is none other than the scapegoat carrying the sins of the world and transferring them to Azazel.
In Greek mythology, Prometheus steals the fire of the forge of Hephaestus, which was believed to have been located under one or all of the volcanoes known to the Greeks. He gives the gift of fire to humanity which again causes the latter's downfall. As punishment, Prometheus is chained to a mountain where every day an eagle comes to devour his regenerating liver.
The appearance of the liver here in the punishment of Prometheus is interesting. The liver is considered in many cultures as the center of the body and the source of desire and "fire."
For stealing the fire of the forge of Hephaestus, whose own name might be derived from hepar "liver," Prometheus receives the reciprocal punishment of having his own liver, the internal source of fire, devoured daily.
The divinatory sacrifice can thus be seen as the opening of the body, which is the earth in microcosm, with the double axe. The liver, intestines and other entrails are the source of the fire. They represent the ultimate source in microcosm, or the answer revealed by that ultimate source.
And this source is, of course, the volcano deity who provides the fire for Hephaestus's underworld forge.
The battle axe also has another association of interest. The Roman fasces used by the lictors of the Etruscan kings of Rome and later by the imperial lictors consisted of a model battle axe bound to a bundle of reeds or sticks. This reminds us of the nation concept as related to the bamboo as found in the word "bansa" and its cognates.
The Roman fasces, used as a symbol of power by the Etruscans and thousands of years later by the Italian nationalists known as the Fascists
Reed bundles with ring and bandlet at top symbolizing Ishtar (Venus) and the Uruk city-state
In Sumer, a bundle of reeds was the symbol of Innana/Ishtar and also the heraldic emblem of the city-state of Uruk, the home of Gilgamesh.
Returning to the imagery of the labyrinth, if we look at the liver as representing the fiery center of the earth, then the intestines would stand for part of the path to the surface. The opening at the surface is represented by the mouth -- the symbol of the volcano and the entrance to the Underworld. Escaping the labyrinth may be looked at as escaping the clutches of fate symbolized by the Minotaur's mask and the face of Humbaba.
In the New Hebrides (Malekula), the mystic initiate must draw half of a labyrinth belonging to the female ghost Lehevhev before admission into the order. We also find survivals of the labyrinth design in Austronesia for which the meaning is apparently lost, at least to the vast majority of the people.
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
References
For more information on the labyrinth, see The Ritual of the Labyrinth,
Ta Hiera Laburinthou by John Opsopaus. http://www.cs.utk.edu/~mclennan/BA/HL/
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Folk Language
The reconstructed Proto-Germanic language contains a large body of words that do not belong to other branches of the Indo-European language family. Linguists have suggested that these words were borrowed from one or more languages spoken by peoples who inhabited northern Europe before the Proto-Germanic expansion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Indo-European_roots_of_Germanic
The other word senses that occur in this group are names of animals, parts of the body and objects in nature.
While many of these words have been contested as having plausible Indo-European etymologies, others simply do not fit into the sound system of reconstructed Proto-Germanic. For example, those words with initial p-, since Proto-Germanic lacked this sound.
Some of these words are shared with a few other Indo-European languages found or originating in Northern Europe. There have been four major theories to account for this linguistic borrowing:
Torsten Pedersen has given a new theory that these influences may come instead, at least partly, from an Austronesian source. Again, he sees many of the words involved as related to the "waterfront" including words for fish hooks, fishing poles, bailers and the like.
Some researchers have referred to the substrate language as Folkish under the presumption that the word "folk" is also one of the borrowed words.
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Indo-European_roots_of_Germanic
There are many words in Germanic languages whose roots are difficult to identify. Some believe that the lack of clear cognates among other Indo-European languages is indicative of a mixed origin for the Germanic languages.
One group of these words has to do with ships and the sea; words like keel, oar, rudder, and steer are shared by almost every Germanic language (or at least by the Scandinavian ones), but
cognates for these specific words and senses are not found in other branches of Indo-European. This likely reflects the land-locked nature of the Indo-European homeland. Another group of these words deals with war and weapons; words like sword, shield, helm, and bow are all found in almost every Germanic language, but again, not with these meanings among other ndo-European languages (knight is in this class as well, but does not usually have a military meaning).
-- Wikipedia
The other word senses that occur in this group are names of animals, parts of the body and objects in nature.
While many of these words have been contested as having plausible Indo-European etymologies, others simply do not fit into the sound system of reconstructed Proto-Germanic. For example, those words with initial p-, since Proto-Germanic lacked this sound.
Some of these words are shared with a few other Indo-European languages found or originating in Northern Europe. There have been four major theories to account for this linguistic borrowing:
Theo Vennemann suggests that the loans in Northern European and Greek come from an Afro-Asiatic language he calls Atlantic, and from Vasconic, the ancestor of the modern Basque language.
Hans Krahe uses the term "Old European" to identify the source of ancient European river names.
Hans Kuhn identifies a Nordwestblock language from Northwest European placenames and from words in Celtic, Italic and Germanic which violate Indo-European root rules. He also uses the term "Old European," or the ar-/ur- language for a wider substratum source.
Peter Schrijver refers to a "language of geminates" in words from Celtic, Italic, Germanic and Finnic with roots of a certain form. A language of bird names is also associated with this substrate.
Torsten Pedersen has given a new theory that these influences may come instead, at least partly, from an Austronesian source. Again, he sees many of the words involved as related to the "waterfront" including words for fish hooks, fishing poles, bailers and the like.
Some researchers have referred to the substrate language as Folkish under the presumption that the word "folk" is also one of the borrowed words.
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
The warm "Maritime Phase" of the Arctic
The earliest shell mounds of the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition period in Europe agree well with the dating of the third and last rapid-rise Sundaland flood.
In the latter part of the 19th century, the Marquis of Nadaillac commented on what he thought were clear similarities between the shell mound cultures of the Americas and those of Neolithic Europe.
It has been rather popular to theorize on pre-Columbian passages from Europe to the Americas. More recently, we have seen the theory that the Paleo-Indian Clovis culture originated in Europe. However, rarely do we hear of the possibility of pre-Columbian journeys from the Americas to Europe.
I would say that these definitely occured and Austronesians played a part in these journeys.
Shell mounds from late Mesolithic Maglemose culture, Denmark
Maglemose cultural artifacts including bifid canoe and fish hooks
On left and right, renderings of boat-shaped burials from Slätteröd, Sweden and Batan Island, Philippines (from Chris Ballard et al.), a Maglemose boat-shaped burial in center (http://cientual.com/7tesis/Paginas/C12/Ritos.htm)
The use of boat burial or boat-shaped burials were common in both Scandinavia and Southeast Asia. The Niah caves have examples of very early boat burials and also cave art showing what are apparently bifid boats. These are Neolithic burials and the artwork is positioned over the high water mark of the last major sea flood.
Another common cultural feature is found in the types of bailers used in both regions to empty water from boats. Pedersen has noted a similarity between the Proto-Oceanic and Danish words for this device:
The "Oceanic" bailer from Hornell. Similar bailers are also found in Pacific coast Amerindian culture
We will study next the linguistic evidence that links the Nusantao with these far-ranging similarities.
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
References
Ballard C.; Bradley R.; Myhre L.N.; Wilson M. "The ship as symbol in the prehistory of Scandinavia and Southeast Asia," World Archaeology, December 2003 2004, vol. 35, no. 3, pp. 385-403(19).
Hornell, James. Water Transport: Origins and Early Evolution (1946, repr. 1970).
In the latter part of the 19th century, the Marquis of Nadaillac commented on what he thought were clear similarities between the shell mound cultures of the Americas and those of Neolithic Europe.
http://www.globusz.com/ebooks/Prehistoric/00000014.htm
"I cannot close this account of the kitchen-middings, without
calling attention to two very interesting facts. The importance of
these mounds bears witness alike to the number of the inhabitants who dwelt near them, and the long duration of their sojourn. Worsaae sets back the initial date of the most ancient of the shell-mounds of the New World more than three thousand years. This is however a delicate question, on which in the present state of our knowledge it is difficult to hazard a serious opinion. It is easier to come to a conclusion on other points: the close resemblance, for instance, between the kitchen-middings of America and those of Europe. In both continents we find the early inhabitants fed almost entirely on fish; their weapons, tools, and pottery were almost identical in character; and in both cases the characteristic animals of Quaternary times had disappeared, and the use of metals still remained unknown. Are these remarkable coincidences the result of chance, or must we not rather suppose that people of the same origin occupied at the same epoch both sides of the Atlantic?"
