Sanfotsi-Zabag's Golden Age of Maritime Trade (Article)

During the Sanfotsi-Zabag age starting a century or two before the Sung and ending maybe slightly afterward, maritime trade for the Sambali (Shambhala) empire reached its apex.

Although Chinese texts show awareness of the Southern Seas at an early date, these records have only vague descriptions that tell little of trade relations.

The first substantial notice of the southern maritime network comes with the travel diary of I-Ching who boarded a Po-sse ship for India in the 7th century. The Po-sse were Southeast Asian mariners, not Persians as sometimes suggested, as the name Nan-hai-Po-sse "South Sea Po-sse" indicates. Studies have also shown that the products associated with Po-sse are Southeast Asian in provenance.

However, the Po-sse may have been confused with Persians because of the Nestorian connection. As noted earlier in this blog, there existed as early as the 5th century, a Nestorian Metropolitan of Mainland Southeast Asia, South China and Zabag (Dabag) in coastal Persia.

Little is known of these early Nestorians. By the Yuan Dynasty at least we known of Nestorian communities around Quanzhou from different sources. However, it appears that the Chinese associated Nestorianism with the earlier Po-sse of Zabag whose ships may have brought elements of the religion to South China.

When Nestorian Christians set up monasteries in Sian during the T'ang Dynasty, the Chinese called them Po-sse-ssu "Po-sse monasteries" and the teachings were known as Po-sse-ching-chiao "Po-sse teachings."

Sacred Isles

In the late 8th century, the poet Bao He wrote of the South Seas trade in the poem "Sending the Esteemed Master Li to Quanzhou":

The land by the sea lies beyond the realm of civilization,
But the matched tally earns the Han official respect.
The cloud-shrouded mountains lie in the lands of the myriad Yue,
And in the markets are the people of the sacred isles;
Grasping jade, they have come to our land from afar,
Offering pearls, they come to offer tribute.

(Clark, pp. 32-3)

The testimony of I-Ching and Bao He indicates that maritime trade was something introduced to the Chinese by Po-sse and Yue merchants.

Possibly in earlier times trade with South China was conducted overland to Champa from whence it went to sea on the spice routes. During the T'ang dynasty, we see the rise of Canton and Quanzhou as important Chinese ports.

An edict by Emperor Wenzong in 829 states:

The foreign merchants of the South Seas [who come to the land] are seeking virtous enlightenment; they should be accorded generous treatment while here...In order to promote proper respect toward the imperial commissioners (jiedu guancha shi) among the foreigners in Lingnan, Fujian and Yangzhou, except for the collection of anchorage fees, the court purchase and regular presents, we must allow them to come and go freely and to trade, and we must not impose heavy taxes. (Clark, p. 44)

Circumstances which led to the flourishing of the Sanfotsi-Zabag trade include the rise of the powerful and outward-looking Sung Dynasty to the North and the expanding Muslim empire to the West. Both showed strong interest toward trade and the ships and merchants of Sambali were positioned as middlemen. The expansion of the ports at Canton and Quanzhou greatly expanded the volume of trade that was possible.

Sanfotsi and Champa

According to the Sung hui-yao and other Sung sources, the kingdoms of Sanfotsi, Champa, Mai (Mindoro) and Butuan were all linked closely by sea.

Interestingly, close to half of the envoys sent by both Champa and Sanfotsi to the Sung court had the "surnames" of 蒲 "Pu" or 李 "Li". One explanation offered for this is that these "surnames" were respectively the Muslim names "Abu" and "Ali," but this seems highly unlikely.

First, its unlikely that so many envoys would have the kunya name Abu "father of," which is hardly attested in early Islamic tombstones and inscriptions in Southeast Asia. Also, there is no reason for "Ali" to appear so commonly as a "surname."

Indeed, it appears the Chinese, who place their own surnames at the beginning, mistook titles of Sanfotsi, Champa and other envoys as surnames. In the case of Champa, "Pu" seems to be a rendering of the Cham title "Po" meaning "lord, master." The Cham word for "king" is "Po Tao."

In Sanfotsi, the equivalent title of respect is "Apu" or "Apung" having a meaning similar to "Seigneur."

The "surname" of "Li," appears to be a rendering of the Sanfotsi title "Ari" or "Aring" meaning "king" or "prince."

That Champa and Sanfotsi would often send nobles as envoys is only natural and one of the envoys 'surnamed' Li in 971/2 is specifically described as "deputy king" of Champa.


Sanfotsi Envoys during Sung Dynasty with "surname" of Pu or Li

Envoy	Date	Source
Li Shu-di (李庶帝)	960	Sung-shi
Li Li-lin (李麗林)	962	Sung-shi
Pu Mie (蒲蔑)	972	Sung-shi
Pu Tan-han (蒲陁漢)	976	Sung-shi
Li Pu-hui (李甫誨)	980	Sung-shi
Pu Ya-tuo-luo (蒲押陁羅)	983	Sung hui-yao
Li Jia-pai (李庶帝)	1003	Sung hui-yao
Li Mei-di (李加排)	1008	Sung hui-yao
Pu Po-la (蒲婆藍)	1008	Sung hui-yao
Pu Mou-xi (蒲謀西)	1017	Sung hui-yao
Pu Ya-tuo-luo-xie (蒲押陀羅歇)	1033	Sung hui-yao

In addition to envoys some merchants of Sanfotsi took up permanent residence in South China especially at Quanzhou. The Sung writer Lin Zhiqi records some notes on these foreign residents at Quanzhou:

Among the three prefectures of the Southern Sea and responsible for taxing merchant ships is Quanzhou prefecture. Among the many countries with trade relations with Quanzhou is Sanfotsi. There are scores of wealthy merchants from Sanfotsi who live or were born in Quanzhou. Among them is a man called Shinowei. Shi is famed for his generosity towards fellow foreigners in Quanzhou. The building of a foreign resident cemetary was one of his generous deeds...All foreign merchants of Quanzhou are buried there. The construction started in 1162 and completed the following year...Such kindness will certainly promote overseas trade and encourage foreigners to come. It is much appreciated that Shi has done this deed.

The discovered remains of ships that worked the trade routes provide spectacular evidence of this golden age of Southeast Asian trade from the Sung and proximate periods in and around the Philippines:

Butuan Barangays

The only place in Southeast Asia to have a collection of sea-going ships is Butuan on the island of Mindano in the Philippines. Eleven boats have been found at four sites with three of them dated (320 CE, 900 CE, 1250 CE). The boats show classic all-wood, lashed-lug construction typical of Southeast Asian tradition.


Tanjung Simpang Wreck

Discovered off Sabah in Borneo and dated to the 11th century, the boat was loaded with Chinese ceramics and apparently made with Chinese woods.

Breaker Shoal Wreck

Found at Breaker Shoal southwest of Palawan in the Philippines, the ship contained qingbai Sung or Yuan ceramics, and lead and iron ingots.

Pandanan Wreck

This spectacular early 15th century find off Pandanan in the Philippines is a hybrid Southeast Asian-Chinese vessel with all-wooden joint construction but Chinese-style transverse bulkheads. Built of tropical hardwood, a practice later to be implemented by Zheng He's fleet, the ship carried a sensational cargo of 4,722 items including many very well-preserved pieces.

Lena Shoal Wreck

A late 15th century Chinese-style ship found off northeastern Palawan in the Philippines containing 5,000 objects including bronze cannons and well-preserved pottery.

Santa Cruz Wreck

This hybrid 15th century vessel found off the northern coast of Zambales (Sambali), Philippines yields a sensational 15,000 ceramic pieces with 80 percent of the hull intact.

Luuc Wreck

Discovered in 1998, off Mindanao this Butuan-style ship contained Ming wares.

Brunei Wreck

Found in 63 meters of water off the coast of Brunei, this ship yielded massive quantities of Thai and Chinese ceramics apparently from the late 15th century.

It is quite interesting to note that only one shipwreck in Southeast Asia has been suggested as Arab/Indian in origin or at least design -- the Belitung Wreck. However, the instruments and tools used by the crew of the Belitung boat appear to have an Indonesian origin. This evidence further assures us that the "Po-sse ships" and crews were of Southeast Asian provenance.

While the Muslim expansion helped bring about the prosperity of Sanfotsi-Zabag it also rather quickly caused trouble for the kingdom. The Buag eruption of Mount Pinatubo some 800-500 years ago, may have ultimately contributed to the slumping fortunes of Sanfotsi-Zabag that did not turn around till the rise of the Lusung kingdom during the Ming Dynasty.

This quote from the Canton Stories (Pingzhou Ketan) of Zhu Yu (1118-9 CE)however illustrates Sanfotsi-Zabag's great prosperity at its peak:

Every country in the southern ocean has its own chief. Sanfotsi was named the greatest country. It possesses its own writing system and its people are skilled at calculation. Some merchants say that they even predict future eclipses of the sun and moon. But their writing system is unknown to the Chinese. There is a great deal of sandalwood and frankincense there for trade with the Chinese. Sanfotsi ships send frankincense to China and the Chinese Trade Office treats the product as a monopoly and buys the whole cargo after taking customs duties. In recent times Sanfotsi established a sandalwood monopoly and the ruler orders merchants to sell to him. The product's market value increases several times. The subjects of that country do not dare sell privately. This is an effective system. The country is right in the center of the Southern Sea. Ta-Shih [Perso-Muslim] countries are far to the West. Chinese bound for Ta-Shih reach Sanfotsi and repair their ships and exchange goods. Distant merchants congregate here and therefore it is considered the most prosperous place.

