Was Mexcaltitán the ancient Aztec homeland?

The following news article covers the theory that Mexcaltitán, an island off the Pacific coast of Mexico is the ancient Aztec homeland of Aztlán.

Chicano activists have long claimed that Aztlán was somewhere across the border in California, the Southwest and even more distant areas. As the original homeland was, according to this theory, located in the U.S. they claim the right of Mexicans to immigrate at least to these ancestral lands.

Aztec legend claims that their ancestors migrated from Aztlán to Tenochtitlan, an island city of canals and "floating gardens" said to be modeled on the original island homeland. Mexcaltitán's streets turn into canals when they are inudated during the rainy season.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
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Pacific island claims to be the roots of Mexico

Location of Aztec homeland has been sought and debated

By JEREMY SCHWARTZ Cox News Service

Aug. 30, 2008, 5:34PM

MEXCALTITÁN, MEXICO — In the pre-dawn darkness, the fishermen return with nets brimming with plump shrimp and tie up their canoes behind homes of mud and wood.

It's a way of life that's hardly changed over the past 1,000 years in Mexcaltitán, an isolated Pacific coastal island that's been dubbed the Venice of Mexico because its sunken streets become canals during the rainy season.

But embedded in that humble daily ritual may lie clues to one of the hemisphere's great historical mysteries: Where did the mighty Aztec civilization come from?

For local officials and some historians, Mexcaltitán is nothing less than the mythical Aztlán, birthplace of the ancient Aztecs.

Immigration flashpoint

According to legend, the Aztecs left an island in 1091 and wandered for two centuries before settling in what is now Mexico City. There, they founded the legendary city of Tenochtitlan, an island city of canals and floating gardens, and lorded over an empire that stretched from Guatemala to northern Mexico before the Spanish conquered them in 1521.

But the location of Aztlán is no mere academic exercise: the term has become a flashpoint in today's raging U.S.-Mexico immigration debate.

Entering "Aztlán" in an Internet search is to be immersed in a fierce, often nasty, ideological battle over immigrant rights.

Historians and archeologists are bitterly divided over the location of Aztlán, or even over whether the place ever existed.

With some theories placing the Aztec homeland in the U.S. Southwest, Utah or California, the notion has become fraught with political overtones.

For decades, the idea of an Aztlán located within the United States was an important part of the growing Chicano pride movement.

Anne Martinez, a University of Texas history professor, said the embrace of Aztlán reflected a desire by Mexican-Americans to forge a clear geographical link, and thus a belonging, to the United States.

"It was also the idea that wherever Mexicans are outside of Mexico that that is Aztlán," she said. "That we take Aztlán with us."

'Powerful idea'

Today, the term is more likely to be used by anti-immigration groups warning of a reconquista, or reconquering, of the Southwest U.S. by Mexican immigrants. The Just Build the Fence blog defines Aztlán as "the enemy encamped within our own borders."

"(Aztlán) is a very powerful idea," said Mexican archeologist Jesús Jáuregui, a leading expert on Aztlán theories. "It can mean something different to each person."

In Mexcaltitán, located in the Pacific state of Nayarit, clues that this was once Aztlán are tantalizing.

In Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs (who called themselves the Mexica), Aztlán means "place of whiteness" or "place of herons." And the village is indeed a favorite haunt of white herons, which nest in the surrounding lagoon, as well as seasonal blooms of white water lilies.

Héctor Apodaca, a guide at the village's museum, argues that local fishing holes have the same names as Aztec places like Toluca.

Apodaca says that Cora Indians, who were among the last indigenous groups to be subdued by the Spanish and speak a version of Nahuatl, still come to the island every year to make offerings.

"That's because they believe that this was a ceremonial center of the Mexica," Apodaca said.

A living replica

Others point to Mexcaltitán's striking physical resemblance to Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital whose ruins sit under Mexico City. Some historians say Mexcaltitán's circular shape and cruciform design are similar to that of Tenochtitlan, which Spanish conquistador Bernal Diaz described as "an enchanted vision."

Tenochtitlan was destroyed in 1521, long before the invention of the camera, and officials in Mexcaltitán say their village is the closest thing to a living replica.

Local officials are so certain that Mexcaltitán is Aztlán that they've dubbed the state of Nayarit the "cradle of Mexicaness" and changed the state's official seal to include a diagram of the Aztecs' departure from Mexcaltitán.

But despite the local certainty, historical debate rages on. No definitive archeological evidence has yet been uncovered to prove Mexcaltitán's connection to Tenochtitlan.

Jáuregui, the Mexican archeologist, believes Aztlán is more myth than place and says the official sanctioning of Mexcaltitán as Aztlán stemmed from political, rather than historical reasons.

He said that during the 1960s and 1970s, Mexican officials grew alarmed by Chicano and Mexican-American assertions that the ancient homeland actually sat outside the boundaries of Mexico. He argues that such a possibility embarrassed and potentially undermined what has become Mexico's creation myth.

And the state of Nayarit, traditionally one of the poorest in Mexico, was in need of a tourism boost.

"Mexcaltitán is a beautiful place," he said. "But that's a lot different than saying it's Aztlán."

In Mexcaltitán, any collective memory of the Aztecs' presence there seems to have been lost.

Antonio Osuna Carbajal, a Mexcaltitán fisherman, smiles slyly when asked if his home is Aztlán.

"That's what they tell us," he said. "But the bad thing is that the older generations didn't leave us any writings or anything like that."

Early Bronze found in Hubei, China (middle Yangtze)

In a new study provides more evidence for an early Bronze Age in eastern parts of Asia.

Sediments from Liangzhi Lake in Hubei Province suggest bronze working by about 3000 +/- 328 BC. Hubei is in south-central China (middle Yangtze), and the findings could be associated with Daxi or Qujialing cultures.


Hubei province, Wikipedia


Similar radiocarbon dates have been obtained for bronze in Thailand (Non Nok Tha, Ban Chiang) and the Philippines (Balobok).

Environ Sci Technol. 2008 Jul 1;42(13):4732-8.

Seven thousand years of records on the mining and utilization of metals from lake sediments in central China.

Lee CS, Qi SH, Zhang G, Luo CL, Zhao LY, Li XD.

Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

A 268 cm section of sediment core from Liangzhi Lake in Hubei province in central China was used to assess the use and accumulation of metals in the lake in the past 7,000 years. The concentrations of trace metals, including Cu, Pb, Ni, and Zn, and major elements, Ca, Fe, and Mg, in a 14C- dated segment of sediment core were analyzed. Historical trends on the input of metals to Liangzhi Lake from around 5000 BC to the present were recorded in the sediments, representing about 7,000 years of history on the mining and utilization of metals in central China. The concentrations of Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn increased gradually from about 3000 +/- 328 BC, indicating the start of the Bronze Age in ancient China. During the period 467 +/- 257 to 215 +/- 221 AD, there was a rapid increase in the concentrations of these metals in the sediments, indicating enormous inputs of these metals at that time. This era corresponded to China's Warring States Period (475- 221 BC) and the early Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), during which copper and lead were extensively used in making bronze articles such as vessels, tools, and weapons. From 1880 +/- 35 AD to the early 1900s, there was also a significant increase in the concentrations of metals such as Cu, Ni, and Pb, which probably reflected the metal emissions and utilization during the early period of industrial development and weapon manufacture during the wars in China. The Pb isotopic analysis showed that the surface and subsurface sediments had lower 206Pb/207Pb and 208Pb/ 207Pb ratios than the deeper layers, reflecting the additional input of Pb from mining activities that took place during the Bronze Age era and in modern times. This study provides direct evidence of the environmental impact of the mining and utilization of metals in the last 7,000 years in one of the important regions of Chinese civilization.