It has been rather popular to theorize on pre-Columbian passages from Europe to the Americas. More recently, we have seen the theory that the Paleo-Indian Clovis culture originated in Europe. However, rarely do we hear of the possibility of pre-Columbian journeys from the Americas to Europe.
I would say that these definitely occured and Austronesians played a part in these journeys.
Shell mounds from late Mesolithic Maglemose culture, Denmark
Maglemose cultural artifacts including bifid canoe and fish hooks
On left and right, renderings of boat-shaped burials from Slätteröd, Sweden and Batan Island, Philippines (from Chris Ballard et al.), a Maglemose boat-shaped burial in center (http://cientual.com/7tesis/Paginas/C12/Ritos.htm)
The use of boat burial or boat-shaped burials were common in both Scandinavia and Southeast Asia. The Niah caves have examples of very early boat burials and also cave art showing what are apparently bifid boats. These are Neolithic burials and the artwork is positioned over the high water mark of the last major sea flood.
Another common cultural feature is found in the types of bailers used in both regions to empty water from boats. Pedersen has noted a similarity between the Proto-Oceanic and Danish words for this device:
*asu "scoop or ladle out; ladle, bailer," Proto-Oceanic
øse "bailer, scoop," Danish
The "Oceanic" bailer from Hornell. Similar bailers are also found in Pacific coast Amerindian culture
We will study next the linguistic evidence that links the Nusantao with these far-ranging similarities.
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
References
Ballard C.; Bradley R.; Myhre L.N.; Wilson M. "The ship as symbol in the prehistory of Scandinavia and Southeast Asia," World Archaeology, December 2003 2004, vol. 35, no. 3, pp. 385-403(19).
Hornell, James. Water Transport: Origins and Early Evolution (1946, repr. 1970).
Monday, January 24, 2005
Thunderstones
A widespread belief in Southeast Asia associates the stone axe with the thunderbolt or with the teeth of a dragon that causes thunderstorms. In fact, ideas linking thunder with stone axes is rather widespread being found among Amerindians, West Africans, Northern Europeans and others.
However, a number of researchers have noted that the association with thunder is particularly linked with the battle or sacrificial axe consisting of a curved blade -- the round axe, the double axe and the throwing axe (tomahawk).
Earlier I mentioned the development of curved blades in Asia in relation to the Neolithic, which brought the technology needed to make good symmetrical curved weapons. Some early examples of these blades are the semi-lunar knife of Neolithic Asia and the crescent-shaped flint "sickle" of late Neolithic Denmark.
In China, were the battle axe was one of the first symbols of regal authority it was known by the name yuet ?. The name was the same used to describe the non-Chinese people of South China. Later the name Yuet was used specifically for the Vietnamese who pronounced it as Viet.
Jade axe or yuet from China
The stone battle axe was followed by the bronze axe of the same form. The ceremonial nature of the bronze axe is often connected with sacrifice. However, the myths regarding thunder refer usually only to stone axes and in certain areas specifically to those made of flint. This may indicate the Neolithic age and dispersion of the belief.
Bronze ceremonial axe from Roti, Indonesia
Bronze ceremonial axes from Scandinavia, top, and Irian Jaya, bottom.
The thunderstone was widely seen as having healing properties and as protecting against lightning. The god or king who wielded the battle axe was linked with thunder and thus with rain. In the case of the king, the battle axe represented the king as a controller of rain according to Frazer's notion of the "King of Nature."
In numerous cultures, we find that thunder is associated either with a dog or a bird. The thunder dog and thunder bird are totems that represent the sky as opposed to the dragon/serpent totem which generally represents the water. These emblems, of course, relate back to our original story of the two battling volcanoes.
Tala, the Morning Star, who descends to earth has as his totem, the dog. There is something similar to this elsewhere in the region where the Kimat, the dog of the Tinguian supreme thunder-god Kadaklan, is the personification of lightning. Tala's father Manalastas has the rooster totem. The descent of the star is viewed in the same sense as lightning and thunder and thus one can see a model for the thunder dog and thunder bird.
In his research, Torsten Pedersen has noted the resemblance of western words for the double axe such as pelekus in Europe with those in Austronesia, i.e. palakul of the Philippines. These words may stem from a root of the form *b/p-l-g.
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
However, a number of researchers have noted that the association with thunder is particularly linked with the battle or sacrificial axe consisting of a curved blade -- the round axe, the double axe and the throwing axe (tomahawk).
Earlier I mentioned the development of curved blades in Asia in relation to the Neolithic, which brought the technology needed to make good symmetrical curved weapons. Some early examples of these blades are the semi-lunar knife of Neolithic Asia and the crescent-shaped flint "sickle" of late Neolithic Denmark.
In China, were the battle axe was one of the first symbols of regal authority it was known by the name yuet ?. The name was the same used to describe the non-Chinese people of South China. Later the name Yuet was used specifically for the Vietnamese who pronounced it as Viet.
Jade axe or yuet from China
The stone battle axe was followed by the bronze axe of the same form. The ceremonial nature of the bronze axe is often connected with sacrifice. However, the myths regarding thunder refer usually only to stone axes and in certain areas specifically to those made of flint. This may indicate the Neolithic age and dispersion of the belief.
Bronze ceremonial axe from Roti, Indonesia
Bronze ceremonial axes from Scandinavia, top, and Irian Jaya, bottom.
The thunderstone was widely seen as having healing properties and as protecting against lightning. The god or king who wielded the battle axe was linked with thunder and thus with rain. In the case of the king, the battle axe represented the king as a controller of rain according to Frazer's notion of the "King of Nature."
In numerous cultures, we find that thunder is associated either with a dog or a bird. The thunder dog and thunder bird are totems that represent the sky as opposed to the dragon/serpent totem which generally represents the water. These emblems, of course, relate back to our original story of the two battling volcanoes.
Tala, the Morning Star, who descends to earth has as his totem, the dog. There is something similar to this elsewhere in the region where the Kimat, the dog of the Tinguian supreme thunder-god Kadaklan, is the personification of lightning. Tala's father Manalastas has the rooster totem. The descent of the star is viewed in the same sense as lightning and thunder and thus one can see a model for the thunder dog and thunder bird.
In his research, Torsten Pedersen has noted the resemblance of western words for the double axe such as pelekus in Europe with those in Austronesia, i.e. palakul of the Philippines. These words may stem from a root of the form *b/p-l-g.
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
Sunday, January 23, 2005
Ship types
In studying the remains of the Old Gokstad ship of Denmark, Hornell comments:
Cleats of the same shape with a central perforation were arranged in vertical rows in both the orembai and Gokstad ships. The frames were lashed to the cleats with cords.
(James Hornell, Water Transport: Origins and Early Evolution)
The lashed-lug construction using U-shaped frames is found also in the present-day lepa or lepa-lepa of the Badjau people of the Philippines and Borneo, the 10th century Butuan barangay ship, and in early Spanish descriptions of ships among Waray speakers of the central Philippines.
Hornell also mentions a variation of this type of construction using continuous ridges rather than cleats that was found in Fiji, Tonga and Samoa.
Another important feature found in the orembai is the double-hull bifid construction. Boats of the type abound in the Arctic region and are found as far as Scandinavia.
Bifid boats depicted on Swedish petroglyphs
Menzies has studied a number of ships that he calls "junks" and connects with Zheng He's treasure voyages. We will discuss a few of those at this time.
Firstly, the Pandanan ship mentioned earlier is described as a junk, although Dr. Dizon who carried out the investigation of the wreck describes it distinctly as "Southeast Asian." For example, unlike junks of the time, this ship was constructed entirely of wood joints and had no iron nails.
On the Pacific coast of North America, Menzies mentions two interesting "wrecks." The first was found off the beach at Neahkahnie, Oregon. It consisted mainly of a teak pulley and beeswax. According to Menzies the pulley has been radiocarbon dated to 1410. However, others claim a 1993 test found a date of 1595.
Since the rest of the ship has not been found, it cannot be classified as a junk and some experts believe it may have been a wayward Spanish galleon. However, tests of beeswax associated with the find date as early as 1500 i.e. before the start of the galleon trade in 1565.
Interestingly, pollen studies conducted by the University of Oregon show that old beeswax discoveries off the coast of Oregon are associated with holley found in the island of northern Luzon in the Philippines. At least some of this beeswax dates from the galleon trade times and is in the form of European-style candles.
The other site of interest is the so-called "Sacramento junk." This wreck is of particular interest to me since I live in Sacramento. However, the supposed ship is actually nearly 200 miles to the north of the city along the Sacramento River.