Foreign merchants visiting Zabag are greeted by wading women. From a 16th century Persian copy of Qazwînî’s `Ajâ’ib al-makhlûqât. Leiden Or. 8097, f 55, Leiden University.


The king on a golden throne surrounded by naked women. Leiden Or. 08907, fol. 54a, Leiden University.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Clark, Hugh R. Community, Trade, and Networks: Southern Fujian Province from the Third to the Thirteenth Century, Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Samuel N. C. Lieu. "Nestorians and Manichaeans on the South China Coast," Vigiliae Christianae, Vol. 34, No. 1 (Mar., 1980), pp. 71-88.

Flecker, Michael. "The South-China-Sea Tradition: the Hybrid Hulls of South-East Asia," International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 36 (1), 2007, 75–90. [http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1095-9270.2006.00109.x]

Etymology of "Sanfotsi" (三佛齊) (Article)

The location and identification of Sanfotsi (三佛齊) has been dealt with in articles like The Medieval Geography of Sanfotsi and Zabag, The Location of the Kingdom and The Mihraj.

Some studies have shown that the name Sanfotsi could have applied to different regions within probably the same thallasocracy during the same time period. Palembang as interpreted as Sanfotsi is based mainly on Ming texts which state that Sanfotsi is also known as Pa-lin-fong. However, earlier texts list Pa-lin-fong as a dependency of Sanfotsi, which was located much further east in the Sea of Champa. Possibly in Ming times, China recognized some political elements of old Sanfotsi as present in Pa-lin-fong.

The placename Sanfotsi appears in the scholarly literature in many different forms: San-fo-ts'i, San-bo-tsai, San-fo-ch'i, San-fo-qi, etc., due to different pronunciation especially with regard to dialect of the three characters involved.

The 三 character with the Middle Chinese pronunciation of sam, means "three" and could be a reference to a tripartite understanding of the core region of Sanfotsi as forming three islands. However, at the same time sam/san may be part of the Chinese rendering of a foreign placename.

I would suggest that Sanfotsi is an attempted Chinese rendering of the national and geographical name Sambali initially probably in the Middle Chinese form sam-bot-ʒiej. Possibly it could have been also originally a Southern Chinese form similar to Cantonese saam-bat-zi.

Sambali in this case is the same medieval kingdom known to Tibetan Buddhists as Shambhala and to medieval Hindus as Sambhala.

The word "sambali" may derive from the local word samba "to worship" and also sambal "confluence of rivers." Sambal can also refer to joining together of rivers by building canals. In this sense, sambal by extension can mean "to make a pact" or to arrange/witness a pact based on the sealing of pacts by exchange of blood i.e. the mingling of the blood streams.

Either in relation to the idea of worship or maybe to that of splitting of rivers at a confluence, sambali also means "sacrificer, executioner" in southern Philippine languages, and can refer to any ritual killing involving decapitation.

An 18th century Spanish Tagalog dictionary lists sabang as a synonym of sambal. The related form sapang in Kapampangan means "estuary," the area in a river where saltwater and freshwater meet.

"Sapang" as a placename these days occurs as part of a conjoined forms as in "Sapang Kawayan" in Masantol, Pampanga. However, "sabang" at one time was a stand-alone word, and probably also "sapang."

I have suggested previously it is from sapang/sabang that the Arabs derived Zabag and Zabaj, the names of the central kingdom located in an estuary where the Mihraj was based.

In local legends of Masantol, the old Rajah of Macabebe/Masantol hailed from Malauli, a barangay of modern Masantol on the section of the Pampanga River where salty brackish water meets freshwater i.e. a sapang/sabang.

Before the Pinatubo eruption, north of Malauli the Pampanga River was flanked on both sides by rice fields. However, at Malauli, planting rice is no longer possible because of the salty water and fish-ponds replace the rice fields south along the river until one reaches the Manila Bay.

The word "malauli" itself probably refers to a canal connected to the river alongside which homes in the community are built. At one time, this may have been the official entry point into the kingdom of Sambali, and it is noted as a sacred place in local lore.

Malauli and the related mauli both mean "downstream" in modern Kapampangan and the latter has the additional meaning of "river mouth" and "South." For the ancient Kapampangans, the east was signified by Mount Arayat, and the South probably by Malauli and preserved in modern "mauli." Malauli was the entrance into the old sacred homeland and also the official port of the kingdom. The palace of the Mihraj itself was located right on the edge of a tidal area according to Arabic sources, and Chau Ju-Kua states: "The people [of Sanfotsi] either live scattered about outside the city, or on the water on rafts of boards covered over with reeds, and these are exempt from taxation."


Malauli ang Sagrada, a barangay (village) of Masantol, Pampanga. The Pampanga River is in the upper right-hand corner. The East is at the top of the picture. Click here for whole Google map.

Sanfotsi and Sambatyon

The name of the Sambatyon River is usually said to be derived from an unattested form of the "Sabbaticus" River through a dissimilation of the double labial consonant "bb".

However, there could also be a connection here with Sambali, Shambhala and Sambhala.

Through confusion brought on by the different pronunciations of 三佛齊, a rendering such as "Sam-bo-tsai" could easily evolve into Sambatyon: Sam-bo-tsai > Sam-bai-tso (through metathesis) > Sam-ba-to > Sambatyon. The adding of the final -n was common in Jewish adoption of foreign words with final "o" as in Nero > Neron and Apollo > Apollyon.

Also the name "Sambatyon" appears around Sung Dynasty times at about the same time as "Sambotsai".

Concepts of lost tribes sequestered by a river are quite appropriate to the thinking of both the people of the Sambali region and to that of the ancient Hebrews (ibhri "across the river") . The Austronesian dual society based on relationships involving one's location on the left bank, right bank, upstream, downstream, etc. merges with ancient concepts of the "lost brother" who separated by a body of water. For a people living in the region of Sundaland floods and conditioned at an early age to marine exploration, the concept of the "lost brother" and "returning hero" is rather natural.

The river of sand and stones is a fiery one and can be compared to the flaming sword that guards Eden. Indeed, medieval traditions place the Lost Ten Tribes in or near the ancient Paradise.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Fox, James J. The Poetic Power of Place: Comparative Perspectives on Austronesian Ideas of Locality, ANE E Press, 1997, http://epress.anu.edu.au/austronesians/poetic/html/frames.php.

Lipset, David. Mangrove man: dialogics of culture in the Sepik estuary, Cambridge University Press, 1997, pp. 25-28. Also see Oppenheimer's Eden in the East on the "Two Brothers."

Kunlun (崑崙山) (Glossary)

Kunlun (崑崙) is the name of a mountain and/or island in Chinese literature, usually interpreted as two different locations both known more descriptively as 崑崙山 "Mount Kunlun" (Kunlun-shan).

It is generally proposed that the earlier and "original" Kunlun was a mountain range west of China and found near the home of the "Queen Mother of the West." A later Mount Kunlun is located in the Southern Sea often identified as Pulo Condore off the south coast of Vietnam or more generally with the southeastern archipelago to include the Philippines and Maluku, or Southeast Asia as a whole.

However, there is considerable evidence suggesting that the earlier Kunlun is associated also at the same time as the western location with the region southeast of China. I will suggest that in this case Kunlunshan or Mount Kunlun as associated with the cosmic Ruo Tree represents the western counterpart of the Fusang Tree in the double mountain or double-peaked mountain theme.

Early texts like the Yaodian tell of the demon Gonggong's butting Mount Buzhou causing the earth to tilt toward the southeast where the waters flow and collect. These waters pressed toward the Kongsang Tree (Hollow Mulberry) widely seen as another name for the Fusang Tree in the southeast. In latter literature, it is stated that the earth's waters flowed via a current into the abyss known as the Weilu to the east of the Fusang Tree.

The underground Ruo (Weakwater) River, probably another name for the Yellow Springs, is said to rise to the surface at the foot of the Ruo Tree in some texts but at the foot of the Kongsang Tree in others. This fact, combined with the similarity of the ruo character with some oracle bone script forms of sang (mulberry) have led scholars like Mizukami Shizuo to suggest the two were confused and actually one and the same. Sarah Allan though notes that the Chuchi Tian and the Huainanzi mention both trees and a western tree where the sun ravens perch in the evening.

This situation can be solved by suggesting that the Ruo Tree in the "West" was actually western in orientation in relation to the Fusang Tree but was otherwise located in the same spot in the Southeastern Sea. Thus, the Ruo River would rise near both the Fusang and Ruo trees which faced each other on two peaks of a double-peaked mountain oriented east-west.

This idea is strengthened by the fact that the Fusang/Kongsang Tree is said to be situated near an eastern sea from which the Sun rises, while the Ruo Tree is near a western ocean where the Sun sets. The latter situation however would not apply to Central Asian locations often suggested for Kunlun like the Karakorum Mountains. Indeed the region around Kunlun is often described as an archipelago.

In the Huainanzi, four rivers radiate from the corners of Mount Kunlun: the Yellow River, probably not the modern one, from the northeast corner flows eastward, the Vermilion River flows from the southeast corner toward the southwest, the Ruo River from the southwest corner flows toward the south, and the Yang River in the northwest enters the sea south of the Winged People Country.

All four rivers are stated to enter the "Southern Sea." John S. Major explains this using the Gonggong story and the characteristics of rivers in China, but it could just as well describe a mountain on an island in the Southern Sea, where naturally all rivers would flow.

