I have seen this picture of the so called "Khafajeh vase" so many times before. Amazing object. It was dated to the mid 3rd millennium BC, and it is called so because it was allegedly found in Khafajeh, in Diyala region of Iraq in an unsupervised dig...
The vase was made in the so called "Intercultural style" with stylistic elements from Mesopotamia, Iran, Central Asia and Indus valley. And it is believed that it was not made in Iraq, but in Iran by the people of the Jiroft culture...
As I said, an amazing object. But just how amazing this object really is, I only realised the other day, when for the first time I saw the whole design that adorns it unrolled into a continuous stip...
The design is divided into four "scenes" (and not three as it is stated in the description in the book):
The official interpretation is: "heroes, masters of animals subduing the nature". I would beg to disagree...And to understand why I am so sure that this has nothing to do with any imaginary "masters of animals" we need to look at climate and animal behaviour in Jiroft area...
Jiroft culture was centred around the Halil River catchment area. Pic: Key physical, archaeological and phytogeographical features in the Jiroft valley. KSN (Konar Sandal North) and KSS (Konar Sandal South) sites. Inset: Map of Iran with location of the Jiroft valley...
The climatic year in the Halil River (Jiroft) area is divided into dry season (Apr/May to Oct/Nov) and wet season (Nov/Dec-Mar/Apr). The wettest month is Feb, while the driest month is Jul which is also the hottest month...
The precipitation falls as rain in the valley and as snow in the mountains which surround it. And it is the snow which fell on the mountains that affected the life of the Jiroft people more than the rain that fell on the valley...Pic: snow cover of the Iranian mountains per month
The rivers in the mountain areas of Iran, including the Halil river, are fed mostly by snowmelt, which starts in late Feb early Mar, and peaks in late Apr, early May. Pic: the flow of Iranian rivers, which have a spike between Mar and Aug with peak in late Apr early May...
The snowmelt brought with it sediments from the mountains and created rich alluvial plains ideal for agriculture. It also fed the river until the end of June, allowing for intensive irrigation for months after the last spring rains, extending growing season significantly...
The snowmelt in the surrounding high mountains also fed the a shallow groundwater table in the alluvial plains which created many artesian wells and springs. Agriculture and civilisation flourishes where freshwater is readily available...
And if the rain and snow ever stopped falling, the river would stop flowing and that would mean the end of the life in the Jiroft valley...And this is exactly what happened at the end of the 3rd millennium BC...
Everything indicates that the Halil river valley was abandoned due to desertification during the "4.2 kiloyear event"
The end 🙂
Well the end of the bit about the climate. Now the animals. We have: zebu cattle, eurasian lions, scorpions, vultures, bears and snakes...What is the meaning of this menagerie? Let's see...
Zebu
I couldn't find much info about natural mating season of Zebu cattle. Except two notes from "Zebu cattle of India and Pakistan":
Dhani cattle (Mating has slight peak May to August)
Kankrej cattle (Mating tendency March to August)
I would suggest, based on the behaviour of other wild cattle (aurochs, buffalos) which both have single mating season, and Indus valley depictions, that wild zebu also had single mating season which spanned the summer (May-Jul) or which peaked in May...I talked about this in my post "Kharif and Rabi season"...
Eurasian lion
As for Eurasian lions, their main mating season was and still is August to October. I talked about this in my post "Entemena vase"
Syrian Brown bear
It is distributed throughout Northern Armenia, Azerbaijan, Abkhazia in Georgia, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Turkey and Turkmenistan. They mate between May and July with cubs born in the winter den around January or early February.
Asiatic black bear
It is found in the forests of Eastern Asia from Iran to Taiwan and Japan, particularly in hilly and mountainous terrain. They mate in June and July with cubs born in winter den in January and February.
Both Syrian brown bears and Asian black bears prepare their dens for hibernation in mid-October, and will sleep from November until March when they will emerge out of their dens with their cubs...
Guess what happens in Iran at the exact time when the bear cubs emerge from their dens? Date palm pollination, which in the Northern Hemisphere takes place in Mar/Apr...Which is what is shown on the "bear part of the "Khafajeh vase": bear cubs next to blooming date tree...