The first indications of a possible wreck came when drillers found a piece of metal near a Sacramento River channel in the 1930s. The metal, which no longer exists, was analyzed and described as possibly being a chunk of Chinese armor.
Subsequent drilling has turned up pieces of wood and apparently some grains of rice and many black seeds. Radiocarbon dating suggests the wood ranges from as early as 1100 AD to as late as 1450 AD.
The excavator John Furry also found what he believed were pottery pieces that possibly held the black seeds. He claimed that magnetic scanning of the site displayed the outline of the ship.
Maybe somewhat indicating that the zeal of the skeptics can match Menzies', each of these items has been, rather speculatively, explained away. The pottery pieces have been explained as something created by the drill, the rice and black seeds as probably something stored by a squirrel or other animal and the wood as a tree that had fallen in the water. No tests have been done apparently to analyze what type of wood was involved.
One has to wonder though exactly what Nusantao or Chinese sailors would have been doing this far up river around Sacramento.
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
In Europe, the type of boat characterized by frames lashed to cleats on the inner side fo the skin is unknown elsewhere than from the Scandinavian region. In the countries bordering the Mediterranean the earliest plank-built boats of which we have any knowledge, those from Ancient Egypt, were actually built without frames....Neither is there trace nor suggestion of the use of inserted frames lashed to cleats among the constructional descriptions of any of the many types of boat design found in the Indian Ocean.
Cleats of the same shape with a central perforation were arranged in vertical rows in both the orembai and Gokstad ships. The frames were lashed to the cleats with cords.
(James Hornell, Water Transport: Origins and Early Evolution)
The lashed-lug construction using U-shaped frames is found also in the present-day lepa or lepa-lepa of the Badjau people of the Philippines and Borneo, the 10th century Butuan barangay ship, and in early Spanish descriptions of ships among Waray speakers of the central Philippines.
Hornell also mentions a variation of this type of construction using continuous ridges rather than cleats that was found in Fiji, Tonga and Samoa.
Another important feature found in the orembai is the double-hull bifid construction. Boats of the type abound in the Arctic region and are found as far as Scandinavia.
Bifid boats depicted on Swedish petroglyphs
Menzies has studied a number of ships that he calls "junks" and connects with Zheng He's treasure voyages. We will discuss a few of those at this time.
Firstly, the Pandanan ship mentioned earlier is described as a junk, although Dr. Dizon who carried out the investigation of the wreck describes it distinctly as "Southeast Asian." For example, unlike junks of the time, this ship was constructed entirely of wood joints and had no iron nails.
On the Pacific coast of North America, Menzies mentions two interesting "wrecks." The first was found off the beach at Neahkahnie, Oregon. It consisted mainly of a teak pulley and beeswax. According to Menzies the pulley has been radiocarbon dated to 1410. However, others claim a 1993 test found a date of 1595.
Since the rest of the ship has not been found, it cannot be classified as a junk and some experts believe it may have been a wayward Spanish galleon. However, tests of beeswax associated with the find date as early as 1500 i.e. before the start of the galleon trade in 1565.
Interestingly, pollen studies conducted by the University of Oregon show that old beeswax discoveries off the coast of Oregon are associated with holley found in the island of northern Luzon in the Philippines. At least some of this beeswax dates from the galleon trade times and is in the form of European-style candles.
The other site of interest is the so-called "Sacramento junk." This wreck is of particular interest to me since I live in Sacramento. However, the supposed ship is actually nearly 200 miles to the north of the city along the Sacramento River.
The first indications of a possible wreck came when drillers found a piece of metal near a Sacramento River channel in the 1930s. The metal, which no longer exists, was analyzed and described as possibly being a chunk of Chinese armor.
Subsequent drilling has turned up pieces of wood and apparently some grains of rice and many black seeds. Radiocarbon dating suggests the wood ranges from as early as 1100 AD to as late as 1450 AD.
The excavator John Furry also found what he believed were pottery pieces that possibly held the black seeds. He claimed that magnetic scanning of the site displayed the outline of the ship.
Maybe somewhat indicating that the zeal of the skeptics can match Menzies', each of these items has been, rather speculatively, explained away. The pottery pieces have been explained as something created by the drill, the rice and black seeds as probably something stored by a squirrel or other animal and the wood as a tree that had fallen in the water. No tests have been done apparently to analyze what type of wood was involved.
One has to wonder though exactly what Nusantao or Chinese sailors would have been doing this far up river around Sacramento.
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
Saturday, January 22, 2005
The Harpoon/Spear and the Underworld
Earlier we mentioned the ornamental motif on the end of Old Bering Sea harpoons which may have represented an entrance to the Underworld inviting prey to join their ancestors through self-sacrifice. In the Pacific Northwest we also find that the whale is said to offer itself in willing sacrifice.
Okladnikov suugests that throughout the Pacific littoral we find "a specific kind of inventory including harpoons of the toggling type with a socket and barbs at their base and unique slate points unknown in Siberia and, in general, to the north of the Amur river and the Chinese wall."
S.I. Rudenko stated that the distribution of toggling harpoon heads in both the northern and southern parts of the western Pacific matched that of ancient shell mounds.
The spear overtook the bow and arrow among many southern peoples particularly after the development of the iron point.
The connection between the spear and harpoon and the Underworld is rather widespread. In the Philippines, ceremonial spears are used to frighten away malevolent anitos or spirits from the land of the dead. In ancient Egypt, the deceased Pharaoh carried a harpoon for protection in the Underworld.
The lord of the dead is often associated with a spear or harpoon. Osiris is said to "preside over the harpoon" and Hades is said to carry a two-pronged fishing spear.
Neith, the counterpart of Wepwawet, the original Egyptian lord of the dead, often is shown holding a harpoon.
The ceremonial spear is often used in sacrificial rites and is particularly linked with the idea of self-sacrifice. In the Pacific island of Rotuma, a myth exists of a malevolent ruler who possessed invincible spear-throwing ability. He could only be defeated if someone offered to sacrifice themselve to the spear. In the end, a warrior volunteered so that his family could 'live in peace.'
In the New Testament, Christ is finally dispatched with a spear. In later Christian lore, this weapon became associated with supernatural powers. The story reminds us of the legend of Odin whose self-sacrifice involves impaling himself to the World-Tree with his spear Gungnir, made of wood from the same tree (the ash tree). The ash tree spear also occurs in Greek myth were Chiron offers one as a gift to Peleus for his wedding to the nymph Thetis. An ash tree spear was also the weapon of Hector in the Iliad.
Gungnir is portrayed with U-shaped prongs around the main point. This is similar in some respects to the decoration shown below on a spear-head from Mindanao.
A spear head from Mindanao, Philippines on the left, and the Gungnir spear motif
The ornaments on the Mindanao spear are of the mythical rooster-like bird the Sarimanok. This bird is often associated with the local concept that the human soul is transformed into a beautiful bird, the Sarinamok, at death.
In both cases, I believe the ornamentation, which serves no real practical purpose, represents the opening of the Underworld often thought of as the gaping mouth of a reptilian or bird-like creature.
Torsten Pedersen's article on distribution of "spear" and "arrow" words
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
Okladnikov suugests that throughout the Pacific littoral we find "a specific kind of inventory including harpoons of the toggling type with a socket and barbs at their base and unique slate points unknown in Siberia and, in general, to the north of the Amur river and the Chinese wall."
S.I. Rudenko stated that the distribution of toggling harpoon heads in both the northern and southern parts of the western Pacific matched that of ancient shell mounds.
The spear overtook the bow and arrow among many southern peoples particularly after the development of the iron point.
The connection between the spear and harpoon and the Underworld is rather widespread. In the Philippines, ceremonial spears are used to frighten away malevolent anitos or spirits from the land of the dead. In ancient Egypt, the deceased Pharaoh carried a harpoon for protection in the Underworld.
The lord of the dead is often associated with a spear or harpoon. Osiris is said to "preside over the harpoon" and Hades is said to carry a two-pronged fishing spear.
Neith, the counterpart of Wepwawet, the original Egyptian lord of the dead, often is shown holding a harpoon.
The ceremonial spear is often used in sacrificial rites and is particularly linked with the idea of self-sacrifice. In the Pacific island of Rotuma, a myth exists of a malevolent ruler who possessed invincible spear-throwing ability. He could only be defeated if someone offered to sacrifice themselve to the spear. In the end, a warrior volunteered so that his family could 'live in peace.'