Neolithic burial site discovered in Batu Niah

Malaysian archaeologists have discovered Neolithic burials in the Niah-Subis limestone hills in Batu Niah on the island of Borneo.

Eight skeletons were discovered along with other artifacts including pottery. I hope that they will try to extract some genetic material from these skeletons. It will also be interesting to see, especially if the earlier dates of around 3,000 years ago are valid, as to whether there is any linkage with the Lapita-type pottery of Oceania.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

ANCIENT BURIAL SITE DISCOVERED IN BATU NIAH

Bernama - Saturday, August 2

KUCHING, Aug 1 (Bernama) -- A research team from the Centre For Archaeological Research Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and the Sarawak Museum Department has discovered an ancient burial site, believed to be from the Neolithic period, at Gua Kain Hitam in the Niah-Subis limestone hills in Batu Niah, Miri division.

Sarawak Museum Department deputy director Ipoi Datan said today the excavations at the site, funded by the National Heritage Department in 2007 and the USM Research University Grant last year, has so far uncovered more than eight human skeletons, dating back 2,000 to 3,000 years ago.

"The human skeletons as well as the associated artifacts such as pottery, ornaments and food remains like shells and animal bones are currently being analysed in order to extract more information about the burials and lifestyles of the ancient people who lived in the Niah-Subis region during that time," he said in a statement here.

He said the new finding would not only enrich knowledge on the early history of Sarawak and the nation but also expected to attract more local and foreign tourists to visit the site, which is located in the Niah National Park.

The Sarawak Museum Department is asking for public cooperation in not disturbing or encroaching into the site as the finds had no commercial value but only contained valuable research and academic significance, he said.

-- BERNAMA

Thousands of Wooden Poles found at Yunnan Neolithic Site

Chinese new sources are reporting an exciting find from Yunnan, in southwest China. The discovery in Dali may turn out to be the largest Neolithic site anywhere in the world. So far it covers an area of 1,350 sq. meters and could eventually span 4 sq. kilometers.

Some 2,000 wooden poles sunk deep into the ground (4.5 meters) were uncovered. Archaeologists surmise that these are more than 3,000 years old and the article mentions they may be older than the Hemudu Culture of the Yangtze region, which would mean that it is still thousands of years older. Hemudu Layer 4 is generally dated to 5000 BCE. Yan Wenming of Peking University says the poles might have been used to support housing structures, which brings to mind the type of pile-raised architecture found further south or east along the maritime coastlines in Southeast Asia and South China. Ancient Yunnan is often associated with Daic and Austro-Asiatic speaking peoples prior to the arrival of Sino-Tibetan speakers. The latter are believed to largely descendants of the Di-Qiang people mentioned in Chinese literature as migrating into Yunnan from the north. And most, with the most notable exception of the Lolo, still mainly inhabit northern Yunnan.

Thousands of Wooden Poles at Yunnan Neolithic Site

DALI, Yunnan -- More than 2,000 wooden poles recently unearthed at a site in Jianchuan county, have been found to be more than 3,000 years old.

The poles, still standing, were dug 4.5 m into the ground.

Archaeologists said carbon tests showed the poles were from the Neolithic age, and were probably the foundations for a structure built by a community that existed at the time in southwest China.

Archaeologists excavate a site from the Neolithic age in Jianchuan county, Dali, Southwest China's Yunnan Province. [China Daily]

They said this community may turn out to be the largest Neolithic one of its kind that has ever been discovered in China, or even in the world. It could be older than the Hemudu community in Yuyao, Zhejiang province, birthplace of the Yangtze River civilization.

"I was shocked when I first saw the site. I have never seen such a big and orderly one. This could be only a small fraction of the actual community that existed at the time," Yan Wenming, history professor at Peking University, said.

Excavation of the site is still going on. A total of 28 excavations have been made so far of an area that covers 1,350 sq m. Min Rui, a researcher at the Yunnan Archaeological Institute who leads the excavation, said the area could eventually cover 4 sq km

Yan said the poles could have been the foundations for a house as these types of structures have been found in Hubei, Guangdong, Zhejiang and other provinces, the most famous being the Hemudu site.

"Right now there is also such a site being excavated in Switzerland. But that site is smaller than the one in Yunnan. The Yunnan one could be the largest in the world," Yan said.

Archaeologists have also found more than 3,000 artifacts made of stone, as well as pottery, wood, iron and bones. The most eye-catching piece is a red jar, Min said.

The site, which lies on the banks of the Jianhu Lake, was discovered in 1957 during the construction of a canal. Broken pieces of pottery were found nearby. Excavation started in January this year - five decades after the discovery.

Genetic history in mainland SE Asia as revealed by ancient and modern mtDNA

A new American Journal of Physical Anthropology article studies the mtDNA from both ancient human remains in northeast Thailand, and modern human samples from the same area and surrounding regions.

The findings basically show that the two ancient groups, from the Bronze and Iron ages, resemble Austro-Asiatic-speaking populations. The modern Tai-Kadai speakers were more closely related to Southeast Asians than to East Asians, but they formed a separate group in the region. Among Southeast Asians the Tai-Kadai of Thailand are closest to the Khmer and this is explained by the researchers as related to the Khmer subjugation of the Tai-Kadai after their arrival in Thailand in the 10th-11th CE.

American Journal of Physical Anthropology

Published Online: 9 Jul 2008

Genetic history of Southeast Asian populations as revealed by ancient and modern human mitochondrial DNA analysis

Patcharee Lertrit, Samerchai Poolsuwan, Rachanie Thosarat, Thitima Sanpachudayan, Hathaichanoke Boonyarit, Chatchai Chinpaisal, Bhoom Suktitipat

The 360 base-pair fragment in HVS-1 of the mitochondrial genome were determined from ancient human remains excavated at Noen U-loke and Ban Lum-Khao, two Bronze and Iron Age archaeological sites in Northeastern Thailand, radio-carbon dated to circa 3,500-1,500 years BP and 3,200-2,400 years BP, respectively. These two neighboring populations were parts of early agricultural communities prevailing in northeastern Thailand from the fourth millennium BP onwards. The nucleotide sequences of these ancient samples were compared with the sequences of modern samples from various ethnic populations of East and Southeast Asia, encompassing four major linguistic affiliations (Altaic, Sino-Tibetan, Tai-Kadai, and Austroasiatic), to investigate the genetic relationships and history among them. The two ancient samples were most closely related to each other, and next most closely related to the Chao-Bon, an Austroasiatic-speaking group living near the archaeological sites, suggesting that the genetic continuum may have persisted since prehistoric times in situ among the native, perhaps Austroasiatic-speaking population. Tai-Kadai groups formed close affinities among themselves, with a tendency to be more closely related to other Southeast Asian populations than to populations from further north. The Tai-Kadai groups were relatively distant from all groups that have presumably been in Southeast Asia for longer-that is, the two ancient groups and the Austroasiatic-speaking groups, with the exception of the Khmer group. This finding is compatible with the known history of the Thais: their late arrival in Southeast Asia from southern China after the 10th-11th century AD, followed by a period of subjugation under the Khmers. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

Renaissance of Ancient Maori New Year

Here's an interesting article from the New Zealand Herald that describes the traditional Maori New Year marked by the rising of Matariki, the constellation known in the West as the Pleiades. The ancient celebration has now become popular again as a cultural festival in New Zealand.

Rawiri Taonui: Matariki - A time for New Zealanders to shine as one

5:00AM Thursday June 12, 2008
By Rawiri Taonui

Matariki - Maori New Year

This month heralds the beginning of Maori New Year festivities with the dawn rising of Matariki (the Pleiades). An increasingly popular celebration among New Zealanders, the renaissance of Matariki reflects our journey as a nation.

