Thursday, December 30, 2010
The Secret History of King Arthur and Robin Hood
Most historians place the Arthurian period in the fifth century AD, and so this is where I began my historical journey to find the 'real Arthur'.
In about 402 AD, Stilicho, the Vandal Regent of Rome, needed the remainder of his troops back in Rome to defend the homeland against the invading Goths. This left Britain militarily vulnerable and weak, and by 410 the Anglo-Saxons were mounting a terrible invasion that set the countryside alight. But why did the Saxons delay their invasion? The answer lies within the extremely clever way the Romans had previously cleared the country of what they called 'barbarians' - i.e. those people who would have either utilized inside intelligence to assist any invading force or who would have undermined the existing rule.
'Britain was near to death until Stilicho arrived, and that with the Saxons defeated, the seas were safer and the Picts were broken, thereby making Britain secure.'
So wrote the early Christian poet and historian, Claudian, in 399 AD.
Britain enjoyed a brief time of relevant peace. This peace was shattered violently as the Saxons instigated their bloody onslaught in the summer of 410. By winter, the British 'civitates' had simply had enough of their Roman pretender, Constantine III, and the old Roman system, and so they decided to go it alone. However, the British message to the Emperor Honorius left open a small in-road just in case they were making a mistake. Britain wanted to stay in the Roman Empire, not as subjects but as allies aiding each other with trade and defence. So Britain became an autonomous state within the Empire, especially after the sacking of Rome by Alaric's Goths in 410.
This balance of power continued, and in 417 AD the units of Comes Brittaniarum partially reoccupied the Saxon forts along the south-east coast. This British force was influenced by the Scythian warrior-élite who had been brought to Britain by the Romans. These Scythians also brought many of the serpent related traditions I had previously found associated with Arthur in The Serpent Grail - including the worship of Uther/Zeus and the plunging of the blood soaked sword into and out of the ground as an offering to the Earth Goddess.
Following the death of Honorius the Roman army vanished from Britain. The exact date of their departure is not known, although Nennius, the eighth-century Christian historian, tells us that Vortigern had become King of Britain by 425 AD. This probably referred to the southern regions and those parts of Britain previously held by the Romans. Vortigern, it seems, filled the void that Rome had left behind.
The Historia Brittonium states that it was Vortigern who invited Hengist and Horsa, the Norse warriors, to settle in Kent, only to later argue and fight against them. The old system of Roman rule finally began to crumble.
Vortigern's answer to his new Norse problem was to invite yet more foreigners to settle in the country, creating for them settlements called foederati. Was this wise council on Vortigern's part? It may just have been his only answer, and a Roman answer at that, for the Romans had utilized this settlement procedure themselves - albeit with a lot more class. The Romans had also been powerful enough to keep these settlements under control, and had more incentives to offer them in exchange for their loyalty, whereas Vortigern had no other choice and the new found settlers knew this.
Word then reached Vortigern that the Picts and Scots were massing on the borders, and he simply did not have the power to repel them. His tactic was again Roman: bring in other Barbarians and get them to fight each other. It seems, however, that rather than settling warrior Barbarians on his coastlines in order to protect Britain, Vortigern opened the floodgates to the land-hungry Saxons. Vortigern was defeated by Hengist in 455, the lowlands were put to the fire and the Britons fled the country, heading for Spain and Armorica. The economy collapsed, and by 461 Vortigern the Great was dead.
There was a recovery of British fortunes a decade or so later, when Ambrosius Aurelianus, thought to be the son of a Roman consul, fought against the Saxons.
These same traditions and texts then tell us of a great King called Arthur.
This history of the fifth-century Britons is interesting, but only partially of interest in our search for the Grail. The Romans had brought the Scythians to Britain, and these Scythians also brought with them their cultural belief systems. They fought well, and in all probability, aided the Britons with training in their warrior ways.
The memory of these cultural additions seeped into the British consciousness and became British, Celtic, and eventually 'New Age'. This very real struggle for power and for the defence of the realm was an ideal backdrop to the mystery that is now called the 'Arthurian cycle'.
Britain in the fifth century was itself a great and wondrous 'mixing-bowl'. Cultures from across the known world travelled to it. Exports of British copper, lead, tin, and much more were shipped across Europe and the Mediterranean. Folklore tradition also tells us that Joseph of Arimathea visited these shores, and owned tin mines in Cornwall - although this I seriously doubt. If traditions such as these are far from truth, I had to ask myself, why were these strange tales invented?
It was now time to move forward historically from the 5th century history to the medieval period. This was a time when the true symbolic Arthur was formed. The Arthur who fought with dragons or serpents; the Arthur who married his Guinevere - the Queen of Serpents; the Arthur who would have a shape-shifting father named Uther, another term for Zeus. This was also the time when another character emerged who was also joined with a peculiar female counterpart and who materialized from the mists of history as a mythical hero. This hero was Robin Hood.
Etymologically Robin comes from the Norman 'Robert,' a form of the Germanic Hrodebert and it originally meant 'famous' or 'bright' or even and more pertinently 'to shine.' This is and has always been an indication of one who has achieved illumination or enlightenment.
Robin Hood is therefore the 'Bright Hood,' a similar name to the Naga serpent worshippers or deities of India, with their illuminated serpent or cobra hoods. As many have previously stated there are strong links between the origins of Robin Hood and the Green Man, who is also the ancient Egyptian god Osiris and the Greek-Roman god Dionysus/Bacchus, and so we should hope to find something of interest in the many stories surrounding this enigmatic character.
It's no surprise to also discover that the Templars are very much associated with Robin, and many of the tales of Robin also match in format those of King Arthur. In the popular retelling by Henry Gilbert (Robin Hood, 1912) we find mention of a pig-like serpent.
Robin wants to know who the hermit of Fountains Dale is and how the one named as 'Peter the Doctor' managed to cure people.
"Oh," said Nick with a smile, "I meant no ill-will to Peter. Often hath his pills cured our villeins when they ate too much pork, and my mother - rest her soul - said that naught under the sun was like his lectuary of Saint Evremond."
Peter the Doctor speaks, "I deserve well of all my patients, but," - and his eyes flashed - "that great swinehead oaf of a hermit monk - Tuck by name, and would that I could tuck him in the deepest, darkest hole in Windleswisp marsh! - That great ox-brained-beguiled me into telling him of all my good specifics. With his eyes as wide and soft as a cow's he looked as innocent as a mawkin, and asked me this and that about the cures which I had made, and ever he seemed the more to marvel and to gape at my wisdom and my power. The porcine serpent! He did but spin his web the closer about me to my own undoing and destruction. When I had told him all, and was hopeful that he would buy a phial of serpent's oil of Jasper - a sure and certain specific, my good freemen, against ague and stiffness."
So Friar Tuck is like a snake-pig and Peter the Wise Doctor hopes to sell him "serpent oil." It is likely that Gilbert used the "serpent oil" in the early nineteenth century as this peculiar substance was quite fashionable at the time and no matter how hard I searched I could not find Gilbert's source material.
There are elements of the Robin Hood myth that relate to other legends. The 'tree of life' is seen as 'Robin's Larder Tree,' supplying all that could be required like the 'Horn of Plenty' or the 'cauldron' of Celtic folklore.
Robin's link with the 'Horned God' is also telling as he is Lord and Master over the human 'animals' of the Forest and they are guardians of their stolen treasure, like the hoarding, serpent Nagas of Hinduism. They do good deeds for those who deserve them and dastardly deeds to those who do not. The horned element is also telling, as the horns were symbolic of enlightenment or illumination, just as Moses is often depicted with horns whereas the meaning is simply 'shining.' We must also remember that Moses was taught in Egypt, the home of the Green Man Osiris, and that Moses was the one who raised the Brazen Serpent in the wilderness to heal the people of Israel.
In the connected tales of Robin Goodfellow, the 'trickster of the woods' also known as Puck, there is also the link of Sib, the fairy who lives in the hillside and is linked as being a 'serpent spirit' of healing. Robin falls in love with his lady of the waters or Queen of Heaven (a title also given to Isis the sister/wife of Osiris and also a title given to Guinevere) later to be known as the Maid Marion (Marion/Mary coming from Mer = Sea/water/wisdom) and in many ways is undermining the new Christian world that forced itself upon this ancient mixture of paganism.
Puck incidentally is thought to have a much older pedigree, being traced back to an Irish Pan-like deity known as Pouka. Indeed, Robin Goodfellow is said to be born of a human mother and a god-like father in the form of Oberon (king of the fairies and Ob meaning serpent.) He is also green like the 'Green Man,' which is the special healing color attributed to many things surrounding the serpent cult - such as the Emerald Tablet, the color of initiation into Gnostic mysteries associated with the Masons, and the Green Glass of the Grail.
It is believed by many that the crescent shape of Robin's bow recalls the crescent moon and horns of the pagan 'Horned God,' as does the horn Robin uses to call his people together. Even Little John in the tale of Robin Hood and Sir Guy de Gisborne is tied to a tree, being saved at the last minute by Robin disguised as Sir Guy. As with most folklore there is symbolism, myth, legend and probably some element of a real origin.
Robin Hood may well have some aspects of his personality and acts in real people, but most historians would steer away from stating anything as fact.
As Fran and Geoff Doel point out in their book Robin Hood: Outlaw or Greenwood Myth
"the origin of Robin Hood was obscure . . . suggests a mythological or folklore origin."
What we also find however in some of the earlier tales is that Robin Hood and Little John - like Jesus and John the Baptist - were equals. Walter Bower, in the 15th century, said that Robin Hood together with Little John and their companies rose to prominence. This in itself points out that both Robin and John were seen to each have their own followers very much like Jesus and John. They are therefore and must be the 'twins' of Gnosticism, like Castor and Pollux - the duality and balance.
Other elements of Robin's life and especially his death show an ancient link:
"Curiously the ballad of Robin Hood's Death also has a ritualistic element, with foreknowledge and ritual 'banning' and a death by bleeding, which is suspiciously close to the ritualistic dismemberment of other European and Asiatic Springtime gods and heroes such as Tammuz, Adonis and Osiris. The cognitive connections between the outlaw and Robin the bird may be coincidental, but the possibilities of a Greenwood myth underlying the later outlaw traditions needs to be examined." (Doel, Robin Hood: Outlaw or Greenwood Myth.)
Tammuz, Adonis and Osiris are vegetation gods of greenness. Indeed Osiris himself in the Pyramid Texts at Saqqara is called the 'Great Green' and often appears green skinned as a symbol of 'resurrection and life'. The battle between Osiris and Set seems all the more familiar now in the struggle that ensues between Robin and his archrival the Sheriff of Nottingham. Osiris becomes Horus when resurrected and we find that it is Horus who is protected by the Wadjet snake - the green snake.
The fact remains that Christianity was stomping all over old pagan beliefs, rewriting tales that had existed for hundreds of years. But, as the Christians were destroying cultural history, there were those who defended it. The Masons of the period in which Robin Hood grew to popularity were hiding their symbols and pagan ideas in the framework and masonry of Churches across Europe. Green Men sprang up in every sacred Christian place. Strange characters seen hiding in foliage, peeping out like messengers from the past.
These peculiar and somewhat disturbing images to modern eyes are none other than the characters from the pagan past - gods and deities like Herne the 'Horned God' and many other images of Mother Goddesses. The truth to the past of man's religious upbringing can still be seen in the stonework of Christian churches and Cathedrals, in places like Rosslyn Chapel and Lichfield Cathedral. But not just in the stone. We must also look to the legends, for as we can see the tales of Robin Hood are not only linked to the ancient past they are also linked inextricably to the tales of Arthur and his search for the Holy Grail with instances like those of the knight Gawain decapitating the Green Giant and mysterious images of a Green Knight. It is seen clearly in the fact that the 'plays' of old, enacted by local people and paraded through streets, have changed titles across time and location. From the St. George (also associated with Osiris and who was popularised by the Knights Templar) play to the Robin Hood and Green Jack, from Wildman to Green George. The basic story is the same, but the names change. Our past has been hidden; our Gnostic heritage is untold; our birthrights stolen by a jealous Church.
About the author: Philip Gardiner is the Author of The Serpent Grail: The Truth Behind the Holy Grail, Elixir of Life and Philosopher's Stone. Also The Shining Ones: The World's Most Powerful Secret Society Revealed, and the forthcoming Gnosis: The Secret of Solomon's Temple Revealed. He is a researcher, historian and propaganda expert based in the UK.
Source: http://medievalwarfare.net/621878-The-Secret-History-of-King-Arthur-and-Robin-Hood.html
In about 402 AD, Stilicho, the Vandal Regent of Rome, needed the remainder of his troops back in Rome to defend the homeland against the invading Goths. This left Britain militarily vulnerable and weak, and by 410 the Anglo-Saxons were mounting a terrible invasion that set the countryside alight. But why did the Saxons delay their invasion? The answer lies within the extremely clever way the Romans had previously cleared the country of what they called 'barbarians' - i.e. those people who would have either utilized inside intelligence to assist any invading force or who would have undermined the existing rule.
'Britain was near to death until Stilicho arrived, and that with the Saxons defeated, the seas were safer and the Picts were broken, thereby making Britain secure.'
So wrote the early Christian poet and historian, Claudian, in 399 AD.
Britain enjoyed a brief time of relevant peace. This peace was shattered violently as the Saxons instigated their bloody onslaught in the summer of 410. By winter, the British 'civitates' had simply had enough of their Roman pretender, Constantine III, and the old Roman system, and so they decided to go it alone. However, the British message to the Emperor Honorius left open a small in-road just in case they were making a mistake. Britain wanted to stay in the Roman Empire, not as subjects but as allies aiding each other with trade and defence. So Britain became an autonomous state within the Empire, especially after the sacking of Rome by Alaric's Goths in 410.
This balance of power continued, and in 417 AD the units of Comes Brittaniarum partially reoccupied the Saxon forts along the south-east coast. This British force was influenced by the Scythian warrior-élite who had been brought to Britain by the Romans. These Scythians also brought many of the serpent related traditions I had previously found associated with Arthur in The Serpent Grail - including the worship of Uther/Zeus and the plunging of the blood soaked sword into and out of the ground as an offering to the Earth Goddess.
Following the death of Honorius the Roman army vanished from Britain. The exact date of their departure is not known, although Nennius, the eighth-century Christian historian, tells us that Vortigern had become King of Britain by 425 AD. This probably referred to the southern regions and those parts of Britain previously held by the Romans. Vortigern, it seems, filled the void that Rome had left behind.
The Historia Brittonium states that it was Vortigern who invited Hengist and Horsa, the Norse warriors, to settle in Kent, only to later argue and fight against them. The old system of Roman rule finally began to crumble.
Vortigern's answer to his new Norse problem was to invite yet more foreigners to settle in the country, creating for them settlements called foederati. Was this wise council on Vortigern's part? It may just have been his only answer, and a Roman answer at that, for the Romans had utilized this settlement procedure themselves - albeit with a lot more class. The Romans had also been powerful enough to keep these settlements under control, and had more incentives to offer them in exchange for their loyalty, whereas Vortigern had no other choice and the new found settlers knew this.
Word then reached Vortigern that the Picts and Scots were massing on the borders, and he simply did not have the power to repel them. His tactic was again Roman: bring in other Barbarians and get them to fight each other. It seems, however, that rather than settling warrior Barbarians on his coastlines in order to protect Britain, Vortigern opened the floodgates to the land-hungry Saxons. Vortigern was defeated by Hengist in 455, the lowlands were put to the fire and the Britons fled the country, heading for Spain and Armorica. The economy collapsed, and by 461 Vortigern the Great was dead.
There was a recovery of British fortunes a decade or so later, when Ambrosius Aurelianus, thought to be the son of a Roman consul, fought against the Saxons.
These same traditions and texts then tell us of a great King called Arthur.
This history of the fifth-century Britons is interesting, but only partially of interest in our search for the Grail. The Romans had brought the Scythians to Britain, and these Scythians also brought with them their cultural belief systems. They fought well, and in all probability, aided the Britons with training in their warrior ways.
The memory of these cultural additions seeped into the British consciousness and became British, Celtic, and eventually 'New Age'. This very real struggle for power and for the defence of the realm was an ideal backdrop to the mystery that is now called the 'Arthurian cycle'.
Britain in the fifth century was itself a great and wondrous 'mixing-bowl'. Cultures from across the known world travelled to it. Exports of British copper, lead, tin, and much more were shipped across Europe and the Mediterranean. Folklore tradition also tells us that Joseph of Arimathea visited these shores, and owned tin mines in Cornwall - although this I seriously doubt. If traditions such as these are far from truth, I had to ask myself, why were these strange tales invented?
It was now time to move forward historically from the 5th century history to the medieval period. This was a time when the true symbolic Arthur was formed. The Arthur who fought with dragons or serpents; the Arthur who married his Guinevere - the Queen of Serpents; the Arthur who would have a shape-shifting father named Uther, another term for Zeus. This was also the time when another character emerged who was also joined with a peculiar female counterpart and who materialized from the mists of history as a mythical hero. This hero was Robin Hood.
Etymologically Robin comes from the Norman 'Robert,' a form of the Germanic Hrodebert and it originally meant 'famous' or 'bright' or even and more pertinently 'to shine.' This is and has always been an indication of one who has achieved illumination or enlightenment.
Robin Hood is therefore the 'Bright Hood,' a similar name to the Naga serpent worshippers or deities of India, with their illuminated serpent or cobra hoods. As many have previously stated there are strong links between the origins of Robin Hood and the Green Man, who is also the ancient Egyptian god Osiris and the Greek-Roman god Dionysus/Bacchus, and so we should hope to find something of interest in the many stories surrounding this enigmatic character.
It's no surprise to also discover that the Templars are very much associated with Robin, and many of the tales of Robin also match in format those of King Arthur. In the popular retelling by Henry Gilbert (Robin Hood, 1912) we find mention of a pig-like serpent.
Robin wants to know who the hermit of Fountains Dale is and how the one named as 'Peter the Doctor' managed to cure people.
"Oh," said Nick with a smile, "I meant no ill-will to Peter. Often hath his pills cured our villeins when they ate too much pork, and my mother - rest her soul - said that naught under the sun was like his lectuary of Saint Evremond."
Peter the Doctor speaks, "I deserve well of all my patients, but," - and his eyes flashed - "that great swinehead oaf of a hermit monk - Tuck by name, and would that I could tuck him in the deepest, darkest hole in Windleswisp marsh! - That great ox-brained-beguiled me into telling him of all my good specifics. With his eyes as wide and soft as a cow's he looked as innocent as a mawkin, and asked me this and that about the cures which I had made, and ever he seemed the more to marvel and to gape at my wisdom and my power. The porcine serpent! He did but spin his web the closer about me to my own undoing and destruction. When I had told him all, and was hopeful that he would buy a phial of serpent's oil of Jasper - a sure and certain specific, my good freemen, against ague and stiffness."
So Friar Tuck is like a snake-pig and Peter the Wise Doctor hopes to sell him "serpent oil." It is likely that Gilbert used the "serpent oil" in the early nineteenth century as this peculiar substance was quite fashionable at the time and no matter how hard I searched I could not find Gilbert's source material.
There are elements of the Robin Hood myth that relate to other legends. The 'tree of life' is seen as 'Robin's Larder Tree,' supplying all that could be required like the 'Horn of Plenty' or the 'cauldron' of Celtic folklore.
Robin's link with the 'Horned God' is also telling as he is Lord and Master over the human 'animals' of the Forest and they are guardians of their stolen treasure, like the hoarding, serpent Nagas of Hinduism. They do good deeds for those who deserve them and dastardly deeds to those who do not. The horned element is also telling, as the horns were symbolic of enlightenment or illumination, just as Moses is often depicted with horns whereas the meaning is simply 'shining.' We must also remember that Moses was taught in Egypt, the home of the Green Man Osiris, and that Moses was the one who raised the Brazen Serpent in the wilderness to heal the people of Israel.
In the connected tales of Robin Goodfellow, the 'trickster of the woods' also known as Puck, there is also the link of Sib, the fairy who lives in the hillside and is linked as being a 'serpent spirit' of healing. Robin falls in love with his lady of the waters or Queen of Heaven (a title also given to Isis the sister/wife of Osiris and also a title given to Guinevere) later to be known as the Maid Marion (Marion/Mary coming from Mer = Sea/water/wisdom) and in many ways is undermining the new Christian world that forced itself upon this ancient mixture of paganism.