Scorpion
As for scorpions, they disappear from the outside nature (and probably appear inside human dwellings) at the end of autumn, beginning of winter, when the weather gets too cold and damp. I talked about it in my post "Scorpion man"...
Finally snakes.
They are the symbol of sun's heat. The only true solar animals, they are in our world when the sun is in it too (day, and hot, dry part of the year), and in the underworld when the sun is there too (night, and wet, cold part of the year). I talked about this in my post "Bactrian snakes and dragons"...
Why am I yapping about animals and their mating and birthing seasons? Because these significant lifecycle events, which occur every year at the same time, were used by our ancestors, before solar and lunar calendars were developed, as solar year calendar markers...I am adding articles related to this theme to this list.
And this is exactly what each animal is on the "Khafajeh vase": a calendar marker...
So let's have a look at the "Khafajeh vase" imagery again, with all the knowledge about the natural world in which the Jiroft people who made this amazing vase lived...
1. The bear cubs scene
Bear cubs are born at the end of Jan beginning of Feb, beginning of spring. They emerge from their dens in Mar, middle of spring, at the beginning of the date palms pollination and the beginning of the snowmelt. So I would say that the bear cubs "scene" symbolises the spring...
2. Zebus
Zebu's mating season coincides with the snowmelt flow season which peaks in Taurus 🙂. This is why the "human looking being" who stands on zebus is holding flowing water, the rivers among lush vegetation. So I would say that the zebus symbolise summer...
The snowmelt surge starts diminishing towards the end of June, around summer solstice. Which I would say is the border between the zebu scene and the lion scene. The maximum water flaw beginning of summer, Taurus. The minimum water flow end of summer, Leo...
3. Lions
Lion mating season coincides with the driest part of the year in the Halil river catchment area. Not only that this is the period with the least precipitation, but also the snow melt flow has stopped, so river is at its lowest level...And Leo is also the hottest part of the year.
This is why the "human looking being" who stands on lions is holding snakes...And lions are depicted standing in arid landscape with no vegetation...So I would say that the lions symbolise autumn...
By the way, do you see that flower depicted above the shoulder of the human figure? I bet that's Sirius, which when this vase was made rose with the sun in Leo...
4. Carnage...
Lion (autumn) has killed the zebu (summer) and is now eating the carcass of a long dead animal. Lion is joined by scorpion and eagle...
Eagle is the dual zodiac sign for scorpio. On the zodiac circle, and in general as solar year animal markers, they both symbolise the beginning of winter. And the arrival of rain and snow...So I would say that the scorpion and eagle symbolise winter...
So here we have, spelled out, in animal solar year markers, the climate in the Halil river basin, where Jiroft culture once thrived. Until the sun god got angry and dried the skies and rivers and wells for ever. Well for few hundred years, during the 4.2 kiloyear event...
The same sun god depicted standing on zebus (young sun of spring and early summer, which causes the snow to melt and rivers to fill - holding water) and standing on loins (the old sun of late summer and autumn, which causes the land and rivers and wells to dry - holding snakes)
Yes I believe that this "human looking being" is not a hero or a master of the animals, but the sun god, from the time before the "bull horn hats" became fashionable among gods...
That's it...
Well except for the sun and the moon. The sun is shown next to both the young and the old sun. As the identification mark. The moon pointing up, which I postulated to mean winter, wet season, is only shown next to the young sun, the one which causes water to flow...
Which makes me wonder if this is moon, which points upward during winter, or vessel which collect precipitation which falls during winter wet season, river bed...Or both...Still thinking...
To conclude. This is an extremely complex set of interconnected animal and plant calendar markers, which perfectly describe the climate in Jiroft valley. There is no way this is an accident or coincidence...
Which is why "Khafajeh vase" is so important: it proves that Jiroft culture, like Indus Valley culture, Elamites, Akkadians, Sumerians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Hittites, Minoans, Mycenaeans, BMAC...also used animal solar year markers...The same ones in the same way...
To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, start here…then check the rest of the blog posts related to animal calendar markers I still didn't add to this page, and finally check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am 9 months behind now...
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