Humans have always marvelled about the significance of the heavenly bodies. Many cultures held particular regard for a small glittering star cluster in the northern sky. The Greeks named them the Pleiades, the seven daughters of the gods Atlas and Pleione. The English called them the Seven Sisters, others the Jewel Box. To the Japanese they were Subaru.

Polynesians know the constellation by the cognates Matali'i (Samoa), Matari'i (Tahiti), Makali'i (Hawaii) and Matariki (Rarotonga and New Zealand) through star lore that stretched far back into the pre-European Pacific.

Centuries before Christopher Columbus sailed tentatively into the unknown, the Austronesian-speaking ancestors of the Polynesians, navigating by the sun, moon, planets and stars, settled hundreds of islands across the Pacific and Indian oceans - Madagascar, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, the Marianas, Caroline and Kiribati islands, the Solomons, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Tahiti, Hawaii, Marquesas, Tuamotus, Rarotonga, Easter Island and New Zealand.

The ancestors of the Maori adapted that knowledge to the New Zealand environment, instituting 12 or 13 month lunar calendars. The pantheon of lore was as elegant and exquisite as Greek mythology.

Each month and every day and night of the waxing and waning moon was named. Prominent stars, such as Whitikaupeka or Pekehawini (Spica), Whakaahu (Castor and Pollux), Te Kakau (Regulus) and Poutu te rangi (Altair), the bloom and fruiting of plants and the migratory behaviour of birds, whales, fish, eels and whitebait, heralded different months. Stars like Takurua (Sirius) and Rehua (Antares) marked whole seasons. Grand constellations adorned the sky as canoes, store houses, mythological heroes, giant sharks, whales, carvings, ancestors, baskets of knowledge and birds.

Tribes differently marked the New Year when Matariki or other stars, such as Puanga (Rigel), Tautoru (Orion) or Takurua (Sirius) were first seen, or on the day of the first new moon after they had risen.

Matariki means the "eyes of god" (mata-ariki) or "little eyes" (mata-riki). One tradition says the "eyes" are the storms of Tawhirimatea, the god of the winds. Others believe Matariki is a mother and her six daughters who assist the sun, weakened by winter, on its daily journey across the skies.

Another account says the god, Tanenui-a-rangi, created the constellation when he shattered a heavenly orb containing all the knowledge in the universe.

Matariki delineated the seasonal cycles. The aphorisms "Ka puta a Matariki, ka rere a Whanui" (When Matariki rises, Vega has flown) and "Matariki nana i ao ake" (Matariki has risen), instruct that the autumn harvest and food gathering governed by the star Vega is now replaced by Matariki, who rules the new cycle, beginning with preparing the earth for the spring planting of kumara.

"Nga kai a Matariki" (the foods of Matariki) and "Ka kitea a Matariki, kua maoka te hinu" (When Matariki is seen, game is preserved) referred to the collecting and storing of food for the winter period. "Matariki ahunga nui" (Matariki heaped up) refers to the "heaping up" of furrowed ground to protect seed kumara from frost.

Matariki marked the winter solstice and shortest day and portended the year ahead. If the stars were clear, a productive season lay ahead, with planting in September. If hazy, winter would be cold and the planting would begin in October.

Matariki also signified a time of remembrance, learning and festivity. Tribes would remember those who had died, celebrate past successes, conduct learning sessions and plan the year ahead. Much of this lore was lost under the yoke of colonisation, which banned tohunga (priesthood), imposed Western schooling that looked at stars in books rather than in the skies and replaced the Maori calendar with the more scientific but ultimately less reliable Georgian version.

Matariki celebrations dwindled, with very few tribes continuing them past 1900. The last traditional festival occurred around 1940. The current Maori renaissance has spurred a revival of Matariki celebrations.

There have been some adaptations to traditional lore. The focus is singularly on Matariki, whereas pre-European tribes acknowledged different stars.

Resurrected calendars are based on Gregorian weeks and months with Maori names. There are attempts to ascribe a single date for the rising of Matariki, when the traditional practice was that the new year began from when stars were first sighted on whatever day of what we now call June and from the first new moon after that.

But Matariki is positive; its rising emblematic of the rebirth of Maori identity and the dawning of a new age.

More Pakeha and immigrants are also embracing Matariki. When celebrations were first organised in Hastings in 2000, about 500 people attended. In 2003, 15,000 turned out. This year's celebrations will be the largest ever, with scores of observances in pre-schools, schools, museums, art galleries and libraries throughout the country.

The small constellation of glittering jewels reflects our journey as one nation, two peoples and many cultures - a time for New Zealanders to shine as one.

Dr Rawiri Taonui is head of the School of Maori and Indigenous Studies and kaiarahi (joint Maori adviser) at the College of Arts, University of Canterbury.

Gold of Ophir

One of the most spectacular museum exhibits in the Philippines is display at the Ayala Museum in Makati (Metro Manila).

"Gold of Ancestors: Pre-Colonial Treasures in the Philippines," is found in the Special Collection Room of the Ayala, the country's finest museum. The display consists of mostly 10th to 13th century gold artifacts, particularly those belonging to the private collection of Leandro and Cecilia Locsin.

"Many of the precious objects were recovered in association with tenth to thirteenth century Chinese export ceramics."

Many of the gold items show Indic or Tantric influence.



Garuda ornaments based on the mythical bird from Hindu-Buddhist mythology.





Object described as "anthropomorphic plaque" of a Lady or "Binibini"


One item, considered one of the most stunning artifacts, is called an upavita referring to the sacred thread worn by brahmins in India. However, from my knowledge the upavita or sutra is actually a thread, while the gold object is a large tubular sash-like object that could not go around the groin like an upavita.




The "upavita" from the Ayala Museum (photo from Manuel Quezon III's album on Flickr).


Some other objects in the Ayala exhibit from Manuel Quezon III's album and from the Ayala Museum site:




Gold belt




Described as a "kinnari," a half-woman, half-bird creature.

Location of Eden

When Columbus set out in search of the Indies, he had in mind the lands of Tarshish and Ophir, the great isle of Cipangu and also the Terrestrial Paradise -- the Garden of Eden.

The Earthly Paradise was generally set in the dominion of Prester John, and for this reason in medieval roll of arms, for example, Prester John of the Indies (Prester Johan de Ynde) was listed first in precedence followed by the King of Jerusalem, the Emperor of Rome and the Emperor of Constantinople in that order, followed by other Christian kings.

From the Herald's Roll (late 13th century)

1 Prester Johan de Ynde

Azure a cross or (attributed arms)

2 Roye de Jerusalem

Argent crusilly and a cross potent or

3 Emperor de Rome

Or a double headed eagle displayed sable

4 Emperor de Constantinoble

Gules a cross or

In the millenarian environment of Europe during Columbus' time, the honor of ruling over the Garden of Eden would certainly suit the prophesied king, the Encubierto, as many fancied Columbus' patron Ferdinand of Spain. Technically such an honor would rank even higher than reconquering Jerusalem.

On his way home from his first voyage, Columbus wrote in his Diario that the land he had discovered must be Paradise Terrestrial which 'sacred theologians and philosophers' had located in the 'end of the East' ("en el fin de oriente"). One of the admiral's favorite books, Imago Mundi, placed the Garden of Eden at the extremity of the East where the Sun rose for the first time on the morning of creation.

The idea that Cipangu and China could be reached by sailing West and that the distance was not that great appears to have originated with Nicolo di Conti and/or the mysterious ambassador from the East Indies -- from a Nestorian Christian nation 20 days beyond Cathay (China). These two are mentioned together by Poggio after the latter's interview of de Conti.