Puck incidentally is thought to have a much older pedigree, being traced back to an Irish Pan-like deity known as Pouka. Indeed, Robin Goodfellow is said to be born of a human mother and a god-like father in the form of Oberon (king of the fairies and Ob meaning serpent.) He is also green like the 'Green Man,' which is the special healing color attributed to many things surrounding the serpent cult - such as the Emerald Tablet, the color of initiation into Gnostic mysteries associated with the Masons, and the Green Glass of the Grail.
It is believed by many that the crescent shape of Robin's bow recalls the crescent moon and horns of the pagan 'Horned God,' as does the horn Robin uses to call his people together. Even Little John in the tale of Robin Hood and Sir Guy de Gisborne is tied to a tree, being saved at the last minute by Robin disguised as Sir Guy. As with most folklore there is symbolism, myth, legend and probably some element of a real origin.
Robin Hood may well have some aspects of his personality and acts in real people, but most historians would steer away from stating anything as fact.
As Fran and Geoff Doel point out in their book Robin Hood: Outlaw or Greenwood Myth
"the origin of Robin Hood was obscure . . . suggests a mythological or folklore origin."
What we also find however in some of the earlier tales is that Robin Hood and Little John - like Jesus and John the Baptist - were equals. Walter Bower, in the 15th century, said that Robin Hood together with Little John and their companies rose to prominence. This in itself points out that both Robin and John were seen to each have their own followers very much like Jesus and John. They are therefore and must be the 'twins' of Gnosticism, like Castor and Pollux - the duality and balance.
Other elements of Robin's life and especially his death show an ancient link:
"Curiously the ballad of Robin Hood's Death also has a ritualistic element, with foreknowledge and ritual 'banning' and a death by bleeding, which is suspiciously close to the ritualistic dismemberment of other European and Asiatic Springtime gods and heroes such as Tammuz, Adonis and Osiris. The cognitive connections between the outlaw and Robin the bird may be coincidental, but the possibilities of a Greenwood myth underlying the later outlaw traditions needs to be examined." (Doel, Robin Hood: Outlaw or Greenwood Myth.)
Tammuz, Adonis and Osiris are vegetation gods of greenness. Indeed Osiris himself in the Pyramid Texts at Saqqara is called the 'Great Green' and often appears green skinned as a symbol of 'resurrection and life'. The battle between Osiris and Set seems all the more familiar now in the struggle that ensues between Robin and his archrival the Sheriff of Nottingham. Osiris becomes Horus when resurrected and we find that it is Horus who is protected by the Wadjet snake - the green snake.
The fact remains that Christianity was stomping all over old pagan beliefs, rewriting tales that had existed for hundreds of years. But, as the Christians were destroying cultural history, there were those who defended it. The Masons of the period in which Robin Hood grew to popularity were hiding their symbols and pagan ideas in the framework and masonry of Churches across Europe. Green Men sprang up in every sacred Christian place. Strange characters seen hiding in foliage, peeping out like messengers from the past.
These peculiar and somewhat disturbing images to modern eyes are none other than the characters from the pagan past - gods and deities like Herne the 'Horned God' and many other images of Mother Goddesses. The truth to the past of man's religious upbringing can still be seen in the stonework of Christian churches and Cathedrals, in places like Rosslyn Chapel and Lichfield Cathedral. But not just in the stone. We must also look to the legends, for as we can see the tales of Robin Hood are not only linked to the ancient past they are also linked inextricably to the tales of Arthur and his search for the Holy Grail with instances like those of the knight Gawain decapitating the Green Giant and mysterious images of a Green Knight. It is seen clearly in the fact that the 'plays' of old, enacted by local people and paraded through streets, have changed titles across time and location. From the St. George (also associated with Osiris and who was popularised by the Knights Templar) play to the Robin Hood and Green Jack, from Wildman to Green George. The basic story is the same, but the names change. Our past has been hidden; our Gnostic heritage is untold; our birthrights stolen by a jealous Church.
About the author: Philip Gardiner is the Author of The Serpent Grail: The Truth Behind the Holy Grail, Elixir of Life and Philosopher's Stone. Also The Shining Ones: The World's Most Powerful Secret Society Revealed, and the forthcoming Gnosis: The Secret of Solomon's Temple Revealed. He is a researcher, historian and propaganda expert based in the UK.
Source: http://medievalwarfare.net/621878-The-Secret-History-of-King-Arthur-and-Robin-Hood.html
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
How Genghis Khan Has Changed the World
By Paul D. Buell
Center for East Asian Studies, Western Washington University
Steppe empires, some of which had embraced considerable territory and had exerted a profound influence, had come and gone by the early thirteenth century when the Mongols first appeared. None of them has had the impact of the Mongol Empire which followed; the largest steppe empire in history. Its borders stretched from the Gulf of Bohai into Russia, from southern Siberia into Tibet and the Middle East. It was also easily the most influential, marking the true beginning of global history. The Mongols made communication within Eurasia possible in ways never dreamed of before. Although contacts were momentarily lost in the 14th century with the gradual disappearance of the Mongol world order, they were resumed at European initiative after 1498. Vasco da Gama finished what Genghis Khan had started, and our globalized age is the result.
Empire
When Genghis Khan died in 1227 his empire was vast but still growing. During the next 32 years his successors continued to develop the founder‟s behest. They expanded the empire physically and refined its organization. In the process, they produced a remarkable imperial structure that grafted the best that East and West had to offer onto a Mongol foundation (Buell 1977; Buell 2003a). Simultaneously, with political restructuring, the Mongols also engendered a common imperial culture. This culture gradually seized the imagination of much of the Old World. Subject peoples and many located far beyond Mongolian frontiers rushed to imitate the Mongol elite. They did so in everything from using bows to play musical instruments (de Rachewiltz 2007), to clothing styles and food (Buell, Anderson and Perry 2000). Encouraging such development was an unprecedented exchange of people from many different cultures. The Mongols recruited from one end of Eurasia to the other. Thus Khwarazmians from Central Asia served in China and Khitan, from north China, in Bukhara (Buell 1977; Buell 1979). Tibetans and Chinese went to Iran (Allsen 2001; Buell Islam and Tibet forthcoming). A Parisian goldsmith designed the great tree of life dispensing liquor to imperial guests in Kharakhorum, the Mongol capital (Buell, Anderson and Perry 2000: 32-4). Chinese and Muslim doctors saw to the ruler‟s heath (Buell Asian Medicine, Tradition and Modernity forthcoming). The Mongols also moved groups as well as individuals. The khan‟s guard, for example, included troops from almost everywhere; even a force of Russian knights (Hsiao 1978).
To support their new life style as world conquerors, the Mongols also encouraged a free exchange of goods. In part they did using their unexampled postal system, the jam, which stretched from one end of their empire to the other and allowed goods and information to move more quickly than ever before. They even actively participated in long distance trade themselves, in collaboration with merchants (Allsen 1989). Mongol rulers and princes wore the most beautiful cloths available, imported from anywhere in their empire (Allsen 1997). They used the best available medicines and spices, even extremely rare ones such as African grains-of-paradise, a rare cardamom (Buell, Anderson and Perry 2000). As warriors, they drew upon the best that the Old World had to offer in military technology: Chinese technology was used in Iran and Middle Eastern in China (May 2007; Nicolle 1990). They created an innovative coinage and economic system to support it (Kolbas 2006). Few areas escaped their attention and little was left unchanged.
Successor States
Although the former world empire of the Mongols fell apart into four competing khanates after 1260, the patterns of the unified empire continued and intensified (Buell 1977; Buell 2003a). In the east was Mongol China (Yuan Dynasty 1260-1368) under Khubilai (r. 1260-1294), the brother and would-be successor of khan Möngke (r. 1251-59) (Rossabi 1988; Buell 2003a). This was to Europeans the Realm of the Great Khan: it was the most powerful and sophisticated of the successor states. In the far west was the Golden Horde under the descendents of Jochi, oldest son of Genghis Khan, dominating Russia and western Siberia. If Mongol China was the most sophisticated part of the old Mongol world order, the Golden Horde, largely steppe based, was the least (Buell 2003a). This may have been an advantage. It lasted the longest of all.
In the center of the Mongol world was the Khanate of Chaghadai, under his descendents. It controlled the rich oasis cities of Turkistan and surrounding steppe areas. Finally, in Iran and Iraq was the Ilkhanate, ruled by Hülegü, younger brother and ally of Khubilai and his house. A fifth qanate, in Siberia, was controlled by the rebel Khaidu, attempting to assert the prerogatives of the deposed house of Ögödei (r. 1227-1241) and his son Güyük (r. 1246-48). For many years Khaidu effectively controlled the Khanate of Chaghadai.
Except for a brief period of agreement of the warring parties in the early 14th century, conflict was the rule rather than the exception (Buell 2003a). Nonetheless, what was most remarkable about the post-imperial make-up of the Mongol world was a remarkable degree of continuity with the past. Cultural exchange continued on a broad scale and even gathered momentum; the successor khanates in many ways enjoyed a common elite culture even if disunited.
Porcelain
To support a predominantly liquid diet required special preparations. Among them was the introduction of a new type of pottery. This was porcelain, which reached far beyond where the Mongols touched directly. Although the term is often applied to late Chinese pottery in general, porcelain is a more specialized product. It is produced by using special clay combinations and fired at an extremely high temperature. The final product is finely glazed, strong but light, and relatively dense and nonporous. As such it was ideally suited to the liquid diet of the Mongols. Porcelain dishes do not absorb liquids placed in them, hold hot liquids with ease, and are easy to wash and thus relatively sanitary (Carswell 2000).
The Mongols began using porcelain dishes almost immediately, including perhaps the favorite blue dish of the Ong Khan, Genghis Khan‟s steppe rival (de Rachewiltz 2006: I, 644-45). At first these were trade goods. Later, with the conquest of more and more of China, culminating in the complete incorporation of the south in 1279, Mongol China controlled the major sources of production. These it used to meet its own needs and export. At first this involved a land trade but later most porcelain moved by sea (Carswell 2000). In any case, a huge trade was involved as the porcelain craze took in much of the Old World and even went overseas after 1492, to colonial Latin America.
The Mongols at first used Chinese porcelain in the relatively subdued colors it came in and with Chinese decorations. They soon added their own touches. This included painting dishes prepared for them and for export with a cobalt blue underglaze, resulting in an even more stunning appears. In this case, blue almost certainly represents the Mongols themselves, the favorites of Blue Heaven, the supreme spirit (Buell 2002). The Mongols also had their potters introduce new shapes to accord with their particular needs, including their cuisine. They ordered pots with Islamic decoration, and styled after Western vessels. This helped Mongol China‟s exports (Carswell 2000).
The use of essentially Islamic decorations on Chinese pots points up the importance of the artistic exchanges taking place during the Mongol era. Islamic designs and colors came to China, and Chinese painting and Chinese painting techniques moved west. In the Europe the most notable change in Mongol era art was the gradual disappearance of a simple solid gold background in early Renaissance painting and the appearance of Chinese style landscapes. The same thing was happening in Iranian art where miniature painting shows the obvious influence of Chinese views of landscape (Komaroff and Carboni 2002). An increasing standardization of what was being produced also suggests knowledge of Chinese printed books and imitation of their contents. These offered standardized versions of texts and even art. In the West, the idea seems to have first developed in Mongol Iran. There appeared standard editions of the Iranian national epic, the Shahname, a tradition carried on under the Tamerlane and his descendents in Turkistan (Lentz and Lowry, 1989). A possible European connection may be found in the nearly contemporary standard books produced by Christine de Pisan (1364-1441), doubling as publisher as well as poet (Buell, 2001).
Medicine
Closely associated with the dietary revolution of the Mongol era was an exchange of medical ideas. This was part of a process by which virtually a single medical tradition was created throughout Eurasia. Prior to the Mongols, the most important medical tradition was so-called Arabic medicine. This was basically Greek and Syrian, but the basic texts were translated into Arabic starting in the 9th century. It was through the Arabic language that the medical classics of the tradition, by Galen, Hippocrates, Paul of Aegina and others, including some original Persian and Arabic writers, spread throughout the Islamic world (Ullmann, 1978; Pormann and Savage-Smith, 2007). And they even went beyond, back into Europe where translations from the Arabic became the basis of medical education (Kristeller, 1982). This was before the European rediscovery of the most important Greek texts in their original language.
The Mongols had their own medicine, but began using the medicines of others as soon as expansion began. Mongol medicine emphasized a limited intake of herbs and the consumption of specific parts of animals to treat specific conditions. They also had methods for wound treatment and bone repair (Buell, Anderson and Perry 2000; Buell Silk Road forthcoming); but none of their practices was as sophisticated or as developed as the medicines of the world outside Mongolia, with their rich written traditions, well-thought-out theories, and thousands of herbs and many other forms of treatment. Thus Chinese medicine was used at imperial court at an early date, along with Tibetan, another rich and original tradition, practiced by missionaries and envoys from Tibet going to Mongolia (Buell Islam and Tibet forthcoming). And through the court these medicines spread throughout the Mongol world, including to Mongol Iran where at least one Chinese manual, on pulse lore, was translated for local consumption (Buell Asian Medicine, Tradition and Modernity forthcoming).
Nonetheless, despite Mongol exposure to Chinese and Tibetan medicine, it was Arabic medicine that ultimately became the preferred medicine of the elite, including in Mongol China. There the Mongols attempted to introduce it on a broad scale. They did so by promoting a vast translation effort to make available the medical lore and specific treatments of Arabic medicine in China. This effort included the compilation of a huge encyclopedia, more than 3500 dense manuscript pages, of which major fragments still survive, now called Huihui yaofang回回藥方, “Muslim Medicinal Recipes.” This is the only text in the Chinese tradition to actually quote Galen and other Western authorities by name and was important enough for a new edition be made during the Ming明period. The present fragments derive from it. This text typically shows not a pure Arabic medicine but a carefully reworked Arabic medicine that uses many of the terms and categories of Chinese medicine (Buell Asian Medicine, Tradition and Modernity forthcoming; Buell Silk Road forthcoming). It also shows Tibetan influence, in the humoral system, for example. Tibet at the time had its own Western medical traditions as well as Indian and even Central Asian (Garrett 2007; Buell Islam and Tibet forthcoming). As result of Mongol patronage, the medical systems of much of Eurasia, as well as Europe, were at the same place. The same texts were studied from one end of the Old World to the other. The Mongols thereby promoted a cosmopolitan Eurasian tradition of medicine as they attempted to create a system in which all the major traditions of medicine in Eurasia were integrated.
Other Sciences
The Mongols encouraged exchanges of ideas and synthesis in many other areas, to create new modified systems. One was astronomy. Islamic astronomers went to China, and Chinese to Iran and elsewhere (Dalen 2002; Allsen 2001). Geographical knowledge spread resulting in advanced Chinese awareness of the entire world, even Africa, and the best and most accurate maps in existence (Fuchs 1946). Part of the spread of better geographical knowledge was that people travelled more widely. Marco Polo is the most famous example, but during the same period the first East Asians travelled all the way to Europe (Rossabi 1992).
A typical production is a calendar now in a Russian collection. It begins its dating system in 1206, the date of the formal establishment of Genghis Khan. It is written in Persian and in Chinese. The Persian is written using a Chinese brush and shows the influence of Chinese calligraphy. The paper also appears to be Chinese. The same sort of calendar was in use elsewhere and shows a concerted Mongol effort to create one universal era (Dalen 2002). Also typical of the times are coins with Chinese, Mongolian, and Persian inscriptions, informing us in these languages that all are “real” money, legal tender. They were issued as part of a uniquely Mongolian coinage system, another effort to unify and synthesize. The Mongols in Iran also attempted, unsuccessfully, to introduce Chinese-style paper money at the end of the thirteenth century; it was the first effort to print documents there (Kolbas, 2006). In the end, is it so surprising that Jerome of Prague, in a lost Italian wall painting, is shown reading a „Phags-pa text, written in the script that Khubilai had invented to write all of the world‟s languages (Mack 2002: 52)?
After the Mongols
Although, except in Russia, the successor states of the Mongolian Empire vanished in the 14th century, the effects of Mongolian imperial unity and of the common cultural elements of the successor states lingered. One of the most important legacies of the Mongol age was the modern nation states that grew up out of the ruins of the former khanates. There had been no unified China for four hundred years. The Mongols created one country out of what had once been three states in the 13th century. Except for brief periods of weakness, there has been no disunified China since. The reunification that the Mongols accomplished in 1279 has persisted. Also persisting has been China‟s province system, a Mongol-era innovation, with Beijing, the former winter capital of Mongol China, with its forbidden city, first appearing under the Mongols, at its head (Buell, 1977).
Russia is also fundamentally a creation of the Mongols. The political system adopted by Muscovy clearly mimicked the structure of the Golden Horde and the new Russia achieved its centralization thanks to a Mongol destruction of an older decentralized order, Kievian Russia. In a way, the former Soviet Union was the ultimate successor khanate, with its orbit of provinces, secondary states, surrounding a Mongolian-style imperial center (Buell, 1977).
Iran too felt the impact of the Mongols. In the six centuries before the Mongols, Arabic culture had dominated the Middle East. After the Mongols a revitalized Iran reassumed a key role for the first time since the 7th century. The structure of post-Mongol Iran also had many Mongolian features, including much of its governmental and economic system. The Mongol also helped restore the Shahname as the Iranian national epic, and helped introduce Shism that ultimately became paramount.
No nation state as such emerged in Turkistan, but Tamelane, who claimed descent from Genghis Khan through his wife, did create his own khanate. It resulted in the last golden age of the region, and if Tamerlane was not a Mongol, except by marriage, he used Mongol methods in government. He and his successors also fully exploited the Mongol cultural heritage, including an architecture that emphasized porcelain tiles, many of them the classic blue (Lentz and Lowry 1989). Much of the achievement of Tamerlane has persisted right down to the present, permanently influencing the cultures and politics of Turkistan.
States then carried on the Mongol tradition as such in general terms. But they also did so in more specific terms as well. Ming China, for example, maintained a great interest in the Mongolian language and in Mongolian documents, including the Secret History (Rachewiltz 2006). Its most important version is a Ming reworking. The Ming also studied the Chinese documents of the Mongols, including Mongol China‟s material on Islamic medicine (Buell Asian Medicine, Tradition and Modernity forthcoming). Most important of all, Ming China for many years continued the overseas explorations started by the Mongols. Mongol China was the first dynasty in Chinese history able to maintain an effective sea power capable of operating long range. Although not successfully, the Mongols invaded Japan twice, Vietnam once, and Java once, all using huge fleets comprised of ships very large by the standards of the time and technologically superior. The Mongols in China also moved massive amounts of grain by sea for the first time in Chinese history. They used their maritime power to maintain an association with Mongol Iran, after the land routes were cut by civil wars. The Ming Zhenghe 鄭和voyages that are so celebrated today simply continued what the Mongols had begun (Deng 1999). They even continued the Mongol practice of mounting cannon and other heavy gunpowder weapons on ships to achieve a complete superiority over any enemies. We now know, for example, that hurled exploding bombs were a feature of the Mongol invasions of Japan (Delgado 2003), and examples of hand guns and cannon survive from Mongol China that are earlier than any others found anywhere in the world.
Not only China, but other parts of East Asia were profoundly influenced by the presence of the Mongols there. For Korea, physically occupied, its Mongol connection was one of the great watersheds in its history. Unlike Japan, where the military class went on to become dominant, Korea‟s equivalent of the Samurai class was destroyed resisting the Mongols. Post-Mongol Korea is the story of Confucian factions struggling for power in a highly unified country, far more unified than at any other time in its history, and not of the rise of regional military barons (Henthorn 1963). The Koreans also took over substantial parts of Mongol-era court culture, including foods, its national costume, fashioned after the Mongol robe, the deel, and even the idea of its syllabary. This was created in clear imitation of the international „Phags-pa script of Mongol China Japan, by contrast, was never conquered. Nonetheless, the myth of the Divine Wind or kamikaze, the great hurricane sent by heaven that destroyed the second Mongol invasion fleet, became a national obsession. This was so even if the second great Kamikaze, of 1945, failed to save Japan, and the myth of Japanese invincibility was shattered once and for all. Vietnam too, invaded but not conquered by the Mongols, was profoundly affected by its three Mongol invasions. They played a key role in the birth of the idea of a Vietnamese nation, out of a time of national disunity and weakness (Yu 2006). Tibet too emerged changed from contact with the Mongols who patronized one dominant religious house over all the others in place of the old anarchy. This method of governance persisted until the recent past.
