Jiroft flood vase

This is the chlorite carved flask discussed in the paper entitled "Searching for mythological themes on the 'jiroft' chlorite artefacts" by Massimo Vidale of the University of Padua. The Flask dated to the 3rd millennium BC, is kept in the Bagh-e Harandi Museum, Kerman. 

In the paper we read: "The scene can be coherently read from the bottom to the top. In the foreground, we see a long-haired personage in kneeling position who grabs from the throat two massive humped bulls facing each other in a heraldic position. Below the neck of the animals runs a strip simiilar to a rope...The bulls (probably sky creatures) emanate heavy water flows, causing a major flood. At the end, the first mountain (or mountains) emerges from the flooded world, as water retires. Then another long-haired personage, accompanied by two heavenly signs (moon and star), puts in the sky an imposing rainbow, and signals that the flood is finished. Beyond the rainbow, a renovated world has finally emerged from the deadly waters."

So the paper interprets the scene from the vase as "a representation of a destructive flood, ending when a divinity lifts a rainbow in the sky at which point the first mountain emerges from the flood waters". And it then goes on to compare these images with Old Babylonian and later cuneiform versions of flood myths. 

I would have to strongly disagree with this interpretation. 

I don't think that the scene depicts a destructive flood and certainly not "The Flood". Instead it depicts the annual flood, the snowmelt flood, which was the main source of water, and life, for the people of the Jiroft culture. 

The rivers in the mountain areas of Iran, including the Halil river, around which the Jiroft culture was based, are fed by rainfall during the winter, but mostly by snowmelt during spring and summer. The snowmelt 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...

Pic: Halil River

So the flood peaks in late April early May, in Taurus. As I explained in my article about Khafajeh vase, another very interesting Jiroft artefact, on which bulls are linked with water, there is a direct link between the old wild cattle and the annual flood season in the Jiroft area. Here is the bulls and "rivers" part of the scene from the Khafajeh vase:

These are not just any bulls. These are Zebu bulls. Zebu's mating season coincides with the snowmelt flow season which peaks in Taurus 🙂. This is why, on Khafajeh vase, the "human looking being" who stands on zebus is holding flowing water, the rivers among lush vegetation...This is also why water, actually rivers, "emanate" from the bulls heads on this Jiroft vase. 

So the Jiroft rivers flood during the spring and summer. 

But the rain and snow that feed them fall during the winter and spring...

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 only time when you can see a rainbow is during the rain season. Which is winer and spring.  The rainbow "personage" has moon pointing upward with a star. The moon points up during the winter. 

Which is the rain and snow season in Zagros mountains. Hence the only time you can see a rainbow.

So the rainbow personage (I think most likely goddess) represents winter (and spring) and the zebu "personage" (I think this could be goddess again) represents (spring and) summer snow melt floods. The water reach seasons... 

By the way, remember this rainbow girl from Sassanian Iran? 

People now think that this girl "is just a dancer". But once people thought that she was Goddess of water and fertility Anahita. I talked about her in my post Anahita. By the way I still think she is the water and fertility goddess...Mostly because she is holding a rainbow from which vegetation grows...Basically she symbolises the same thing as the rainbow "personage" from the Jiroft flood vase. Rain creating life...

So it seems that the rainbow goddess was the thing in Iran from at least Jiroft culture, until the Sassanian culture...

We know this because these two rainbow holders are linked by this: Bronze disc from Luristan, western Iran. 8th century BC...Sold by Christies for 28,000$... 

Oh and it is not "the first mountain emerges from the flooded world as the waters of The Flood recede"...It's just the Zagros mountains, the source of water and life for Jiroft people...The rainbow is over the mountains because Jiroft guys lived in valleys surrounded by high mountains...

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...