Both had influenced Paolo Toscanelli and others, and Toscanelli is believed by many to have encouraged Columbus to undertake his fateful mission. Previously, under the Ptolemaic system it was believed that the Indian Ocean was landlocked and that the eastern coast of Asia could not be approached by sea from the West. Pierre d'Ailley, the author of Imago Mundi had these concepts in his book, but later gave up the idea of an open Indian Ocean after reading the Latin Ptolemy.

At this time, the view that the distance from the Canaries to Cipangu was relatively small became current. Toscanelli estimated it at only 85 degrees, while Martellus put it at 90 degrees and Behaim at 110 degrees. Some scholars believe the idea of such a short distance originates with Marinus of Tyre, but even the latter but the distance at 135 degrees. In reality, the measure was about 225 degrees.

Whatever the source of the idea, Columbus believed that he was sailing along the coasts of southeastern Asia when he discovered the Americas. After his third voyage, he wrote in a letter to Ferdinand and Isabella: "I am completely persuaded in my own mind that the Terrestrial Paradise is in the place I have said...just above the Equator, where the best authorities had always argued Paradise would be found."

The idea that Eden was near the equator was related to the idea of climate and the lack of extreme changes of hot and cold seasons. Eden was thought of as a lush place with a dazzling variety of living creatures. In 1554, an anonymous English author writes:

All who have gone there agree that the best and greenest fields and countrysides in the entire world are to be found there, the most pleasant mountains, covered with trees and fruits every kind, the most beautiful valleys, the most delicious rivers of fresh water, filled with an endless variety of fishes, the thickest forests, always green and laden with fruits. As for gold, silver, and other kinds of metal, spices of all kinds, and fruits desirable both tor their taste and touch and for the salutary effects they have: so abundant are they that until now it has not been possible even to imagine that they could be as many elsewhere as here. In conclusion, it is now thought that the earthly paradise can only be located on the equinoctial line or close to it, for the only perfect spot on earth has its place there.

In a letter that Columbus wrote to his son after his voyages, he said:

Certain it is that I have served Their Highnesses with as great diligence and love as I might have employed to win paradise and more; and if in somewhat I have been wanting, that was impossible, or much beyond my knowledge and strength.

Probably the paradise that Columbus mentions above is that of the eternal reward after life, but after his time, the idea of reaching the Garden of Eden began to fade. Explorers may have realized the futility of such an endeavor, but they continued to look for other fabled lands including Cipangu, Tarshish and Ophir, and Cattigara.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Delumeau, Jean. History of Paradise. The Garden of Eden in Myth and Tradition, Trans. Matthew O'Connell. New York: Continuum Publishing C., 1995, 111.

Morison, Samuel Eliot. Admiral of the Ocean Sea a Life of Christopher Columbus, Little Brown & Co., 1942.

The Wakwak Tree

The Vaqvaq or Vaq Tree is said to be located near Mount Qaf in Muslim literature. This fabulous tree is described as having fruit in the form of heads that talk and make prophecies. The tree is also known as Wakwak, Waqwaq, Wak, Waq, etc. and is located in the Bilad al-Wakwak, the 'Isles of Wakwak.'

Instead of heads, the Wakwak Tree is also said to have fruit in the form of beautiful women that hang off the tree by their hair as mentioned in the Arabian Nights.

Every morning at sunrise these heads cry, ' Wak-wak! Praise be to God, the author of all this tricktrack!' By this cry we always know when the sun has risen. The very same thing occurs at sunset. For the rest, the inhabitants of that island are, as here, women, who do not suffer any men to live among them. They are subject to the great king of the genii, who has under his command an innumerable host of genii, demons, devils, and goblins of all sorts.

As can be seen, the Isles of Wakwak relate well to the Island of Women or the Kingdom of Women discussed earlier in this blog.

The various myths related to the Wakwak Tree appear to conflate aspects of the Fusang Tree, the talking tree, the tree of knowledge, the coconut tree and other motifs. The coir of the coconut husk resembles hair and the coconut fruit itself has a head-like shape. In India and Southeast Asia, the coconut is often used as a substitute for the head in religious rituals.

According to Indian myth, the sage Visvamitra created the coconut as a substitute for the head to replace human and other sacrifice. In India, the coconut fruit is seen as having facial features including eyes, a beard and plaited, long hair.

In China, the coconut was once known as "head of the king of Yueh":

Chi Han writes that a popular name for the coconut was Yueh-wang-t 'ou, "head of the king of Yueh," a designation explained in terms of a feud a king of Yueh supposedly had with the king of Champa (southern Indochina). According to the tradition, an assassin was sent to kill the king of Yueh and hang his head on a tree, and when he did so, it immediately turned into a coconut. The king of Champa, angered, had the coconut cut open to use as a cup, as still done by southerners in Chi Han's day. The Li of modern Hainan have a story vaguely resembling this one, but it entails decapitating the heads of prisoners and planting them, with coconut trees then springing up and bearing head-shaped fruits that yield a tasty juice which ferments into a delectable wine. (Frederick J. Simoons, 1991:289)

Solar Tree

Muslim literature states that the Wakwak Tree announces the rising and sometimes also the setting of the Sun, possibly hinting at a link with the Fusang Tree. Like the Fusang, the Wakwak was located in the extreme East of the world.

The goddess Xihe is said to have bathed her sons, the Ten Suns, before they perched in the branches of the Fusang Tree prior to sunrise. These Ten Suns had in addition to solar and anthropomorphic form, also a bird form as the Sun Crows.

Alfred R. Wallace believed that the legend of the Wakwak Tree arose from the morning cry of "Wak wak!" made by the Bird of Paradise from its tree homes in the Aru Islands.

In the Philippines, the crow is called Wakwak in some languages, and in others this is the name of a mythical crow-like bird whose cry of "wak wak" or "wuk wuk" is thought to be a foreboding omen. Another possibility is the name for the Wakwak Tree comes from the Sanskrit word vaq "to cry (as a bird or animal)".

John Mandeville in the 1300s mentions a Tree of the Sun and Moon located in the islands of Prester John that spoke to Alexander foretelling his death. This theme is borrowed in part from the 12th century Roman d'Alexandre in which Alexander visits the Kingdom of Women at the end of the world where he encounters the talking tree.


Alexander visits the talking tree on the Island of Women, where the tree prophesies his death. From a late 15th century manuscript of Shah Namah.



Musa ibn al-Mubarak visits the Queen of Wakwak from a manuscript of al-Qazwini's Aja'ib al-Makhluqat. Notice the Wakwak Tree in the foreground.



Alexander visits the Island of Women from Nizami's Iskandarnamah (1501 CE).


Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Arnold, Thomas. Painting in Islam. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. (reprint), 1965.

Simoons, Frederick J. Food in China, CRC Press, 1991.

Wallace, Alfred R. "The Birds of Paradise in the Arabian Nights," IN: Jenks, Edward and Charles Roden Buxton. The Independent Review, T.F. Unwin, 1904, 379, 561.

More on Spica

Continuing from the last post on star and constellation names, in addition to the use of Spica at an ancient epoch in connection with a determining latitude, it has also been suggested earlier that the prime meridian was associated with the star.



Assyrian period image from Nineveh of Ishtar (Robert Brown 1886:459) holding up a fleur-de-lys or ear of grain, a prototype of the symbolism for the constellation Virgo and its brightest star Spica ('spike' of grain).


According to certain Indian and Muslim (al-Balkhi) schools of astronomy, the eastern city of Yamakoti marked the prime meridian.