Farther afield, also in many ways a product of Mongol times and Mongol influence was the Ottoman Empire. It drew heavily upon the Mongol Ilqanate of Iran, which had dominated their predecessors the Seljuqs, for inspiration (Uzunçarşılı 1970).
Europe was threatened but never directly conquered by the Mongols. It never forgot its experiences with them. Fear of the Mongols amplified ancestral fears of invasion from the steppe going back to the Huns and before (Weiers 2006). At the same time, European experience with the Mongols involved it for the first time with a larger Eurasian world almost without boundaries.
At one level, Europe emerged from relative seclusion thanks to the Mongols. Europeans became part of a great internationalization encouraged by the Mongols. At the same time, Europe took full advantage of the technological and other achievements of the Mongol world to move from backwardness to a position of ultimate superiority. Although the mechanisms of transfer and the time sequence are unclear, printing and gunpowder must have come with the Mongols, to mention just two of the new technologies of the period that had such a great impact. Also coming with the Mongols was a new attitude towards international commerce and the role that Europe was to play in it (Phillips 1988).
East Asia moved on to a new era with the end of direct or indirect Mongol influence. This new era continued traditional patterns of culture and society. The Zhenghe voyages ended in the 15th century. China never again maintain naval forces of such a magnitude nor was exploration of distant areas ever as remotely important. This was not true for Europe. Just at the time that China stopped exploring, Europe stepped up its search for the Realm of the Great Khan. The aim was to restore lost commercial and other contacts. By then, Europe had become a radically different society thanks to the impact of the Black Death, another Mongol gift. It decimated the European establishment and forced change (Bennedictow 2004). East Asia was spared and went on much as it had before.
European merchants and missionaries had moved freely in the Mongolian world well into the 14th century (Phillips, 1988). It was only with the fall of most of the Mongolian successor states that contacts ceased, and even then, not entirely. Genoa, for example, seems to have made a concerted effort to stay in contact with the east, although most of the contact was kept secret. But Europe kept trying, driven on by the most famous travelogue of all time, the Travels of Marco Polo, dictated by Polo to a writer of Romances. Polo, a Venetian, told of the wonders of Asia, of the court of the Great Khan of China in particular. He did so in a way that Europeans found fascinating, and they never forgot what they read in one of the most translated and most widely disseminated books in European history, second perhaps in importance only to the Bible.
What kept the Europeans away was technology, but local development, and technological transfers before and after the Mongols soon brought them up to the level of China. Two of the critical innovations were the stern-post rudder and the compass. Later Europeans introduced fore and after rigging, already common in East Asia, and making their ships far more efficient in tacking against the wind than ever before. At first they sailed in small open caravels, then larger and larger fully decked ships. In 1498 the Portuguese finally found a new way to reach the fabled east, around Africa. In so doing they avoided a land route that had been highly disturbed. By the early 16th century they were in China, although the first Portuguese arrival came in a Chinese junk. Not long after, other Portuguese discovered a land never visited by Marco Polo, but mentioned in his Travels and thus familiar to Europeans: Japan (Buell 1990). Across the Atlantic, Columbus set out with his own copy of Marco Polo, it is said, and thought he had reached India with the Realm of the Great Khan just beyond. The search across the Atlantic went on well into the 16th century before it was clear that something intervened between Europe and China. By that time the Spanish too had established their own direct contacts with the fabled east via the Manila Galleon, sailing across the broad Pacific Ocean.
As the 16th century ended and the 17th began, Europe gradually reestablished the globalized connections of the old Mongol era, although this time by sea and not primarily overland. They had found the Realm of the Great Khan and become great khans themselves. Appropriately, some of the very same products playing such important roles in Mongol times played a role in the new trade too. This included blue and white porcelain, a product that more than any other was a symbol of the time. Although first appearing in Europe in the early 14th century, in Bulgaria (John Carswell personal communication to the author 2005), it was in the 16th and 17th centuries that porcelain took Europe by storm; the first world art craze resulted.
Taking place along with the physical expansion of Europe to restore the world to what it once had been, was an expansion of knowledge. This included the first evaluation of Asian sources dealing with the Mongols and their empire, once the Realm of the Great Khan so longed for by Europeans. By the 17th century, Europeans knew full well that there was no Realm of the Great Khan in Asia, that the Mongols were over and done with. Nonetheless, they remained fascinated with them, and with the figure of Genghis Khan, considered the great despot and bloody barbarian, an individual scarcely human and driven only by his passions. Only gradually, as scholarship improved, did this image change. Among the first to adopt a more balanced picture was the British historian Edward Gibbon, who emphasized a social interpretation for the rise of Genghis Khan and attributed skill to his empire building. The picture further improved with the publication and translation of Rashid al-Dĩn and other Persian historians of the Mongol era for a European audience. Gradually the first Mongolian sources became available, culminating between the late 19th and mid-20th century in the recovery and translation of the Secret History of the Mongols, providing the Mongol side of the story (Buell, 2003a, 2003b).
Now the pendulum has swung entirely the other way: the Mongol age is now considered a critical period in world history and the Mongol conquerors the creators of the first globalization, and thus the inventors of the modern world. This is the view presented by Jack Weatherford in his Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, an extremely popular book. Weatherford, in the view of some, goes too far, but on-going research keeps discovering more and more about the cultural exchanges of the Mongol era. Weatherford may in the end have understated what really took place. Weatherford is right in any case. Despite the importance of the exchanges and events before Genghiz Khan, his conquests truly marked the beginning of our world. History might have been entirely different without him. We might be entirely different without him.
Source: http://www.mongolianculture.com/How%20Genghis%20Khan%20Has.pdf
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Center for East Asian Studies, Western Washington University
Steppe empires, some of which had embraced considerable territory and had exerted a profound influence, had come and gone by the early thirteenth century when the Mongols first appeared. None of them has had the impact of the Mongol Empire which followed; the largest steppe empire in history. Its borders stretched from the Gulf of Bohai into Russia, from southern Siberia into Tibet and the Middle East. It was also easily the most influential, marking the true beginning of global history. The Mongols made communication within Eurasia possible in ways never dreamed of before. Although contacts were momentarily lost in the 14th century with the gradual disappearance of the Mongol world order, they were resumed at European initiative after 1498. Vasco da Gama finished what Genghis Khan had started, and our globalized age is the result.
Empire
When Genghis Khan died in 1227 his empire was vast but still growing. During the next 32 years his successors continued to develop the founder‟s behest. They expanded the empire physically and refined its organization. In the process, they produced a remarkable imperial structure that grafted the best that East and West had to offer onto a Mongol foundation (Buell 1977; Buell 2003a). Simultaneously, with political restructuring, the Mongols also engendered a common imperial culture. This culture gradually seized the imagination of much of the Old World. Subject peoples and many located far beyond Mongolian frontiers rushed to imitate the Mongol elite. They did so in everything from using bows to play musical instruments (de Rachewiltz 2007), to clothing styles and food (Buell, Anderson and Perry 2000). Encouraging such development was an unprecedented exchange of people from many different cultures. The Mongols recruited from one end of Eurasia to the other. Thus Khwarazmians from Central Asia served in China and Khitan, from north China, in Bukhara (Buell 1977; Buell 1979). Tibetans and Chinese went to Iran (Allsen 2001; Buell Islam and Tibet forthcoming). A Parisian goldsmith designed the great tree of life dispensing liquor to imperial guests in Kharakhorum, the Mongol capital (Buell, Anderson and Perry 2000: 32-4). Chinese and Muslim doctors saw to the ruler‟s heath (Buell Asian Medicine, Tradition and Modernity forthcoming). The Mongols also moved groups as well as individuals. The khan‟s guard, for example, included troops from almost everywhere; even a force of Russian knights (Hsiao 1978).
To support their new life style as world conquerors, the Mongols also encouraged a free exchange of goods. In part they did using their unexampled postal system, the jam, which stretched from one end of their empire to the other and allowed goods and information to move more quickly than ever before. They even actively participated in long distance trade themselves, in collaboration with merchants (Allsen 1989). Mongol rulers and princes wore the most beautiful cloths available, imported from anywhere in their empire (Allsen 1997). They used the best available medicines and spices, even extremely rare ones such as African grains-of-paradise, a rare cardamom (Buell, Anderson and Perry 2000). As warriors, they drew upon the best that the Old World had to offer in military technology: Chinese technology was used in Iran and Middle Eastern in China (May 2007; Nicolle 1990). They created an innovative coinage and economic system to support it (Kolbas 2006). Few areas escaped their attention and little was left unchanged.
Successor States
Although the former world empire of the Mongols fell apart into four competing khanates after 1260, the patterns of the unified empire continued and intensified (Buell 1977; Buell 2003a). In the east was Mongol China (Yuan Dynasty 1260-1368) under Khubilai (r. 1260-1294), the brother and would-be successor of khan Möngke (r. 1251-59) (Rossabi 1988; Buell 2003a). This was to Europeans the Realm of the Great Khan: it was the most powerful and sophisticated of the successor states. In the far west was the Golden Horde under the descendents of Jochi, oldest son of Genghis Khan, dominating Russia and western Siberia. If Mongol China was the most sophisticated part of the old Mongol world order, the Golden Horde, largely steppe based, was the least (Buell 2003a). This may have been an advantage. It lasted the longest of all.
In the center of the Mongol world was the Khanate of Chaghadai, under his descendents. It controlled the rich oasis cities of Turkistan and surrounding steppe areas. Finally, in Iran and Iraq was the Ilkhanate, ruled by Hülegü, younger brother and ally of Khubilai and his house. A fifth qanate, in Siberia, was controlled by the rebel Khaidu, attempting to assert the prerogatives of the deposed house of Ögödei (r. 1227-1241) and his son Güyük (r. 1246-48). For many years Khaidu effectively controlled the Khanate of Chaghadai.
Except for a brief period of agreement of the warring parties in the early 14th century, conflict was the rule rather than the exception (Buell 2003a). Nonetheless, what was most remarkable about the post-imperial make-up of the Mongol world was a remarkable degree of continuity with the past. Cultural exchange continued on a broad scale and even gathered momentum; the successor khanates in many ways enjoyed a common elite culture even if disunited.
Porcelain
To support a predominantly liquid diet required special preparations. Among them was the introduction of a new type of pottery. This was porcelain, which reached far beyond where the Mongols touched directly. Although the term is often applied to late Chinese pottery in general, porcelain is a more specialized product. It is produced by using special clay combinations and fired at an extremely high temperature. The final product is finely glazed, strong but light, and relatively dense and nonporous. As such it was ideally suited to the liquid diet of the Mongols. Porcelain dishes do not absorb liquids placed in them, hold hot liquids with ease, and are easy to wash and thus relatively sanitary (Carswell 2000).
The Mongols began using porcelain dishes almost immediately, including perhaps the favorite blue dish of the Ong Khan, Genghis Khan‟s steppe rival (de Rachewiltz 2006: I, 644-45). At first these were trade goods. Later, with the conquest of more and more of China, culminating in the complete incorporation of the south in 1279, Mongol China controlled the major sources of production. These it used to meet its own needs and export. At first this involved a land trade but later most porcelain moved by sea (Carswell 2000). In any case, a huge trade was involved as the porcelain craze took in much of the Old World and even went overseas after 1492, to colonial Latin America.
The Mongols at first used Chinese porcelain in the relatively subdued colors it came in and with Chinese decorations. They soon added their own touches. This included painting dishes prepared for them and for export with a cobalt blue underglaze, resulting in an even more stunning appears. In this case, blue almost certainly represents the Mongols themselves, the favorites of Blue Heaven, the supreme spirit (Buell 2002). The Mongols also had their potters introduce new shapes to accord with their particular needs, including their cuisine. They ordered pots with Islamic decoration, and styled after Western vessels. This helped Mongol China‟s exports (Carswell 2000).
The use of essentially Islamic decorations on Chinese pots points up the importance of the artistic exchanges taking place during the Mongol era. Islamic designs and colors came to China, and Chinese painting and Chinese painting techniques moved west. In the Europe the most notable change in Mongol era art was the gradual disappearance of a simple solid gold background in early Renaissance painting and the appearance of Chinese style landscapes. The same thing was happening in Iranian art where miniature painting shows the obvious influence of Chinese views of landscape (Komaroff and Carboni 2002). An increasing standardization of what was being produced also suggests knowledge of Chinese printed books and imitation of their contents. These offered standardized versions of texts and even art. In the West, the idea seems to have first developed in Mongol Iran. There appeared standard editions of the Iranian national epic, the Shahname, a tradition carried on under the Tamerlane and his descendents in Turkistan (Lentz and Lowry, 1989). A possible European connection may be found in the nearly contemporary standard books produced by Christine de Pisan (1364-1441), doubling as publisher as well as poet (Buell, 2001).
Medicine
Closely associated with the dietary revolution of the Mongol era was an exchange of medical ideas. This was part of a process by which virtually a single medical tradition was created throughout Eurasia. Prior to the Mongols, the most important medical tradition was so-called Arabic medicine. This was basically Greek and Syrian, but the basic texts were translated into Arabic starting in the 9th century. It was through the Arabic language that the medical classics of the tradition, by Galen, Hippocrates, Paul of Aegina and others, including some original Persian and Arabic writers, spread throughout the Islamic world (Ullmann, 1978; Pormann and Savage-Smith, 2007). And they even went beyond, back into Europe where translations from the Arabic became the basis of medical education (Kristeller, 1982). This was before the European rediscovery of the most important Greek texts in their original language.
The Mongols had their own medicine, but began using the medicines of others as soon as expansion began. Mongol medicine emphasized a limited intake of herbs and the consumption of specific parts of animals to treat specific conditions. They also had methods for wound treatment and bone repair (Buell, Anderson and Perry 2000; Buell Silk Road forthcoming); but none of their practices was as sophisticated or as developed as the medicines of the world outside Mongolia, with their rich written traditions, well-thought-out theories, and thousands of herbs and many other forms of treatment. Thus Chinese medicine was used at imperial court at an early date, along with Tibetan, another rich and original tradition, practiced by missionaries and envoys from Tibet going to Mongolia (Buell Islam and Tibet forthcoming). And through the court these medicines spread throughout the Mongol world, including to Mongol Iran where at least one Chinese manual, on pulse lore, was translated for local consumption (Buell Asian Medicine, Tradition and Modernity forthcoming).
Nonetheless, despite Mongol exposure to Chinese and Tibetan medicine, it was Arabic medicine that ultimately became the preferred medicine of the elite, including in Mongol China. There the Mongols attempted to introduce it on a broad scale. They did so by promoting a vast translation effort to make available the medical lore and specific treatments of Arabic medicine in China. This effort included the compilation of a huge encyclopedia, more than 3500 dense manuscript pages, of which major fragments still survive, now called Huihui yaofang回回藥方, “Muslim Medicinal Recipes.” This is the only text in the Chinese tradition to actually quote Galen and other Western authorities by name and was important enough for a new edition be made during the Ming明period. The present fragments derive from it. This text typically shows not a pure Arabic medicine but a carefully reworked Arabic medicine that uses many of the terms and categories of Chinese medicine (Buell Asian Medicine, Tradition and Modernity forthcoming; Buell Silk Road forthcoming). It also shows Tibetan influence, in the humoral system, for example. Tibet at the time had its own Western medical traditions as well as Indian and even Central Asian (Garrett 2007; Buell Islam and Tibet forthcoming). As result of Mongol patronage, the medical systems of much of Eurasia, as well as Europe, were at the same place. The same texts were studied from one end of the Old World to the other. The Mongols thereby promoted a cosmopolitan Eurasian tradition of medicine as they attempted to create a system in which all the major traditions of medicine in Eurasia were integrated.
Other Sciences
The Mongols encouraged exchanges of ideas and synthesis in many other areas, to create new modified systems. One was astronomy. Islamic astronomers went to China, and Chinese to Iran and elsewhere (Dalen 2002; Allsen 2001). Geographical knowledge spread resulting in advanced Chinese awareness of the entire world, even Africa, and the best and most accurate maps in existence (Fuchs 1946). Part of the spread of better geographical knowledge was that people travelled more widely. Marco Polo is the most famous example, but during the same period the first East Asians travelled all the way to Europe (Rossabi 1992).
A typical production is a calendar now in a Russian collection. It begins its dating system in 1206, the date of the formal establishment of Genghis Khan. It is written in Persian and in Chinese. The Persian is written using a Chinese brush and shows the influence of Chinese calligraphy. The paper also appears to be Chinese. The same sort of calendar was in use elsewhere and shows a concerted Mongol effort to create one universal era (Dalen 2002). Also typical of the times are coins with Chinese, Mongolian, and Persian inscriptions, informing us in these languages that all are “real” money, legal tender. They were issued as part of a uniquely Mongolian coinage system, another effort to unify and synthesize. The Mongols in Iran also attempted, unsuccessfully, to introduce Chinese-style paper money at the end of the thirteenth century; it was the first effort to print documents there (Kolbas, 2006). In the end, is it so surprising that Jerome of Prague, in a lost Italian wall painting, is shown reading a „Phags-pa text, written in the script that Khubilai had invented to write all of the world‟s languages (Mack 2002: 52)?
After the Mongols
Although, except in Russia, the successor states of the Mongolian Empire vanished in the 14th century, the effects of Mongolian imperial unity and of the common cultural elements of the successor states lingered. One of the most important legacies of the Mongol age was the modern nation states that grew up out of the ruins of the former khanates. There had been no unified China for four hundred years. The Mongols created one country out of what had once been three states in the 13th century. Except for brief periods of weakness, there has been no disunified China since. The reunification that the Mongols accomplished in 1279 has persisted. Also persisting has been China‟s province system, a Mongol-era innovation, with Beijing, the former winter capital of Mongol China, with its forbidden city, first appearing under the Mongols, at its head (Buell, 1977).
Russia is also fundamentally a creation of the Mongols. The political system adopted by Muscovy clearly mimicked the structure of the Golden Horde and the new Russia achieved its centralization thanks to a Mongol destruction of an older decentralized order, Kievian Russia. In a way, the former Soviet Union was the ultimate successor khanate, with its orbit of provinces, secondary states, surrounding a Mongolian-style imperial center (Buell, 1977).
Iran too felt the impact of the Mongols. In the six centuries before the Mongols, Arabic culture had dominated the Middle East. After the Mongols a revitalized Iran reassumed a key role for the first time since the 7th century. The structure of post-Mongol Iran also had many Mongolian features, including much of its governmental and economic system. The Mongol also helped restore the Shahname as the Iranian national epic, and helped introduce Shism that ultimately became paramount.
No nation state as such emerged in Turkistan, but Tamelane, who claimed descent from Genghis Khan through his wife, did create his own khanate. It resulted in the last golden age of the region, and if Tamerlane was not a Mongol, except by marriage, he used Mongol methods in government. He and his successors also fully exploited the Mongol cultural heritage, including an architecture that emphasized porcelain tiles, many of them the classic blue (Lentz and Lowry 1989). Much of the achievement of Tamerlane has persisted right down to the present, permanently influencing the cultures and politics of Turkistan.
States then carried on the Mongol tradition as such in general terms. But they also did so in more specific terms as well. Ming China, for example, maintained a great interest in the Mongolian language and in Mongolian documents, including the Secret History (Rachewiltz 2006). Its most important version is a Ming reworking. The Ming also studied the Chinese documents of the Mongols, including Mongol China‟s material on Islamic medicine (Buell Asian Medicine, Tradition and Modernity forthcoming). Most important of all, Ming China for many years continued the overseas explorations started by the Mongols. Mongol China was the first dynasty in Chinese history able to maintain an effective sea power capable of operating long range. Although not successfully, the Mongols invaded Japan twice, Vietnam once, and Java once, all using huge fleets comprised of ships very large by the standards of the time and technologically superior. The Mongols in China also moved massive amounts of grain by sea for the first time in Chinese history. They used their maritime power to maintain an association with Mongol Iran, after the land routes were cut by civil wars. The Ming Zhenghe 鄭和voyages that are so celebrated today simply continued what the Mongols had begun (Deng 1999). They even continued the Mongol practice of mounting cannon and other heavy gunpowder weapons on ships to achieve a complete superiority over any enemies. We now know, for example, that hurled exploding bombs were a feature of the Mongol invasions of Japan (Delgado 2003), and examples of hand guns and cannon survive from Mongol China that are earlier than any others found anywhere in the world.