In the New Testament, Christ is finally dispatched with a spear. In later Christian lore, this weapon became associated with supernatural powers. The story reminds us of the legend of Odin whose self-sacrifice involves impaling himself to the World-Tree with his spear Gungnir, made of wood from the same tree (the ash tree). The ash tree spear also occurs in Greek myth were Chiron offers one as a gift to Peleus for his wedding to the nymph Thetis. An ash tree spear was also the weapon of Hector in the Iliad.
Gungnir is portrayed with U-shaped prongs around the main point. This is similar in some respects to the decoration shown below on a spear-head from Mindanao.
A spear head from Mindanao, Philippines on the left, and the Gungnir spear motif
The ornaments on the Mindanao spear are of the mythical rooster-like bird the Sarimanok. This bird is often associated with the local concept that the human soul is transformed into a beautiful bird, the Sarinamok, at death.
In both cases, I believe the ornamentation, which serves no real practical purpose, represents the opening of the Underworld often thought of as the gaping mouth of a reptilian or bird-like creature.
Torsten Pedersen's article on distribution of "spear" and "arrow" words
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Back to the Northern Seas
James Hornell, one of the leading experts on the history of seafaring in the 20th century suggested that a "South Seas" culture had managed to migrate throughout much of the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions during what he calls the "Maritime Phase" starting around 4,000 BC.
At this time, the weather was much warmer in the far northern regions than it is today. Hornell identified this culture based on the following similarities:
As can be seen, not all this evidence found by Hornell can necessarily be dated all the way back to 4,000 BC. Some other important links can be added this list to include:
Some of the earliest examples of this south to north transition, as we have already discussed, may date back to pre-Austronesian Jomon times. There is evidence though that these contacts did not vanish after the warm Maritime Phase mentioned by Hornell. Enough knowledge was retained of the northern areas within the Nusantao network to maintain links, and for periodic waves of contact or migration in both directions.
We will discuss some elements of this northern maritime culture in detail starting with the bow and arrow.
In the Churning of the Milky Ocean myth, one of the products of the sea is the Dhanu, or long bow. This becomes in particular the weapon of the god Visnu.
In China, the "Yi" part of the ethnonym "Dong Yi" has been suggested to consist of a combination of the script signs ? meaning "large" or "great" and ? meaning "bow." Thus, 'Eastern people of the great bow."
The long bow is particularly popular among forest or maritime people. Most bows in Southeast Asia and the Pacific are long bows. One of the most famous long bows is the Yumi of Japan, a composite wooden bow more than 2 meters (6 feet) long.
There are some interesting similarities between bows in Southeast Asia and the Pacific with those of Japan, the Arctic and the Pacific Northwest. Some of these similarities may relate directly to developments of the pure horn bow.
Pure horn bows occur infrequently in Asia but were rather regular on the island of Java. Horn bows are generally cut from water buffalo horn because of their length and compressibility. The pure horn bow may have given rise both to the reflex bow and the composite bow.
The horn bow is always strung in the opposite direction of the natural curve as this is the only way to create sufficient tension. A bow strung like this is called a reflex bow. Although wooden and composite bows do not require this type of construction, a number of such reflex bows are found including those found among the Pacific Northwest Indians and the Andaman Islanders. Archery historican C.J. Longman thinks this may be a survival of a practice used previously in making pure horn bows.
Longman also believes the pure horn bow led to the eventual development of the composite bow. Because of the difficulty in stringing bows using the reverse curve, they tend to be strung continuously leading to quick wear-and-tear. He believed the archer would try to mend the bows artifically:
Another morphological pecularity of the long bow that might give an indication of common origin is the widespread occurence of a groove at the end of the bow. In the vast majority of cases, the groove serves no practical purpose and even weakens the weapon.
However, Longman mentions that Tongans and South American Indians bind an arrow in the groove -- a practical usage.
The long bow tends to be used by peoples who still use the primary release. This type of release is the most natural one in which one holds the arrow between the thumb and the forefinger. One can often distinguish primary release arrows as they tend to have bulbous or scored ends that make griping easier. Primary release arrows are rather the rule in the Pacific and much of Southeast Asia.
The arrows of this region are also distinguished by the composite use of bamboo shafts and hardwood foreshafts.
The maritime cultures of the north probably used the bow often during sea hunting expeditions. Toggling harpoon arrowheads were used for this purpose attached to a retrieving line.
Knobbed primary release arrows, Pacific Northwest Indian
New Hebrides long bow
Japanese long bow
Philippine projectile weapons from Krieger, including 1) Ayta single-piece long bow, polished palmwood, Sambali, 2) Ayta single-piece, grooved heavy long bow, palmwood, Bisaya, 3) Bagobo palmwood bow bound in rattan, 4) Moro palmwood bow with cord of bamboo splint.
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
References
Krieger, Herbert W., "The Collection of Primitive Weapons and Armor of the Philippine Islands in the United States National Museum," Smithsonian Institution; United States National Museum, Bulletin 137 (1926).
Longman, C.J. and Col. H. Walrond, Badminton Library of Sports: Archery. New York, F. Ungar Pub. Co., 1967.
At this time, the weather was much warmer in the far northern regions than it is today. Hornell identified this culture based on the following similarities:
Ship construction with tongue and groove method, no nails (at least by Neolithic).
Ships had dual bifid ends and a double dugout and plank-built construction (Bronze Age possibly Mesolithic/Neolithic transition.
Vessels had high upturned ends (Bronze Age)
Hook-shaped thole pins were used instead of oar-ports (historical period)
The use of the "Oceanic" bailer (historical period)
The practice of ship burial (Bronze Age)
Funerary sacrifice rituals (Bronze Age)
The primary release bow and arrow (historical period)
Similar totemic prow design (Bronze Age)
The "ship of the dead" and serpent motifs (Bronze Age)
In some areas, the lashing of the frame to the hull with flexible cleats (possibly Mesolithic-Neolithic transition, Bronze Age)
The raising of megaliths (Neolithic, Bronze Age)
As can be seen, not all this evidence found by Hornell can necessarily be dated all the way back to 4,000 BC. Some other important links can be added this list to include:
Shellfish collection and building of shell mounds (Mesolithic-Neolithic transition)
Use of tattoos (Neolithic)
Long bow (Neolithic)
Composite, circular fish hooks, composite bows (from horn bow), Neolithic
Toggling harpoons, sometimes of a very specific morphology
Communal longhouses
Semi-subterranean dwellings
Sea mammal hunting
Quadrangular stone adzes
Use of jade and/or nephrite
Similar motifs, myths and folklore
In some areas particularly in northern Europe, evidence suggesting linguistic contact
Some of the earliest examples of this south to north transition, as we have already discussed, may date back to pre-Austronesian Jomon times. There is evidence though that these contacts did not vanish after the warm Maritime Phase mentioned by Hornell. Enough knowledge was retained of the northern areas within the Nusantao network to maintain links, and for periodic waves of contact or migration in both directions.
We will discuss some elements of this northern maritime culture in detail starting with the bow and arrow.
In the Churning of the Milky Ocean myth, one of the products of the sea is the Dhanu, or long bow. This becomes in particular the weapon of the god Visnu.
In China, the "Yi" part of the ethnonym "Dong Yi" has been suggested to consist of a combination of the script signs ? meaning "large" or "great" and ? meaning "bow." Thus, 'Eastern people of the great bow."
The long bow is particularly popular among forest or maritime people. Most bows in Southeast Asia and the Pacific are long bows. One of the most famous long bows is the Yumi of Japan, a composite wooden bow more than 2 meters (6 feet) long.
There are some interesting similarities between bows in Southeast Asia and the Pacific with those of Japan, the Arctic and the Pacific Northwest. Some of these similarities may relate directly to developments of the pure horn bow.
Pure horn bows occur infrequently in Asia but were rather regular on the island of Java. Horn bows are generally cut from water buffalo horn because of their length and compressibility. The pure horn bow may have given rise both to the reflex bow and the composite bow.
The horn bow is always strung in the opposite direction of the natural curve as this is the only way to create sufficient tension. A bow strung like this is called a reflex bow. Although wooden and composite bows do not require this type of construction, a number of such reflex bows are found including those found among the Pacific Northwest Indians and the Andaman Islanders. Archery historican C.J. Longman thinks this may be a survival of a practice used previously in making pure horn bows.