Yamakoti, Lanka or Ujjain, Romakapura and Siddhapura were placed in order from East to West at quadrants from each other by Indian astronomers supposedly forming a circle around the earth, with Siddhapura in the Western Hemisphere. However, it is clear that these four points instead only delineate the known world, or about half the globe at the time, as the Muslim writer Al-Biruni notes:

How the Hindus came to suppose the existence of Siddhapura I do not know, for they believe, like ourselves, that behind the inhabited half-circle there is nothing but unnavigable seas.

Earlier in this blog, we noted that Romakapura ('Romaka City') was associated with the astronomy of Ptolemy and other Alexandrian astronomers and therefore Romaka is likely Alexandria rather than Rome (as suggested by some scholars). The city of Ujjain, famed for its astronomical observatory, was located at about 75.5° East longitude in India. Therefore, Romakapura and Ujjain were located about 45 degrees or three hours from each other.

Now, Siddhapura, the city of the Siddhas, or perfected ones, appears related to the Fortunate Isles of Ptolemy, used by the latter as the prime meridian. The Fortunate Isles were the blessed islands, the paradise of the heroes in Western mythology. It seems here that the Siddhas would correspond in Indian terms to the Greek Heros. Now, Ptolemy's Fortunate Isles are generally associated with the area around the Canary Islands or roughly around 15° West longitude and thus about three hours West of Alexandria.

Yamakoti, a city famed for its gold, is easily linked with Suvarnadvipa, the "Gold Island" and would be placed then for consistency three hours to the East of Ujjain. Here is a map of our suggested locations for these Indian meridians.




Click on image for full-size view


Ptolemy's map of the world was derived from that of Marinus, a geographer who lived at the port city of Tyre in Lebanon. Marinus claimed to have gleaned his information from travelers like Diogenes, an Indian who ventured to Rhapta on the African coast, and Alexander, a Macedonian who obtained information on the sea voyage from the the Golden Chersonese (Malaya Peninsula) to Cattigara, the furthest port to the East in Greek geography.

Cattigara was said to be a great emporium of the Sinae. While it is tempting to connect the Sinae with the placename "Chin" and similar latter cognates for China, Marinus and Ptolemy use the terms Thinae and Seres to describe most of what constituted China at the time. As the countries of the Sinae were said to cover the area along the sea (Gulf of Sinae) southeast of India extra Gangem, it would describe the extreme southeast of modern Southeast Asia.

The emporium was placed by Marinus as a few days sailing to the southeast of Zaba, although Ptolemy thinks it was many days from Zaba. The latter market city is normally linked with the kingdom of Champa, although some think it may have been on the east coast of the Malaya Peninsula. Historically though, Champa may have been founded later than Marinus time in the early part of the 2nd century, but the datings here are murky. The country of Linyi, the Chinese name for the latter kingdom of Champa, arises in about 192 CE, but there are indications of earlier antecedents south of the Chinese sphere of influence.


Marinus' Grid System and the Chinese

Marinus of Tyre was the first person in the West to use a grid system marking latitudes and longitudes. However, he was preceded in China where geographers had used such a system since the Qin Dynasty, with particular developments during the Han Dynasty.

Joseph Needham notes that while the grid system in the West was an interrupted development, it continued to be used by the Chinese throughout their history into modern times.

One of Marinus most important informants was a Syrian known as Maes Titianus, who was said to have conducted trade in silk with the Seres (Chinese). It appears that Marinus may have learned about the Chinese grid system from Maes Titianus or possibly from Alexander the Macedonian.

Zou Yan (250 BCE) divided the earth into nine continents through which the Sun passed on its daily rotation. A massive district known as the Red District with China located in the southeast corner appears to describe something similar to the inhabited world of Marinus and that of the ancient Indian astronomers. This district is described as 28,000 li from East to West and 26,000 li from North to South. During this period it is thought that the li represented about a third of a mile, so the dimensions would be about 9,333 miles by 8,666 miles. Zou Yan, though, somewhat like the Hindu astronomers in relation to the mythical circular continents around Meru, apparently inflates the size of the rest of the world in order to conform to traditional cosmology.

The Red District was divided into a three by three "magic square," of nine squares, with each of these nine squares again divided into into another magic square of nine squares. So that from East to West, the district was divided into nine divisions or hours.

Of course, if we accept my identification of Yamakoti and the other three Indian astronomical cities, the total distance between them is in fact nine hours consisting of 135 degrees.

Marinus, however, made the distance from the Fortunate Isles to Cattigara into 15 hours of 225 degrees, while Ptolemy suggested instead 12 hours of 180 degrees. It should be noted that the remaining "uninhabited" area of the world according to Marinus estimate was in fact nine hours of 135 degrees, so maybe there was some miscommunication along the way.

Now getting to the connection of geography with the star Spica, the Huananzi (2nd century BCE) divides the sky into nine fields. For the Daoists, the nine divisions of Heaven corresponded to the nine divisions of Earth. Zou Yan describes the Sun traveling across the nine continents in a day just as it transversed the ecliptic through the year.

The first field of Heaven is led by the asterism Kio, containing the star Spica. The first part of the world, the beginning of the East in Chinese thought, is the region of the Fusang Tree.

The Sun rises in Yanggu (Bright Valley),
Bathes in the Xian Pool,
And rests in the Fusang Tree.
This is called the Dawn Light.
Ascending the Fusang, it commences its journey...
...the Sun travels over the nine continents, and seven resting places.

-- Huananzi: "The Treatise on the Patterns of Heaven"

So, it would appear that Fusang, the beginning of the East for the Chinese, was the limit of the East, or Cattigara, of the Greeks. For certain Indian and Muslim schools of astronomy, Yamakoti also served as the starting point.

Marinus estimated the distance between the Fortunate Isles and Cattigara at 11,250 miles while Ptolemy gave the distance as 9,000 miles as both thought the degree equaled 50 miles at the equator. Again Zou Yan's estimate is about 9,333 miles depending on the exact equation of the li, while the actual distance using our identification of these locations is 8,100 miles.

Ptolemy locates Cattigara at 177° East and 8° 25' South, but his coordinates in this region are overextended in both the eastern and southern directions. Later, during medieval times and the early part of the Renaissance, European maps followed this tradition placing mainland Southeast Asia south of the equator and the coast of China near or beyond 180° East longitude.

When Magellan neared the islands of what is now known as the Philippines he was steering for Cattigara according to shipmate Pigafetta, apparently recognizing Ptolemy's errors in longitude and latitude.

In conclusion, the star Spica was placed at the beginning of the nine fields of Heaven just as the Fusang region was at the head of the nine continents, in the font of the East. The star served to mark the start of the year when the Zenith Moon passed nearest during the year, with the zenith located directly over Tanggu (Yanggu) and the Fusang Tree. This latter location has basically the same identity, at least geographically, with Yamakoti and Cattigara. Marinus of Tyre may have heard of the Chinese grid system together with its starting point from Maes Titianus or Alexander the Macedonian, and simply reversed the order of reference. The Indian astronomers may have heard of the system from Sakadvipa migrants, who had established themselves in India during the country's golden age of astronomy.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Lewis, Mark Edward. The construction of space in early China, Albany , NY : State University of New York Press, 2006.

Sachau, Edward C. Alberuni's India: An Account of the Religion, Philosophy, Literature, Geography, Chronology, Astronomy, Customs, Laws and Astrology of India About A.D. 1030, Routledge, 2001.

William, Vincent. The Commerce and Navigation of the Ancients in the Indian Ocean, New Delhi, AES (reprint), 1998.

