Colossos

The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of the Greek sun-god Helios, erected in the city of Rhodes, island of Rhodes, in 280 BC. The Colossus stood approximately 33 metres (108 feet) high. It collapsed during the earthquake of 226 BC, although parts of it were preserved...

Now the word Colossus comes from the Ancient Greek κολοσσός (kolossos) meaning "large statue, large idol"...Official etymology says: origin unknown, possibly Pre-Greek (perhaps Minoan)...I would like to propose alternative origin here...

In the 1960s three Mesolithic postholes were discovered near Stonhenge. These timber features were interpreted as remnants of "totem poles" and laboratory carbon dating showed that the postholes dated from 8800 BC...

Interestingly, these three massive wooden stakes, which once stood 14 feet high, were aligned to face the direction of the spring and autumn equinoxes...

Meaning that the people who erected them knew how to determine true east, and were most likely sun worshipers. And they probably used the same ancient method of determining true east used by the builders of many "oriented" structures which I described in my post "Boaz and Jachin"... 

Once you determine true east, all you need is another pole stuck into the ground to mark that point on the horizon...Which is why originally there were only two Stonehenge solar poles. Third one seems to have been added later...

It seems that in the Balkans people used threshing floors as solar observatories, and the central pole as the gnomon (Greek for "the one who knows"). The central pole was the one who knew and was able to tell us where sun was...

Which is why these central threshing floor poles acquired sacred status and were directly linked to the sun and grain cult. Rituals were performed at the pole and even sacrifices were offered to it. I talked about this in my post "Shield of Achilles" and "Bogovo gumno, god's threshing floor" 

I would propose, that the first totems, were poles, stakes probably related to solar cult. Later they were carved with faces and became idols. Like the Shigir Idol, the oldest known wooden sculpture in the world carved 11,500 years ago, which once stood 5.3 meters high...

Even later, these totems were made of stone. They last longer, and are more showoffy...First just plain standing stones. Like Cahersiveen standing stone, in Co. Kerry, Ireland. (Pic David Smyth)

Then carvings and eventually faces were added to these stone poles, stakes and we ended up with statues, idols. Like Urfa Man, 1.80 meters, c. 9,000 BC sandstone free standing idol made in Upper Mesopotamia, today's Turkey...

So if the original totems, idols, statues were large stakes, is it possible that the origin of the Greek "κολοσσός" (kolossos) could be Pre Greek word for stake? Interestingly Greeks also used κολοττός (kolottós). Now add t+s and pronounce them together. Keep repeating this...

How do we make a stake? We cut down a tree, we strip in bare of branches. 

Then we sharpen one end...

In Serbian "gol" means naked, bare, "golac" means that which is naked, bare and "kolac" (pronounced kolats) means stake...

I talked about this etymology in my post "Kolac-Golac"... 

Now if you combine "colossos" and "kolottos" you get "kolotsos"...

Is it possible that the unknown, Pre Greek root of these two words is Serbian word "kolac" (pronounced kolats), meaning stake, pole (and symbolically totem pole, idol)??? I don't know, but it is definitely possible...

In Slavic languages the word "balvan" means roundwood, beam, log, piece of timber, idol...