Southeast of Kunlun, texts like the Shanhaijing place a Jade Mountain associated with the Queen Mother of the West. The Weilu or "Tail-Gate" to the east of the Fusang Tree is also described as a jade mountain or jade rock in the sea. Joseph Needham notes that the Weilu was associated in latter times with the Kuroshio Current (Japan Current):

In +1067 Ssuma Kuang was quite sure that the Fu-Sang country was to the west of the Wei-Lü Current, i.e. on its hither side, a fact which had much influence on latter European sinologists. By +1744 Chhen Lun-Chiung spoke with the voice of centuries-long tradition when he said that the Wei-Lü was the ancient name of the current now known as the Kuroshio...In his Ling Wai Tai Ta, speaking of Java (Shé-pho), Chou Chhu-Fei says: 'East of Shé-pho is the Great Eastern Ocean Sea, where the waters begin gradually to slope downwards. The Kingdom of Women (Nu-Jen Kuo) lies there. Still further east is the place where the Wei-Lü drains into the world from which men do not return. The statement about the point of origin of the Kuroshio current was right enough, though we should say the Philippines instead of Java; and perhaps the 'bourne from whence no traveller returns' was the American continent rather than the abyss.

The Ling Wai Tai Ta, a Sung Dynasty work also mentions the belief that it was at the Weilu that the ocean water "pours down into the Nine Underworlds." In a similar sense, the Ruo River and Yellow Springs are directly linked with the Underworld. In the earliest reference to the Yellow Springs in the Zuozhuan, for example, Duke Zhuang of Qing tells his mother "we shall not meet one another until we reach the Yellow Springs," i.e. the land of the dead.

Some Daoist commentators view the Weilu as a superheated rock or mountain in the ocean that evaporates water on contact. The description calls to mind the Indian Vadavamukha, the fiery submarine mare's head that continuously consumes the ocean's waters.

The association with cinnabar, the sunbirds, the axis mundi, the cataclysm of fire and water are other details that point to a location in the southeast.

Medieval texts

Kunlun in medieval times, especially starting in the T'ang Dynasty, is most often used to describe places and people from the south or southeast of China.

The world "Kunlun" (崑崙) at all times appears to be a Chinese rendering of a foreign word. Some have suggested that the word is derived from "Kurung" or "Kulung," which according to Chinese sources was the family name of the kings of Bnam. Others associate it with Khmer words like Krom (Old Khmer kloñ and Cham klauñ), and related Arabic terms like Komr and Kamrun as "Kunlun" is used in describing the kingdoms and rulers of the Funan and Linyi kingdoms in Indochina.

Another possibility, first suggested by Moens, is that the use of Kunlun to suggest a king or ruler might be related to terms like "kulano" and "kolano" found in Maluku and Mindanao.

The term "Kunlun" along with related words "Kulun" and "Gulun" also appear as ethnonyms , especially for a group of people traded as slaves starting around T'ang Dynasty times. These slaves are described as dark-skinned and frizzy haired, much the same as the people of Funan and Linyi, whose rulers was also known as Kunlun. These Kunlun slaves though are strangely said to have yellow hair possibly a reference to the common Melanesian trait of blondism.

The traveller I-Ching and the herbalist Su-Kung mention cloves growing in Kunlun suggesting Maluku where there are many people of "Melanesian" physical type.

A Chinese-Sanskrit dictionary of the 7th or 8th century equates Chinese Kunlun with Sanskrit Dvipantara a general term for insular Southeast Asia extending all the way to the sources of cloves.

Of course, these etymologies for "Kunlun" would presumbly relate only to the southern locations, unless the word migrated from an original home in regions to the south or southeast of China toward the west of China in conformance with Chinese views of their country as the "Middle Kingdom."

The Kunlun were one of three local seafaring people involved in Southeast Asian maritime trade, the others being the Po-sse and the Yueh. Of these, the Kunlun appear to have been most closely associated with "Melanesian" or "Negrito" types although it would probably be a mistake to think of "Kunlun" as a racial designation. The Chinese generally thought of all the Man or "Southern Barbarian" people as having dark complexion.

Axis mundi

The prime example of the axis mundi in Chinese literature is probably the Kongsang Tree upon which one climbs to Heaven. The association of Mount Kunlun and the "Kunlun Pass" with the axis mundi apparently relates to its connection with the Kongsang or "Hollow Mulberry" via the Ruo River textual passages.

We can also see this in the idea of the goddess Miao Shan, a form of Kuanyin, having her home in Mount Potalaka, the Buddhist version of the axis mundi. This is generally identified as Putuoshan off the Zhejiang coast, although Miao Shan originally hails from the more southern kingdom of Hsing Lin in Southeast Asia.

Miao Shan also known as Nanhai-kuanyin "Kuanyin of the Southern Sea," appears to fuse together aspects of earlier goddesses like Xihe of the Southeastern Sea, Mazu, patroness of seafarers, Kuanyin and even the Queen Mother of the West.

Millennial aspects of Miao Shan especially as found in the Xian tian da dao system show up widely in South China and Southeast Asia fit in generally with the strong millennarian milieu of the southern regions which can be extended back in Chinese literature to the tale of multiple Suns/Ages of the Fusang Tree.

Multiple streams of information suggest the association of Mount Kunlun with the axis mundi originally has a southeastern origin derived from the conception of a double mountain, of which it constitutes the western half, that eventually leads to the placement of Kunlun to the West of the Middle Kingdom in Chinese cosmology/geography. However, at the same time, the southern Kunlun never quite fades away as the existence of the rather specific name Kunlunshan (崑崙山) for a kingdom in the South indicates.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Donkin, Robin. Between East and West: The Moluccas and the Traffic in Spices Up to the Arrival of Europeans, DIANE, 2003, p. 153.

Needham, Joseph. Science and Civilisation in China, Cambridge University Press, 1998, pp. 549-550.

Schafer, Edward Hetzel. The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: A Study of T'ang Exotics, University of California, 1985, p. 290, notes 45-50.

Schipper, Kristofer Marinus. The Taoist Body, University of California
Press, 1994, p. 107.

Sambatyon River (Article)

The Sambatyon River is described in Jewish and Christian literature as a river of sand and rocks that stops flowing or solidifies on the Sabbath day. A similar river known as the Wadi al-Raml "River of Sand" is found in Islamic literature. This river was closely linked with the "lost" Ten Tribes of Israel.

According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, the first use of the name "Sambatyon" occurs in the Targum of pseudo-Jonathan to Ex. xxxiv. 10: "I will remove them from there and place them beyond the River Sambation."

Some think the name "Sambatyon" may be related to an earlier Sabbaticus river mentioned by Josephus and Pliny described as flowing according to a weekly schedule but Josephus states the river flows only on the Sabbath opposite what is said in other traditions. Neither Pliny or Josehphus describe a river of sand or stones. Josephus links the river with Jews during the time of Titus but not specifically with the Ten Tribes. Since the earliest times there has been disagreement on whether the Sambatyon and Sabbaticus rivers were related.

The first mention of a river of sand and stones connected in some way with the "lost tribes" actually occurs in Islamic literature. A group known as the "people of Moses" is mentioned in the Quran, and the commentator Muqatil bin Sulayman (767 CE) associates them with the lost tribes. He further places the people of Moses, numbering 70,000, beyond a river of sand in China. Several hadith tell of how the people of Moses dug a tunnel from the Temple Mount to or beyond China where they lived pious lives, and where Muhammed introduced them to Islam during his "night journey."

Muqatil b. Sulayman called the land of the people of Moses by the name Ardaf. The name resembles the location Arzaf mentioned in 4 Ezra 13 as the place to which the Ten Tribes escaped.

And, whereas, thou sawest that He gathered another peaceable multitude unto Him; those are the Ten Tribes which were carried away out of their own land in the time of Osea (Hoshea) the King whom Shalmaneser the King of Assyria led away captive, and he carried them over the waters, and so they came into another land. But they took this counsel among themselves, that they should leave the multitude of the heathen, and go forth into a further country. where never mankind dwelt, that they might there keep their statutes, which they never kept in their own land. And they entered into the Euphrates by the narrow passage of the river; for the Most High then showed signs for them, and held still the flood till they were passed over. Through that region there was a long way to go, a journey of a year and a half; and that country is called Arzaf [Latin Arzareth]. "Then they dwelt there until the last times; and now, when they are about to come again, the Most High will stop the channels of the river again, so that they may be able to pass over."

Ezra has a dream where a fire-breathing messianic figure arises from the stormy sea and carves a great mountain for an apocalyptic battle. After vanquishing a great host that had come against him on the mountain with a stream of fire from his mouth, the savior figure calls another "peaceable" multitude, an event widely interpreted as indicating the return of the Ten Tribes.

The Jewish traveler Eldad Hadani around the ninth century CE, mentions the people of Moses (beney Mosheh) living beyond the river of sand giving a complete tale combining many elements of the Hebrew and Islamic versions. Again, the Sambatyon River acts as a barrier sequestering the Ten Tribes and preventing their return to Israel.

Jewish texts like Pesikta Rabbati and Genesis Rabbah mention the tunneling story but in this case it is God who creates a tunnel from the land beyond Sambatyon which allows the Ten Tribes to return to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.