Star and Constellation Names

Two fairly recent works by Dante L. Ambrosio of the University of the Philippines and Meredith Osmond of The Australian National University have compiled many astronomical terms in Austronesian and Philippine languages for stars and constellations. Osmond has reconstructed a number of these terms in upstream language groupings.

Here is a partial listing of the terminology.


Words for Stars and Constellations

(PMP = Proto-Malayo-Polynesian; POc = Proto-Oceanic; Mic = Micronesian; Pn = Polynesian; Ph= Philippine)

Venus, Morning Star, Evening Star

PMP *mantalaq -- 'the morning/evening star, Venus' (Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (ACD))

PMP *(t)ala(q) -- 'star' (Dempwolff)



Big Bird -- constellation that includes Betelgeuse, Canopus, Procyon, Rigel and Sirius

PMP *manuk -- 'bird'

POc *manuk -- 'bird, Bird constellation'



Sirius

Mic: Mortlockese, Carolinian man -- 'Sirius'

Mic: Satawalese man -- 'constellation incl. Sirius'

Adm: Ninigo mānifono ‘Sirius’ (fono ‘head’)

Mic: Kiribati pwāpwā-ni-man ‘Sirius’ (pwāpwā ‘chest’)

Mic: Puluwatese yinekin-mān ‘Sirius’ (yinek ‘body, trunk’)

Pn: Tahitian taurua-faupapa ‘Sirius’

Pn: Maori takurua ‘Sirius; winter’ (Åkerblom 1968:19)

Pn: Marquesan takuua ‘Sirius; July’

Pn: Hawaiian kaulua ‘Sirius; June-July or February-March’

Ph: Palawan Binawagan magakas 'Sirius'



Pleiades

PMP *buluq -- 'a constellation, Pleiades' (ACD)

POc *bulu(q) -- 'a constellation, Pleiades' (Osmond, ACD *puluq)



Southern Cross

Proto-East-Oceanic *bubu -- 'Southern Cross; triggerfish'

SES: Sa’a ape ‘Southern Cross’

Fij: Bauan kalokalo-ni-ðeva ‘Southern Cross’

Pn: Anutan te kupeŋa ‘The Net: Southern Cross’

Pn: Tikopia te kau kupeŋa ‘pole-net handle’

Pn: Rennellese kau-kupeŋa ‘Southern Cross; net handle, net frame’

Pn: K’marangi tina ti raŋi ‘Southern Cross’

Pn: Tikopia te uru a taŋata ‘Southern Cross’
rakau tapu ‘Southern Cross’ (Lewis 1994:407)

Pn: Hawaiian hōkū-kea ‘Southern Cross’

Ph: Sama bunta 'Southern Cross'

Ph: Tagalog camalyng 'Southern Cross'

Ph: Spanish-Tagalog Krus na Bituin 'Southern Cross' ('cross of stars')

Ph: Bikol paglong 'Southern Cross'

Ph: Ilokano sunay 'Southern Cross'

Ph: Ivatan-Spanish trismariiya 'Southern Cross' ('three Marias')



The Pointers (Alpha and Beta Centauri)

SES: Sa’a ro mwane ‘Pointers (to Southern Cross)’

Pn: Samoan lua taŋata ‘Pointers: Alpha and Beta Centauri’ (Åkerblom 1968:27)

Pn: Tikopia rua taŋata ‘Southern Cross’ (Lewis 1994:407)

Pn: Tokelauan na taŋata ‘two stars used for voyages from Tokelau to Samoa’ (MacGregor 1937:89)

Pn: Anutan rua taŋata ‘constellation of two bright stars near the Southern Cross. Centaurus, also known as te kau o te kupeŋa ‘handle of fishing net’’

Ph: Sama, Jama Mapun anak-datu at sahapang 'alpha and beta Centauri'

Ph: Tagalog timbangan 'alpha and beta Centauri'



Polaris

Proto-Chukese *fitū mwakut ‘Polaris’ (lit. ‘star not moving’)

Mic: Puluwatese fūhQ mwakət ‘Polaris’

Mic: Satawalese fuese magut ‘Polaris’

Mic: Carolinian fise mwç xut ‘Polaris’

Mic: Woleaian werewereri iyefaŋi ‘Polaris’

Pn: Tahitian ana-nia ‘Polaris’ (Lewis 1994:403)

Pn: Hawaiian hōkū-paa ‘Polaris or North Star’

Ph: Sanskrit-Maguindanao bituin utala 'Polaris' ('north star')

Ph: Sanskrit-Sama mamahi uttara 'Polaris' ('north star')

Ph: Jama Mapun sibilut 'Polaris'



Aquila

Mic: Mortlockese meilap ‘the constellation Aquila’

Mic: Marshallese mQ clεp ‘constellation Aquila, Altair’ (lit. ‘big eye’)

Ph: Maranao dalomampao 'Aquila'

Ph: Manobo lepu 'Aquila'

Ph: Sama paliyama 'Aquila'

Ph: Palawan sagab 'Aquila'

Ph: Teduray singkad 'Aquila'

Ph: Jama Mapun tanggong 'Aquila'



Scorpio, Antares

Proto-Mic *(d,z)umuri ‘Antares’

Proto-Central-East-Pn *refua ‘a star name, Antares?’ (Biggs & Clark 1993)

Proto-North-Pn *mele-mele ‘Venus or Antares’

Ph: Sama mamahi pagi

Ph: Jama Mapun niyuniyu

Ph: Palawan njug + wasaj

Ph: Sama Dea salokah

Ph: Ibaloi tachong



Delphinus

PMic *tapia ‘Bowl constellation, approximately Delphinus’

Ph: Maranaw anak o karani 'Delphinus'

Ph: Manobo buu 'Delphinus'

Ph: Teduray kenogon 'Delphinus'

Ph: Kankanaey sipat 'Delphinus'

Ph: Palawan tarung 'Delphinus'

Zenith and Zenith Stars

Robert Blust reconstructed the West Malayo-Polynesian form *uRtuh ‘zenith; noon, mid-day' (ACD), which Osmond states refers specifically to the Sun.

However, there are instances when reflexes of *URtuh can refer to stars or other celestial bodies. Among the Mangyan of the Philippines, for example, udto uloy can refer to any celestial body in or near the zenith. In many central Philippine languages, ugto or udto can have general meanings like meridian, mid-heaven, culmination, crest, etc.

Previously, I have written that the Chinese and Indian calendars were based on Spica as a zenith star rather than a vernal equinox marker although there is some linkage also with the spring season. Both calendars begin when with the Full Moon is conjunct or nearest to Spica. The latter star, thus, is also used to determine the division of the zodiac in both cultures.

Now, the differences between the two systems is that the Chinese calendar is tropical while the Indian one is sidereal. The Chinese version has the original year starting when the Full Moon conjoined Spica 45 days before the vernal equinox. There is some indication of this also in the Indian system as the six seasons of the Indian calendar start with Sisira, the cool season, when the Sun enters Aquarius, which was about 60 days before the vernal equinox at one time.

While neither culture mentions anything specifically about the Full Moon in the zenith, there are some indications of this in the names of the star or related constellations, and the related iconography.

Spica is known as Kio in Chinese, which means "horn" referring here to the horn of the Spring Dragon, but also possibly indicating the highest point in the sky. The Western term "spica" refers to a "spike" of grain said to be held up by the woman in the constellation Virgo. Here are some other words for Spica in various languages:

Spar "point" Persian
Sparegha "point" Avestan
Shaghar "point" Sogdian
Akshafarn "point" Khorasmian
Al-Simak "the prop, also al-simak al-a'zal 'the unarmed prop'" Arabic

Chrysococcas called Spica 'the little lance-bearer.' Such names in the West probably ultimately derive from the imagery of the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar who in some artifacts is shown holding up an ear of grain, a lance, a whip, a fleur de lys-like device or similar object.