Longman also believes the pure horn bow led to the eventual development of the composite bow. Because of the difficulty in stringing bows using the reverse curve, they tend to be strung continuously leading to quick wear-and-tear. He believed the archer would try to mend the bows artifically:
He would then restore them to their natural shape by running a thong along the back of the bow (the concave side when it is unstrung), which would be secured by being seized tightly at intervals along the bow, with transverse lashings. His thong would probably be made of animal sinew, and he would now find his bow restored to its former power, or perhaps something more. This picture of the actual course of events in the evolution of the composite bow is, of course, imaginary, and no doubt the ultimate result was, in fact, arrived at after many experiments and failures. Here, however, we have the groundwork of the weapon and the lines which are followed, in all the best types, the three main factors being:--
(1) Horn, being a compressible material for the belly.
(2) Wood as a stiffener, especially for the centre, and (as we shall see subsequently) for the ears.
(3) Sinews, an elastic stretchable material for the back.
No doubt it was a bow roughly made of these materials which ousted the primitive wooden bow throughout Asia, and spread through the lands of the Tschutshis of Eastern Siberia to the Eskimo of North America.
Another morphological pecularity of the long bow that might give an indication of common origin is the widespread occurence of a groove at the end of the bow. In the vast majority of cases, the groove serves no practical purpose and even weakens the weapon.
However, Longman mentions that Tongans and South American Indians bind an arrow in the groove -- a practical usage.
The long bow tends to be used by peoples who still use the primary release. This type of release is the most natural one in which one holds the arrow between the thumb and the forefinger. One can often distinguish primary release arrows as they tend to have bulbous or scored ends that make griping easier. Primary release arrows are rather the rule in the Pacific and much of Southeast Asia.
The arrows of this region are also distinguished by the composite use of bamboo shafts and hardwood foreshafts.
The maritime cultures of the north probably used the bow often during sea hunting expeditions. Toggling harpoon arrowheads were used for this purpose attached to a retrieving line.
Knobbed primary release arrows, Pacific Northwest Indian
New Hebrides long bow
Japanese long bow
Philippine projectile weapons from Krieger, including 1) Ayta single-piece long bow, polished palmwood, Sambali, 2) Ayta single-piece, grooved heavy long bow, palmwood, Bisaya, 3) Bagobo palmwood bow bound in rattan, 4) Moro palmwood bow with cord of bamboo splint.
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
References
Krieger, Herbert W., "The Collection of Primitive Weapons and Armor of the Philippine Islands in the United States National Museum," Smithsonian Institution; United States National Museum, Bulletin 137 (1926).
Longman, C.J. and Col. H. Walrond, Badminton Library of Sports: Archery. New York, F. Ungar Pub. Co., 1967.
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Plants across the Pacific
Paleobotany, the study of plant diffusion, offers more evidence that cultural contacts were taking place across the Pacific before Columbus. These contacts would have provided information that could explain some controversy regarding early maps that supposedly show parts or all of the "New World" before they were "discovered."
The dispersal of the banana across the Pacific was mentioned earlier in this blog. A list of 36 plants of American origin has been compiled, mostly by Thor Heyerdahl, that supposedly were diffused into the Pacific and/or Asia in pre-Columbian times.
Firm evidence for all 36 plants is lacking but about seven stand out as good candidates:
Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas)
Bottle gourd (Lagenaria)
Chili pepper (Capsicum)
Cotton (Gossypium)
Papaya (Carica)
Pineapple (Ananas)
Soapberry (Sapindus)
Of these seven, the sweet potato and bottle gourd are considered as established examples although there is argument on whether the diffusion was brought about by humans or by natural dispersal.
The sweet potato in particular has been the subject of continuing controversy and debate among scholars. The strongest evidence for a human diffusion of sweet potato cultivation comes in the very similar words used for the plant in the Pacific and in South America.
The words are of the "kumara" form. The two main arguments against the linguistic evidence are that the supposed cognates to this word in South America do not occur along the coast, and that Pacific varities of kumara appear related more to current Mexican rather than Ecuadorian or Peruvian varieties.
However, there is no doubt that the kumara cultivation praticed over wide areas of Pacific is related as are the words for the sweet potato. In other words, someone started cultivating sweet potatoes either independently or by transmission and then spread the practice around so that it stretched from eastern Polynesia to New Guinea. There is also some evidence that sweet potatoes may have been found in the Marianas and the Philippines in pre-Columbian times. Pigafetta mentions them in both places during Magellan's voyage around the world.
That the sweet potato would become such an important cultigen independently on both sides of the Pacific and also have a coincidentaly similar name seems rather unlikely to me. If we assume that Austronesians had contact with both Incans and Mesoamericans, it could be that the actual name and species were borrowed from separate but still American sources.
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
References
Jon Hather & P.V.Kirch, "Prehistoric sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) from
Mangaia Island, Central Polynesia". Antiquity 65:887-93 (1981).
Some interesting internet discussion on the subject between Yuri Kuchinsky and Ross Clark can be found at: http://www.trends.net/~yuku/tran/8p2.htm
Abstract from 21st Annual Northeast Conference on Andean Archaeology and Ethnohistory
http://www.pitt.edu/~neandean/abstracts.html
The dispersal of the banana across the Pacific was mentioned earlier in this blog. A list of 36 plants of American origin has been compiled, mostly by Thor Heyerdahl, that supposedly were diffused into the Pacific and/or Asia in pre-Columbian times.
Firm evidence for all 36 plants is lacking but about seven stand out as good candidates:
Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas)
Bottle gourd (Lagenaria)
Chili pepper (Capsicum)
Cotton (Gossypium)
Papaya (Carica)
Pineapple (Ananas)
Soapberry (Sapindus)
Of these seven, the sweet potato and bottle gourd are considered as established examples although there is argument on whether the diffusion was brought about by humans or by natural dispersal.
The sweet potato in particular has been the subject of continuing controversy and debate among scholars. The strongest evidence for a human diffusion of sweet potato cultivation comes in the very similar words used for the plant in the Pacific and in South America.
The words are of the "kumara" form. The two main arguments against the linguistic evidence are that the supposed cognates to this word in South America do not occur along the coast, and that Pacific varities of kumara appear related more to current Mexican rather than Ecuadorian or Peruvian varieties.
However, there is no doubt that the kumara cultivation praticed over wide areas of Pacific is related as are the words for the sweet potato. In other words, someone started cultivating sweet potatoes either independently or by transmission and then spread the practice around so that it stretched from eastern Polynesia to New Guinea. There is also some evidence that sweet potatoes may have been found in the Marianas and the Philippines in pre-Columbian times. Pigafetta mentions them in both places during Magellan's voyage around the world.
That the sweet potato would become such an important cultigen independently on both sides of the Pacific and also have a coincidentaly similar name seems rather unlikely to me. If we assume that Austronesians had contact with both Incans and Mesoamericans, it could be that the actual name and species were borrowed from separate but still American sources.
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
References
Jon Hather & P.V.Kirch, "Prehistoric sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) from
Mangaia Island, Central Polynesia". Antiquity 65:887-93 (1981).
Some interesting internet discussion on the subject between Yuri Kuchinsky and Ross Clark can be found at: http://www.trends.net/~yuku/tran/8p2.htm
Abstract from 21st Annual Northeast Conference on Andean Archaeology and Ethnohistory
http://www.pitt.edu/~neandean/abstracts.html
Trans-Pacific Contact in the Ecuadorian Gulf of Guayaquil? Richard Scaglion (Univ. Pittsburgh) & Maria - Auxiliadora Cordero (Univ. Pittsburgh) Recent research in the Cook Islands has established that the sweet potato, a new world cultivar, was introduced into Polynesia by AD 1000. But how did it get there? Although several methods of dispersal without human agency are plausible, what seems to have
sparked the imagination of many researchers is the possibility of trans-Pacific contact. One of the stronger lines of evidence suggestive of possible human agency in the diffusion of the sweet potato from the new world into Polynesia is the often-mentioned resemblance in certain terms for the cultivar: the word cumar, similar to the Polynesian kumara, has been reported from the highlands of Ecuador.
This paper reviews literature establishing that cumar (in the form comal and/or cumal) was a term used by the Caari people of Ecuador, who were sweet potato cultivators. It further weighs evidence suggesting that Pre-Inkan Caari territory stretched from the Andes to the Ecuadorian coast on the eastern margins of the Gulf of Guayaquil, thus contradicting Brand's (1971:363) dictum that "What is absolutely
definite, is that nowhere on the Ecuadorian or Peruvian coast was there a people cultivating any kind of sweet potato under a name even remotely resembling cumar or cumara." Implications of this finding are discussed, and possible evidence for trans-Pacific contact is reconsidered.
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Maps of the Sea Kings V
The other interesting medieval map is known as the portalano or portolan map.