Eldad Hadani describes the thunderous noise made by the Sambatyon:

"...the river is full of large and small stones, thundering with stormlike, deafening noises by day and by night; it can be heard a day's journey away. The river flows with its noisy stones and sand all the six days of the week; on the Sabbath it ceases and rests until the termination of the Sabbath."

This and similar descriptions have led researchers like David Kaufmann to suggest that the flowing sand and stones were caused by volcanic action. In Ma'ase Nissim, Gershon Halevi states while traveling in India that two days from Seviliah he encountered the Sambatyon:

At some locations, I noticed a fire burning; other places appeared as rising smoke, and I was told that this is the smoke of the Gay Hinnom, like the mountains of Sicily in Italy. As we approached the town, which is near the Sambatyon, we heard turbulent, thundering noises. The closer we came to the town, the more deafening the noises became. Upon my inquiry I was told that this was the roar of the Sambatyon.

The belief that the Ten Tribes were held back both by the Sambatyon and also the Euphrates, and were able to cross these rivers only with the intervention of God brings to mind verses in Revelation which tell of the drying of the Euphrates to make way for the Kings of the East. In some accounts of Prester John, who is closely linked with the Ten Tribes beyond the river of sand/stones, it is said that his failure to reach Jerusalem was caused by his inability to cross the Euphrates.

Google satellite view of a modern-day "river of sand," the
Pasig River near Mt. Pinatubo south of Clark Field.



Pictures of the Sacobia-Bamban river

http://www.clarkab.org/photos/a35.jpg

http://pubs.usgs.gov/pinatubo/punong1/fig9b.jpg
Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Singer, Isidore; Alder, Cyrus; (eds.) et al. The Jewish Encyclopedia, Funk and Wagnalls, New York, 1901-6.

King of the East (Glossary)

Jewish, Zoroastrian, Christian and to a lesser extent Muslim traditions all possess a theme of the "King of the East" as a key player in apocalyptic times.

The ultimate origin of this belief in the region may come from the Egyptian concept of the throne on the "Island of Fire" i.e., Ta-Neserser. On this island was found the Primeval Hill from which the Sun and the Bennu Bird rise in the furthest East, and it was here that the dead traveled by ship where they entered the opening to the Underworld.

The food and herbs of Ta-Neserser filled the body with "magic," and at least by the Middle Kingdom period, the aromatics and products of Punt appear connected in some way with the Island of Fire. The throne in the latter location is associated with a serpent or cobra, and the Lord of Punt in the Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor, which in this case refers to the location of spices like cassia and cinnamon, appears as a giant snake. Aromatics like cassia and cinnamon continued to be associated with an eastern Paradise or "Elysian Fields" in regional cultures influenced by Egypt for thousands of years.

The Book of the Dead depicts what might be called a "volcanic apocalypse" of fire and flood after which renewal begins again from the throne of the Island of Fire. As discussed in this blog, the theme of one or a few survivors after a cataclysmic flood repopulating the earth is quite a familiar theme in Southeast Asian mythology.

Concepts of cyclic change that began at least by the Middle Kingdom in Egypt appear to have contributed to Egyptian millennarianism in the first few centuries before the era among gnostic and Jewish apocalyptic sects. Interestingly at about the same time in China to the East, ideas of a future millennarian age initiated by a reincarnation of Laozi also come to fore. This was at about the same time that the Fangshi wizards preached the wisdom of venturing to Penglai, the isle of immortals. During this period, there is evidence of contact between East and West both overland via the Silk Road and by sea via the maritime spice routes.

Concepts of both a savior king and a destructive king of the "antichrist" type are clearly present during this period.

King from the Sun

The Potter's Oracle and the Sibylline Oracles both refer to a messianic "King from the Sun" who conquers Rome, which many interpret to mean a "King from the East," i.e., the direction of the sunrise.

This identification is strengthened by other works of around this time like the Oracles of Hystaspes and Phlegon's account in Mirabilia.

Phlegon tells of how the slain Syrian Bouplagus after the defeat of Antiochus III at Thermopylae appears to the Roman soldiers warning them that an angered Zeus would send a "bold-hearted race" to bring their defeat and contrition. Another prophecy tells of the the Roman general Publius who went into a prophetic frenzy foretelling the destruction of Rome and conquest of the world by peoples coming from "Asia where the sun rises." According to the story, Publius also foretold that he would be eaten by a wolf, which comes true except that his head is left to declare his prophecies about Rome would also come to past.

Hystaspes is mentioned by Lactantius, Justin, Clement and Aristokritos. He is sometimes said to be the father of Darius, but in another account he is a Median who lives before the "Trojans were born." According to Ammianus, Hystaspes went to study with the Brahmins of "Upper India" where he learned about astronomy, astrology and other mysteries. All the sources agree that Hystaspes tells of Rome's descent into a time of trouble, while Justin refers to the destruction of the world by fire before the coming of an oriental savior king.

The Oracles of Hystaspes have so much in common with the apocalyptic Bahman Yasht of Persia that F. Cumont and G. Widengren have suggested an Iranian source for the former. It is worthwhile to note here that the Bahman Yasht more specifically locates the King of the East in the "direction" of China and the Indies, something dealt with in greater detail in Pahlavi and New Persian messianic literature.

The Persian connection is important because it was from Iran that both Zoroastrian and Nestorian Christianity expanded in the Sassanian period. The Nestorian synod of 410 CE mentions a "Metropolitan of the Islands, Seas and Interior of Dabag, Chin and Machin" (Zabag or Insular Southeast Asia, China and mainland Southeast Asia), who was seated at the Iranian port of Bushehr.

King of the East in Christianity

Not surprisingly there arose some counter propaganda to the Jewish, gnostic and Persian oracles against Rome.

One example is the Tiburtine Sibyl of the fourth century CE that prophesied a King of the Romans and Greeks known as Constans who conquers the world for Christianity before the coming of the Antichrist. Such oracles later morphed into beliefs of a French Catholic king who would bring the world to Rome culiminating in the 16th century book of prophecies Mirabilis Liber.

The King of the East was contrarily often associated in Christian millennarian works with the Antichrist, and this concept is not foreign to earlier works like the Potter's Oracle. That both destruction and renewal would be associated with the Orient agrees well with the Egyptian descriptions of the cyclic Island of Fire.

However, Christian millennarian also adopted and adapted the earlier views of the King of the East as savior. Commodian, for example, writes of "Nero redivivus," the reincarnated Nero who brings misery to Rome and the world as the Antichrist but is vanquished by King Apollyon of the East.

The general concept of ex Oriente lux "From the East, the light; from the East, the Saviour," was a powerful theme that helped bring about the latter popularity of Prester John, the King of the Indies.

Sambatyon River and the Ten Tribes

The tales of Prester John were closely associated with a legendary river known as the Sambatyon beyond which supposedly were found the lost Ten Tribes of Israel.

By at least the fourth or fifth century, we find in the rabbinical literature and the Alexandrian Romance of Pseudo-Callisthenes mention of a river of sand and/or stones that ceases flowing on the Sabbath day.

Early Muslim sources also mention the river of sand and connect it with the "people of Moses" (qawm Musa). The people of Moses are mentioned twice in the Quran (7:159, 17:104) as living at the edge of the world and who in the future will be reunited with the other children of Israel.

Latter commentaries on these verses state that Muhammed converted the people of Moses on his trip to heaven, and that they will ally themselves with Muslims against Rome in the end-times. Muqatil b. Sulayman (767 CE) commenting on 17:104 states that the people of Moses live in China on the far side of a river of sand that solidifies on the Sabbath, and gives them the name Ardaf or Ardaq.

Against this tradition, was a version which has Dejjal, the Muslim Antichrist arising in Bartayil (also Bartail, Bratayil, etc.) an island where clove buds are found situated in or near Zabag. Dejjal is supposed to lead an army of renegade Jews in a final war against Muslims. Thomas Suarez believes the strange horse from the sea, a familiar apocalyptic motif connected with Bartayil, is linked with the Chinese sea-goddess Kuanyin who often takes the form of a horse. Kuanyin in her final incarnation as Miao Shan was the daughter of the King of Hsing Lin, whose empire stretched from the western boundary of India eastward and south of Siam through Insular Southeast Asia.

A parallel Jewish tradition to that of the "people of Moses" developed in the beney Mosheh "children of Moses" said to have been transported to the edenic land of Havilah in the East where they live on the east side of the Sambatyon River flowing with sand and rocks but congealing on the Sabbath. To this was added the story that on the Sabbath a great wall of fire formed around the river.

One belief arose claiming the beney Mosheh possessed a written form of the Torah superior to the Rabbanate oral traditions and copied according to some from the stone tablets of Moses himself.

Centuries later, Prester John, in the various letters attributed to him, regularly claims both the river of sand and the Ten Tribes belong to his empire. In the same sense, he lays claim to another apocalyptic people, the biblical nations of Gog and Magog.

The Ten Tribes are sometimes described as vast in number having 10 cities to every one in Prester John's realm. So much so that the king found it necessary to station garrisons at the river of sand to prevent the Israelites from conquering the world. At other times they are said to ally themselves with Prester John in his battles against Muslims and others. They frequently send friendly traders to the king's land.

Jews in the West had various opinions about Prester John, some considering him an enemy holding back the Ten Tribes from reunification with the Jews. Many associated the coming of the lost tribes with the advent of the Messiah.

In the middle of the 15th century, at about the same time we hear of the de Conti's last reports of activity from a Prester John of the East Indies and also a possible embassy from that king to the Vatican, Jewish writings circulated about wars between the Prester John and the Ten Tribes.

