Stone Age Potters of Sabah

The article below highlights the great discoveries by Stephen Chia on the ancient trade that occurred between Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific.

Specifically, the most recent research involves obsidian that originated in Talasea, New Britain found at the site of Bukit Tengkorak, Sabah on the island of Borneo some 3,000 years ago.

The site not only contained ancient pottery but is one of the few Neolithic pottery manufacturing sites that have been discovered.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

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SpotLight: Stone Age Potters

By : SANTHA OORJITHAM

Bukit Tengkorak in Sabah’s southeastern Semporna peninsula was a pottery hub for the region 3,000 years ago. — Pictures courtesy of the Centre for Archaeological Research Malaysia at Universiti Sains Malaysia.

Malaysia aims to become an ICT hub and an education hub, among others. But 3,000 years ago, it was a pottery-making hub, pre-historians tell SANTHA OORJITHAM.

A clay stove found at Bukit Tengkorak archaeological site, in a style still used today.

KAMPUNG Tampi-Tampi villagers today don’t think twice about using clay from the foot of Bukit Tengkorak and nearby areas in southeastern Sabah for their pottery, digging wells for fresh water, burning wood for fuel and eating a wide range of fish, shellfish and molluscs.

But most of them are unaware that from about 3,000 until 2,000 years ago, people at the summit of the 600-foot hill did the same--when the Semporna peninsula was a late Stone Age population hub and craft centre.

Experts from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), the Sabah Museum Department and the Department of Natural Heritage have found millions of sherds which show that the site about five kilometres from Semporna town was one of the largest, if not the largest, pottery making sites in Island Southeast Asia (SEA) and the Pacific during the Neolithic era (the last part of the Stone Age, beginning 8,000 BC).

Their findings have overturned some theories about how prehistoric people lived and traded in the region.
Until the excavations here, archaeologists believed that long-distance sea trade and migration of people in insular SEA and the Pacific moved east from Melanesia (near Papua New Guinea) to Polynesia, leaving behind what is known as the "Lapita culture" of pottery, stone tools and ornaments.

"Our research at Bukit Tengkorak shows that 3,000 years ago, people were not only moving east towards New Britain in Melanesia but also westwards towards Sabah," explains Dr Stephen Chia of USM’s Centre for Archaeological Research Malaysia, who based his PhD thesis on the site.

"This is one of the longest trading routes in the world during the Neolithic period," says the archeochemist who found obsidian (a volcanic glass used to make tools) at the site and traced it chemically to Talasea in New Britain, 3500 kilometres away. His fieldwork in Southeast Asia also found stone tools and pottery similar to Bukit Tengkorak in the Zamboanga Peninsula, the Sulu Archipelago and Sulawesi.

The Lenggong Valley in Perak was Malaysia’s earliest centre of habitation and its first capital over 100,000 years ago, notes Heritage Commissioner Datuk Professor Zuraina Majid. But 15 years of research, several PhD theses and four archaeologists studying the Semporna peninsula "point to another hub, attracting people from 72,000 years ago (at the Tingkayu site, for example) until now. Another site near Lahat Datu might be close to 100,000 years old, based on the stone tools found there."

"We are filling in the whole prehistoric sequence as we progress in our research, adding to knowledge of Early Man here — the way he made stone tools, pottery and metal, his adaptation to his surrounding, his subsistence activities, his contacts with the surrounding islands, exchange of ideas, etc.," she says. "All this made East Sabah a lively hub of previously unknown activity in the Southeast Asian region."

Foreign experts are also excited about the implications of the findings at Bukit Tengkorak. "The significance of this site is the witness of the exchange and movement of prehistoric people and material culture between Southeast Asia and the Pacific," says Professor Rasmi Shoocongdej of Bangkok’s Silpakorn University.

"Dr Chia’s work, among the finest research in SEA, fills in a gap of the intra-regional trade network of the Lapita culture of western Pacific and Sabah."

"It is very difficult to identify prehistoric pottery-making places," adds Kazuhiko Tanaka at the Institute of Asian Cultures in Tokyo’s Sophia University. "Bukit Tengkorak is one of the rarest examples of such sites."