The portolano first appears in full form in the early 14th century as a sailor's guide for navigating the Mediterranean. Although there are theories of a long period of development of these types of maps, the first hard evidence dates only to the work Lo Compasso da Navigare of 1296.
The usage of the portolano is extremely similar to the type of navigation documented among various Austronesian peoples. To understand this we will give a brief overview of the types of navigation discussed.
In early times, most peoples navigated by sailing within sight of the coastline. If they crossed bodies of water, there had to be some visible landmark, like a mountaintop, to use as a target.
However, some early peoples developed the ability to sail to destinations that were not visible.
Among such peoples who have been studied we find they often remarkable ability to orient themselves. That is they can point out the compass directions or the direction of their home without any reference aids. How they do this is not well-understood.
Using one's home port as a reference along with such orientation capability, one can confidently sail beyond the sight of land. This can be done because one can always point back to one's home and sail in that direction if needed.
When learning navigation one thinks of other destinations in terms of their compass direction from the home port/reference.
In the graphic above, we can think of Island A as the home reference. The navigator will then memorize the directions for Island B as a line AB, and for Island C as a line AC.
When sailing to these points, the navigator uses a type of dead reckoning by always looking back at the home reference -- Island A. There is a widespread proverb among Austronesian speakers that deals with many subjects including preserving the past and can also be generalized to navigation. In essence it says:
Thus, the navigator judges his deviation from the true course by referring back to the home reference. But what if the navigator having reached Island B from his home port now wants to travel directly to Island C?
In such a case, the direction from his home reference is no long valid except as a new reference. We will call this by the Micronesian name etak. Island B now becomes the new home reference and Island A is the etak. To obtain the course to Island C, the navigator completes the triangle with the line BC. Generally this is done all within the mind of the navigator. Of course it requires an ability to visualize geometric relationships.
The etak island is used to complete the triangle and the bearing stars provide the right wind direction
In practical terms, the navigator applied the course to a wind compass. The wind compass was simply a linking of prevailing winds with certain stars (a star compass).
Now moving to the portolano map, it displayed a number of circles, some resembling compasses with rhumb lines radiating outward like spokes from a wheel.
Portolano map of Piri Reis, 3.3 mb
From the image above of 16th century Turkish Admiral Piri Ibn Haji Mehmed, we can see the circles with the projecting rhumb lines.
These circles basically represented wind compasses! Unlike the coastal navigation of previous times, the navigator now sailed on courses using the wind compass linked with the newly-invented magnetic compass. In Austronesia, the wind compass was used with the star compass rather than a magnetic one.
When a navigator wished to travel to a certain destination, a line was drawn from the point of departure, the home reference, to the destination. The rhumb line that ran most closely parallel with this penciled line was selected. The navigator refers back to the circle for the compass direction and then uses this for guidance with the magnetic compass.
The different circles simply represent different etak that the navigator must choose from.
In the Austronesian method, when one sails past known areas, new etak are created. Thus, when Tupaia sailed to Batavia with Captain Cook's he probably created new etak at selected stops as he ventured thousands of miles into unknown territory where it was documented he could always point accurately to his home island/reference.
More than one commentator has noted that the portalano appeared suddenly in the Venetian and Genoese sphere. Did this represent a sudden innovation, or possibly a transfer of information? The charts arise during the same period of map evolution witnessed far to the east in China.
In China, new information appears to be incorporated into a grid system that had been developing for centuries. In Europe, new navigating charts appear using a previously unknown wind compass system.
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
The portolano first appears in full form in the early 14th century as a sailor's guide for navigating the Mediterranean. Although there are theories of a long period of development of these types of maps, the first hard evidence dates only to the work Lo Compasso da Navigare of 1296.
The usage of the portolano is extremely similar to the type of navigation documented among various Austronesian peoples. To understand this we will give a brief overview of the types of navigation discussed.
In early times, most peoples navigated by sailing within sight of the coastline. If they crossed bodies of water, there had to be some visible landmark, like a mountaintop, to use as a target.
However, some early peoples developed the ability to sail to destinations that were not visible.
Among such peoples who have been studied we find they often remarkable ability to orient themselves. That is they can point out the compass directions or the direction of their home without any reference aids. How they do this is not well-understood.
Using one's home port as a reference along with such orientation capability, one can confidently sail beyond the sight of land. This can be done because one can always point back to one's home and sail in that direction if needed.
When learning navigation one thinks of other destinations in terms of their compass direction from the home port/reference.
In the graphic above, we can think of Island A as the home reference. The navigator will then memorize the directions for Island B as a line AB, and for Island C as a line AC.
When sailing to these points, the navigator uses a type of dead reckoning by always looking back at the home reference -- Island A. There is a widespread proverb among Austronesian speakers that deals with many subjects including preserving the past and can also be generalized to navigation. In essence it says:
To know where you are going and where you are, you must first know where you came from
Thus, the navigator judges his deviation from the true course by referring back to the home reference. But what if the navigator having reached Island B from his home port now wants to travel directly to Island C?
In such a case, the direction from his home reference is no long valid except as a new reference. We will call this by the Micronesian name etak. Island B now becomes the new home reference and Island A is the etak. To obtain the course to Island C, the navigator completes the triangle with the line BC. Generally this is done all within the mind of the navigator. Of course it requires an ability to visualize geometric relationships.
The etak island is used to complete the triangle and the bearing stars provide the right wind direction
In practical terms, the navigator applied the course to a wind compass. The wind compass was simply a linking of prevailing winds with certain stars (a star compass).
Now moving to the portolano map, it displayed a number of circles, some resembling compasses with rhumb lines radiating outward like spokes from a wheel.
Portolano map of Piri Reis, 3.3 mb
From the image above of 16th century Turkish Admiral Piri Ibn Haji Mehmed, we can see the circles with the projecting rhumb lines.
These circles basically represented wind compasses! Unlike the coastal navigation of previous times, the navigator now sailed on courses using the wind compass linked with the newly-invented magnetic compass. In Austronesia, the wind compass was used with the star compass rather than a magnetic one.
When a navigator wished to travel to a certain destination, a line was drawn from the point of departure, the home reference, to the destination. The rhumb line that ran most closely parallel with this penciled line was selected. The navigator refers back to the circle for the compass direction and then uses this for guidance with the magnetic compass.
The different circles simply represent different etak that the navigator must choose from.
In the Austronesian method, when one sails past known areas, new etak are created. Thus, when Tupaia sailed to Batavia with Captain Cook's he probably created new etak at selected stops as he ventured thousands of miles into unknown territory where it was documented he could always point accurately to his home island/reference.
More than one commentator has noted that the portalano appeared suddenly in the Venetian and Genoese sphere. Did this represent a sudden innovation, or possibly a transfer of information? The charts arise during the same period of map evolution witnessed far to the east in China.
In China, new information appears to be incorporated into a grid system that had been developing for centuries. In Europe, new navigating charts appear using a previously unknown wind compass system.
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
Monday, January 17, 2005
Maps of the Sea Kings IV
The "Mongol Atlas" of Chu Ssu-Pen made during the Yuan dynasty is the first map to show Africa with a rather accurate triangular shape.
Maps in the European and Muslim world up to this time and for about a century afterward displayed Africa with its lower half pointing toward the East.
Section of Mongol Atlas of 1320, notice correct orientation of Africa
Section of Vesconte Atlas of 1320 with bottom half of Africa pointing toward the East
Where did the Chinese geographer get his information on Africa? The voyages of Zheng He did not start until nearly a century after Chu Ssu-Pen's atlas was published.
He did not get his information from Europeans or Muslims since his maps do not show similar morphology. The other people dealing in trade with Africa were the Nusantao merchants of Sanfotsi and Toupo. Interestingly, Chu Ssu-Pen actually mentions informants in his notes:
The author states here that he rejects information of areas southeast of the South Sea (South China Sea) and northwest of Mongolia. However, what about informants from other areas?
If we believe Galvão then a map existed as early as 1428 showing the Straits of Magellan in South America. Gavin Menzies explains this as coming from the master chart of Zheng He whom he claims circumnavigated the globe on his treasure voyages.
Again much of the evidence Menzies uses to support this idea is identical with that used by Heyerdahl in his "American Indians in the Pacific" theory. Actually, Heyerdahl suggested that it was bearded trans-Atlantic "Nordics" from America rather than Amerindians who made the Pacific voyages.
A great deal of this evidence can easily be shown to predate the Ming period. For example, the ruins at Ponape in Micronesia mentioned at Menzies site are dated more than a millennium before Zheng He's voyages.