Ishtar is known as the Queen or Lady of Heaven, and also as the "Divinity of the Zenith" (Prayer of the Heart to Istar). The goddess is closely related with the zenith, and the word for the latter in Assyrian is ziqpu meaning literally "sharp point." W.F. Albright and others also interpreted the Babylonian "Nebiru" or "Nibiru" with the zenith as it is described as the 'middle of Heaven.'

Now, in the Malayo-Polynesian culture, zenith stars had practical uses linked with navigation and thus Spica would be considered a zenith star for any location only for a certain period. The declination of Spica and other stars changes because of the movement of the Earth's axis. Although neither Osmond or Ambrosio mention Spica, it is found in regional astronomies. For example, in Tahiti it was one of the pillar stars and was known as Ana-rota. It was called Mataroa in Kiribati, Aap in Truk, Paulauru in the Carolines and Da in the Marshall Islands.

In the Austronesian region, the conjunction of the Moon with specific stars is often used in electional astrology. The conjunction of the Full Moon with specific times in the tropical year is also used to detemine the new year, most notably in connection with the well-known swarming of the Palolo sea worms.

Among the Kodi of Sumba in Indonesia, the year indeed is determined by the Zenith Moon, when the Full Moon conjoins or passes nearest to the local zenith. About seven days after this time, the Palolo worms emerge (Janet Hoskins 1993: 65, 72, 353, 358).

Now, the Moon would mainly transit the zenith in tropical areas, but the Moon has different declination limits than the Sun. Thus, the Moon can transit the zeniths at latitudes up to 28.5° N or S. The period when the Full Moon would conjoin with Spica about 45 days before the vernal equinox, as in the Chinese calendar, corresponds to the late 4th millennium BCE.

The following astronomical charts were created with Chris Marriot's SkyMap showing the Full Moon of 3102 BCE from the location of Mt. Pinatubo (click on images for full-size views).


Full Moon at sunset, Mar. 4, 3102 BCE, 44 days before Vernal Equinox (Apr. 16)

Click on image for full size.


Moon and Spica transit zenith at midnight, Mar. 4, 3102 BCE (Location: Mt. Pinatubo)



Moon and Spica in close conjuction, 9:03 am, Mar. 4, 3102 BCE, below horizon at Mt. Pinatubo



Orion's Belt at sunset, Mar. 4, 3102 BCE about 45 degrees above western horizon


Orion's Belt is an important season marker in the Malayo-Polynesian region to this day.

Words for Orion's Belt in the Philippines

atlung Maria, Spanish-Kapampangan ('three Marias')
balatic Magahat, Bilaan
balatik Bagobo, Tagalog, Maguindanao, Bikol
bayatik Mandaya
balbalays Mayawyaw Ifugao
batik Jama Mapun, Sama
belatik Manobo
binabbais Kankanaey
binawagan magsasawad Palawan
bodays Ibaloi
farrais khinaang Fontok
gaganayan Ilokano/Igorot
gendaw belatik Subanen
lubang Bikol
magbangal Bukidnon
mbangal Maranao
seretar Teduray
tatlong Maria Spanish-Tagalog ('three Marias')
trismariiya Itbayaten ('three Marias')

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Ambrosio, Dante L. Sandaidigan at Kalangitan, University of the Philippines-Diliman, 2006.

Brown, Robert. "Remarks on the Zodiacal Virgo," The Yorkshire Archaeological Journal vol. IX, 1886, 441-489.

Hoskins, Janet. The Play of Time: Kodi Perspectives on Calendars, History, and Exchange, University of California Press, 1997.

Manansala, Paul Kekai. Sailing the Black Current: Secret History of Ancient Philippine Argonauts in Southeast Asia, the Pacific and Beyond, Booksurge Publishing, 2007.

Osmond, Meredith. Navigation and Heavens, ANU E Press, 2007.

Postma, Antoon. "The Concept of Time among the Mangyans," Asian Folklore Studies, Vol. 44, No. 2 (1985), 231-240.

Reiner, Erica, David Pingree, David Edwin Pingree. Babylonian Planetary Omens, Brill, 1998, 223, 240-1.

Mount Qaf

Muslims orient themselves toward the Kaaba in Mecca during prayer and some ancient writings consider that location, or rarely Jerusalem, as the center of the world.

However, general Islamic cosmology is largely borrowed from Persian and Indian beliefs, and views Mount Qaf as the earthly axis mundi.

Mount Qaf appears related to mountains known as Hukairya, Hara (Hara Berezaita), and Alburz in Zoroastrian texts. Like the Biblical Eden, this mountain is imprecisely located in ancient texts, stated to rest somewhere to the East in the Varkash Sea.

Muslim texts place Qaf near the mythical city of Jabalqa in the extreme east of the world.

In the Muslim versions of the Alexandrian romances, Zu'l Qarnain (Alexander the Great) travels to Qaf on his eastern quest for the water of life and he meets on its peak the angel Israfil waiting to blow the trumpet on Judgment Day.

Zu'l Qarnain journeyed to Mount Qaf;
He saw it was formed of a bright emerald,
Forming as it were a ring round the world,
Whereat all people are filled with wonder.
He said, "Thou mighty hill, what are other hills?
Before thee they are mere playthings."
The Mount replied, "Those hills are my veins,
But they are not like me in beauty and importance.
A hidden vein from me runs to every city,
The quarters of the world are bound to my veins.
When God desires an earthquake under any city,
He bids me shake one of my veins.
Then in anger I shake that vein
Which is connected with that particular city.
When He says, 'Enough,' my vein remains still,
I remain still, and then haste to perform my work.
Now still like a plaster, and now operating;
Now still like thought, and then speaking my thought.
But they who are void of reason imagine
That these earthquakes proceed from earth's vapors.

Jalaluddin Rumi (13th century CE), Masnavi I Ma'navi IV:9

The mountains said to be made of green emerald or chrysolite, or to have a square green emerald/chrysolite at its peak. This jewel reflected the blue color of the sky, and also the greenish tint in the sky was said to be caused by this jewel.

Blue-Green Connections

We find some resemblance here between the mixtures of blue and green colors with the "Blue-Green Florescence," one of the names of the millenarian isle of Qingtong, the Eastern Lad in Daoist myth, which is likened to a square speculum. Among the Shi'a, the Hidden Imam waits for the end-times on the "Green Isle."

We can also note some similarity here between the idea of all the mountains in the world having connection with Mount Qaf through subterranean "veins" with the Chinese concept of mountains linked by underground grotto worlds. Qaf mountain is said to encircle the world and this may refer specifically to the "roots" that connect one mountain range to another. According to one tradition: "There is no one country amongst all countries, nor a city amongst all cities, nor a town amongst all towns but has a root of its roots," and another states, "nor is there any mountain of all mountains but has a root in Qaf."

The Muslim writer Yaqut mentions that some scholars believed that the Sun both rose and set into Mount Qaf, an explanation that matches our theme of the double mountain. Mount Alburz, one of the Zoroastrian equivalents of Qaf is decribed in a similar fashion: "Alburz is around this earth and is connected with the sky. The Terak of Alburz is that through which the stars, moon, and sun pass in, and through it they come back," (Bundahisn 12:4). From the same work, we hear of the portals in Terak of Mount Alburz through which the Sun and stars pass.

Of Mount Alburz it is declared, that around the world and Mount Terak, which is the middle of the world, the revolution of the sun is like a moat around the world; it turns back in a circuit owing to the enclosure (var) of Mount Alburz around Terak.