Not only China, but other parts of East Asia were profoundly influenced by the presence of the Mongols there. For Korea, physically occupied, its Mongol connection was one of the great watersheds in its history. Unlike Japan, where the military class went on to become dominant, Korea‟s equivalent of the Samurai class was destroyed resisting the Mongols. Post-Mongol Korea is the story of Confucian factions struggling for power in a highly unified country, far more unified than at any other time in its history, and not of the rise of regional military barons (Henthorn 1963). The Koreans also took over substantial parts of Mongol-era court culture, including foods, its national costume, fashioned after the Mongol robe, the deel, and even the idea of its syllabary. This was created in clear imitation of the international „Phags-pa script of Mongol China Japan, by contrast, was never conquered. Nonetheless, the myth of the Divine Wind or kamikaze, the great hurricane sent by heaven that destroyed the second Mongol invasion fleet, became a national obsession. This was so even if the second great Kamikaze, of 1945, failed to save Japan, and the myth of Japanese invincibility was shattered once and for all. Vietnam too, invaded but not conquered by the Mongols, was profoundly affected by its three Mongol invasions. They played a key role in the birth of the idea of a Vietnamese nation, out of a time of national disunity and weakness (Yu 2006). Tibet too emerged changed from contact with the Mongols who patronized one dominant religious house over all the others in place of the old anarchy. This method of governance persisted until the recent past.
Farther afield, also in many ways a product of Mongol times and Mongol influence was the Ottoman Empire. It drew heavily upon the Mongol Ilqanate of Iran, which had dominated their predecessors the Seljuqs, for inspiration (Uzunçarşılı 1970).
Europe was threatened but never directly conquered by the Mongols. It never forgot its experiences with them. Fear of the Mongols amplified ancestral fears of invasion from the steppe going back to the Huns and before (Weiers 2006). At the same time, European experience with the Mongols involved it for the first time with a larger Eurasian world almost without boundaries.
At one level, Europe emerged from relative seclusion thanks to the Mongols. Europeans became part of a great internationalization encouraged by the Mongols. At the same time, Europe took full advantage of the technological and other achievements of the Mongol world to move from backwardness to a position of ultimate superiority. Although the mechanisms of transfer and the time sequence are unclear, printing and gunpowder must have come with the Mongols, to mention just two of the new technologies of the period that had such a great impact. Also coming with the Mongols was a new attitude towards international commerce and the role that Europe was to play in it (Phillips 1988).
East Asia moved on to a new era with the end of direct or indirect Mongol influence. This new era continued traditional patterns of culture and society. The Zhenghe voyages ended in the 15th century. China never again maintain naval forces of such a magnitude nor was exploration of distant areas ever as remotely important. This was not true for Europe. Just at the time that China stopped exploring, Europe stepped up its search for the Realm of the Great Khan. The aim was to restore lost commercial and other contacts. By then, Europe had become a radically different society thanks to the impact of the Black Death, another Mongol gift. It decimated the European establishment and forced change (Bennedictow 2004). East Asia was spared and went on much as it had before.
European merchants and missionaries had moved freely in the Mongolian world well into the 14th century (Phillips, 1988). It was only with the fall of most of the Mongolian successor states that contacts ceased, and even then, not entirely. Genoa, for example, seems to have made a concerted effort to stay in contact with the east, although most of the contact was kept secret. But Europe kept trying, driven on by the most famous travelogue of all time, the Travels of Marco Polo, dictated by Polo to a writer of Romances. Polo, a Venetian, told of the wonders of Asia, of the court of the Great Khan of China in particular. He did so in a way that Europeans found fascinating, and they never forgot what they read in one of the most translated and most widely disseminated books in European history, second perhaps in importance only to the Bible.
What kept the Europeans away was technology, but local development, and technological transfers before and after the Mongols soon brought them up to the level of China. Two of the critical innovations were the stern-post rudder and the compass. Later Europeans introduced fore and after rigging, already common in East Asia, and making their ships far more efficient in tacking against the wind than ever before. At first they sailed in small open caravels, then larger and larger fully decked ships. In 1498 the Portuguese finally found a new way to reach the fabled east, around Africa. In so doing they avoided a land route that had been highly disturbed. By the early 16th century they were in China, although the first Portuguese arrival came in a Chinese junk. Not long after, other Portuguese discovered a land never visited by Marco Polo, but mentioned in his Travels and thus familiar to Europeans: Japan (Buell 1990). Across the Atlantic, Columbus set out with his own copy of Marco Polo, it is said, and thought he had reached India with the Realm of the Great Khan just beyond. The search across the Atlantic went on well into the 16th century before it was clear that something intervened between Europe and China. By that time the Spanish too had established their own direct contacts with the fabled east via the Manila Galleon, sailing across the broad Pacific Ocean.
As the 16th century ended and the 17th began, Europe gradually reestablished the globalized connections of the old Mongol era, although this time by sea and not primarily overland. They had found the Realm of the Great Khan and become great khans themselves. Appropriately, some of the very same products playing such important roles in Mongol times played a role in the new trade too. This included blue and white porcelain, a product that more than any other was a symbol of the time. Although first appearing in Europe in the early 14th century, in Bulgaria (John Carswell personal communication to the author 2005), it was in the 16th and 17th centuries that porcelain took Europe by storm; the first world art craze resulted.
Taking place along with the physical expansion of Europe to restore the world to what it once had been, was an expansion of knowledge. This included the first evaluation of Asian sources dealing with the Mongols and their empire, once the Realm of the Great Khan so longed for by Europeans. By the 17th century, Europeans knew full well that there was no Realm of the Great Khan in Asia, that the Mongols were over and done with. Nonetheless, they remained fascinated with them, and with the figure of Genghis Khan, considered the great despot and bloody barbarian, an individual scarcely human and driven only by his passions. Only gradually, as scholarship improved, did this image change. Among the first to adopt a more balanced picture was the British historian Edward Gibbon, who emphasized a social interpretation for the rise of Genghis Khan and attributed skill to his empire building. The picture further improved with the publication and translation of Rashid al-Dĩn and other Persian historians of the Mongol era for a European audience. Gradually the first Mongolian sources became available, culminating between the late 19th and mid-20th century in the recovery and translation of the Secret History of the Mongols, providing the Mongol side of the story (Buell, 2003a, 2003b).
Now the pendulum has swung entirely the other way: the Mongol age is now considered a critical period in world history and the Mongol conquerors the creators of the first globalization, and thus the inventors of the modern world. This is the view presented by Jack Weatherford in his Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, an extremely popular book. Weatherford, in the view of some, goes too far, but on-going research keeps discovering more and more about the cultural exchanges of the Mongol era. Weatherford may in the end have understated what really took place. Weatherford is right in any case. Despite the importance of the exchanges and events before Genghiz Khan, his conquests truly marked the beginning of our world. History might have been entirely different without him. We might be entirely different without him.
Source: http://www.mongolianculture.com/How%20Genghis%20Khan%20Has.pdf
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Tuesday, December 28, 2010
The sacral importance of a dog in the cultures of people of Central Asia
In Ancient Egypt, where the intolerable heat caused draught, the flood of the Nile – the big water- was treated as a miracle. Usually the flood came on the 19th day of the 7th month. It was the time when at the dawn, just before the sunrise, in the orange sky there appeared the star, called Sophis by the Egyptians, Sirius by the Greeks and Hohday-Margan by the Mongols. For the people in Egypt it meant the approach of New Year and the beginning of the flood of the Nile celebration.
The appearance of the Hohday-Margan star and its connection with the flooding that happened exactly in 365 days during many centuries as the constant phenomenon became an impulse to the creation of the Julian calendar – the basis of the modern chronology.
The period when the Dog star - Hohday-Margan – was shining in the sky, took the 7th, the 8th and the beginning of the 9th months. The Romans called this period the “dogs’ days” (Britannica, 2002).The adjacency of the brightest star increases the force of the sunbeams leading it up to the maximum.
In the West Hohday-Margan is called Sirius (in Greek) which means “shining, radiant”. The Russian scientist Scsheglov says it follows from the Arabic “syrai”, that is shining, or “al-shira”, an open door, a rainy season. In Latin, the Dog star - Canis maioris, that is “constellation of the Great dog” and an alphastar which the Mongols called “the constellation of the Heavenly wolf “. Its data is spectrum А1, magnitude 1,5; its diameter is twice more than solar, its radiance is 23 times more bright, though it is located on the distance of 8,8 light years. Therefore the alpha star of constellation of the Heavenly wolf is the brightest star.
The Dog star Hohday-Margan in the culture of the people in ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome is connected with a hot season and the flood of the Nile.
On the contrary, the Mongols considered it to be the star of the cold, the chill. The reason is that the native land of the nomads is located in the northerly latitude of the globe. So it is over against the abovementioned countries. The nights of the 12th and the 1st months were the longest and the coldest ones. They also clashed with the period of so-called “dog (or wolf) wedding”. It is no coincidence that the star Hohday-Margan is in constellation of the Heavenly wolf. During this period, despite of an awful winter cold, wolves gather in many tens, and the howling of the male beasts is almost incessant. It clashes with the radiance of such "frosty" stars as "marals", "monkey", Hohday-Margan. These stars appear in autumn and disappear in spring, and they are better to see in winter. The seasons are divided into the warm and cold ones. Galaxies (monkey) appear in the middle of the 9th month, and behind it as if following them, one after another there are “3 marals” - Hohday-Margan , or Sirius, defining the night time. It means that the season of heat has gone, and the Galaxy gives a sign that the season of the Cold begins.(S.Dulam, 1989)
Mongols consider these uncountable stars to be the people who lived on the Earth during the old times and then rose to live up in the Sky. So these mythical heroes were said to have done something brave or dangerous on the Earth and to go on doing it in the Sky. All Mongolian legends say Hohday-Margan to be heavenly shooter, the master of lightning, and finally - the main bogatyr of space scale. It is no coincidence that in a night sky after the occurrence of " 3 marals” and “the head of a roe deer” (Bellytrix), as if pursuing them, almost in 2 hours, there appears Hohday-Margan with dogs Asar and Basar. Since the time of this legend appeared – the Bronze age - this hunting has not ended up, it goes on nowadays.
How have our ancestors - nomads given the legend heroes star shape?
Coming to know the heavenly mythology of the West, it is obvious that the shape of the space heroes are made of a plenty near situated stars, so they occupy the considerable space. On the contrary, our nomadic ancestors at drawing up the shape of the heroes choose mostly one star. The use of personification also makes a special difference. In old time the dog and the wolf were synonyms for the Mongols. As the wolf is considered to be a great creature and the ancestor of the Mongols, it was accepted not to call its name directly (even taboo) - "wolf", it is necessary to speak allegorically:
* Tangarein nohoy - the Heavenly dog;
* Hangain azan - the Master of the Earth (inhabited- hangain);
* Zerlig nohoy, haarin nohoy - a wild dog, etc.
Earlier people of the senior generation followed this interdiction, but now they also have forgotten it.
In general, people who speak Mongolian tend to speak in two or three texts, and it is necessary to be born among them to understand this phenomenon.
Dog - the eleventh sign under the account of the East-Asian calendar: there corresponds male symbol Yang and elements of Metal. The attitude of the ancient Chinese to these animals was ambiguous. On the one hand, the dog was appreciated for its fidelity, and also for protection of the person and his dwelling from the other world and expelling demons. On the other hand, the dog was used as a dustman. It was despised for that.
Each of the dog breeds took the certain place in « the dog hierarchy ». For example, dogs of the Pai breed had a high status, because they participated in hunting, games and entertainments of the aristocrats. Also the dogs that accompanied processions and ran ahead of a group of horsemen with torches in their mouths were also highly appreciated. And dogs of the chow breed were fed with rice to be eaten. From bigger dogs, they removed skins and sewed clothes.
Two Chinese proverbs rather eloquently speak about this double-sided attitude to dogs: “Everyone loves dogs in own way” and “It is better to have a dog, than a daughter”. In the Chinese fine arts and sculpture, often there are images of Buddha’s dogs - frightening lion-like dogs. They were placed near the entrance in Buddhist temples. It was possible to meet images of heavenly dogs” in the bedrooms of married women. According to the Chinese beliefs they protect health and lives of the children. The women born in year of the Dog before becoming pregnant bought the image of this animal – watcher.
Chronicles testify that one of the Chinese emperors held at a court yard the whole rack of the dogs that had grades, ranks and even wedded wives! In the jungles of Southern China there live yao – nationality. They still keep up to a communal way of life. The dog is a totem animal for them, it is treated as forefather for this tribe.
People of Asia, Africa and Ocenia believed that the dog is able to cause and control fire. According to the legends, it was the dog that got fire with the help of rubbing. In North American and Siberian myths the dog is an inexhaustible inventor, that invented - or even stole – fire for people. Some legends say that people lost their gift of immortality because of the dog’s lapse.
The ancient Chinese astrologists connected various space events with behavior of the Heavenly Dog. It was considered that being angry this deity swallowed the Sun or the Moon – and that caused solar or lunar eclipses. Though according to the Feng Shui doctrine, the Dog personifies a creative and salutary principle Yang. But being “the guard of the night”, it simultaneously symbolizes the destructive principle Yin, carrying destructions and accidents. ”You are lucky not to live during an epoch of changes!” is the wise Chinese wish. It is frequent during the Dog year. These years usually contain reforms in all spheres of life. The archive of the Yin epoch main oracle was found in the province Anyang . There are some inscriptions on divinational bones that are deciphered. They contain recordings of such dog victims:
* « Sacrifice dogs to Mother – square bowl ».
* « to you , I read fortune and say: sacrifice dogs to Mother – square bowl ».
* « read fortune (…): to hunt (in district) Shuay, sacrifice to Fathers - dogs, to Mothers - dogs, to the rivers Progenitress - dogs, to the mountains Progenitress - dogs ».
* « To fry to the Sacred river, it is favorable dogs ».
* « sacrifice to the Mother - progenitress one ram, one dog ».
* « sacrifice to the Mother - progenitress one dog ».
And here is a phrase from « the Catalogue of mountains and people » (“Shan Hai Jing”), made before Christ: “to the River of the Corpse as (spirit) of the Sky sacrifice fat of a sacrificial animal. At its’ headstreams they bury a black dog … » [1].
In crypt Suidugun (China), “a median hole” contained a burial place of a man and an accompanying dog, laid sideways, a head on the north, a muzzle on the West. Also there was a pot and a bowl. The similar content was in the next crypts. One of the funeral chambers had a significant amount of people and even 6 dogs. There are examples when corpses of dogs are near to divinational blade-bone of the animals that were applied by Chinese priests during the rituals.[2].
However in all cases the experts-zoologists were not engaged in studying of bones remained of dogs to test their relating to certain species and breed.
In ancient Chinese texts it is declared that during the bronze epoch there were some breeds of dogs. Vans and rich grandees widely used certain "hounds" of dogs for hunting [3]. During the epoch of the state Shan-In (2 000 B.C.) the statues of chow-chow dogs appeared. In ancient Chinese manuscripts it refers to as " the Tatar dog” or “the dog of barbarians”. So these dogs come from the north, and in the north of China there is Manchuria, which climate is a suitable environment for the chow-chow to have fur with a dense underfur, the round wide paws helping dogs to go on snow. The chow-chow still easier cope with winter and cold, than heat. But the version of its’ origin from Tibet is also probable. It is indisputable that this is the most ancient representative of the pom family and the Tibetan mastiff family. The chow has inherited cheerful nature, ease of movements and ears on top from poms, at the same time from the Tibetan mastiff, it has got massiveness of skeleton, incredulity and protectively-guard properties of character.
It is curious that the chow has bluish-black tongue. This surprising color was attempted to describe in ancient Chinese fairy tales. The chow origin was said to ascend from the Tibetan bear having tongue of the same color. In Northern China these dogs protected monasteries, cattle; people took them hunting both for hooves and bears. They have wonderful sight and instinct.
By the way, the first news about the chow dogs were brought to Europe by the Venetian goldsmith , famous Italian traveler Marko Polo (1275-1292г) who lived in Tibet and China for a long time. He described the Tibetan mastiff as a powerful black dog used for guarding. He also mentioned a certain red dog - the favorite of family, but choosing the only master and who was very reserved with other people. To enter the room which was protected by the chow was unsafe, as though it was protected by the Tibetan mastiff.
Legends and secrets surround decorative breeds of dogs that become favourites of the imperial nobility. In China it is the Pekinese, nicknamed "pearl", "dog-sun", “a sweet flower of a lotus” and “ lion's dog”. From China a very small dog - Japanese bark (treasure, a jewelry) - conducts its’ origin. As gifts from the governors of Tibet given to the Chinese emperor original dogs as symbol of peace and well-being is apso. This small apso, similar to a goat, could predictthe earthquakes, mountain creep and avalanches. And there is a beauty-baby shi-tzu (a chrysanthemum dog) from Tibet. The history of such dogs is connected with Tibet in China, as the Tibetan terrier-zenge (mascot of happiness) and Tibetan spaniel (a prayful dog) [4].
It seems to be strange, but what can unite the baby shi-tzu from Tibet, Tibetan spaniel, the Tibetan terrier, apso, Japanese cinchona, the Pekinese from China, and the chow-chow and enormous Tibetan mastiff - type tzan-sho?
Let's assume, that the cult Buddhist pearl - the Pekinese from China – was brought there together with the Buddhism from Tibet, and Japanese bark was in the same way brought to the Country of the Rising Sun. That is quite logical. Then all these dogs will have four common attributes:
* natives of Tibet, that is inhabitants of high mountains;
* a wide cranial part of a head;
* wide (it is possible to tell, is abnormal) thorax;
* thick and fluffy swung piggyback tail.
These are the main, distinctive adaptable attributes of the Mongolian sheep-dog – and that’s the dog which the book is devoted to. Why - it is possible find out at the end.
The Tibetan mastiff is considered to be the largest wolf-like dog of Asia known in Chin as well. There exist unanswerable cases that they were got outside ancient primordial Chinese empire. One of annalistic sources informed that in the central empires it was possible to get good racers and very large dogs - from the north (it is allocated by the author)(…) Feathers, ivory, skins of rhinoceroses, paints - from the south (…) products from a leather{skin} and a wool, бунчуки from воловьих tails - from the South[5]. This annalistic instruction is interesting because it directly points to the north as the place where the biggest dogs were taken. Speaking about the North the ancient Chinese (and modern) meant the territory behind the Great Chinese wall built to protect the country against northern barbarians, and, first of all, the huns. It is possible to assume that the tribes of the Central Asia had found the Tibetan mastiff even a bit earlier than China. At first, the ancient empire by the bronze epoch was located in a lower course of the river Huang He and directly bordered to the Gobi desert, but it was still far from Tibet.
Some good information about the role of cattle breeding communities of the Central Asia at that time can be brought from the petroglyphic drawings in selengian style [6]. Figures of dogs are available on the petroglyphs of Shara-Tal, Chomnic, Varvarina Mountain in Transbaikalia, Hubsugul-Nura, Havtzgaita and other monuments in Mongolia.
In Hubsugul-Nura, for example, there is a unique picture on a nomadic life of cattlemen where there are two large dogs of the Tibetan type: one guards a livestock (spots- points) in a shelter or a symbol of a pasture, and another put a boundary line around of all this community of people and animals. The pictographic sign "X" in the ancient Chinese hieroglyphics gives quantitative expression of the "caught" game animals - 5 (heads). If we assume as a basis the principle crossgraphic perusals of pictographic writings of the bronze epoch, we shall see in this stage the graphic fixing of the traditional shaman prays about achievement of family happiness and well-being where one dog is called to protect the herd of the livestock, and another to promote the hunting success (tab. 2 [7]).
This image, by the way, is dominating on the petrogliphs at the boundary of this era in all the steppe of the Asian continent, including Transbaikalia, Mongolia, Yakutia, Tuva, Altai and Kirghizia (табл.3-8) [8].
There is some information about the using dogs in the rituals. If it comes to burial places of people , the bones of pets are found in all "tiled" tombs of the Bronze Age - early Iron Age (from 500 years prior to the beginning of the Common Era). They are horses, large and fine horned livestock, dogs and, as rare exception, wild animals. The method of the arrangement of bones is not clear, as all the tombs had been plundered in the ancient time and this has led to infringement of accommodation of the subjects. Only in few cases it is clear that skins of sacrificial animals together with skulls and hoofs were put on the top of the graves. The occurrence of skeleton fragments of dogs testifies that they were buried entirely and, most likely, on the center above overlapping plates [9].