However there is one interesting bit of Ming period evidence cited by Menzies. The discovery of a junk in the Philippines off North Pandanan Island by Dr. Eusebio Dizon uncovered a store of metates in the hold. Zhu Di coins date this junk to about 1421.
A metate "mortar" -- corn was ground into the central hole
Metates are grinding stones used in pre-Columbian America. The metates found in the junk were similar to those used in South America. We should note that the Chinese name Lusung may be a transliteration of a local word in the Philippines meaning "mortar" as in "mortar and pestle."
While I can't trace specifically how Nusantao traders would have come to know about the Straits of Magellan, it might be helpful to follow what I call the "tumbaga trail." As mentioned earlier, tumbaga is a copper alloy, usually copper and gold. The word "tumbaga" in nearly the precise same form is found in the Philippines and in different areas of the Americas.
From Peru, tumbaga spread into Argentina and Chile and northward into Columbia. It was found in Mexico, in the Caribbean and in other areas of the Americas. However, it was not always found with the name "tumbaga" or its derivatives.
This expansion of metallurgy was undoubtedly due to the spread of indigenous cultures and empires. However, if we believe in rather regular Nusantao contacts with the Pacific coast of the "New World," we can expect that, like any good explorer/merchant, they would have expanded their "tree" of contacts thoroughly.
It is interesting to note that none of the maps suggested by Menzies to show the Americas, with the possible exception of Kublai Khan chart, are found in China. We take here that the Kublai Khan chart mentioned is based on the idea that a map found in 1911 in the Balkans came from a source map produced in Samarkand. It is therefore speculative that this chart came from Kublai Khan's court.
Such a scenario would make sense from the Nusantao perspective we have suggested here. For China to get involved in the spice trade, it makes no sense to sail eastward around the world to get to the Indian Ocean. However, for Europe sailing westward to this region was a viable alternative to sailing around the continent of Africa, especially from the point of view of trade winds and currents.
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
References
Evidence on Pandanan junk and metates presented by Dr. Eusebio Dizon at Royal Geographical Society on March 15th, 2002.
The Mongol Atlas (Kuang Ku Tu), http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/LMwebpages/227mono.html
Maps in the European and Muslim world up to this time and for about a century afterward displayed Africa with its lower half pointing toward the East.
Section of Mongol Atlas of 1320, notice correct orientation of Africa
Section of Vesconte Atlas of 1320 with bottom half of Africa pointing toward the East
Where did the Chinese geographer get his information on Africa? The voyages of Zheng He did not start until nearly a century after Chu Ssu-Pen's atlas was published.
He did not get his information from Europeans or Muslims since his maps do not show similar morphology. The other people dealing in trade with Africa were the Nusantao merchants of Sanfotsi and Toupo. Interestingly, Chu Ssu-Pen actually mentions informants in his notes:
Regarding the foreign countries of the barbarians southeast of the South Sea, and northwest of Mongolia, there is no means of investigating them because of their great distance, although they are continually sending tribute to the court. Those who speak of them are unable to say anything definite, while those who say something definite cannot be trusted; hence I am compelled to omit them here.
The author states here that he rejects information of areas southeast of the South Sea (South China Sea) and northwest of Mongolia. However, what about informants from other areas?
If we believe Galvão then a map existed as early as 1428 showing the Straits of Magellan in South America. Gavin Menzies explains this as coming from the master chart of Zheng He whom he claims circumnavigated the globe on his treasure voyages.
Again much of the evidence Menzies uses to support this idea is identical with that used by Heyerdahl in his "American Indians in the Pacific" theory. Actually, Heyerdahl suggested that it was bearded trans-Atlantic "Nordics" from America rather than Amerindians who made the Pacific voyages.
A great deal of this evidence can easily be shown to predate the Ming period. For example, the ruins at Ponape in Micronesia mentioned at Menzies site are dated more than a millennium before Zheng He's voyages.
However there is one interesting bit of Ming period evidence cited by Menzies. The discovery of a junk in the Philippines off North Pandanan Island by Dr. Eusebio Dizon uncovered a store of metates in the hold. Zhu Di coins date this junk to about 1421.
A metate "mortar" -- corn was ground into the central hole
Metates are grinding stones used in pre-Columbian America. The metates found in the junk were similar to those used in South America. We should note that the Chinese name Lusung may be a transliteration of a local word in the Philippines meaning "mortar" as in "mortar and pestle."
While I can't trace specifically how Nusantao traders would have come to know about the Straits of Magellan, it might be helpful to follow what I call the "tumbaga trail." As mentioned earlier, tumbaga is a copper alloy, usually copper and gold. The word "tumbaga" in nearly the precise same form is found in the Philippines and in different areas of the Americas.
From Peru, tumbaga spread into Argentina and Chile and northward into Columbia. It was found in Mexico, in the Caribbean and in other areas of the Americas. However, it was not always found with the name "tumbaga" or its derivatives.
This expansion of metallurgy was undoubtedly due to the spread of indigenous cultures and empires. However, if we believe in rather regular Nusantao contacts with the Pacific coast of the "New World," we can expect that, like any good explorer/merchant, they would have expanded their "tree" of contacts thoroughly.
It is interesting to note that none of the maps suggested by Menzies to show the Americas, with the possible exception of Kublai Khan chart, are found in China. We take here that the Kublai Khan chart mentioned is based on the idea that a map found in 1911 in the Balkans came from a source map produced in Samarkand. It is therefore speculative that this chart came from Kublai Khan's court.
Such a scenario would make sense from the Nusantao perspective we have suggested here. For China to get involved in the spice trade, it makes no sense to sail eastward around the world to get to the Indian Ocean. However, for Europe sailing westward to this region was a viable alternative to sailing around the continent of Africa, especially from the point of view of trade winds and currents.
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
References
Evidence on Pandanan junk and metates presented by Dr. Eusebio Dizon at Royal Geographical Society on March 15th, 2002.
The Mongol Atlas (Kuang Ku Tu), http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/LMwebpages/227mono.html
Sunday, January 16, 2005
Maps of the Sea Kings III
When Hinduism and Buddhism spread throughout Asia, there was little disruption to the old spice routes. These religions were not strongly exclusive especially in the form they took moving eastward. They lived alongside other religions as in Japan were Shintoism was the state religion or in China were Confucianism was the "religion" of the state.
Nor were they connected centrally in a political or economic way with any place or government. Islam was different in its outlook toward other religions and toward the state in general. Techically, Muslims were required in many ways to favor other Muslims, and in theory, all Muslims pledged their allegiance to the caliphate.
If we look at the 10th century records, the empire of Zabag, which I believe represented the core of the Dragon and Bird Clan during this period, we could say that it was in a golden age. Maybe never before had it attained such power and wealth. Still, there is no real indication despite all this wealth of a strong move toward urbanization.
There is mention in Chinese texts of a brick wall linked with the capital of the empire, but this may have referred to the king's residence instead. About the only mention of opulence mentioned with connection to the island empires is the royal palace.
Still, we often see in excavations of this period, rich burials loaded with pricely Sung dynasty celadons, gold and other precious items.
Often empires reach their height just before the fall. This is the nature of cycles.
For all its great size and wealth, Zabag/Sanfotsi, still had problems to deal with. Not only with the expansion of Islam, but in a powerful neighbor to the south -- the kingdom of Toupo/Wakwak.
The thousand strong fleet of Toupo demonstrates the type of naval power this empire could project across the South China Sea and Indian Ocean. If the people of Zabag had become fat through success, then their empire must have been very attractive to the mighty fleets of Toupo.
Indeed, according to the annals of the Sung Dynasty, the nation of Sanfotsi (Zabag) sent an emissary in 992 AD to the Chinese emperor with news that his country had been invaded by Toupo and was seekng assistance. Apparently that invasion was not completely successful but it may have been the beginning of a gradual decline for the empire of the Clove Route.
The sending of the emissary to China occured about 150 years before contact was made between Prester John and the kingdoms of Europe. In the most popular of the letters of Prester John, we read of a peculiar mention of certain Templars who were thought to be conspiring with the Muslims:
Note that Prester John here mentions Templars in his own "retinue." Not only that, but the historical records show that at least two letters brought to the Holy Roman and Byzantine emperors were brought by emissaries of Prester John himself. And in 1177, Philippus the physician of Pope Alexander III claimed to have met with Prester John's ambassadors who had a letter for him to deliver to the Pope.
The connection with the Templars is of particular importance. As we related, when the Templar order ended in other parts of Europe it continued in Portugal under a new name: the Knights of the Order of Christ. Prince Henry the Navigator was grand master of this order.