In that year [1454], on the third day of the month of Nissan [early spring], there arrived here to the holy city of Jerusalem wise and respected elders from the lands of the Children of the East, and also men from the land of Babylonia, from the lands of Persia and Media, from India, from China, and from Yemen...which is as far from Jerusalem as the place of the Children of the East, five months' journey; and from there to our brothers, the Children of the Sambatyon River, is five months. They brought us letters from the heads of communities in the above-mentioned places...Know that the Sambatyon river stopped flowing altogether in the year 1453, at the beginning of the year, on the very first day of the month of Tishri. Our brothers are there battling the war of the blessed God, and they have a great and pious and exceedingly strong king who fights the battles of the Lord every single day with the great Christian king, Prester John of India. The great and pious king of our people captured many lands from him, and killed many thousands of his people...So gird yourselves and strengthen others in the name of the Lord God, for the Redeemer has been revealed, and he is about to redeem us with the help of blessed God.

Numerous explanations have given for what historical facts, if any, may explain the beliefs in the Ten Tribes and the Sambatyon River. The need to link these motifs with a king in the east may simply relate to the fact that both the Ten Tribes and the King of the East themes are integral to apocalyptic beliefs in the region.

It may be there is some connection with the Jewish communities in the more remote areas of China -- the southern coastal cities of Quanzhou (Zaiton), Canton, Ningpo and Yangzhou. Merchants from Fujian Province and other parts of South China settled at trading posts like the Parian in Manila and other Southeast Asian ports, and it may be these merchants were conflated with the Chinese Jews, if no real association existed.

Although the information on the King of the East as a savior or as antichrist is often confused, a consistent theme linking the monarch with the geography, aromatics, cosmology and other characteristics of the "East Indies" persists through the ages from the earliest times.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Buitenwerf, Rieuwerd. Book III of the Sibylline Oracles and Its Social Setting, Brill Academic Publishers, 2003, pp. 273-5.

Goldfish, Matt. The Sabbatean Prophets, Harvard University Press, 2004, p. 31.

Halkin, Hillel. Across the Sabbath River: In Search of a Lost Tribe of Israel, Houghton Mifflin Books, 2004, p. 109.

MacGing, Brian C. The Foreign Policy of Mithridates VI Eupator, King of Pontus, Brill Academic Publishers, 1986, pp. 103-4.

Mingana, Alphonse, "The early spread of Christianity in India," Bulletin of the John Rylands Library X 1926, p. 455.

Reeves, John C. Trajectories in Near Eastern Apocalyptic: A Postrabbinic Jewish Apocalypse Reader, SBL, 2005.

Werner, E.T.C. Myths and legends of China, Courier Dover
Publications, 1994, p. 253. The manuscript containing the story of Miao Shan was given by the abbot of Hsiang-shan monastery to Chiang Chih-ch'i, the Ju-Chou prefect, in 1100 CE. The abbot had received the work from a monk who had come on pilgrimage to Hsiang-shan.

News: Clay pottery tradition of Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea

Article from The National on the 2,000 year-old clay pottery tradition of Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea that survives into the present day.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
---

Archaeology in a clay pot
http://www.thenational.com.pg/020207/w7.htm

On-going archaeological investigation in the northwest D'Entrecasteaux Islands, Milne Bay province, traces past human settlement on the island group and interaction between the mainland and the outer islands through clay pots. VINCENT H. KEWIBU writes.

The D'Entrecasteaux Islands is made of Goodenough, Fergusson, Normanby, Amphlett Group and small offshore islands. These islands were sighted in 1793 by a French navigator, A.R.J. de Bruny d'Entrecasteaux after which the archipelago is named. Capt. John Moresby in 1874 navigated the islands and gave their English names.
Clay pots are generally referred to as pottery by archaeologists and played an important role in the coastal and island communities within the last 2000 years.
The vessels had a multitude of functions such as cooking and storage. They were also trade and exchange items.
The presence of these vessels in some burial sites and those associated with rituals highlight the significance of the ceremonial and religious role it played. However, the introduction of aluminium pots by Europeans greatly reduced and transformed its utilitarian, economic and ceremonial values.
Despite this, some communities in the Milne Bay Province still manufacture clay pots today. These communities include Sivesive and Yauyaula on Goodenough Island, Gumawana and Nabwageta Islands in the Amphletts Group. The other two major production sites in the province are on Tubetube and Ware Islands, while others became defunct or operating in a much smaller scale over the years.
The vessels are manufactured from clay extracted from the ground in suitably identified locations.
Clay is formed by weathering of the earth's surface into microscopic particles. The mineral and chemical composition resembles the surrounding geology of the locality. Plasticity is an essential feature of clay that makes pottery production possible, where it is easily fabricated into particular shapes. The potting clays on Goodenough and Fergusson Islands are naturally ready-made and do not require the addition of temper (sand or organic materials). The Sivesive villagers quarry their clay from a locality known as Kawaweta which is situated about a kilometre northwest of the village. At Yauyaula, the Kinauleya clay source is situated in at the foothills near Kayomala River and is quarried by the people of Augana and Nimwawena hamlets. The Amphlett Islanders obtain their clay from Yayavana at Wapolu on Fergusson Island, which is a day's trip by canoe. The Ware and Tubetube Islanders obtain theirs at sources on their respective islands.
In these communities women make clay pots. After quarrying the clay and transporting it to production sites in villages or hamlets, impurities are removed from the clay before pot construction. Some water is added if the clay is too dry. Pot construction techniques used at Sivesive, Yauyaula and the Amphletts are similar but differs slightly.
At Sivesive and Yauyaula, the technique is spiral coiling while on the Amphletts slab building with squeezed rolls is applied. These communities use the paddle and anvil using the hand as anvil and a paddle to shape the vessel.
The Amphlett Islanders build their vessels upside down beginning with the rim and closing it off at the base, which is unique in Papua New Guinea.
For Ware and Tubetube Islanders, they use the spiral coiling and ring building technique. After fabricating the clay into a desired vessel form, it is decorated while still damp or partially dried. The vessel is then completely dried in open for one to three days before firing. Fuel for firing the pots includes coconut husks and fronds, and split wood. The vessels are placed upside down and the fire built around them. After firing the vessels are cooled off in the open and ready for use or distribution.
Pottery is one of the durable archaeological indicators for tracing many aspects of prehistoric societies. Archaeologists study attributes of decoration, shapes, dimensions and the fabric of these vessels to make inferences about prehistoric technology, social change and interaction (trade, exchange, migration and communication), belief systems and diet. Pottery is recovered from the surface and excavation of archaeological sites. The vessels are rarely recovered in complete forms in most archaeological contexts. They are mostly recovered in broken fragments (sherds). Basic descriptive, statistical and highly specialised scientific techniques are used in the analysis of the diagnostic attributes.
The antiquity of pottery production in Milne Bay province can be traced back to the time when Jesus Christ was born, some 2000 years ago. The earliest pottery production area, apart from the coastal mainland, lies in the northwest D'Entrecasteaux Islands around Mud Bay area of Goodenough and western part of Fergusson.
Between 1000 and 2000 years ago, evidence shows that interaction occurred, in the form of pottery exchange, between the northwest D'Entrecasteaux Islands and coastal mainland as far Collingwood Bay. This notion is based on the similarity of pottery styles recovered in 1970s in Collingwood Bay and 2004 on southeast Goodenough, the Barrier Islands and west Fergusson.
By about 1000 years ago the geographical sphere expanded to include the Amphlett and Trobriand Islands. After about 500 years ago, the sphere of interaction contracted and Collingwood Bay was cut off. This indicates that production of pottery in the Amphlett Islands began about 1000 years ago and by 500 to 600 years ago gained monopoly over the market in the area, probably, with the emergence of the Kula exchange. On Tubetube and Ware Islands pottery production took hold some 600 to 700 years ago and thereafter found their path into the exchange networks. The geographic expansion and contraction of these spheres of interaction is related to changes in social configurations particularly movement of people and probably economic decisions on the cost of long distance sea voyages.
Recent archaeological excavations in the northwest part of the D'Entrcasteaux Islands produced some pottery that is characterised by red slip and red painted decoration. These decorations are clearly associated with the initial settlement process of sea-faring Austronesian peoples whose subsistence was based on fishing, gardening and to some extent hunting. Radiocarbon dates obtained from archaeological sites on the islands are consistent with the regional pottery and cultural sequence regarding settlement and movement of people and goods in the area established by archaeologists along the south coast of Papua New Guinea.
The red slip and red painted decoration styles are also recovered from archaeological sites on Yule Island, the Port Moresby area and Mailu in the Central Province; and Collingwood Bay in the Oro Province. These vessel types are no longer produced by clay pot manufacturing communities in the region. Clay pot industry in Milne Bay province is still in trade today and occasionally sold at the Alotau town market.

The Garden of Eden (Glossary)

The Garden of Eden and its location have served as a source of intrigue and curiosity since ancient times. Eden in the Bible is the terrestrial paradise, the earthly model of Heaven. In the Eden paradise, we find the source of the earthly rivers and the source of life itself or at least that of humanity.

The fall of Adam and Eve and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden serves as the backdrop of humanity's loss of immortality.

Where was the Garden of Eden?

The biblical Garden of Eden appears derived from the older Sumerian stories of the lush island of Dilmun far to the East. Many themes in the biblical book of Genesis are very similar to Sumerian myths including the lists of the antediluvian patriarchs, the great flood and the far-off eastern paradise.