The huns had the funeral ceremony connected with a special role of a dog. It is precisely fixed. In a number of burial places in the Ilmova fold in the south of Transbaikalia (from 1000 up to till 1000 the Common Age ) special burial places of dogs were found. The dog corpses were in stone closets on overlapping with the wooden chambers where men were buried. Considering infringements of tombs from which traces of funeral ceremonies usually suffer, it is possible to assume that the habbit of burying dogs with the dead master was universal. This habbit of dogs following the dead man into eternity was the usual phenomenon, at least, at some groups of the hun population. This ceremony resembles the same uhuan ceremony of alive dog following a funeral procession. After this ceremony the dog was killed and buried.[10]. In Hou Hanshou it is told, that on funeral uhuans fed a dog and a horse, then they put the de ad man on a horse, and a dog followed. Then they pinned up animals and buried them near to a decedent. Thus they said that a dog died had to protect the soul of the master at its’returning to the sacred patrimonial mountain Ujshan from which all the people came [11].
The Uhuans lived in a territory of modern Manchuria during a dynasty Han. Experts believe, that similarity of the funeral ceremonies between the Huns, the Uhuans and the Senbies is the certificate of likeness of these adjoining ethnic groups of the Central Asia at the boundary of epoch. But this opinion can’t be taken for granted: earlier, we have already proved that the burial places of dogs with the dead master are fixed in Siberia since the late Paleolithic or Mesolithic, in China and in Siberia again - in the Neolithic, and in the Central Asia and Transbaikalia - in the Bronze Age. The same ceremony of funeral with a horse (hoilgo) and a “four – eyed dog (hoilog) was told by the scientist, the llama, the historian, the regional specialist G.D.Natsov in the notes on the regional natural history about Buryatiya at the end of the 19th - the beginning of the 20th century.
In this question we closely approach to the totem expressions about what we shall tell further.
As for the Huns, the bones of the dog are found also in the settlements. On the Ivolgin site of ancient settlement (2000 back) in Transbaikalia, at the foundation of an average ditch, at the bottom of specially dug pole the skull of a dog is found. The ritual character of a burial place connected with security functions of this animal was obvious. In a cultural layer outside the inhabited and economic constructions, the bigger part of the finds consists of the bones of pets: a sheep, a bull, a horse, a pig, a goat, a camel, a yak and a dog. Due to some specific structure, archeologists have (conditionally) divided dogs into three groups – husky-like, large wolf-like and dane-like [12]. But still nobody ever tried to determine the breed . All these finds are waiting for the experts: zoologists, biologists, geneticists.
Source: http://www.mongoldog.ru/st2_eng.php
related readings:
The appearance of the Hohday-Margan star and its connection with the flooding that happened exactly in 365 days during many centuries as the constant phenomenon became an impulse to the creation of the Julian calendar – the basis of the modern chronology.
The period when the Dog star - Hohday-Margan – was shining in the sky, took the 7th, the 8th and the beginning of the 9th months. The Romans called this period the “dogs’ days” (Britannica, 2002).The adjacency of the brightest star increases the force of the sunbeams leading it up to the maximum.
In the West Hohday-Margan is called Sirius (in Greek) which means “shining, radiant”. The Russian scientist Scsheglov says it follows from the Arabic “syrai”, that is shining, or “al-shira”, an open door, a rainy season. In Latin, the Dog star - Canis maioris, that is “constellation of the Great dog” and an alphastar which the Mongols called “the constellation of the Heavenly wolf “. Its data is spectrum А1, magnitude 1,5; its diameter is twice more than solar, its radiance is 23 times more bright, though it is located on the distance of 8,8 light years. Therefore the alpha star of constellation of the Heavenly wolf is the brightest star.
The Dog star Hohday-Margan in the culture of the people in ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome is connected with a hot season and the flood of the Nile.
On the contrary, the Mongols considered it to be the star of the cold, the chill. The reason is that the native land of the nomads is located in the northerly latitude of the globe. So it is over against the abovementioned countries. The nights of the 12th and the 1st months were the longest and the coldest ones. They also clashed with the period of so-called “dog (or wolf) wedding”. It is no coincidence that the star Hohday-Margan is in constellation of the Heavenly wolf. During this period, despite of an awful winter cold, wolves gather in many tens, and the howling of the male beasts is almost incessant. It clashes with the radiance of such "frosty" stars as "marals", "monkey", Hohday-Margan. These stars appear in autumn and disappear in spring, and they are better to see in winter. The seasons are divided into the warm and cold ones. Galaxies (monkey) appear in the middle of the 9th month, and behind it as if following them, one after another there are “3 marals” - Hohday-Margan , or Sirius, defining the night time. It means that the season of heat has gone, and the Galaxy gives a sign that the season of the Cold begins.(S.Dulam, 1989)
Mongols consider these uncountable stars to be the people who lived on the Earth during the old times and then rose to live up in the Sky. So these mythical heroes were said to have done something brave or dangerous on the Earth and to go on doing it in the Sky. All Mongolian legends say Hohday-Margan to be heavenly shooter, the master of lightning, and finally - the main bogatyr of space scale. It is no coincidence that in a night sky after the occurrence of " 3 marals” and “the head of a roe deer” (Bellytrix), as if pursuing them, almost in 2 hours, there appears Hohday-Margan with dogs Asar and Basar. Since the time of this legend appeared – the Bronze age - this hunting has not ended up, it goes on nowadays.
How have our ancestors - nomads given the legend heroes star shape?
Coming to know the heavenly mythology of the West, it is obvious that the shape of the space heroes are made of a plenty near situated stars, so they occupy the considerable space. On the contrary, our nomadic ancestors at drawing up the shape of the heroes choose mostly one star. The use of personification also makes a special difference. In old time the dog and the wolf were synonyms for the Mongols. As the wolf is considered to be a great creature and the ancestor of the Mongols, it was accepted not to call its name directly (even taboo) - "wolf", it is necessary to speak allegorically:
* Tangarein nohoy - the Heavenly dog;
* Hangain azan - the Master of the Earth (inhabited- hangain);
* Zerlig nohoy, haarin nohoy - a wild dog, etc.
Earlier people of the senior generation followed this interdiction, but now they also have forgotten it.
In general, people who speak Mongolian tend to speak in two or three texts, and it is necessary to be born among them to understand this phenomenon.
Dog - the eleventh sign under the account of the East-Asian calendar: there corresponds male symbol Yang and elements of Metal. The attitude of the ancient Chinese to these animals was ambiguous. On the one hand, the dog was appreciated for its fidelity, and also for protection of the person and his dwelling from the other world and expelling demons. On the other hand, the dog was used as a dustman. It was despised for that.
Each of the dog breeds took the certain place in « the dog hierarchy ». For example, dogs of the Pai breed had a high status, because they participated in hunting, games and entertainments of the aristocrats. Also the dogs that accompanied processions and ran ahead of a group of horsemen with torches in their mouths were also highly appreciated. And dogs of the chow breed were fed with rice to be eaten. From bigger dogs, they removed skins and sewed clothes.
Two Chinese proverbs rather eloquently speak about this double-sided attitude to dogs: “Everyone loves dogs in own way” and “It is better to have a dog, than a daughter”. In the Chinese fine arts and sculpture, often there are images of Buddha’s dogs - frightening lion-like dogs. They were placed near the entrance in Buddhist temples. It was possible to meet images of heavenly dogs” in the bedrooms of married women. According to the Chinese beliefs they protect health and lives of the children. The women born in year of the Dog before becoming pregnant bought the image of this animal – watcher.
Chronicles testify that one of the Chinese emperors held at a court yard the whole rack of the dogs that had grades, ranks and even wedded wives! In the jungles of Southern China there live yao – nationality. They still keep up to a communal way of life. The dog is a totem animal for them, it is treated as forefather for this tribe.
People of Asia, Africa and Ocenia believed that the dog is able to cause and control fire. According to the legends, it was the dog that got fire with the help of rubbing. In North American and Siberian myths the dog is an inexhaustible inventor, that invented - or even stole – fire for people. Some legends say that people lost their gift of immortality because of the dog’s lapse.
The ancient Chinese astrologists connected various space events with behavior of the Heavenly Dog. It was considered that being angry this deity swallowed the Sun or the Moon – and that caused solar or lunar eclipses. Though according to the Feng Shui doctrine, the Dog personifies a creative and salutary principle Yang. But being “the guard of the night”, it simultaneously symbolizes the destructive principle Yin, carrying destructions and accidents. ”You are lucky not to live during an epoch of changes!” is the wise Chinese wish. It is frequent during the Dog year. These years usually contain reforms in all spheres of life. The archive of the Yin epoch main oracle was found in the province Anyang . There are some inscriptions on divinational bones that are deciphered. They contain recordings of such dog victims:
* « Sacrifice dogs to Mother – square bowl ».
* « to you , I read fortune and say: sacrifice dogs to Mother – square bowl ».
* « read fortune (…): to hunt (in district) Shuay, sacrifice to Fathers - dogs, to Mothers - dogs, to the rivers Progenitress - dogs, to the mountains Progenitress - dogs ».
* « To fry to the Sacred river, it is favorable dogs ».
* « sacrifice to the Mother - progenitress one ram, one dog ».
* « sacrifice to the Mother - progenitress one dog ».
And here is a phrase from « the Catalogue of mountains and people » (“Shan Hai Jing”), made before Christ: “to the River of the Corpse as (spirit) of the Sky sacrifice fat of a sacrificial animal. At its’ headstreams they bury a black dog … » [1].
In crypt Suidugun (China), “a median hole” contained a burial place of a man and an accompanying dog, laid sideways, a head on the north, a muzzle on the West. Also there was a pot and a bowl. The similar content was in the next crypts. One of the funeral chambers had a significant amount of people and even 6 dogs. There are examples when corpses of dogs are near to divinational blade-bone of the animals that were applied by Chinese priests during the rituals.[2].
However in all cases the experts-zoologists were not engaged in studying of bones remained of dogs to test their relating to certain species and breed.
In ancient Chinese texts it is declared that during the bronze epoch there were some breeds of dogs. Vans and rich grandees widely used certain "hounds" of dogs for hunting [3]. During the epoch of the state Shan-In (2 000 B.C.) the statues of chow-chow dogs appeared. In ancient Chinese manuscripts it refers to as " the Tatar dog” or “the dog of barbarians”. So these dogs come from the north, and in the north of China there is Manchuria, which climate is a suitable environment for the chow-chow to have fur with a dense underfur, the round wide paws helping dogs to go on snow. The chow-chow still easier cope with winter and cold, than heat. But the version of its’ origin from Tibet is also probable. It is indisputable that this is the most ancient representative of the pom family and the Tibetan mastiff family. The chow has inherited cheerful nature, ease of movements and ears on top from poms, at the same time from the Tibetan mastiff, it has got massiveness of skeleton, incredulity and protectively-guard properties of character.
It is curious that the chow has bluish-black tongue. This surprising color was attempted to describe in ancient Chinese fairy tales. The chow origin was said to ascend from the Tibetan bear having tongue of the same color. In Northern China these dogs protected monasteries, cattle; people took them hunting both for hooves and bears. They have wonderful sight and instinct.
By the way, the first news about the chow dogs were brought to Europe by the Venetian goldsmith , famous Italian traveler Marko Polo (1275-1292г) who lived in Tibet and China for a long time. He described the Tibetan mastiff as a powerful black dog used for guarding. He also mentioned a certain red dog - the favorite of family, but choosing the only master and who was very reserved with other people. To enter the room which was protected by the chow was unsafe, as though it was protected by the Tibetan mastiff.
Legends and secrets surround decorative breeds of dogs that become favourites of the imperial nobility. In China it is the Pekinese, nicknamed "pearl", "dog-sun", “a sweet flower of a lotus” and “ lion's dog”. From China a very small dog - Japanese bark (treasure, a jewelry) - conducts its’ origin. As gifts from the governors of Tibet given to the Chinese emperor original dogs as symbol of peace and well-being is apso. This small apso, similar to a goat, could predictthe earthquakes, mountain creep and avalanches. And there is a beauty-baby shi-tzu (a chrysanthemum dog) from Tibet. The history of such dogs is connected with Tibet in China, as the Tibetan terrier-zenge (mascot of happiness) and Tibetan spaniel (a prayful dog) [4].
It seems to be strange, but what can unite the baby shi-tzu from Tibet, Tibetan spaniel, the Tibetan terrier, apso, Japanese cinchona, the Pekinese from China, and the chow-chow and enormous Tibetan mastiff - type tzan-sho?
Let's assume, that the cult Buddhist pearl - the Pekinese from China – was brought there together with the Buddhism from Tibet, and Japanese bark was in the same way brought to the Country of the Rising Sun. That is quite logical. Then all these dogs will have four common attributes:
* natives of Tibet, that is inhabitants of high mountains;
* a wide cranial part of a head;
* wide (it is possible to tell, is abnormal) thorax;
* thick and fluffy swung piggyback tail.
These are the main, distinctive adaptable attributes of the Mongolian sheep-dog – and that’s the dog which the book is devoted to. Why - it is possible find out at the end.
The Tibetan mastiff is considered to be the largest wolf-like dog of Asia known in Chin as well. There exist unanswerable cases that they were got outside ancient primordial Chinese empire. One of annalistic sources informed that in the central empires it was possible to get good racers and very large dogs - from the north (it is allocated by the author)(…) Feathers, ivory, skins of rhinoceroses, paints - from the south (…) products from a leather{skin} and a wool, бунчуки from воловьих tails - from the South[5]. This annalistic instruction is interesting because it directly points to the north as the place where the biggest dogs were taken. Speaking about the North the ancient Chinese (and modern) meant the territory behind the Great Chinese wall built to protect the country against northern barbarians, and, first of all, the huns. It is possible to assume that the tribes of the Central Asia had found the Tibetan mastiff even a bit earlier than China. At first, the ancient empire by the bronze epoch was located in a lower course of the river Huang He and directly bordered to the Gobi desert, but it was still far from Tibet.
Some good information about the role of cattle breeding communities of the Central Asia at that time can be brought from the petroglyphic drawings in selengian style [6]. Figures of dogs are available on the petroglyphs of Shara-Tal, Chomnic, Varvarina Mountain in Transbaikalia, Hubsugul-Nura, Havtzgaita and other monuments in Mongolia.
In Hubsugul-Nura, for example, there is a unique picture on a nomadic life of cattlemen where there are two large dogs of the Tibetan type: one guards a livestock (spots- points) in a shelter or a symbol of a pasture, and another put a boundary line around of all this community of people and animals. The pictographic sign "X" in the ancient Chinese hieroglyphics gives quantitative expression of the "caught" game animals - 5 (heads). If we assume as a basis the principle crossgraphic perusals of pictographic writings of the bronze epoch, we shall see in this stage the graphic fixing of the traditional shaman prays about achievement of family happiness and well-being where one dog is called to protect the herd of the livestock, and another to promote the hunting success (tab. 2 [7]).
This image, by the way, is dominating on the petrogliphs at the boundary of this era in all the steppe of the Asian continent, including Transbaikalia, Mongolia, Yakutia, Tuva, Altai and Kirghizia (табл.3-8) [8].
There is some information about the using dogs in the rituals. If it comes to burial places of people , the bones of pets are found in all "tiled" tombs of the Bronze Age - early Iron Age (from 500 years prior to the beginning of the Common Era). They are horses, large and fine horned livestock, dogs and, as rare exception, wild animals. The method of the arrangement of bones is not clear, as all the tombs had been plundered in the ancient time and this has led to infringement of accommodation of the subjects. Only in few cases it is clear that skins of sacrificial animals together with skulls and hoofs were put on the top of the graves. The occurrence of skeleton fragments of dogs testifies that they were buried entirely and, most likely, on the center above overlapping plates [9].
The huns had the funeral ceremony connected with a special role of a dog. It is precisely fixed. In a number of burial places in the Ilmova fold in the south of Transbaikalia (from 1000 up to till 1000 the Common Age ) special burial places of dogs were found. The dog corpses were in stone closets on overlapping with the wooden chambers where men were buried. Considering infringements of tombs from which traces of funeral ceremonies usually suffer, it is possible to assume that the habbit of burying dogs with the dead master was universal. This habbit of dogs following the dead man into eternity was the usual phenomenon, at least, at some groups of the hun population. This ceremony resembles the same uhuan ceremony of alive dog following a funeral procession. After this ceremony the dog was killed and buried.[10]. In Hou Hanshou it is told, that on funeral uhuans fed a dog and a horse, then they put the de ad man on a horse, and a dog followed. Then they pinned up animals and buried them near to a decedent. Thus they said that a dog died had to protect the soul of the master at its’returning to the sacred patrimonial mountain Ujshan from which all the people came [11].
The Uhuans lived in a territory of modern Manchuria during a dynasty Han. Experts believe, that similarity of the funeral ceremonies between the Huns, the Uhuans and the Senbies is the certificate of likeness of these adjoining ethnic groups of the Central Asia at the boundary of epoch. But this opinion can’t be taken for granted: earlier, we have already proved that the burial places of dogs with the dead master are fixed in Siberia since the late Paleolithic or Mesolithic, in China and in Siberia again - in the Neolithic, and in the Central Asia and Transbaikalia - in the Bronze Age. The same ceremony of funeral with a horse (hoilgo) and a “four – eyed dog (hoilog) was told by the scientist, the llama, the historian, the regional specialist G.D.Natsov in the notes on the regional natural history about Buryatiya at the end of the 19th - the beginning of the 20th century.
In this question we closely approach to the totem expressions about what we shall tell further.
As for the Huns, the bones of the dog are found also in the settlements. On the Ivolgin site of ancient settlement (2000 back) in Transbaikalia, at the foundation of an average ditch, at the bottom of specially dug pole the skull of a dog is found. The ritual character of a burial place connected with security functions of this animal was obvious. In a cultural layer outside the inhabited and economic constructions, the bigger part of the finds consists of the bones of pets: a sheep, a bull, a horse, a pig, a goat, a camel, a yak and a dog. Due to some specific structure, archeologists have (conditionally) divided dogs into three groups – husky-like, large wolf-like and dane-like [12]. But still nobody ever tried to determine the breed . All these finds are waiting for the experts: zoologists, biologists, geneticists.
Source: http://www.mongoldog.ru/st2_eng.php
related readings:
Monday, December 27, 2010
Our Spiritual Sun, Sirius
Our Spiritual Sun, Sirius
"Brilliantly blazing, the star Sirius, brightest beacon in our night sky, beckons with glimpses of grandeur unimaginable. Small wonder this star was granted God / Goddess status amongst many early peoples, including the Egyptians and Sumerians. As modern astronomy unlocks our starry neighbors' secrets, evidence unfolds of the appropriateness of naming this star God.
As we learn more about the nature of our galaxy and especially its magnetic field, we know that streams of energy from stars travel in specific directions, either up or down the galactic arm in which they are embedded. Stars are polarized to other stars, either negative and positive, some receiving energy, some sending it out, all of which travels on the path of the magnetic field lines.
Recent findings reveal we are "downstream" from Sirius in the part of the galactic arm our solar system resides in. If God is the bringer of life (energy) and light, Sirius fits the description — it transmits its energy (highly charged particles) to our entire system via the magnetic field lines. We literally receive energy from Sirius! Did the ancient priests understand this process, thus naming this star "God"?
Now our sun obviously deserves the title of "light bearer" and "life bringer," as no life could exist in the solar system without its sustaining rays. But even the majestic sun pales in comparison to the nearby Sirian star system. We know of two stars there, and perhaps a third, although this remains unverified by science. The largest, the one we see as the brightest star in the heavens, is Sirius A, outshining our sun 10 times over with only the mass of three suns. Sirius B, a white dwarf star invisible to the naked eye, packs almost the entire mass of our sun into a globe only four times as large as the Earth.
White dwarf stars are extremely dense — in fact, Sirius B's surface is 300 times harder than diamonds, while its interior has a density 3000 times that of diamonds. Spinning on its axis about 23 times a minute, it generates huge magnetic fields around it. The two stars dance around each other, constantly exchanging particles. Because of its greater density and magnetic field, Sirius B takes the lion's share, actually vampirizing gases and materials off of its larger host body, Sirius A. Clearly a spectacular star system giving off enormous amounts of energy, our sun appears puny and insignificant in comparison.