Chia has set himself three tasks: Locating prehistoric settlements in Semporna and along Sabah’s southeastern coast, mapping ancient sources and trade routes of Neolithic obsidian artifacts and pottery between Bukit Tengkorak, Island SEA and the Pacific, and finding the origins and factors leading to the contact, trade and movement of prehistoric people.

He has already answered some questions about why Bukit Tengkorak, on the rim of a two-kilometre-wide volcanic crater, was probably chosen as a pottery making site: Its height and strategic location next to the coast made it a landmark easy to find, while its panoramic view served as a lookout for traders and enemies coming from either the Semporna Peninsula or the Sulawesi sea.

“Bukit Tengkorak was a ‘penanda’ (marker) for us so that we would not get lost,” says Hajjah Lambong Panglima Atani, a 67-year-old Bajau Laut who spent her childhood on a "lepa" boat.

Volcanic boulders at the summit form a shelter from the sun and rain as well as a natural wind tunnel for drying and firing the pots.

As the nearby villagers today know, there is at least a square kilometre of clay deposits at the foot of Bukit Tengkorak, plenty of fresh water from wells or streams, and firewood.

Agate and chert for making stone tools came from the foothills while food remains show the Neolithic pottery makers ate a wide variety of fish, shellfish and mollusks (still found in Semporna market today) as well as wild boar, deer, macaques and other mammals.

But like every archaeologist, Chia has more questions: Who were the people who made the pottery and stone tools here? Were they indigenous or a migratory group? Were there other sites nearby?

The team have found five promising new sites in Semporna. Last month, they started surveying Bukit Kamiri, not far from Bukit Tengorak, with a similar environment (natural wind tunnel, boulders for shelter and plenty of raw material, water and food supplies) with similar pottery and stone tools.

"If we can find a third site like this, it could really support what were the factors and reasons for choosing a site for pottery making and for burial as well," says Chia.

All this would "provide clues about who the people were," says Chia, who will be looking for more sites in Semporna and along the east coast of Sabah.

"We hope our research will contribute to building the nation’s history and its relationships with the rest of SEA and the Pacific."

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PARIS (AFP) - A tantalising piece of evidence has been added to the puzzle over so-called "hobbit" hominids found in a cave in a remote Indonesian island, whose discovery has ignited one of the fiercest rows in anthropology.

AFP/HO/File Photo: A handout photo shows an artist's impression of the Homo floresiensis released by the Australian...

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Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

Kinabatangan Valley, The Resting Place Of Timber Coffins

Wooden coffins placed in caves are a common feature in Southeast Asia. The coffins mentioned in the article below had carvings of buffalo heads, crocodiles, lizards, snakes and birds. Not sure why they connect them with Chinese merchants.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
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April 03, 2007 17:22 PM

Kinabatangan Valley, The Resting Place Of Timber Coffins

By Haslin Gaffor

SANDAKAN, April 3 (Bernama) -- Lembah Kinabatangan, located in Sabah's central region, is not only renowned for its vast oil palm plantations. The valley is also the resting place of priceless treasures in the form of "timber coffins".

It is believed that about 2,000 timber coffins, some as old as 1,000 years, dotted the Kinabatangan Valley, making the area one of the nation's important archeological sites.

Read rest of the article

Columbus, Magellan and the "Hidden King" (Article)

The explorer Christopher Columbus saw himself as the fullfillment of the prophecy of the Encubierto "the Hidden One" who brings about the last age and rebuilds Zion. King Ferdinand also saw himself playing the same role but as the "Last World Emperor."

Magellan was commissioned for his world journey by Charles V who was also widely seen as the Universal Emperor of the Last Days. The millenarian aspects of the age of exploration have their roots in the old motif of the "Hidden King."

Ancient beginnings

The Hidden King theme is related to similar motifs like the "sleeping king/god", "lost king/brother", and the messiah of lowly origins who often has a secret or lost lineage.

In India, the Narayana mythology of the sleeping god that awakens periodically to save the world is a well-developed version of this theme.

A very old example of the motif is the serpent king of Punt who appears and disappears on a hidden moving island. The "hidden island" also occurs in latter beliefs of the Hidden Imam in Shi'ism and the Ilha Encuberta of Joachimite-inspired beliefs. The Hidden King takes recluse on this island or in a cave, fortress, etc., or dissimulates among the populace until the appointed time of the last days. In other cases, he is born/reborn and raised among the peasants unaware of his destiny and/or high origin until a sudden or gradual revelation occurs.