Apocryphal texts like the Book of Enoch and Book of Jubilees place Edem beyond "India" and the Erythraean Sea (Indian Ocean) . In Enoch, the "Garden of Righteousness" and the Tree of Knowledge are associated with the eastern regions where cinnamon and aloeswood are found.

In medieval times, the location of the Garden of Eden continued to be mostly associated, in Christian and Jewish thought at least, with the far East. Medieval maps generally placed the East at the top of the chart with the Garden at the highest position. Although the garden was usually on the mainland, sometimes it was instead an island in the sea. Most often Eden was centered on the equator although the geography here tended to be pushed southward from the true positions.

Muslim geograhpers more commonly placed the Garden of Eden in Sri Lanka at a location also known as Sri Pada in Ratnapura district.

Font of all rivers

As the source of four great rivers that were said to supply water to all other rivers of the world, Eden was also the 'garden of life.' The four rivers branching out usually in the four cardinal directions were of course only symbolic. They are met with also in different mythologies of the world.

The four rivers are fed by one great world river that appears as either subterranean, as heavenly or as both subterranean and heavenly. We can understand the world river originally as an underground river that rises up the cosmic mountain to the heavens spouting out at the peak of the axis mundi. In India, this is the Ganga, which metaphorically branches out into the Sita to the East, the Alakananda to the South, the Caksus to the West and the Bhadra to the North i.e., it is the source of all fresh water. The four rivers watered by Eden in the Bible are the Pison of the golden land of Havilah, Gihon in Ethiopia, Hiddekel towards the east of Assyria, and the Euphrates.

Sumerian myth tells of two oceans -- an underground freshwater ocean known as the Abzu and a surface saltwater one called Tiamat. The former provides waters for the Earth's rivers after rising in Mount Mashu. Both oceans are seen as locations for the creation of life and the world. The Chinese Daoists saw the field of creation as the "Cinnabar Ocean" and the Hindus had the "Milky Sea."

Indeed, the idea of the oceans as the source of life is widespread in many cultures agreeing to some extent with modern evolutionary theories of life originating in an oceanic "biological soup." Indeed, marine ecosystems contain more phyla of lifeforms than the terrestrial ecosystems probably due to the fact that only a subset of creatures took to the land from the sea.

It is interesting with regard to the theme of this blog, that the region with by far the greatest marine diversity in the world is found in a triangle formed by the Philippines in the north, Indonesia to the southwest, and New Guinea to the southeast. Biodiversity in itself is the "tree of life" with all lifeforms ultimately connected in one origin and speciation resembling the branching of a tree.


Graphic giving theory for world's highest biodiversity in "Coral Triangle." Source: http://www.calacademy.org/research/izg/tropicaldiversity.htm

Heaven and Hell

Eden is portrayed in the Bible and related works both as a lush paradise and a fiery region protected by a revolving flaming sword. In this land was Mount Eden, a location described in similar terms to the smoking, fiery peak in Sinai where Moses received the divine commandments.

Mount Eden is itself the "garden of God," the location of the heavenly hosts from which the fallen angels were expelled according to Ezekiel.

The fiery upheavel in the Garden of Eden is related in this work to a volcanic conflagaration that sends waves of human migration in all directions.

When Adam and Eve partake of the fruit of the "tree of knowledge" they suddenly realize they are naked and seek to cover themselves. The theme suggests the loss of innocence connected by many with the rise of materialism symbolized by the fig leaves used to conceal their 'nakedness.'

From that point onward, abundance would cease and humanity would toil to survive off the cursed ground.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

News: Seed shattering selection in rice domestication

Haven't read the article yet, but the abstract below makes some
interestng claims.

If I read it right, it suggests that artificial selection for rice
plants that do not shatter seeds, began before the differentiation of
indica and japonica.

This suggests rather strongly, since the specific single mutation is
identified, and contrary to some other recent studies, that both
indica and japonica descend from a single *domesticated* ancestor.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
---

Planta. 2007 Jan 10;
Origin of seed shattering in rice (Oryza sativa L.).

* Lin Z,
* Griffith ME,
* Li X,
* Zhu Z,
* Tan L,
* Fu Y,
* Zhang W,
* Wang X,
* Xie D,
* Sun C.

Department of Plant Genetics and Breeding and State Key Laboratory
of Agrobiotechnology, China Agricultural University, Key Laboratory of
Crop Heterosis and Utilization of Ministry of Education, Beijing Key
Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic
Improvement and Genome of Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing, 100094,
China, suncq@....

A critical evolutionary step during rice domestication was the
elimination of seed shattering. Wild rice disperses seeds freely at
maturity to guarantee the propagation, while cultivated rice retains
seeds on the straws to make easy harvest and decrease the loss of
production. The molecular basis for this key event during rice
domestication remains to be elucidated. Here we show that the seed
shattering is controlled by a single dominant gene, Shattering1
(SHA1), encoding a member of the trihelix family of plant-specific
transcription factors. SHA1 was mapped to a 5.5 kb genomic fragment,
which contains a single open reading frame, using a backcrossed
population between cultivated rice Teqing and an introgression line
IL105 with the seed shattering habit derived from perennial common
wild rice, YJCWR. The predicted amino acid sequence of SHA1 in YJCWR
and IL105 is distinguished from that in eight domesticated rice
cultivars, including Teqing, by only a single amino acid substitution
(K79N) caused by a single nucleotide change (g237t). Further sequence
verification on the g237t mutation site revealed that the g237t
mutation is present in all the domesticated rice cultivars, including
92 indica and 108 japonica cultivars, but not in any of the 24 wild
rice accessions examined. Our results demonstrate that the g237t
mutation in SHA1 accounts for the elimination of seed shattering, and
that all the domesticated rice cultivars harbor the mutant sha1 gene
and therefore have lost the ability to shed their seeds at maturity.
In addition, our data support the theory that the non-shattering trait
selection during rice domestication occurred prior to the
indica-japonica differentiation in rice evolutionary history.

Rusun (Glossary)

Rusun is the Japanese name used for the kingdom of Lusung on the island known today as Luzon in the Philippines. It is also rendered as Roson, Rokusan, Roxon, Ruson, etc.

Arai Hakuseki's narrative on the captivity of Pere Sidotti written in 1710 states:

"...Roxon from the time of the So and Gen until now being written Roson, jars that have come from that country are thought convenient by my countrymen to keep tea in, and the name Roson jars is understood by every one..."

The So and Gen mentioned by Hakuseki are the Sung and Yuan dynasties of China. Certainly by the early Muromachi period of Japan (1334—1467), imported tea pottery from the Namban or "Southern Barbarian" regions including Rusun was popular among the upper classes.

It could be argued though that Japan had much longer relations with the South if we conclude that the location of the Fusang Tree in Chinese tradition was found in Southeast Asia, or specifically in Rusun/Luzon. Most of the notices of travel to the location of the Fusang Tree use the kingdom of Wa, the ancient Chinese name for Japan, as a reference point, including the time of sailing from Japan to that southern region.

Also, Japanese legends of fairy lands like Yominokuni, Nenokuni and Tokoyonokuni are linked in the literature with the Chinese locations of the Fusang Tree, the Land of Yellow Springs and Penglai (Horaisan), which were generally envisioned as somewhere beyond the Southeastern Sea of Chinese texts.

This might explain why the tea jars and canisters of Rusun came to be so highly-valued aside from any practical qualities they may have possessed. It was from the earth of a sacred mountain on one of these fairy lands that the Emperor Jimmu was told to make sacred sacrifical jars during his military expeditions.

Japanese legend tells of ancient people from southern Kyushu like the Hayato or "Falcon People" who were a type of dog-man folk said to bark (inugoe) like dogs. Eventually in their role as an imperial guard caste they formally dressed like dogs and performed dog barking rituals to drive away malevolent spirits from the court, or to announce the arrival of the Emperor across provincial borders.

Another people from southern Kyushu, cousins of the Hayato, are said to have sailed to their home along the Kurushio Current. It was this "Black Tide" that brought people from the fairy lands to the Ryukyus and Japan. The Japanese might have retained knowledge of the location of this ancient region, or they just might have surmised the location later as the Kuroshio Current passes along the eastern coast of Luzon.

Rusun and Japanese Christianity

It might come as a surprise to many that Japan's "Hidden Christians" (Kakure Kirishitan) came to view Mary and Jesus as natives of Rusun, as well making Mary the wife of the King of Rusun after giving birth to Jesus!

However this is exactly what is relayed in the Tenchi no Hajimari no Koto "Beginning of Heaven and Earth," the gospel of the Kakure Kirishitan probably first printed in 1823, from earlier oral texts. The oral traditions continued even after the printed form came into being.

There have been various explanations as to why the Christian gospel would be partly localized in Rusun as well as ethnologized to the people of Rusun. The most obvious explanation to this author is the connection with the indigenous Japanese concepts of heavenly "other worlds" like Takamagahara, which they located to the south along the Kuroshio Current.

In the Tenchi, Maruya (Mary) is born in Rusun (Roson), where she eventually comes to be courted by the King of Rusun. However, as she has vowed to remain a virgin, she refuses his advances and instead ascends into Heaven. The king dies of a broken heart, and Mary is asked by God (Deusu) to return to earth so she can bear him as a child. She agrees and on one night Deusa descends in the form of a butterfly and enters the mouth of Maruya, who immediately conceives. She then undertakes a long quest to Bethlehem (Beren) where she gives birth to the child and the story connects somewhat at this time with the orthodox version.