Even during normal phases of its life, a tremendous amount of electrical energy is created on Sirius, making it the most energized, "positive" point in our little corner of space. Now this might seem like nothing more than a minor curiosity, but these are not ordinary times. Every 49.9 years, the two stars in the system, Sirius A and B, come as close together as their orbits allow, creating huge magnetic storms between them. As they approach each other, the stars both begin to spin faster as tidal forces become stronger, finally flip-flopping over, actually trading places with each other. Imagine a gigantic electrical turbine engine twisting and spinning, generating billions and billions of volts of electricity. This energy is eventually released to flow down the magnetic field lines to the sun, which transmits it like a lens to all the planets.
What does this mean to life on Earth? The last time it occurred, in 1944, humanity was locked in the greatest conflict ever seen in history, World War II. It happened again, almost 50 years later, in June, 1993.
The Tibetan master Djwhal Khul, author of the Alice Bailey books, taught in the early 1900s about the effects the Sirian system has on our world. When asked what forces were responsible for the world crisis during World War II, he listed as the number one cause "a welling up of magnetic force on Sirius, which produces effects upon our solar system and particularly upon our Earth." He proclaimed the Sirian energies stimulated both the best and the worst in humanity, as depicted in the global conflict. Does this man share the same insights as the ancient priests of Egypt and Sumeria?
The concept of Sirius playing a God-like role to our world is not a new one. The Dogon, the African tribe who have worshipped the invisible star Sirius B for thousands of years, claim visitations from beings of the Sirian system. In their religious dogma, they acknowledge the star as "immensely heavy, invisible, very small, yet extremely powerful." Their understanding of the two stars' orbits coincides exactly with modern astronomical findings, yet was arrived at thousands of years before the equipment needed for such measurements even existed. Their ability to recognize the awesome power of Sirius B, a star that can't even be seen, is truly remarkable. (For further reading on this subject, try Robert Temple's The Sirius Mystery.)
Sirius, considered by the ancient Egyptians to be the most important star in the sky, was astronomically the foundation of their entire religious system. Its celestial movements determined the Egyptian calendar ... Sirius's heliacal rising (when Sirius again rose into visibility after being hidden by the sun's light for 70 days) marked the beginning of the Egyptian year and roughly coincided with the flooding of the Nile — major events marked by feasting and celebration.
In the Sumerian civilization, predating the Egyptians, their epic poem Epic of Gilgamesh describes a dream of Gilgamesh where the hero is drawn irresistibly to a "heavy star" that cannot be lifted despite immense effort. This star descends from heaven to him and is described as having a very "potent essence" and being the "God of heaven." Gilgamesh had, for his companions, 50 oarsmen in the great ship Argo (this constellation bordering Canis Major, where Sirius is found). These elements comprise almost a complete description of Sirius B: a super-heavy gravitationally powerful star made of concentrated super-dense matter (essence) with the number 50 associated with it (describing its orbital period).
Earth Changes
What will occur when our solar system receives more electrical energy than usual? Let's pretend the Earth is a spinning top and see what happens when an electrical current or "wind" moves across it. Naturally, the top speeds up — modern science verifies the speed of the Earth's rotation varies with an all-time high speed of 19 hour days being recorded in rocks 3.5 million years ago. That's alarmingly fast. What happens to a sphere that spins faster? The poles begin to flatten while the middle bulges out at the equator. This action stretches the oceans causing submerged land masses to rise above sea level.
Spinning also causes an extreme wobble of the Earth's axis to occur, with the globe sometimes actually falling over onto its side. Scientists know this has happened to the Earth at least nine times with a tilt of up to 51 degrees (our axial tilt now is at 23 degrees). When this occurs, the land at the equator moves up to where the north pole is now, which explains why Alaska has fossils of alligators. Each time the Earth speeds up, it must slow down again due to the drag from the Moon, bringing about additional geophysical upheaval.
The Tibetan teacher Djwhal Khul comments that certain basic changes in the orientation of the Earth's axis are now taking place ... and periods of upheaval, confusion and cataclysm always precede these great shifts in the planet's axis. He also divulges the planet is in process of taking an initiation, marked by the great event of an axis shift as the Earth literally "repolarises" itself. His prediction of "increased earthquake and volcanic activity during the last decade of the millennium" has been confirmed by world seismologists today. Seismic activity has indeed picked up dramatically in the last three to four years. California scientists state "more earthquakes are now seen in specific areas (L.A., for instance) than ever previously recorded." Many volcanic eruptions have also occurred in this same time period with Mt. St. Helens leading the fray with its 1988 eruption, Mt. Fuji's recent expulsions and of course, Mt. Penatubo's contribution.
Liberation
Sirius is also associated with liberation; in fact, according to ancient teachings, the very concept of freedom itself resides in human consciousness because of the influence of this star system. Interestingly enough, the time each year our sun conjuncts Sirius at 14 degrees Cancer is close to July 4, America's Independence Day! Bastille Day, the French equivalent of Independence Day is July 14, and Canada celebrates its independence from England on July 1; Dominion Day. Venezuela's Independence Day is observed July 5, while Argentina's is celebrated on July 9. And noting, Iraq's Freedom Day, when the new Coalition government took control, happened on June 28, 2004 (two days earlier than it had been announced).
In 1993–1994, as the great conjunction" of Sirius A and B approached, a wave of freedom swept our world culminating in the breakdown of the communist rule in Europe and the liberation of the Russian people from the hard-line Communist party. The Berlin Wall fell as thecold war ended ... these events transpired simultaneously with the magnetic forces building to their highest intensity on Sirius. Is there a connection? Perhaps.
Conditions on our world may not become as dramatic as previously described; nevertheless, certain major adjustments are likely to occur. Aurorae may be everywhere as the incoming particles bombard our atmosphere. So much additional electrical current may be moving through our own geomagnetic field, touching anything may result in large electrical shocks. Medical research shows increased emotional and mental imbalances during magnetic storms on Earth created by solar flare activity on the sun. (See Robert Becker's Cross Currents.)
Because the sun is likely to speed up its rotational spin as well, its magnetic field will enlarge leading to heightened sunspot activity which in turn creates large solar flares, affecting world weather patterns and probably all phases of life on Earth. We no longer have the protection of the Van Allen belt (part of the Earth's magnetic field) like we used to. For the first time in history, we'll receive Sirian energies without its deflecting mechanism.
Whatever the future holds for us, it feels safe to venture that great change is imminent for our world and civilization. Those looking for peace and security may have a difficult time finding it, externally, at least. Look within for that unfailing point of balance and stability. It has never felt like a finer time to realign with spirit, soul, higher self ... in that pinnacle of peace, comfort lies.
A new picture of the universe is emerging, one of a vast cosmic interdependence and connectedness. From first cosmos to last electron, the whole universe is a complex of coils within coils, spirals within spirals, magnetic fields within magnetic fields. The stars are interconnected to each other, exchanging particles and gases constantly, all flowing down the magnetic field lines or arteries of the galactic body. Scientists now feel it’s very likely the galaxy's coiled field lines diverge into intergalactic space where they may ultimately be connected to other galaxies. Are these tendrils of energy the nervous system of the galaxy, relaying information from star to star, galaxy to galaxy, on and on? One can only wonder."
Source: http://www.souledout.org/cosmology/cossynthreflects/sirius.html
Sirius, The God, Dog Star
"The effect of Sirian energy and influences generated approximately 13 years ago, the last cycle when Sirius A and B were closest, in 1993 / 1994, have created renewed interest in this most influential heavenly body. The history books and religions of the world have had much to say about the God / Dog star. This article reflects on our ancestor’s beliefs and inspired insights into a great mystery ~ the mystery of the Dog Star and its influences on our little corner of the universe.
Sirius was an object of wonder and veneration to all ancient peoples throughout human history. In the ancient Vedas this star was known as the Chieftain's star; in other Hindu writings, it is referred to as Sukra, the Rain God, or Rain Star. The Dog is also described as "he who awakens the gods of the air, and summons them to their office of bringing the rain."
Sirius was revered as the Nile Star, or Star of Isis, by the ancient Egyptians. Its annual appearance just before dawn at the Summer Solstice, June 21, heralded the coming rise of the Nile, upon which Egyptian agriculture depended. This helical rising is referred to in many temple inscriptions, where the star is known as the Divine Sepat, identified as the soul of Isis. In the temple of Isis-Hathor at Dedendrah, Egypt, appears the inscription, "Her majesty Isis shines into the temple on New Year's Day, and she mingles her light with that of her father on the horizon." The Arabic word Al Shi'ra resembles the Greek, Roman, and Egyptian names suggesting a common origin in Sanskrit, in which the name Surya, the Sun God, simply means the "shining one."
For up to 35 days before, and 35 days after the sun conjuncts it close to July 4, the star Sirius is hidden by the sun’s glare. The ancient Egyptians refused to bury their dead during the 70 days Sirius was hidden from view, because it was believed Sirius was the doorway to the afterlife, and the doorway was thought to be closed during this yearly period.
The dog Sirius is one of the watchmen of the Heavens, fixed in one place at the bridge of the Milky Way, keeping guard over the abyss into incarnation. The Dog Star is a symbol of power, will, and steadfastness of purpose, and exemplifies the One who has succeeded in bridging the lower and higher consciousness.
Located just below the Dog Star there exists a constellation called Argo, the Ship. Astrologically that area in the sky has been known as the river of stars which is a gateway to the ocean of higher consciousness.
The Chinese knew this place as the bridge between heaven and hell, the bridge of the gatherer, the judge. In the higher mind are gathered the results of the experiences of the personality. Between each life the soul judges its past progress, and the conditions needed to aid its future growth. As long as it is attached to desire, sensation, and needs experiences, it takes a body. The soul cannot pass over the "bridge" until it is perfected.
The association of Sirius with a celestial dog has been consistent throughout the classical world; even in remote China, the star was identified as a heavenly wolf. In ancient Chaldea (present day Iraq) the star was known as the "Dog Star that Leads," or it was called the "Star of the Dog." In Assyria, it was said to be the "Dog of the Sun." In still older Akkadia, it was named the "Dog Star of the Sun."
In Greek times Aratus referred to Canis Major as the guard-dog of Orion, following on the heels of its master, and standing on its hind legs with Sirius carried in its jaws. Manilius called it the "dog with the blazing face." Canis Major (large dog) seems to cross the sky in pursuit of the hare, represented by the constellation Lepus under Orion's feet. The concept of the mind slaying the real can be seen in the tales which relate the dog as the hunter and killer ~ the hound from hell.
Mythologists such as Eratosthenes said that the constellation represents Laelaps, a dog so swift that no prey could escape it. Laelaps had a long list of owners. One story says it is the dog given by Zeus to Europa, whose son Minos, King of Crete passed it on to Procris, daughter of Cephalus. The dog was presented to Procris along with a javelin that could never miss. Ironically Cephalus accidentally killed her while out hunting with Laelaps.
Cephalus inherited the dog, and took it with him to Thebes, north of Athens, where a vicious fox was ravaging the countryside. The fox was so swift that it was destined never to be caught ~ yet Laelaps the hound was destined to catch whatever it pursued. Off they went, almost faster than the eye could follow, the inescapable dog in pursuit of the uncatchable fox. At one moment the dog would seem to have its prey within grasp, but could only close its jaws on thin air as the fox raced ahead of it again. There could be no resolution of such a paradox, so Zeus turned them both to stone and the dog he placed in the sky without the fox.
There is a remarkable analogy in the Chinese double meaning of the word Spirit and the word Sing (star). The words for soul and essence in Chinese, Shin and Sting, are often interchangeable, as they are in the English language. It is said that the fixed stars, and their domain, contain the essences or souls of matter ... a living soul is a higher essence of matter, and when evolved may also be called a star. These stars and essences become gods. Like souls, stars are regarded as having divine attributes. Stars look down from regions of chaotic, violent, purity onto the world of humanity and influence the energies of humankind invisibly, yet most powerfully.
In June of 1993, as our sun covered Sirius from the Earth's view, the largest flood of the past century occurred. The rivers of the Mississippi, our Nile River, overflowed its banks. This flood continued until the middle of August. When Sirius came out from behind the sun, the flood waters receded, news reports disappeared and the immediate life-threatening crisis subsided. Could this not have been a reflection of the great rivers of energies streaming out from Sirius?"
Source: http://www.souledout.org/cosmology/sirius/siriusgodstar.html
related article:
"Brilliantly blazing, the star Sirius, brightest beacon in our night sky, beckons with glimpses of grandeur unimaginable. Small wonder this star was granted God / Goddess status amongst many early peoples, including the Egyptians and Sumerians. As modern astronomy unlocks our starry neighbors' secrets, evidence unfolds of the appropriateness of naming this star God.
As we learn more about the nature of our galaxy and especially its magnetic field, we know that streams of energy from stars travel in specific directions, either up or down the galactic arm in which they are embedded. Stars are polarized to other stars, either negative and positive, some receiving energy, some sending it out, all of which travels on the path of the magnetic field lines.
Recent findings reveal we are "downstream" from Sirius in the part of the galactic arm our solar system resides in. If God is the bringer of life (energy) and light, Sirius fits the description — it transmits its energy (highly charged particles) to our entire system via the magnetic field lines. We literally receive energy from Sirius! Did the ancient priests understand this process, thus naming this star "God"?
Now our sun obviously deserves the title of "light bearer" and "life bringer," as no life could exist in the solar system without its sustaining rays. But even the majestic sun pales in comparison to the nearby Sirian star system. We know of two stars there, and perhaps a third, although this remains unverified by science. The largest, the one we see as the brightest star in the heavens, is Sirius A, outshining our sun 10 times over with only the mass of three suns. Sirius B, a white dwarf star invisible to the naked eye, packs almost the entire mass of our sun into a globe only four times as large as the Earth.
White dwarf stars are extremely dense — in fact, Sirius B's surface is 300 times harder than diamonds, while its interior has a density 3000 times that of diamonds. Spinning on its axis about 23 times a minute, it generates huge magnetic fields around it. The two stars dance around each other, constantly exchanging particles. Because of its greater density and magnetic field, Sirius B takes the lion's share, actually vampirizing gases and materials off of its larger host body, Sirius A. Clearly a spectacular star system giving off enormous amounts of energy, our sun appears puny and insignificant in comparison.
Even during normal phases of its life, a tremendous amount of electrical energy is created on Sirius, making it the most energized, "positive" point in our little corner of space. Now this might seem like nothing more than a minor curiosity, but these are not ordinary times. Every 49.9 years, the two stars in the system, Sirius A and B, come as close together as their orbits allow, creating huge magnetic storms between them. As they approach each other, the stars both begin to spin faster as tidal forces become stronger, finally flip-flopping over, actually trading places with each other. Imagine a gigantic electrical turbine engine twisting and spinning, generating billions and billions of volts of electricity. This energy is eventually released to flow down the magnetic field lines to the sun, which transmits it like a lens to all the planets.
What does this mean to life on Earth? The last time it occurred, in 1944, humanity was locked in the greatest conflict ever seen in history, World War II. It happened again, almost 50 years later, in June, 1993.
The Tibetan master Djwhal Khul, author of the Alice Bailey books, taught in the early 1900s about the effects the Sirian system has on our world. When asked what forces were responsible for the world crisis during World War II, he listed as the number one cause "a welling up of magnetic force on Sirius, which produces effects upon our solar system and particularly upon our Earth." He proclaimed the Sirian energies stimulated both the best and the worst in humanity, as depicted in the global conflict. Does this man share the same insights as the ancient priests of Egypt and Sumeria?
The concept of Sirius playing a God-like role to our world is not a new one. The Dogon, the African tribe who have worshipped the invisible star Sirius B for thousands of years, claim visitations from beings of the Sirian system. In their religious dogma, they acknowledge the star as "immensely heavy, invisible, very small, yet extremely powerful." Their understanding of the two stars' orbits coincides exactly with modern astronomical findings, yet was arrived at thousands of years before the equipment needed for such measurements even existed. Their ability to recognize the awesome power of Sirius B, a star that can't even be seen, is truly remarkable. (For further reading on this subject, try Robert Temple's The Sirius Mystery.)
Sirius, considered by the ancient Egyptians to be the most important star in the sky, was astronomically the foundation of their entire religious system. Its celestial movements determined the Egyptian calendar ... Sirius's heliacal rising (when Sirius again rose into visibility after being hidden by the sun's light for 70 days) marked the beginning of the Egyptian year and roughly coincided with the flooding of the Nile — major events marked by feasting and celebration.
In the Sumerian civilization, predating the Egyptians, their epic poem Epic of Gilgamesh describes a dream of Gilgamesh where the hero is drawn irresistibly to a "heavy star" that cannot be lifted despite immense effort. This star descends from heaven to him and is described as having a very "potent essence" and being the "God of heaven." Gilgamesh had, for his companions, 50 oarsmen in the great ship Argo (this constellation bordering Canis Major, where Sirius is found). These elements comprise almost a complete description of Sirius B: a super-heavy gravitationally powerful star made of concentrated super-dense matter (essence) with the number 50 associated with it (describing its orbital period).
Earth Changes
What will occur when our solar system receives more electrical energy than usual? Let's pretend the Earth is a spinning top and see what happens when an electrical current or "wind" moves across it. Naturally, the top speeds up — modern science verifies the speed of the Earth's rotation varies with an all-time high speed of 19 hour days being recorded in rocks 3.5 million years ago. That's alarmingly fast. What happens to a sphere that spins faster? The poles begin to flatten while the middle bulges out at the equator. This action stretches the oceans causing submerged land masses to rise above sea level.
Spinning also causes an extreme wobble of the Earth's axis to occur, with the globe sometimes actually falling over onto its side. Scientists know this has happened to the Earth at least nine times with a tilt of up to 51 degrees (our axial tilt now is at 23 degrees). When this occurs, the land at the equator moves up to where the north pole is now, which explains why Alaska has fossils of alligators. Each time the Earth speeds up, it must slow down again due to the drag from the Moon, bringing about additional geophysical upheaval.
The Tibetan teacher Djwhal Khul comments that certain basic changes in the orientation of the Earth's axis are now taking place ... and periods of upheaval, confusion and cataclysm always precede these great shifts in the planet's axis. He also divulges the planet is in process of taking an initiation, marked by the great event of an axis shift as the Earth literally "repolarises" itself. His prediction of "increased earthquake and volcanic activity during the last decade of the millennium" has been confirmed by world seismologists today. Seismic activity has indeed picked up dramatically in the last three to four years. California scientists state "more earthquakes are now seen in specific areas (L.A., for instance) than ever previously recorded." Many volcanic eruptions have also occurred in this same time period with Mt. St. Helens leading the fray with its 1988 eruption, Mt. Fuji's recent expulsions and of course, Mt. Penatubo's contribution.
Liberation
Sirius is also associated with liberation; in fact, according to ancient teachings, the very concept of freedom itself resides in human consciousness because of the influence of this star system. Interestingly enough, the time each year our sun conjuncts Sirius at 14 degrees Cancer is close to July 4, America's Independence Day! Bastille Day, the French equivalent of Independence Day is July 14, and Canada celebrates its independence from England on July 1; Dominion Day. Venezuela's Independence Day is observed July 5, while Argentina's is celebrated on July 9. And noting, Iraq's Freedom Day, when the new Coalition government took control, happened on June 28, 2004 (two days earlier than it had been announced).
In 1993–1994, as the great conjunction" of Sirius A and B approached, a wave of freedom swept our world culminating in the breakdown of the communist rule in Europe and the liberation of the Russian people from the hard-line Communist party. The Berlin Wall fell as thecold war ended ... these events transpired simultaneously with the magnetic forces building to their highest intensity on Sirius. Is there a connection? Perhaps.
Conditions on our world may not become as dramatic as previously described; nevertheless, certain major adjustments are likely to occur. Aurorae may be everywhere as the incoming particles bombard our atmosphere. So much additional electrical current may be moving through our own geomagnetic field, touching anything may result in large electrical shocks. Medical research shows increased emotional and mental imbalances during magnetic storms on Earth created by solar flare activity on the sun. (See Robert Becker's Cross Currents.)
Because the sun is likely to speed up its rotational spin as well, its magnetic field will enlarge leading to heightened sunspot activity which in turn creates large solar flares, affecting world weather patterns and probably all phases of life on Earth. We no longer have the protection of the Van Allen belt (part of the Earth's magnetic field) like we used to. For the first time in history, we'll receive Sirian energies without its deflecting mechanism.