Ancient Chinese prophecies tell of a savior with the surname Li, the surname of the sage Laozi, who would arise at times of crisis. Later, during the Ming Dynasty, the imperial family claimed that the future Mingwang or Luminous King would arise from their line and would have their own surname Zhu.

Messiahs with the surnames Li and Zhu have sprung up periodically including in modern times with the founder of the Falun Gong movement, Li Hongzhi.

In the Old Testament and in Rabbinic Judaism, the idea of the Hidden Messiah was well-developed. Joachim of Fiore, a Cistercian abbot appears to have absorbed some of these and other "Oriental" influences when he experienced a "conversion" on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

His apocalyptic writings set the stage for late medieval European millenarianism and had much in common with Jewish and converso millenarianism, and also the cyclic thinking of Albumasar. Belief arose in a Pastor Angelicus, an Angelic Pope (Papa Angelico) and/or the Last World Emperor who would come during the latter times to reconquer Jerusalem just prior to the Second Coming.

In Iberia, the Last World Emperor became known as Rey Encubierto or Rei Encuberto, "Hidden King," and El Murcielago "the Bat." This coming monarch would conquer the Antichrist, who would also arise in Spain, defeat the Muslims and establish a worldwide empire. Spain with its heavy milieu of Muslim millenarian thinking as represented by Albumasar and Jewish/converso apocalyptic thought was ripe for messianic revival.

By the late 15th century, it became popular to think of Ferdinand of Spain as the Encubierto. The Marquis of Cadiz wrote a letter to the high nobles of Castille in 1486 revealing to them the "true" identity of Ferdinand:

"...there will be nothing in this world capable of resisting him...because he is the Hidden One.. and he will subdue all the nations from sea to sea...and he will not only be an Emperor, but he will be monarch of all the world."

To this end, we may find some of the more esoteric motivations for Ferdinand's sponsorship of Columbus and his voyages. The Encubierto was by necessity of connection with earlier prophetic traditions a King of the East (ab ortu solis), an Emperor of the Indies. In earlier ages, Prester John played this role, but for the new European savior it was necessary to establish an eastern empire from which to retake Zion like the angel in Joachim's visions.

Columbus himself was inspired by the works of Pierre d'Ailly, a student of the Albumasar school, and had started but never completed a work entitled the "Book of Prophecies." In this work and his other writings, he outlines the destiny of Spain in the reconquest of Jerusalem, and states that the gold of the East Indies (Tarshish and Ophir) would be used to rebuild Zion.

He saw himself as a divine guide in the "enterprise of the Indies." In the model of his namesake St. Christopher, the dog-headed "bearer of Christ," (Christoferens = 'Christ-bearer') Columbus would carry Christianity to the East. He also noted the same spiritual symbolism in his surname Columbus which means "dove" in Latin.

Abundant evidence exists suggesting that Ferdinand also fancied himself as the Encubierto and never stopped believing that he would conquer Jerusalem before his death.

After Columbus, the messianic expectations continued unabated and were directed strongly at the newly-ascended emperor Charles V.

A "constellation of prophecies" swirled around the new emperor. Writers like Giles of Viterbo helped develop the idea of Charles V as the Last World Emperor. His device Plus Ultra "beyond which" referred to the Pillars of Hercules, the old limit of traditional Europe beyond which he had passed.

Some believe that Nostradamus may have been alluding to Charles V in one of his prophecies when he says:

Chief of the world will the great Chyren be,
Plus Ultra behind, loved, feared, dreaded:
His fame and praise will go beyond the heavens,
And with the sole title of Victor will he be quite satisfied.

Such were the messianic expectations at the time that Charles V had to face insurrections himself from peasant saviors like El Encubierto who led the Germanias revolt of artisans in Valencia. Some of the peasant leaders claimed descent from the old kings of Aragon or other monarchs.

When Charles V sponsored Magellan's circumnavigation, we can say that he was seeking the title of Emperor of the Indies, something rather unofficially used for his son Philipp II, for whom the Philippines were named. The last emperor of the East Indies was the legendary Prester John, but now the European monarchs themselves strived to become the Christian savior king from the East.