Later, the Holy Mother Maruya asks Deusa to save the King of Rusun, which he does giving the king the title of Zejusu, and marrying Maruya and the King.

The lofty position of Maruya agrees with that of indigenous Japanese belief in Amaterasu. Maruya's ascent into Heaven could derive from the ascent of Amaterasu to Takamagahara "Plain of the High Heaven" where she bears the ancestors of the imperial family with her brother Susanoo.

Interestingly most of the Christian converts in Japan were natives of Kyushu with its traditional ties to the South. When the persecution of Japanese Christians broke out, many fled to Luzon and other parts of the Philippines where many of the missionary orders and groups in Japan were based. Those who stayed behind became the Kakure Kirishitan community of hidden Christians.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Arai, Hakuseki and W.B. Wright (translator). "The capture and captivity of Giovanni Batista Sidotti in Japan from 1709 to 1715," Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, Asiatic Society of Japan, 1874, pgs. 156-72.

Hooker, Richard. Jimmu Tenno, http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/ANCJAPAN/JIMMU.HTM, 1996.

Seattle Art Museum. International Symposium on Japanese Ceramics: Transcript, Seattle Art Museum. 1973, p. 172.

Whelan, Christal. The Beginning of Heaven and Earth: the sacred book of Japan's hidden Christians, University of Hawaii Press, 1996.

Japanese Fairy Lands (Article)

I have agreed in this blog for the most part with Wilhelm Solheim's theory that the Yayoi rice culture and people came to Japan following Nusantao trade and exploration routes.

Japanese linguists have for decades uncovered significant Austronesian influence, mostly interpreted as specifically Malayo-Polynesian influence, in the Japanese language. If we accept Solheim's views that the transfer of Yayoi culture to Japan was a gradual process that took several thousands of years, we must wonder if Japanese mythology and legendary history conveys any information on the Nusantao past.

The "other worlds" of Japanese mythology often double as foreign countries in Japanese literature. The most important were known as Takamagahara "Plain of the High Heaven," Nenokuni (also Yominokuni) "Root Country (or 'Motherland') and Tokoyonokuni "Eternal Land."

Since the Meiji Era, Japanese scholars have attempted to connect these fairylands with known foreign geography.

All these locations are associated with the ocean and long sea voyages in the direction of the South. Furthermore in Okinawa and the Ryukyus, these lands are known by names like Niraikanai, Nirai, Nira, Niza, etc. depending on the location. Again, the semi-mythical locations are said placed in the ocean requiring a long journey and tend to be located toward the South.

In Japan, the southernmost tip of Kyushu, the lands associated with the ancient Kumaso and Hayato tribes were the traditional departure point and port of entry for journeys to and from the "other worlds."

Japanese scholars have sought locations for these lands from Melanesia to South China, Taiwan, Tibet and Korea.

Plain of High Heaven

Takamagahara is the sacred land from where Ninigi, the ancestor of Emperor Jimmu, came to land in southern Kyushu.

Ninigi is connected with the southern Kumaso and Hayato peoples, despite the fact that the Yamato Dynasty later has trouble pacifying their southern lands. One of Ninigi's sons is described as the ancestor of the Hayato people of southern Kyushu.

The Kumaso tribe was closely related to the Hayato or "Falcon People" and appear to have preceded Ninigi in Kyushu. Legend states that the Kumaso came to Kyushu on the Kuroshio or "Black Current" (Japan Current). They are described as having tattoed bodies, shields decorated with hair and bamboo hats.

Ninigi, like the visitors or Marebito from Niraikanai to the Ryukyus, was associated closely with rice agriculture, believed from the archaeological standpoint to have been brought by the Yayoi people. According to Japanese tradition at least, it was not until the day of the Empress Jingo and her expedition to Korea in 200 CE, that imperial influences begin to flow from that country and also from China, either directly to Japan or through Korea.

One might connect the earliest indigenous state culture in Japan with the Kofun burial mounds, the earliest ones generally showing little sign of Chinese or Korean imperial influence. Most of the art at these mounds belong to the animistic Shinto or proto-Shinto tradition.

The three sacred imperial regalia -- the mirror, sword and curved jade jewel (magatama) -- all date back to the Yayoi or Jomon periods. Authentic magatama jewels have been found at Jomon sites. The sword has been linked to Jomon phallic stones and the earliest bronze swords in Japan are probably of Korean origin and date back to the end of the early Yayoi period. However, ritual swords of Japanese origin appear also in the Yayoi era. Mirrors of Chinese and Korean origin date from the Middle Yayoi and probably were soon manufactured locally.


The Ise Shrine housing the sacred imperial mirror relic shows signs of Austronesian-like architecture.


The Atsuta Shrine where the sacred imperial sword Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi is kept.

Yayoi culture dates at least to about 500-400 BCE, although some of the latest AMS datings suggest it could go back as far as 900 BCE. The latter date would correspond to the traditional dating of Ninigi's voyage to Kyushu, while tradition gives a date of 660 BCE for Jimmu Tenno, the first emperor.

In northern Kyushu, Yayoi burials consist of internment in large jars and stone cist graves, a practice probably derived directly from Korea, but indirectly related to Nusantao movements from further south according to Solheim.

Although there is little archaeological evidence of the existence of a state in the Yayoi period, Chinese texts tell of kingdoms in Wa, the early Chinese name for Japan, dating back to Yayoi times.

Eternal Land and Motherland

Japanese scholar Yanagita Kunio suggested that Nenokuni was a type of Japanese "Motherland" from which early Japanese migrated to Japan. The ne in Nenokuni means "root" and Yanagita has suggested that this refers to the starting-place of these early migrations. He has proposed that the same root is present in the Ryukyu word nirai as in Nirai-kanai and related terms.

Yanagita equated Nenokuni with another placename in early literature, Tokoyonokuni "Eternal Land" and both often are often portrayed as submarine or subterranean underworlds in addition as well as foreign countries. In the Nihonshoki, the word for Tokoyonokuni is rendered with the characters used for Mount Horaisan, the Japanese equivalent of China's eternal Penglai island, with the literal spelling placed in translineal kana.

Yominokuni is another name for Nenokuni, and it corresponds to the Chinese Huangquan "Yellow Springs," the underground river that rises to the surface at the foot of the Fusang Tree.

In the reign of Emperor Suinin, Tajima Mori ventures to Tokoyonokuni and upon returning in the first year of Emperor Keiko he brings back the Tachibana or mandarin orange tree. These lands are also the home of the palace of the Dragon King of the Sea who is visited by the Empress Jingo, Urashima and others according to tradition.

Marebito

The Marebito were "Sacred Visitors" connected with the festivities of the new year. They appear to preserve memories of ancient ancestors who came to the isles long ago.

In the Ryukyus and other parts of Japan, actors play the part of the Marebito visitors from across the sea. Like the ancient Kumaso, the Marebito and their equivalents in other regions were known as good dancers. Bands of singers, minstrels and dancers go from house to house during new year celebrations to bring good luck, especially for the rice harvest.

Some Japanese scholars have suggested that both the emperor and the outcaste class can be seen as descendents of the Marebito as types of "Sacred Visitors." In Japan, the actors who play the role of Marebito traditionally belong to the outcaste group.

Also, rice culture in Japan is connected with Ninigi, the imperial ancestor, who comes as a stranger from Takamagahara, and in the Ryukyus rice-growing comes with sacred visitors from Niraikanai or its equivalents.

Sacred Jars of Heavenly Mount Kagu

Mount Kagu in Yamato is said to have a heavenly equivalent in Takamagahara known as Amenokaguyama. The Nihongi states that Jimmu Tenno was instructed to take earth from Amenokaguyama to make sacred jars and dishes for a sacrifice to the gods.

Jimmu is said to have instituted the Jar Festivals including the Jar Making Festival in honor of the fire, water, mountain, firewood, moor and of course jar deities.

It is tempting to link the valued Rusun jars of the tea ceremonies of both the emperor and shogun, with the sacred jars made from Amenokaguyama earth/clay in Takamagahara to the south of Japan across the sea. Like many early Japanese pots, the Rusun jars were decorated only with cord markings -- the Nawasudare (cord curtain) and Yokonawa (cross cord).

Like early Yayoi jars, the Rusun wares were unglazed, coarse and of a "rusty iron" color.

Rusun jars were also used for yearly festivals and as imports from across the sea they fulfilled the aspect of the "Sacred Visitor."

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Blacker, Carmen. The Catalpa Bow: A Study of Shamanistic Practices in Japan, Routledge, 1999.

Ohnuki-Tierney, Emiko. Culture in Contemporary Japan: an anthropological view, Cambridge University Press, 1984, p. 44.

Tsunoda, Ryu-saku , Donald Keene, Wm. Theodore de Bary, William Theodore De Bary. Sources of Japanese Tradition, Columbia University Press, 1964.

'Eastern Quest' in Islam (Article)

Shi'ite, Sufi, Nizari and other forms of Iranian-influenced Islam introduced Zoroastrian concepts of the "Eastern Quest" into their theosophical systems.

Although the Eastern Quest in Islam spoke more of an inward, spiritual journey, it was derived from beliefs that also outlined a geographical reality for the spiritual pilgrimage. In Persian literature, this can be found, for example, in Kai Khusrau's final journey to Kangdez in the Orient. This voyage portrayed in works like the Shahnama is an historical matter involving also geopolitical relations with the kings of Turan, Chin, Machin, etc., and not merely a mythical adventure.