Antonio Galvão mentions a map found in 1528 that was made 120 years earlier, or in 1408. The map was found in the abbey of Alcobaza, which belonged to the French Cistercian Order of Saint Bernard de Clairvaux. This order wrote the Rule for the original Poor Knights of Christ, aka the Templars. The Templar oath has also been found in the archives of the Alcobaza.
I would submit that the maps found by Don Pedro in 1428 and by Don Fernando in 1528 both had Templar origins and that the information was linked directly to their contacts with Prester John, i.e., the ruler of Sanfotsi/Zabag.
When Don Pedro and his brother Prince Henry the Navigator set up their School of Navigation in Portugal they had several goals including gaining spices and gold in the East Indies and seeking an ally against the Muslims in the legendary "Christian" king Prester John.
They initially saw Prester John in the Christian emperor of Ethiopia possibly as he was the only powerful Christian king outside of Europe. However, this did not prevent them from continuing east towards the lands where the spices originated.
From the testimony of the Chinese and Muslim historical texts, we find that Sanfotsi/Zabag had declined markedly at the time of these early Portuguese explorations. Near the end of the Yuan dynasty, the kingdom was know as Lusung.
By this time, key areas in Africa and along the Strait of Malacca were in or falling into Muslim hands. For Lusung, it may have seemed the only hope was adding new elements into the game. The two obvious choices would have been China and Christian Europe. Much of India had already been lost to Islamic advances and the south had all it could handle holding its own.
It was during this time that we see the new maps coming into play. However, if these maps really had the origins I suggest, the result may have not been quite what the Nusantao thalassocracy had desired. The Chinese used their new geographical knowledge mainly for tribute missions. They showed no interest in getting into direct competition as long as they received presents for the emperor. The Muslim admiral Zheng He was perfect for this job.
Indeed, they showed more interest in conquering Lusung than in attempting to gain control of the spice routes. In 1404, Ming emperor Yung Lo sent Zheng He with 60 ships to reduce Lusung, but the latter failed after three attempts. Four years later, Zheng He would set out on the first of his tribute voyages.
The Europeans on the other hand were more than willing to take on the Islamic empire for the spice routes. However, here again the results may have not been what the Nusantao desired. The carnage was great and the contest eventually led to the genocidal conquests of the Americas.
A magnitude 5 eruption of Mt. Pinatubu in 1450, give or take 50 years, probably was the beginning of the end for Lusung as a major power. Muslim Malays had control of much of insular Southeast Asia and the Christians of Europe were not far off.
To a great extent, this result though, I believe, had been expected centuries before. Indeed, it had become part of their prophetic belief.
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
References
Laufer, Berthold, “The Relations of the Chinese to the Philippines,” Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collection, Vol. 50, Pt. 2, Publication No. 1734, p. 258.
Some articles on Austronesian influence in West Africa (authors have some different conclusions than myself)
Roger Blench's Article on West Africa, especially Indo-Pacific cultigens
Modern recreation of Cinnamon Route and West African voyages
Nor were they connected centrally in a political or economic way with any place or government. Islam was different in its outlook toward other religions and toward the state in general. Techically, Muslims were required in many ways to favor other Muslims, and in theory, all Muslims pledged their allegiance to the caliphate.
If we look at the 10th century records, the empire of Zabag, which I believe represented the core of the Dragon and Bird Clan during this period, we could say that it was in a golden age. Maybe never before had it attained such power and wealth. Still, there is no real indication despite all this wealth of a strong move toward urbanization.
There is mention in Chinese texts of a brick wall linked with the capital of the empire, but this may have referred to the king's residence instead. About the only mention of opulence mentioned with connection to the island empires is the royal palace.
Still, we often see in excavations of this period, rich burials loaded with pricely Sung dynasty celadons, gold and other precious items.
Often empires reach their height just before the fall. This is the nature of cycles.
For all its great size and wealth, Zabag/Sanfotsi, still had problems to deal with. Not only with the expansion of Islam, but in a powerful neighbor to the south -- the kingdom of Toupo/Wakwak.
The thousand strong fleet of Toupo demonstrates the type of naval power this empire could project across the South China Sea and Indian Ocean. If the people of Zabag had become fat through success, then their empire must have been very attractive to the mighty fleets of Toupo.
Indeed, according to the annals of the Sung Dynasty, the nation of Sanfotsi (Zabag) sent an emissary in 992 AD to the Chinese emperor with news that his country had been invaded by Toupo and was seekng assistance. Apparently that invasion was not completely successful but it may have been the beginning of a gradual decline for the empire of the Clove Route.
The sending of the emissary to China occured about 150 years before contact was made between Prester John and the kingdoms of Europe. In the most popular of the letters of Prester John, we read of a peculiar mention of certain Templars who were thought to be conspiring with the Muslims:
There are Frenchmen among you, of your lineage and from our retinue, who hold with the Saracens. You confide in them and trust in them that they should and will help you, but they are false and treacherous...may you be brave and of great courage and, pray, do not forget to put to death those treacherous Templars.
Note that Prester John here mentions Templars in his own "retinue." Not only that, but the historical records show that at least two letters brought to the Holy Roman and Byzantine emperors were brought by emissaries of Prester John himself. And in 1177, Philippus the physician of Pope Alexander III claimed to have met with Prester John's ambassadors who had a letter for him to deliver to the Pope.
The connection with the Templars is of particular importance. As we related, when the Templar order ended in other parts of Europe it continued in Portugal under a new name: the Knights of the Order of Christ. Prince Henry the Navigator was grand master of this order.
Antonio Galvão mentions a map found in 1528 that was made 120 years earlier, or in 1408. The map was found in the abbey of Alcobaza, which belonged to the French Cistercian Order of Saint Bernard de Clairvaux. This order wrote the Rule for the original Poor Knights of Christ, aka the Templars. The Templar oath has also been found in the archives of the Alcobaza.
I would submit that the maps found by Don Pedro in 1428 and by Don Fernando in 1528 both had Templar origins and that the information was linked directly to their contacts with Prester John, i.e., the ruler of Sanfotsi/Zabag.
When Don Pedro and his brother Prince Henry the Navigator set up their School of Navigation in Portugal they had several goals including gaining spices and gold in the East Indies and seeking an ally against the Muslims in the legendary "Christian" king Prester John.
They initially saw Prester John in the Christian emperor of Ethiopia possibly as he was the only powerful Christian king outside of Europe. However, this did not prevent them from continuing east towards the lands where the spices originated.
From the testimony of the Chinese and Muslim historical texts, we find that Sanfotsi/Zabag had declined markedly at the time of these early Portuguese explorations. Near the end of the Yuan dynasty, the kingdom was know as Lusung.
By this time, key areas in Africa and along the Strait of Malacca were in or falling into Muslim hands. For Lusung, it may have seemed the only hope was adding new elements into the game. The two obvious choices would have been China and Christian Europe. Much of India had already been lost to Islamic advances and the south had all it could handle holding its own.
It was during this time that we see the new maps coming into play. However, if these maps really had the origins I suggest, the result may have not been quite what the Nusantao thalassocracy had desired. The Chinese used their new geographical knowledge mainly for tribute missions. They showed no interest in getting into direct competition as long as they received presents for the emperor. The Muslim admiral Zheng He was perfect for this job.
Indeed, they showed more interest in conquering Lusung than in attempting to gain control of the spice routes. In 1404, Ming emperor Yung Lo sent Zheng He with 60 ships to reduce Lusung, but the latter failed after three attempts. Four years later, Zheng He would set out on the first of his tribute voyages.
The Europeans on the other hand were more than willing to take on the Islamic empire for the spice routes. However, here again the results may have not been what the Nusantao desired. The carnage was great and the contest eventually led to the genocidal conquests of the Americas.
A magnitude 5 eruption of Mt. Pinatubu in 1450, give or take 50 years, probably was the beginning of the end for Lusung as a major power. Muslim Malays had control of much of insular Southeast Asia and the Christians of Europe were not far off.
To a great extent, this result though, I believe, had been expected centuries before. Indeed, it had become part of their prophetic belief.
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
References
Laufer, Berthold, “The Relations of the Chinese to the Philippines,” Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collection, Vol. 50, Pt. 2, Publication No. 1734, p. 258.
Some articles on Austronesian influence in West Africa (authors have some different conclusions than myself)
Roger Blench's Article on West Africa, especially Indo-Pacific cultigens
Modern recreation of Cinnamon Route and West African voyages
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