As it is said that it is the Terak of Alburz from behind which my sun and moon and stars return again.

For there are a hundred and eighty apertures (rojin) in the east, and a hundred and eighty in the west, through Alburz; and the sun, every day, comes in through an aperture, and goes out through an aperture; and the whole connection and motion of the moon and constellations and planets is with it: every day it always illumines (or warms) three regions (karshwar) and a half, as is evident to the eyesight.

And twice in every year the day and night are equal, for on the original attack, when it (the sun) went forth from its first degree (khurdak), the day and night were equal, it was the season of spring; when it arrives at the first degree of Kalachang (Cancer) the time of day is greatest, it is the beginning of summer; when it arrives at the sign (khurdak) Tarachuk (Libra) the day and night are equal, it is the beginning of autumn; when it arrives at the sign Vahik (Capricorn) the night is a maximum, it is the beginning of winter; and when it arrives at Varak (Aries) the night and day have again become equal, as when it went forth from Varak.

So that when it comes back to Varak, in three hundred and sixty days and the five Gatha days, it goes in and comes out through one and the same aperture; the aperture is not mentioned, for if it had been mentioned the demons would have known the secret, and been able to introduce disaster.

-- Bundahisn 5:3

Some scholars have suggested that these verses describe the Sun and stars as revolving around Terak, but instead it seems as if the celestials bodies enter into the equatorial "apertures" of Terak and then proceed through the subterranean "moat" of Alburz before rising again at the same peak of Terak. The underground arteries or veins of Alburz are also described in the Bundahisn.

First, Mount Alburz arose; afterwards, the other ranges of mountains (kofaniha) of the middle of the earth; for as Alburz grew forth all the mountains remained in motion, for they have all grown forth from the root of Alburz.

At that time they came up from the earth, like a tree which has grown up to the clouds and its root to the bottom; and their root passed on that way from one to the other, and they are arranged in mutual connection.

Afterwards, about that wonderful shaking out from the earth, they say that a great mountain is the knot of lands; and the passage for the waters within the mountains is the root which is below the mountains; they forsake the upper parts so that they may flow into it, just as the roots of trees pass into the earth; a counterpart (anguni-aitak) of the blood in the arteries of men, which gives strength to the whole body.

In numbers, apart from Alburz, all the mountains grew up out of the earth in eighteen years, from which arises the perfection of men's advantage.

Qaf is said to rest on the back of a great fish or whale known as Nun, that is described as shaped like the Arabic letter for "n". Some authorities claimed Qaf rested upon the horns of a great ox, which in turn stood on the back of Nun. The whale was also called Bahmout or Bahamut (Behemoth). Earthquakes arise from the movement of the whale, something we find also in the myths of Southeast Asia. The Nun fish/whale is probably related to the Kar fish of Persian literature described as an 'ass-like fish' or a 'three-legged ass,' the latter description probably referring to the two flippers and tail of a whale. Although the Kar is not related to earthquakes, like the whale/dragon of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, it is linked with the ebb and flow of the tide. While the latter is said to be the cause of the tides, the Kar "knows to the scratch of a needle's point by how much the water in the Ocean shall increase, by how much it is diminishing" (Bundahisn 18:6).

While Qingtong, the Blue-Green Lad is associated with the Blue-Green Florescence in the Eastern Sea, the emerald Mount Qaf is linked with al-Khidr "The Green One," in Islamic lore. Al-Khidr is often equated with the Biblical Elijah, but like Qingtong he is described as an eternal youth sometimes as a boy clad in green garments.

Khidr leads pilgrims to the fountain of youth that exists near Qaf's summit. And like Qingtong, the Green One has eschatological associations. In the end-times, Khidr, along with the Seven Sleepers, seven boys and their dog who have slept in a deep cave since ancient times, accompany the messianic al-Mahdi on his earth-redeeming mission. The cave of the Seven Sleepers is located in Mount Qaf, and it reminds us of Peshotan and the sleeping Zoroastrian heroes of Kangdez, southeast of China, who arise for the final battle at the end of the millennium.


Simurgh Bird and Jinn

Among the inhabitants of Mount Qaf is the Simurgh Bird, which in Persian myth guards the mythical White Haoma Tree in the eastern Varkash Sea.

The Simurgh has its nest at the peak of Qaf and this was the grand destination in the great Sufi poem "Conference of the Birds." In most Arabic literature, this bird is known as 'Anka, but in the Arabian Nights it appears to be called Roc (Rukh).

For the soul of every bird that reaches Mount Qaf,
Confers glory on the whole family of birds.

-- Rumi

Mount Qaf is also said to be the main abode of the Jinn (Djinn) or Genies of Muslim literature, and the great Jinn king resided in this mountain. Both the Jinn and the Simurgh Bird are linked in Islamic tradition with King Solomon.

The Simurgh Bird is said to possess supreme wisdom and the reign of Solomon is known as the "Golden Age of Simurgh." Of all the animals and birds that Solomon was said to have spoken with, the Simurgh was the most important.

Solomon was also said to have special power over the Jinn, which he used to compel them to help build his great temple.

We may see in these connections of Solomon with the Simurgh Bird and the Jinn, some link to Solomon's biblical journeys to the eastern lands of Ophir and Tarshish that may have been connected by Muslim writers with Mount Qaf.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Akkach, Samer. Cosmology and architecture in premodern Islam, Albany: State University of New York Press, 2005.

Corbin, Henry. Alone with the Alone: Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn 'Arabi. Princeton University Press, 1998.

West, E. W. Sacred Books of the East, vol. 5, Oxford University Press, 1897.

Wheeler, Brannon. Moses In The Quran And Islamic Exegesis, Routledge Curzon: London, 2002, 95-6.

More on Early SEA Dispersals

The international team that conducted the study on Sundaland flooding and population dispersal in Southeast Asia has released some new press releases. I wonder if a complimentary study using Y chromosome data is in the works.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

The researchers show that population dispersals came earlier, from within the region, and probably resulted from flooding.

The conventional theory, or the ‘out of Taiwan’ model, suggests that the current day populations of Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) originate in a Neolithic expansion from Taiwan, driven by rice agriculturalists about 4,000 years ago. This theory was contested 10 years ago by Oxford University scientist, Dr Stephen Oppenheimer, in his book Eden in the East: The Drowned Continent of Southeast Asia, when he suggested the migrations came from within ISEA and resulted from flooding in the region.

This latest study, led by Leeds University and published in this month’s Molecular Biology and Evolution, shows that a substantial fraction of the mitochondrial DNA lines (inherited by female descendants) have been evolving within ISEA for a much longer period, some since modern humans arrived about 50,000 years ago. The DNA lineages show population dispersals at the same time as sea level rises and also show migrations into Taiwan, east out to New Guinea and the Pacific, and west to the Southeast Asian mainland – within the last 10,000 years.

Study co-author Dr Oppenheimer, from the Oxford University School of Anthropology, said: ‘One of my main predictions in the book was that three major floods following the Ice Age forced the inhabitants to escape in boats and flee to less flood-prone regions. By examining mitochondrial DNA from their descendants in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, we now have strong evidence to support the flooding theory and this is possibly why Southeast Asia has a richer store of flood myths, more than any other region in the world.’

Martin Richards, the first Professor of Archaeogenetics at Leeds University, who led the interdisciplinary research team, said: ‘I think the study results are going to be a big surprise for many archaeologists and linguists, on whose studies conventional migration theories are based. These population expansions had nothing to do with agriculture, but were most likely to have been driven by climate change, in particular global warming and the resulting sea-level rises at the end of the Ice Age between 15,000 to 7,000 years ago.’

Source: Oxford News