Whatever the future holds for us, it feels safe to venture that great change is imminent for our world and civilization. Those looking for peace and security may have a difficult time finding it, externally, at least. Look within for that unfailing point of balance and stability. It has never felt like a finer time to realign with spirit, soul, higher self ... in that pinnacle of peace, comfort lies.
A new picture of the universe is emerging, one of a vast cosmic interdependence and connectedness. From first cosmos to last electron, the whole universe is a complex of coils within coils, spirals within spirals, magnetic fields within magnetic fields. The stars are interconnected to each other, exchanging particles and gases constantly, all flowing down the magnetic field lines or arteries of the galactic body. Scientists now feel it’s very likely the galaxy's coiled field lines diverge into intergalactic space where they may ultimately be connected to other galaxies. Are these tendrils of energy the nervous system of the galaxy, relaying information from star to star, galaxy to galaxy, on and on? One can only wonder."
Source: http://www.souledout.org/cosmology/cossynthreflects/sirius.html
Sirius, The God, Dog Star
"The effect of Sirian energy and influences generated approximately 13 years ago, the last cycle when Sirius A and B were closest, in 1993 / 1994, have created renewed interest in this most influential heavenly body. The history books and religions of the world have had much to say about the God / Dog star. This article reflects on our ancestor’s beliefs and inspired insights into a great mystery ~ the mystery of the Dog Star and its influences on our little corner of the universe.
Sirius was an object of wonder and veneration to all ancient peoples throughout human history. In the ancient Vedas this star was known as the Chieftain's star; in other Hindu writings, it is referred to as Sukra, the Rain God, or Rain Star. The Dog is also described as "he who awakens the gods of the air, and summons them to their office of bringing the rain."
Sirius was revered as the Nile Star, or Star of Isis, by the ancient Egyptians. Its annual appearance just before dawn at the Summer Solstice, June 21, heralded the coming rise of the Nile, upon which Egyptian agriculture depended. This helical rising is referred to in many temple inscriptions, where the star is known as the Divine Sepat, identified as the soul of Isis. In the temple of Isis-Hathor at Dedendrah, Egypt, appears the inscription, "Her majesty Isis shines into the temple on New Year's Day, and she mingles her light with that of her father on the horizon." The Arabic word Al Shi'ra resembles the Greek, Roman, and Egyptian names suggesting a common origin in Sanskrit, in which the name Surya, the Sun God, simply means the "shining one."
For up to 35 days before, and 35 days after the sun conjuncts it close to July 4, the star Sirius is hidden by the sun’s glare. The ancient Egyptians refused to bury their dead during the 70 days Sirius was hidden from view, because it was believed Sirius was the doorway to the afterlife, and the doorway was thought to be closed during this yearly period.
The dog Sirius is one of the watchmen of the Heavens, fixed in one place at the bridge of the Milky Way, keeping guard over the abyss into incarnation. The Dog Star is a symbol of power, will, and steadfastness of purpose, and exemplifies the One who has succeeded in bridging the lower and higher consciousness.
Located just below the Dog Star there exists a constellation called Argo, the Ship. Astrologically that area in the sky has been known as the river of stars which is a gateway to the ocean of higher consciousness.
The Chinese knew this place as the bridge between heaven and hell, the bridge of the gatherer, the judge. In the higher mind are gathered the results of the experiences of the personality. Between each life the soul judges its past progress, and the conditions needed to aid its future growth. As long as it is attached to desire, sensation, and needs experiences, it takes a body. The soul cannot pass over the "bridge" until it is perfected.
The association of Sirius with a celestial dog has been consistent throughout the classical world; even in remote China, the star was identified as a heavenly wolf. In ancient Chaldea (present day Iraq) the star was known as the "Dog Star that Leads," or it was called the "Star of the Dog." In Assyria, it was said to be the "Dog of the Sun." In still older Akkadia, it was named the "Dog Star of the Sun."
In Greek times Aratus referred to Canis Major as the guard-dog of Orion, following on the heels of its master, and standing on its hind legs with Sirius carried in its jaws. Manilius called it the "dog with the blazing face." Canis Major (large dog) seems to cross the sky in pursuit of the hare, represented by the constellation Lepus under Orion's feet. The concept of the mind slaying the real can be seen in the tales which relate the dog as the hunter and killer ~ the hound from hell.
Mythologists such as Eratosthenes said that the constellation represents Laelaps, a dog so swift that no prey could escape it. Laelaps had a long list of owners. One story says it is the dog given by Zeus to Europa, whose son Minos, King of Crete passed it on to Procris, daughter of Cephalus. The dog was presented to Procris along with a javelin that could never miss. Ironically Cephalus accidentally killed her while out hunting with Laelaps.
Cephalus inherited the dog, and took it with him to Thebes, north of Athens, where a vicious fox was ravaging the countryside. The fox was so swift that it was destined never to be caught ~ yet Laelaps the hound was destined to catch whatever it pursued. Off they went, almost faster than the eye could follow, the inescapable dog in pursuit of the uncatchable fox. At one moment the dog would seem to have its prey within grasp, but could only close its jaws on thin air as the fox raced ahead of it again. There could be no resolution of such a paradox, so Zeus turned them both to stone and the dog he placed in the sky without the fox.
There is a remarkable analogy in the Chinese double meaning of the word Spirit and the word Sing (star). The words for soul and essence in Chinese, Shin and Sting, are often interchangeable, as they are in the English language. It is said that the fixed stars, and their domain, contain the essences or souls of matter ... a living soul is a higher essence of matter, and when evolved may also be called a star. These stars and essences become gods. Like souls, stars are regarded as having divine attributes. Stars look down from regions of chaotic, violent, purity onto the world of humanity and influence the energies of humankind invisibly, yet most powerfully.
In June of 1993, as our sun covered Sirius from the Earth's view, the largest flood of the past century occurred. The rivers of the Mississippi, our Nile River, overflowed its banks. This flood continued until the middle of August. When Sirius came out from behind the sun, the flood waters receded, news reports disappeared and the immediate life-threatening crisis subsided. Could this not have been a reflection of the great rivers of energies streaming out from Sirius?"
Source: http://www.souledout.org/cosmology/sirius/siriusgodstar.html
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Sunday, December 26, 2010
WAS HUNGARIAN THE LANGUAGE OF THE ANCIENT EASTERN CULTURES?
by Dr. Tibor Baráth
The state of the current research.
According to current scientific view, two languages flourished in the Ancient East in the millennia BC. It is believed that one originated somewhere north of the Tigris and Euphrates valley, and came to full bloom in Szemúr Sungod's country (Sumer, Sumir) where it became the literary language. It is also believed that it spread from Sumer toward the southern part of the country and later to the east all the way to the Mediterranean. The other language that flourished at this time, the language of the Ancient Egyptians is believed to not only have been the spoken language of the Nile-region but also the language of southwestern Africa. After the Egyptian kingdom was firmly established (1500 BC), it spread toward the great bend of the Euphrates river and Syria. Both languages are believed to be the world's oldest languages. ("The language of the hieroglyphs is perhaps the oldest in the world." - Brodrick M. Morton A, A Concise Dictionary Of Egyptian Archaeology, London, 1922.)
If we examine the exact position of the places where these two languages flourished, we find that they completely match the territories occupied by the two great branches of the Hungarians: the Hun and the Magyar. These two names are frequent in this territory where the Hungar-Magyar people represented the culture-bearing population. This gives rise to three questions:
1. Did a fatal linguistic misunderstanding or misinterpretation occur when deciphering these languages that prevented proper classification of these two languages?
2. Is it possible that these two languages were in fact the same?
3. If they were in fact the same, were they the Magyar language?
Posing these questions is validated by the fact that there is no historical evidence that these ancient eastern languages were called Sumerian or Egyptian by the actual residents of these cultures or the record-keepers of the time. These two names, coined and popularized by the scientists of the 19th c. AD,(1) were used only as geographical markers, but were not used as the names of the people or their languages.
Those texts which we call Sumerian today were written in two different manners: with pictographs and cuneiform writing. The older texts were written with the former method, the younger texts with the latter. Sumerologians have not even touched the pictographs yet; as far as I know none of them have been read. I believe the reason for this is these pictures yield their meaning only in the real Sumerian language, which is the Magyar (Hungarian), and their sound value can be established only according to this language. Consequently if someone does not speak this true "Sumerian" language, that person is unable to decipher them. This remark already lets us get a sense of what follows. All the present views concerning the Sumerian language are based solely upon the cuneiform texts. The cuneiform signs usually mark only the consonants and the reader adds the required nouns. The consonants may be read without really knowing the real Sumerian language, but it does not expose the nouns nor how to break the text into words. And where the Egyptian texts are concerned, they too used simplified pictures drawn close to one another. Later, the simplified version of a type of lettering came into use, hieroglyphs made of these pictures. They too mark only consonants and the vowels have to be added by the reader according to the spirit of the language. The Egyptologists read only the newer, hieroglyphic texts but they are unable to tell for certain what the nature of the accompanying vowels are and how the text should be broken into words. If we add here that the hard and soft consonants were frequently represented with the same sign (T=D, P=B, S=SZ, K=G, R=L) we may form a vague idea of the huge possibility of errors which may be committed while reading or transcribing the Sumerian and Egyptian texts into today's alphabet.
There is no solidly established consensus concerning the use of today's alphabets. Should the English, the French or some other language's alphabet be used? They never thought of the Hungarian. If we base our transliterating onto the English spelling-system, how can they mark the Hungarian GY, TY, LY sounds, which have firmly established spelling system in the Hungarian? Out of this dilemma arises the fact that the same word or name varies and is written in five or six different manners according to the nationality of the translator, as we find in the case of the Muger ruins in the city of Ur, or in the case of the Hungar and Magyar names. One can extract useful material from a translator's work only when one knows the translator's nationality, and knows the phonetics and graphics of his/her language. Things become even more complicated when the English scientist believes he knows the proper pronunciation but he is unable to find in the alphabet of his own language the proper symbol for that perceived sound, so he uses just for this sound, a symbol of the Italian alphabet. What will ensue of such a text if, let's say, a German scientist reads it and transliterates the text according to the German alphabet? There will be such a chaos created that it will take a very brave and strong man to attempt to lift out the true Sumerian and Egyptian words from this hodgepodge and even express an opinion about the nature of these languages. (2)
The foremost prerequisite for attaining the proper sounds, transliteration and understanding of these ancient scripts is to be familiar with the language with which the ancient texts were written and is fully familiar with the rules of pronunciation. This knowledge is as yet lacking and consequently today's researchers do not have the magic key with which to open up the secrets of these languages and their efforts have not led to a satisfying conclusion. In lack of such a key, the non-Hungarian scientist - and I am always talking about them in this book - usually resort to a replacement key. The Mesopotamian Sumerian is approached and translated with the help of the Persian, Assyrian and most of all the Hebrew. The Egyptian is translated with the help of the Coptic and Greek languages. Words transliterated in such a manner from the Sumerian and Egyptian may lack vowels at the most critical points or vowels will appear completely unnecessarily, consonants may become scrambled, and words may be shortened or in running texts the words' beginnings and endings will be uncertain or wrong. In other words, the transcribed text will distort the original to an almost unrecognizable form in both the Sumerian and the Egyptian language. Due to these many-layered mistakes of the transliteration-translation process, all of a sudden a language appears, in fact created by the translators, which does not resemble any known language. So we can truly state it is without any relatives and it is extinct. This opinion has to arise by necessity due to the above. If someone is unfamiliar with the sad background of Sumerology and Egyptology will accept this concoction as true "Sumerian" and "Egyptian".
The uncertain sound-values of these two ancient languages, the incorrect transliteration and the complete distortion of the original characteristics was noted by the orientalists themselves. Waddell reproached the linguists a long time ago, saying that they base the transcriptions of Mesopotamian texts upon the Assyrian language. These scientists, says Waddell, "begin their work laden with false racial and religious theories and did not have a key to the sound-values of personal names, which we inherited with Sumerian signs that had several sound-values. (Lloyd Seton: Foundations in the Dust, Bristol 1955, p.121). The destruction of the Sumerian language took on such proportions that the first translations proved useless and had to be laid aside. (Samuel Noah Kramer, Sumerian Mythology, New York 1961 p.22.) Samuel Kramer, an American Sumerologist made this remark, and he himself took extensive liberties in translating the Sumerian texts into English and frequently reads something completely different from what is written. Even with this in mind, he faces problems that are seemingly insurmountable. (Sumerian Mythology pg. 65, 68, 69, 73, 75-77), because very often he only feels the meaning of the words based on the text surrounding it. (S.N.Kramer: Twenty-Five Firsts in Man's Recorded History; From the Tablets of Sumer, Indian Hills, 1956) He does not have a key either and his results are so individualistic, that based on his findings he believes the Sumerian language without a family also, a language without a beginning and without a continuation. He even finds the date of its demise around 2000 BC. We do not fare any better - regrettably - concerning the reading of the Egyptian hieroglyphs as even a beginner of Egyptian studies will notice after studying Sir Wallis Budge's works. He himself states that the pronunciation of a great number of words, mostly verbs, cannot be ascertained and the meaning of symbols given by him is only marginal. (Budge, E.A.W. Egyptian Language. Easy lessons in Egyptian hieroglyphics with sign list. London, 1958, p.146 and passim.) The greatest Egyptologist of all times, the French Maspero admits very honestly: "It is our endeavor that we attempt the pronunciation of the Egyptian words but it may lead only to marginal results because we never know with sufficient certainty how they sounded. Our only recourse is that we establish what sound-values some of the words had in Greek times as far as this is possible." (Maspero G.: History of Egypt, Chaldea, Syria, Babilonia and Assyria. 6.vol. London, s.d. I, VI) "The general pronunciation of the Egyptian names in our days is not so much Egyptian, but Egyptologian; in other words the pronunciation of these words is according to Egyptologists." (Ceram C.W. A Hettiták Regénye, Hungarian translation by Márton Hegyi Budapest, 1964, p.26) "Needless to add, no one supposes that the result of this compromise is anything but a caricature of the ancient Egyptian tongue, but, the circumstances being as they are, it is the best that can be done." (P.E.Cleator Lost languages, New York, 1961, p. 59) The reader should never forget this fact.
At the same time, we have to realize that in certain instances it is truly very difficult, or even impossible to read the written text well and find its true meaning, even if we do have the knowledge of the rules of this writing and reading and also use the only good key leading there, which is the Hungarian language in establishing the sound values. After all, we are dealing with the spiritual heritage of a world of 4-5000 years ago; the workings of the minds of the people then was completely different from ours. This difficulty can be bridged only if we become thoroughly familiar with the belief system, statesmanship of the ages BC. It is for this reason that when we do translate a text we must sometimes add lengthy explanations to a given sentence. The following examples will clarify this statement.
The Egyptian and Sumerian texts frequently use the following names of their Sungod: Égúr, Székúr, Kerek Úr, Napúr, Õsúr, Magúr, Útúr, Honúr, Szemúr, Égetõ Úr, Vörös Szemû and some at least twenty more expressions. Western scholars who are not familiar with the key-language understand only the Úr suffix of these words which they translate as God. They also believe that as many such words with Úr endings exist, that many gods were worshipped by the ancients. For them there is a God An, God Utu, God Sek and so on. Anyone familiar with the key-language and the ancients' religion will recognize these words as the names of the same Sungod; the ancients stressed one of the Sungod's characteristics and function by a given name. We may compare this practice to the Roman Catholic Church's practice to call God the Father in his creative capacity, the Son is his redemptive function and the Holy Spirit as his sanctifying function. We will fully understand the Sungod's many names if we are familiar with the concepts of the ancients concerning the Sungod. According to them, the sun, this heavenly body is God's visible picture. Since this picture appears round, they name him Kerek Úr (Round Lord). Since the Sun brightens everything and sees everything, like a giant eye another name of his is Szemúr (Occulate Lord). Since his eye is pairless, they call him Egyszemû (One Eyed), according to the sun's color Vörös Szemû (Red Eyed) and since the Sun resides in the sky they also called him Égi Szem or Égszem (Eye of Heavens). When they contemplated its immense heat they called him Égetõ Úr (Scorching Lord) and Sütõ Úr (Shining Lord). They also believed that he is the only Lord in his world so they called him Honúr (Lord of his Home) and Égi Király (King of Heavens). As they saw the apparent motion as he rises in the morning his name then was Ra-Kel (Ra rises), the rising on the eastern borders Kel-Út (The Road of Rising/East) where he sits down onto his chair: Szék-Úr (Lord of the Chair or the Seated/Settled Lord), later on he sits into his chariot and travels the shiny roads of the skies: Útúr (Lord of the Road) and when he finished his daily journey and reaches the west: Nyug-Út (Resting/Western Road) and as he sinks below the horizon: Esút, Este (The Falling/Evening Road, Evening). As we clarify this section of their belief everything becomes clearer and also realize that the ancients whose religion was connected with the Sun were never polytheistic, they only had one God.
We can follow the ancients' footsteps and thinking this far and we can also understand the names they used and we are able to explain it to people who are ignorant of the Hungarian language. Things become complicated when the ancient theologians begin to use word-plays and substitute the names of their God using assonance; then they use a symbol, a picture of something that has no internal relationship with God except an assonance exists and so it becomes useful as a symbol that conveys a sound. The sentences, prayers they create with such symbols appear completely incomprehensible. For example when they want to write God's name as Ég-Úr (Lord of Heaven) they draw a mouse (Egér), Székúr's (The Seated/Settled Lord) name is conveyed by a wagon (szekér), the name Kerek-Úr (Round Lord) is represented by a wagon-wheel (kerék), the Úri-Õs (Ancestral Lord) with a giant (óriás) and so on. How could a person unfamiliar with Hungarian find its way among the symbols: when is it proper to talk about the Lord of Heaven (Égúr) and when the animal (egér) that represents his name here on earth? It is believed for exactly this reason that the Babylonians worshipped a mouse. With the above explanations we realize that they have not worshipped idols in any way just as we are not idol-worshippers when we pray in front of statues in the churches but the essence of what they symbolize; or in Egyptian symbology: for whom the symbol stands. We often find in the late Stone and Bronze Ages a tiny bronze-wagon on the altars. In this case they did not worship the wagon but the meaning this artifact conveyed, one of the names of the Sungod: Székúr or Az-Ég-Ur (The Seated/Settled God or The Lord of Heaven). It is of utmost importance for Hungarians to realize this for these facts are the weightiest series of testimonies concerning the true form of the Sumerian and Egyptian languages. In the case of the wordplay egér - Égúr (mouse - Lord of Heaven), szekér - Székúr (wagon - Seated Lord) it is perfectly clear in the Hungarian language, as it is clear in case of Szemúr when his name is written with the image of a donkey (szamár). But how many names of so called "idols" are lost to us! We become helpless when the tracks are lost. It is better to admit this fact freely and not to use some very individualistic explanation and mislead the reader, or to calumniate the ancients. They never worshipped crocodiles, snakes, frogs and insects; the good historians know that all this is only a figment of imagination just as much as the story of a relativeless Sumerian and Egyptian language.(Egyptian Mythology New York s.d. p.10; Hawkes, Jaquette, Wooley Leonard: Prehistory and the beginning of civilization. New York, 1963 p.717; Maspero G.: History of Egypt, Chaldea, Syria, Babilonia and Assyria, 6.vol. London s.d p.III.153)
Since it is so difficult to read the ancient Eastern texts, to transcribe them into today's alphabets and understand them, we are not amazed that only a very few people are willing to tread this very bumpy road. This explains why the study of the near one-hundred-thousand known Sumerian and Egyptian literary texts, which are known to us for 70 or 80 years has hardly progressed (S.N. Kramer Sumerian Mythology New York,1961, VIII). This is the reason that the presently used transcribed texts are unsuitable for linguistic studies and the clarification of the Sumerian and Egyptian languages cannot come about with their help. This situation was already realized by A. Nehring, a German scientist who remarked the following as early as 1936: "Thus far there was no attempt to make use of the grammar, study of sound and structure and the sentences in connection with the problems of the history of the ancients." The person who quoted this sentence in Budapest added the following: "The situation in this respect, as far as I know it has not changed since significantly." (Henning Von Der Osten, Hans: Die Welt der Perser, Stuttgart, 1956).