In the East is the Malakut, which can mean the "Realm of Angels" or the "Realm of Kings" from the root malak meaning either "angel" or "king." Malakut is generally thought of as a bridge between Mulk, the mundane world, and Jabarut, the divine kingdom. Although most often thought of by Western interpreters as "imaginal," and in Islamic commentaries often as beyond the perception of physical senses, Malakut has some aspects of an axis mundi.

Nurbakhsh compared the journey to the Malakut and through its various stages with the pilgrimage to Mecca, the journey from the Al-Aqsa Mosque to Jerusalem, and other sacred earthly journeys.

Sea Crossing

The ancient Egyptian story of the Shipwrecked Sailor tells of a meeting between the sailor and the Lord of Punt in an island in the middle of the sea. Punt, which could be used as a general name for regions that traded with Egypt, in this case probably refers to the sources of spices and perfumes that the Lord of Punt claims were products of his isle. So Punt was the (Nusantao) eastern source of the aromatics that came into the port later known to the Greeks as Rhapta.

The Eastern Quest in Islam also involves crossing oceans, either metaphysical or real in nature. In the Sufi masterpiece Conference of the Birds by Farid al-Din Attar, thousand of birds set out toward the East to find the Simurgh, the King of Birds. They meet many obstacles along the way and by the time they reach the island of the Simurgh, only thirty birds are left. They find out at the end that what they were seeking was themselves, as si murgh means "thirty birds" in Persian. However, this journey toward self-realization also involved a physical "return to the source."

Punt, or the eastern location with that name, had many of the characteristics we find in other earthly paradise lands. It was wanting of nothing, and on the isle was found a friendly and hospitable king. It was a land rich in aromatics and precious metals. And it was located in a fiery island on the sea.

But Punt for all its idyllic conditions is a real place, a real source of trade products. As with Penglai and Dilmun, there appears to be some attempt at attracting people to visit the region. The fangshi wizards, for example, in China encouraged voyages to Penglai. The equivalent of the fangshi among Islamic mystics would be the Ishrâqîyûn "Easterners" or "Eastern Theosophers."

According to our supposition of a long-standing Nusantao trading war, the rival kings followed polices of attraction in a conflict fought on both mundane and spiritual planes. That the opposing kings might have, on occasion, portrayed themselves as divine or divine incarnations is not that unusual for the time or place involved.

Aspects of divine kingship in this region can be found at all levels. For example, in eastern Indonesia, there are numerous kings of small domains, who have lofty titles like "Great Lord," "Lord of the Earth," "Head of the Earth," "Descendent of the Sun," etc. These kings represent or, more accurately often embody, the local deities of the people.

Among the Austronesian reconstructions for "king, prince, chief, etc." is the prototype for datu, which probably originally meant either a leader of a village or network of villages, or a captain of a ship or fleet. "Datu" might be related to similar words meaning "to reach a destination, to arrive" or more revealingly "to be able to reach a destination." The datu, thus as a ship captain, was required to span space and time -- in the form of ikat or canoe-days -- to reach the target of the navigator. This model of the "sea king" or royal guide/captain is also found widely in quest-type literature. Prester John, for example, in the original version rules on an island in the Indies, and it has been argued here that a real East Indian king took on the role of geographical and navigational informant to encourage nations into his trading regions.


"The Concourse of the Birds" from The Conference of the Birds, painted by Habib Allah in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Circa 1600. (www.answers.com)

A journey to the East is a return to place of the origin of life, the world and even physical matter as opposed to spiritual essense. Esoterically, the Eastern Quest is an inward pilgrimage to find the true or original self.

Theosophy

In the ancient kingdom of Lusung, the interchangeable words malak and malay mean "awareness, knowledge," and someone with these qualities is a "knowing one."

The Ishrâqîyûn propounded a dualist philosophy with deep eschatological beliefs. Although the Eastern Quest for them was a metaphysical affair taking into account the required pilgrimages of Islam, it can be argued that they still stressed the geographical importance of the East (Mashriq). We might find the historical reality of the Ishrâqîyûn in relation to the notices of the Sayabiga and Zott along the Persian Gulf coasts during the early centuries of Islam.

Iranian theosophical thinking penetrated into medieval Europe primarily through the works of Albumasar and the al-Balkhi school of astronomy and philosophy. Albumasar was known as the "auctor in astronomia" in Europe, and translations of his work began in the early 12th century, or just shortly before Prester John first appears on the scene.

Grail literature that arises near the end of the 12th century tells in many accounts of the origin of the Holy Grail in India or the Indies, and of its eventual return to that land. The location of the Grail in the Indies also compels one toward the Eastern Quest -- toward Eden and the land of aromatics -- in a manner that appealed to the knighthood societies of Europe at the time.

As in the Conference of the Birds, the Grail is primarily the object of the quest, and it is through the quest itself that one attains knowledge.

One can view the Eastern Quest then as a return to the place of primordial origin. That location can be the inward source of one's own origin, but to people for whom time and place had great meaning, returning to the actual physical location accomplished a more intimate and complete reunion often thought of as simultaneous with inner realization.

Come you lost Atoms to your Centre draw,
And be the Eternal Mirror that you saw:
Rays that have wander'd into Darkness wide
Return and back into your Sun subside

-- Mantiq at-Tayr (Conference of the Birds) by Farid ud-Din Attar (1177 CE)

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Baldick, Julian. Mystical Islam: An Introduction to Sufism, I.B.Tauris, 2000.

Corbin, Henry and Joseph H. Rowe (translator). The Voyage and the Messenger: Iran and Philosophy, North Atlantic Books, 1998.

al-Din Attar, Farid . The Conference of the Birds: a philosophical religious poem in prose, Penguin Classics, 1984.

Riddle of faces on Pacific artifacts

Too bad they don't show pictures of the pottery images.


Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
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Scientists Solve Riddle Of Mysterious Faces On South Pacific Artifacts
Field Museum


The strange faces drawn on the first pottery made in the South Pacific more than 3,000 years ago have always been a mystery to scientists. Now their riddle may have been solved by new research done by two Field Museum scientists to be published in the February 2007 issue of the Cambridge Archaeological Journal.

John Terrell, Regenstein Curator of Pacific Anthropology at the Field Museum, and Esther M. Schechter, a Research Associate in the Department of Anthropology at the Field Museum, have pieced together evidence of several kinds leading to a radically different understanding of the religious life of people in the South Pacific 3,000 years ago.

What archaeologists working in the Pacific call prehistoric "Lapita" pottery has been found at more than 180 different places on tropical islands located in a broad arc of the southwestern Pacific from Papua New Guinea to Samoa.

Experts have long viewed the faces sometimes sketched by ancient potters on this pottery ware as almost certainly human in appearance, and they have considered them to be a sign that Pacific Islanders long ago may have worshiped their ancestors.

John Terrell, Regenstein Curator of Pacific Anthropology at The Field Museum, and Esther M. Schechter, a Research Associate in the Department of Anthropology at The Field Museum, have pieced together evidence of several kinds leading to a radically different understanding of the religious life of people in the South Pacific 3,000 years ago. Most of these mysterious faces, they report, may represent sea turtles. Furthermore, these ceramic portraits may be showing us ideas held by early Pacific Islanders about the origins of humankind.

Terrell and Schechter say the evidence they have assembled also shows that these religious ideas did not die when people in the Pacific stopped making Lapita pottery about 2,500 years ago. They have not only identified this expressive symbolism on prehistoric pottery excavated several years ago by Terrell and other archaeologists at Aitape on the Sepik Coast of northern New Guinea, but they have also found this type of iconography on wooden bowls and platters collected at present-day villages on this coast that are now safeguarded in The Field Museum's rich anthropological collections.

Terrell and Schechter's discovery suggests that a folktale recorded by others on this coast in the early 1970s--a story about a great sea turtle (the mother of all sea turtles) and the origins long ago of the first island, the first man, and the first woman on earth--might be thousands of years old. This legend may once have been as spiritually important to Pacific Islanders as the Biblical story of Adam and Eve has been in the Judeo-Christian tradition.

"Nothing we had been doing in New Guinea for years had prepared us for this discovery," Terrell explained. "We have now been able to describe for the first time four kinds of prehistoric pottery from the Sepik coast that when considered in series fill the temporal gap between practices and beliefs in Lapita times and the present day.

"A plausible reason for the persistence of this iconography is that it has referenced ideas about the living and the dead, the human and the divine, and the individual and society that remained socially and spiritually profound and worthy of expression long after the demise of Lapita as a distinct ceramic style," Terrell added.

More research needed

Terrell and Schechter acknowledge that more work must be done to pin down their unexpected discovery. Nevertheless, it now looks like they have not only deciphered the ancient "Lapita code" inscribed on pottery vessels in the south Pacific thousands of yeas ago, but by so doing, may have rescued one of the oldest religious beliefs of Pacific Islanders from the brink of oblivion.

"I was skeptical for a long time about connecting these designs with sea turtles," Schechter said, "but then the conservation biologist Regina Woodrom Luna in Hawaii pointed out that some of the designs match the distinctive beach tracks that a Green sea turtle makes when she is coming ashore to lay her eggs.

"Everything made even more sense when we came across the creation story about a great sea turtle and the first man and woman on earth," she added. "This story comes from a village only 75 miles away from where The Field Museum is working on the same coast of Papua New Guinea."

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