Unlike Columbus, Magellan seemed less concerned with his own place in prophecy, but evidence points to a spiritual goal also for his journeys. Notes from this writings indicate he was interested in finding the Biblical lands of Tarshish and Ophir, nations which also figured in apocalyptic thought.

The kings of Tarshish and of the isles
shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and
Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall
down before him: all nations shall serve him.

-- Psalm 72

Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first,
to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them,
unto the name of the Lord thy God,
and to the Holy One of Israel,
because he hath glorified thee.

-- Isaiah 60

Samuel Purchas writing in the early 17th century stressed the need for Britain to involve itself in the "Ophirian navigation" to secure its own self-vision as the chosen messianic nation but with a more mercantile twist:

And this also we hope shall one day be the true Ophirian navigation, when Ophir shall come unto Jerusalem as Jerusalem then went unto Ophir. Meanwhile we see a harmony in this sea-trade, and as it were the consent of other creatures to this consent of the reasonable, united by navigation howsoever by rites, languages, customs, and countries separated.

Magellan appears to have placed Tarshish and Ophir near Ptolemy's Cattigara, the great ancient trading city of the farthest East. When nearing the end of the world circuit, he deliberately set his sights for Cattigara sailing at 12 or 13 degrees North latitude, which he believed to be the proper course for that fabled city.

For Philip II who inherited both his father's empire and that of Portugal, he could not but help continue with this messianic vision. The Spanish monarchy according to Tommaso Campanella writing in 1600 was "founded upon the occult providence of God." The Count-Duke of Olivares declared "God is Spanish and fights for the nation these days."

Philip II is said to have attempted to attain the title of "Emperor of the Indies," of which he was known in his own kingdoms, through an Imperial Vicariate from the Vatican, but those attempts ultimately failed.

Such title ultimately was equivalent to that of the "Hidden King," and its acquisition served as a primary esoteric motivation for the voyages of both Columbus and Magellan.

I see greater things than I had expected and were told me. Verily, this Philip, pious jewel among kings, as a second Solomon mercifully gave both here and elsewhere examples of his wisdom.

-- Viglius van Aytta on the seventh window donated by Philip II and Mary Tudor to Sint Janskerk.


In its riches the scriptural land of Ophir prefigures the Indies of which Luis de Haro is chancellor, and Solomon, associated in late sixteenth-century Spain with Philip II, is a type both of Christ and of the Spanish king.

-- Stephen Rupp in Allegories of Kingship


"....the principle settler of these archipelagoes was Tharsis, son of Japheth together with his brothers, as were Ophir and Hevilath of India..."

-- Francisco Colin speaking of the Philippines in Labor Evangelica, 1663.

In an interesting coincidence when Philip II, the "Second Solomon," dispatched Legazpi to occupy the Philippines, the latter encountered and entered into alliance with one Rajah Soliman, king of Manila, during his invasion of Luzon.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Gruzinski, Serge. "From The Matrix to Campanella: cultural hybrids and globalization," European Review Vol. 14, No. 1, 2006, 111–127.

MacPherson, Ian and Angus MacKay. Love, Religion and Politics in Fifteenth Century, Brill Academic Publishers Spain, 1998, pp. 177-8.

Perry, Mary Elizabeth, and Anne J. Cruz, editors Cultural Encounters: The Impact of the Inquisition in Spain and the New World. Berkeley: University of California Press, c1991 1991. http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft396nb1w0

Reeves, Marjorie. The Influence of Prophecy in the Later Middle Ages: a study in Joachimism, Oxford University Press, 2000.

Rupp, Stephen. Allegories of Kingship: Calderón and the Anti-Machiavellian Tradition, University Park, 1996.

Subrahmanyam, Sanjay. “Du Tage au Gange au XVle si`ecle: Vne. Conjuncture Millenariste. `a l’é Eurasiatique,” Annales 56 (2001): 51–84.

Wim de Groot et al. (ed.) The Seventh Window. The King's Window donated by Philip II and
Mary Tudor to Sint-Janskerk in Gouda (1557), Hilversum 2005.

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.