If one reviews the state of present research it is clear that there is something seriously wrong concerning the two languages that were baptized Sumerian and Egyptian. Even though they are believed without relations and dead, they clearly have a strong affiliation with the present day Hungarian. Considering this the basic accepted tenet of Sumerology and Egyptology is incorrect.
Notes
1. The first examiners of the Mesopotamian language called it a Scythan language. Today they bring it in relationship clearly with the Magyar, Finno-Ugrian or Ural-Altaic languages but still call this language Sumerian. The Sumerian name was coined in 1869 by Oppert, a French linguist and was picked up in the scientific journals of the day. Oppert arrived to this name by reading about the Lord of Sumer and Agade. He proposed that the named Lord was a king and the two other names are names of countries. The former name was extended and became the name of the country and the people (Kramer, Samuel Noah, The Sumerians, Their History, Culture and Character, Chicago, 1964). But Oppert never understood the meaning of Sumer (Szemúr=Occulate Lord) and Agade (Égetõ=the Scorching Lord), both of which names are but two different names of the Sungod, thus the name of the country simply meant: The Country of the Sungod. This name described every country where the supremacy of the Sungod was honored. The above mentioned names can be substituted by any of the other names of the Sungod or territory marking names, such as Hon, Kõ, Ma, Ta. There existed for example a Napotthon (Home of the Sun), a Szemhon (Home of the Occulate Being), Makor-Ta, Hét-Ta, Ég-Ta, Szem-Ta, etc...(The lands of Makar, Hét, Ég, Szem = these are all names of the same Sungod).
2. In the orthography of names complete confusion reigns throughout the scholarly literature. (Ceram C.W. The Secret of the Hittites, V; New York, 1956.) It is hardly necessary to say that differences of opinion exist among scholars as to the method in which hieroglyphic characters should be transcribed into Roman letters, Budge E. Wallis Egyptian language; Easy lessons in Egyptian hieroglyphics with sign list. London, 1958 - p.32). Since in hieroglyphic writing only the consonants and not the vowels are indicated, our reading of Egyptian names is only a compromise and we do not pretend that our form of transcription renders the names as they were pronounced. (Tutankhamun treasures. Trésors de Toutankhamon. Montreal, 1964 - p. 4)
Short biography
Professor Tibor Baráth was born in Alsólendva Hungary in 1906. He received his Ph.D. in History in Budapest, and continued his postgraduate studies in Vienna, Paris and Montreal. He was professor of history at the University of Kolozsvár, Hungary (1940-45), until the communist takeover of his native country. Prior to his nomination to the teaching post, he was Secretary of the Hungarian Institute in Paris (1932-39) and fulfilled the role of Assistant-Secretary of the International Committee of Historical Sciences at the same time. He moved to Paris with his family in 1945 where he founded a Hungarian newspaper. He left Paris for Montreal, Canada in 1952. Here he continued his research concerning ancient Hungarian history which he began in Kolozsvár. Prof. Baráth was author of over one hundred historical essays and also of several books, the most significant ones being: The Tax-System in Hungary, 1605-1648; History of the Hungarian Historiography, 1867-1935 (in French); A Short History of Hungary; the three-volume Ancient History of the Hungarian Peoples (in Hungarian), and The Early Hungarians (in English).
Sumerian, Hungarian and Mongolian (including Avaric)
The state of the current research.
According to current scientific view, two languages flourished in the Ancient East in the millennia BC. It is believed that one originated somewhere north of the Tigris and Euphrates valley, and came to full bloom in Szemúr Sungod's country (Sumer, Sumir) where it became the literary language. It is also believed that it spread from Sumer toward the southern part of the country and later to the east all the way to the Mediterranean. The other language that flourished at this time, the language of the Ancient Egyptians is believed to not only have been the spoken language of the Nile-region but also the language of southwestern Africa. After the Egyptian kingdom was firmly established (1500 BC), it spread toward the great bend of the Euphrates river and Syria. Both languages are believed to be the world's oldest languages. ("The language of the hieroglyphs is perhaps the oldest in the world." - Brodrick M. Morton A, A Concise Dictionary Of Egyptian Archaeology, London, 1922.)
If we examine the exact position of the places where these two languages flourished, we find that they completely match the territories occupied by the two great branches of the Hungarians: the Hun and the Magyar. These two names are frequent in this territory where the Hungar-Magyar people represented the culture-bearing population. This gives rise to three questions:
1. Did a fatal linguistic misunderstanding or misinterpretation occur when deciphering these languages that prevented proper classification of these two languages?
2. Is it possible that these two languages were in fact the same?
3. If they were in fact the same, were they the Magyar language?
Posing these questions is validated by the fact that there is no historical evidence that these ancient eastern languages were called Sumerian or Egyptian by the actual residents of these cultures or the record-keepers of the time. These two names, coined and popularized by the scientists of the 19th c. AD,(1) were used only as geographical markers, but were not used as the names of the people or their languages.
Those texts which we call Sumerian today were written in two different manners: with pictographs and cuneiform writing. The older texts were written with the former method, the younger texts with the latter. Sumerologians have not even touched the pictographs yet; as far as I know none of them have been read. I believe the reason for this is these pictures yield their meaning only in the real Sumerian language, which is the Magyar (Hungarian), and their sound value can be established only according to this language. Consequently if someone does not speak this true "Sumerian" language, that person is unable to decipher them. This remark already lets us get a sense of what follows. All the present views concerning the Sumerian language are based solely upon the cuneiform texts. The cuneiform signs usually mark only the consonants and the reader adds the required nouns. The consonants may be read without really knowing the real Sumerian language, but it does not expose the nouns nor how to break the text into words. And where the Egyptian texts are concerned, they too used simplified pictures drawn close to one another. Later, the simplified version of a type of lettering came into use, hieroglyphs made of these pictures. They too mark only consonants and the vowels have to be added by the reader according to the spirit of the language. The Egyptologists read only the newer, hieroglyphic texts but they are unable to tell for certain what the nature of the accompanying vowels are and how the text should be broken into words. If we add here that the hard and soft consonants were frequently represented with the same sign (T=D, P=B, S=SZ, K=G, R=L) we may form a vague idea of the huge possibility of errors which may be committed while reading or transcribing the Sumerian and Egyptian texts into today's alphabet.
There is no solidly established consensus concerning the use of today's alphabets. Should the English, the French or some other language's alphabet be used? They never thought of the Hungarian. If we base our transliterating onto the English spelling-system, how can they mark the Hungarian GY, TY, LY sounds, which have firmly established spelling system in the Hungarian? Out of this dilemma arises the fact that the same word or name varies and is written in five or six different manners according to the nationality of the translator, as we find in the case of the Muger ruins in the city of Ur, or in the case of the Hungar and Magyar names. One can extract useful material from a translator's work only when one knows the translator's nationality, and knows the phonetics and graphics of his/her language. Things become even more complicated when the English scientist believes he knows the proper pronunciation but he is unable to find in the alphabet of his own language the proper symbol for that perceived sound, so he uses just for this sound, a symbol of the Italian alphabet. What will ensue of such a text if, let's say, a German scientist reads it and transliterates the text according to the German alphabet? There will be such a chaos created that it will take a very brave and strong man to attempt to lift out the true Sumerian and Egyptian words from this hodgepodge and even express an opinion about the nature of these languages. (2)
The foremost prerequisite for attaining the proper sounds, transliteration and understanding of these ancient scripts is to be familiar with the language with which the ancient texts were written and is fully familiar with the rules of pronunciation. This knowledge is as yet lacking and consequently today's researchers do not have the magic key with which to open up the secrets of these languages and their efforts have not led to a satisfying conclusion. In lack of such a key, the non-Hungarian scientist - and I am always talking about them in this book - usually resort to a replacement key. The Mesopotamian Sumerian is approached and translated with the help of the Persian, Assyrian and most of all the Hebrew. The Egyptian is translated with the help of the Coptic and Greek languages. Words transliterated in such a manner from the Sumerian and Egyptian may lack vowels at the most critical points or vowels will appear completely unnecessarily, consonants may become scrambled, and words may be shortened or in running texts the words' beginnings and endings will be uncertain or wrong. In other words, the transcribed text will distort the original to an almost unrecognizable form in both the Sumerian and the Egyptian language. Due to these many-layered mistakes of the transliteration-translation process, all of a sudden a language appears, in fact created by the translators, which does not resemble any known language. So we can truly state it is without any relatives and it is extinct. This opinion has to arise by necessity due to the above. If someone is unfamiliar with the sad background of Sumerology and Egyptology will accept this concoction as true "Sumerian" and "Egyptian".
The uncertain sound-values of these two ancient languages, the incorrect transliteration and the complete distortion of the original characteristics was noted by the orientalists themselves. Waddell reproached the linguists a long time ago, saying that they base the transcriptions of Mesopotamian texts upon the Assyrian language. These scientists, says Waddell, "begin their work laden with false racial and religious theories and did not have a key to the sound-values of personal names, which we inherited with Sumerian signs that had several sound-values. (Lloyd Seton: Foundations in the Dust, Bristol 1955, p.121). The destruction of the Sumerian language took on such proportions that the first translations proved useless and had to be laid aside. (Samuel Noah Kramer, Sumerian Mythology, New York 1961 p.22.) Samuel Kramer, an American Sumerologist made this remark, and he himself took extensive liberties in translating the Sumerian texts into English and frequently reads something completely different from what is written. Even with this in mind, he faces problems that are seemingly insurmountable. (Sumerian Mythology pg. 65, 68, 69, 73, 75-77), because very often he only feels the meaning of the words based on the text surrounding it. (S.N.Kramer: Twenty-Five Firsts in Man's Recorded History; From the Tablets of Sumer, Indian Hills, 1956) He does not have a key either and his results are so individualistic, that based on his findings he believes the Sumerian language without a family also, a language without a beginning and without a continuation. He even finds the date of its demise around 2000 BC. We do not fare any better - regrettably - concerning the reading of the Egyptian hieroglyphs as even a beginner of Egyptian studies will notice after studying Sir Wallis Budge's works. He himself states that the pronunciation of a great number of words, mostly verbs, cannot be ascertained and the meaning of symbols given by him is only marginal. (Budge, E.A.W. Egyptian Language. Easy lessons in Egyptian hieroglyphics with sign list. London, 1958, p.146 and passim.) The greatest Egyptologist of all times, the French Maspero admits very honestly: "It is our endeavor that we attempt the pronunciation of the Egyptian words but it may lead only to marginal results because we never know with sufficient certainty how they sounded. Our only recourse is that we establish what sound-values some of the words had in Greek times as far as this is possible." (Maspero G.: History of Egypt, Chaldea, Syria, Babilonia and Assyria. 6.vol. London, s.d. I, VI) "The general pronunciation of the Egyptian names in our days is not so much Egyptian, but Egyptologian; in other words the pronunciation of these words is according to Egyptologists." (Ceram C.W. A Hettiták Regénye, Hungarian translation by Márton Hegyi Budapest, 1964, p.26) "Needless to add, no one supposes that the result of this compromise is anything but a caricature of the ancient Egyptian tongue, but, the circumstances being as they are, it is the best that can be done." (P.E.Cleator Lost languages, New York, 1961, p. 59) The reader should never forget this fact.
At the same time, we have to realize that in certain instances it is truly very difficult, or even impossible to read the written text well and find its true meaning, even if we do have the knowledge of the rules of this writing and reading and also use the only good key leading there, which is the Hungarian language in establishing the sound values. After all, we are dealing with the spiritual heritage of a world of 4-5000 years ago; the workings of the minds of the people then was completely different from ours. This difficulty can be bridged only if we become thoroughly familiar with the belief system, statesmanship of the ages BC. It is for this reason that when we do translate a text we must sometimes add lengthy explanations to a given sentence. The following examples will clarify this statement.
The Egyptian and Sumerian texts frequently use the following names of their Sungod: Égúr, Székúr, Kerek Úr, Napúr, Õsúr, Magúr, Útúr, Honúr, Szemúr, Égetõ Úr, Vörös Szemû and some at least twenty more expressions. Western scholars who are not familiar with the key-language understand only the Úr suffix of these words which they translate as God. They also believe that as many such words with Úr endings exist, that many gods were worshipped by the ancients. For them there is a God An, God Utu, God Sek and so on. Anyone familiar with the key-language and the ancients' religion will recognize these words as the names of the same Sungod; the ancients stressed one of the Sungod's characteristics and function by a given name. We may compare this practice to the Roman Catholic Church's practice to call God the Father in his creative capacity, the Son is his redemptive function and the Holy Spirit as his sanctifying function. We will fully understand the Sungod's many names if we are familiar with the concepts of the ancients concerning the Sungod. According to them, the sun, this heavenly body is God's visible picture. Since this picture appears round, they name him Kerek Úr (Round Lord). Since the Sun brightens everything and sees everything, like a giant eye another name of his is Szemúr (Occulate Lord). Since his eye is pairless, they call him Egyszemû (One Eyed), according to the sun's color Vörös Szemû (Red Eyed) and since the Sun resides in the sky they also called him Égi Szem or Égszem (Eye of Heavens). When they contemplated its immense heat they called him Égetõ Úr (Scorching Lord) and Sütõ Úr (Shining Lord). They also believed that he is the only Lord in his world so they called him Honúr (Lord of his Home) and Égi Király (King of Heavens). As they saw the apparent motion as he rises in the morning his name then was Ra-Kel (Ra rises), the rising on the eastern borders Kel-Út (The Road of Rising/East) where he sits down onto his chair: Szék-Úr (Lord of the Chair or the Seated/Settled Lord), later on he sits into his chariot and travels the shiny roads of the skies: Útúr (Lord of the Road) and when he finished his daily journey and reaches the west: Nyug-Út (Resting/Western Road) and as he sinks below the horizon: Esút, Este (The Falling/Evening Road, Evening). As we clarify this section of their belief everything becomes clearer and also realize that the ancients whose religion was connected with the Sun were never polytheistic, they only had one God.
We can follow the ancients' footsteps and thinking this far and we can also understand the names they used and we are able to explain it to people who are ignorant of the Hungarian language. Things become complicated when the ancient theologians begin to use word-plays and substitute the names of their God using assonance; then they use a symbol, a picture of something that has no internal relationship with God except an assonance exists and so it becomes useful as a symbol that conveys a sound. The sentences, prayers they create with such symbols appear completely incomprehensible. For example when they want to write God's name as Ég-Úr (Lord of Heaven) they draw a mouse (Egér), Székúr's (The Seated/Settled Lord) name is conveyed by a wagon (szekér), the name Kerek-Úr (Round Lord) is represented by a wagon-wheel (kerék), the Úri-Õs (Ancestral Lord) with a giant (óriás) and so on. How could a person unfamiliar with Hungarian find its way among the symbols: when is it proper to talk about the Lord of Heaven (Égúr) and when the animal (egér) that represents his name here on earth? It is believed for exactly this reason that the Babylonians worshipped a mouse. With the above explanations we realize that they have not worshipped idols in any way just as we are not idol-worshippers when we pray in front of statues in the churches but the essence of what they symbolize; or in Egyptian symbology: for whom the symbol stands. We often find in the late Stone and Bronze Ages a tiny bronze-wagon on the altars. In this case they did not worship the wagon but the meaning this artifact conveyed, one of the names of the Sungod: Székúr or Az-Ég-Ur (The Seated/Settled God or The Lord of Heaven). It is of utmost importance for Hungarians to realize this for these facts are the weightiest series of testimonies concerning the true form of the Sumerian and Egyptian languages. In the case of the wordplay egér - Égúr (mouse - Lord of Heaven), szekér - Székúr (wagon - Seated Lord) it is perfectly clear in the Hungarian language, as it is clear in case of Szemúr when his name is written with the image of a donkey (szamár). But how many names of so called "idols" are lost to us! We become helpless when the tracks are lost. It is better to admit this fact freely and not to use some very individualistic explanation and mislead the reader, or to calumniate the ancients. They never worshipped crocodiles, snakes, frogs and insects; the good historians know that all this is only a figment of imagination just as much as the story of a relativeless Sumerian and Egyptian language.(Egyptian Mythology New York s.d. p.10; Hawkes, Jaquette, Wooley Leonard: Prehistory and the beginning of civilization. New York, 1963 p.717; Maspero G.: History of Egypt, Chaldea, Syria, Babilonia and Assyria, 6.vol. London s.d p.III.153)
Since it is so difficult to read the ancient Eastern texts, to transcribe them into today's alphabets and understand them, we are not amazed that only a very few people are willing to tread this very bumpy road. This explains why the study of the near one-hundred-thousand known Sumerian and Egyptian literary texts, which are known to us for 70 or 80 years has hardly progressed (S.N. Kramer Sumerian Mythology New York,1961, VIII). This is the reason that the presently used transcribed texts are unsuitable for linguistic studies and the clarification of the Sumerian and Egyptian languages cannot come about with their help. This situation was already realized by A. Nehring, a German scientist who remarked the following as early as 1936: "Thus far there was no attempt to make use of the grammar, study of sound and structure and the sentences in connection with the problems of the history of the ancients." The person who quoted this sentence in Budapest added the following: "The situation in this respect, as far as I know it has not changed since significantly." (Henning Von Der Osten, Hans: Die Welt der Perser, Stuttgart, 1956).
If one reviews the state of present research it is clear that there is something seriously wrong concerning the two languages that were baptized Sumerian and Egyptian. Even though they are believed without relations and dead, they clearly have a strong affiliation with the present day Hungarian. Considering this the basic accepted tenet of Sumerology and Egyptology is incorrect.
Notes
1. The first examiners of the Mesopotamian language called it a Scythan language. Today they bring it in relationship clearly with the Magyar, Finno-Ugrian or Ural-Altaic languages but still call this language Sumerian. The Sumerian name was coined in 1869 by Oppert, a French linguist and was picked up in the scientific journals of the day. Oppert arrived to this name by reading about the Lord of Sumer and Agade. He proposed that the named Lord was a king and the two other names are names of countries. The former name was extended and became the name of the country and the people (Kramer, Samuel Noah, The Sumerians, Their History, Culture and Character, Chicago, 1964). But Oppert never understood the meaning of Sumer (Szemúr=Occulate Lord) and Agade (Égetõ=the Scorching Lord), both of which names are but two different names of the Sungod, thus the name of the country simply meant: The Country of the Sungod. This name described every country where the supremacy of the Sungod was honored. The above mentioned names can be substituted by any of the other names of the Sungod or territory marking names, such as Hon, Kõ, Ma, Ta. There existed for example a Napotthon (Home of the Sun), a Szemhon (Home of the Occulate Being), Makor-Ta, Hét-Ta, Ég-Ta, Szem-Ta, etc...(The lands of Makar, Hét, Ég, Szem = these are all names of the same Sungod).
2. In the orthography of names complete confusion reigns throughout the scholarly literature. (Ceram C.W. The Secret of the Hittites, V; New York, 1956.) It is hardly necessary to say that differences of opinion exist among scholars as to the method in which hieroglyphic characters should be transcribed into Roman letters, Budge E. Wallis Egyptian language; Easy lessons in Egyptian hieroglyphics with sign list. London, 1958 - p.32). Since in hieroglyphic writing only the consonants and not the vowels are indicated, our reading of Egyptian names is only a compromise and we do not pretend that our form of transcription renders the names as they were pronounced. (Tutankhamun treasures. Trésors de Toutankhamon. Montreal, 1964 - p. 4)
Short biography
Professor Tibor Baráth was born in Alsólendva Hungary in 1906. He received his Ph.D. in History in Budapest, and continued his postgraduate studies in Vienna, Paris and Montreal. He was professor of history at the University of Kolozsvár, Hungary (1940-45), until the communist takeover of his native country. Prior to his nomination to the teaching post, he was Secretary of the Hungarian Institute in Paris (1932-39) and fulfilled the role of Assistant-Secretary of the International Committee of Historical Sciences at the same time. He moved to Paris with his family in 1945 where he founded a Hungarian newspaper. He left Paris for Montreal, Canada in 1952. Here he continued his research concerning ancient Hungarian history which he began in Kolozsvár. Prof. Baráth was author of over one hundred historical essays and also of several books, the most significant ones being: The Tax-System in Hungary, 1605-1648; History of the Hungarian Historiography, 1867-1935 (in French); A Short History of Hungary; the three-volume Ancient History of the Hungarian Peoples (in Hungarian), and The Early Hungarians (in English).
Sumerian, Hungarian and Mongolian (including Avaric)
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