Malatya relief

A while back @PIELexicon posted this image:

With this description: A Luwian Storm-God conquers a sea-dragon, called Illuyanka in Hittite in this Malatya relief. The Luwian designation, unless the same, remains unknown. If the name was included in the relief, it was contained in the section broken off, now unfortunately permanently gone and lost...

He then said that the first deity spearing the dragon is Hitt.-Luw. Tarhunza = Hurr. Teshub and the second one is Sarma = Sarruma, the mountain God...

At which point someone joined the conversation and said that Illuyanka is not a dragon but a snake. He argued that Illuianga has the determinative MUSH "snake", which is why Friedrich call it "ungeheure Schlange" (monstrous Snake). 

Snake is a solar animal, pretty much a universal symbol of the sun's heat. Snakes follow sun everywhere. They are in our world when sun is in our world (day, summer) and in the underworld when the sun is in the underworld (night, winter)...I talked about this in many of my posts. 

Which is why the terms "snake" and "dragon" are fluid in the vocabularies and mythologies. For instance, according to Slavic folklore, (Fire Breathing) Dragon (the symbol of the destructive summer sun's heat which burns everything and brings drought) is just "an old snake" (symbol of sun's heat)...

I talked about the link between snake and sun in many of my posts...

Also Slavic "zmaj" (dragon) is masculine form of "zmija" (snake). 

I talked about this in my post "Letnitsa treasure", about the 4th c. BC Thracian treasure found in Bulgaria, which among other artefacts contained this metal plaque which depicts a common theme from Balkan fairytales: a princess being kidnapped by a dragon...And she seems to like it...Please note that the dragon was depicted with a snake body...

@PIELexicon replied that drawing distinction between "snake, snake-demon, and dragon" is "splitting hairs": Tischler gives all alternatives as the translation of Hitt. illuyanka- (c.) "Schlange, Schlangenungeheuer, Drache" (Snake, Snake demon, Dragon), (HHand2: 67), as people interpret a snake-demon as a dragon.

@PIELexicon also pointed at the article "The Serpent-Fighting Imagery of Anatolia in the 2nd Millennium BC and Malatya Serpentine Monster in the Light of Newly Published Old Assyrian Seal Impression from Kültepe" which actually states that the current understanding is that the closer examination of the Malatya "monster" shows that it has paws and multiple heads...

And that the existence of paws and multiple heads is confirmed by the recently seal impression from the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts...

And that "Paws are also mentioned in other Hittite texts for creatures designated by the Sumerogram MUŠ ‘snake’, for example, MUŠ[-aš] GÌR.MEŠ ‘snake paws’ in the Pittei ritual, because this Sumerogram could cover the entire range of reptiles"...

And "The Serpent-Fighting Imagery..." article also states that some of the Hittite legends about Illuyanka mention the monster being tied with a rope before being killed, tying which is usually done to tie paws, legs...

Mesopotamians depicted dragon with lion body and snake heads...Cause dragon is a snake is a dragon...

The oldest depiction of a Hero (actually two Heroes) killing a Dragon...Mesopotamia, 2200BC...Seven headed dragon to be more precise...With seven snake heads...One for each hot month of Mesopotamian summer...Analysis of the meaning of this image can be found in my post "Seven headed dragon"...

Bactrians depicted dragons as winged snakes. No legs...Cause dragon is a snake is a dragon...I talk about this in my post "Bactrian snakes and dragons"...

So it is definitely a dragon, not a snake...

But what kind of dragon? 

I asked @PIELexicon what he thought the dots above the dragon represent. 

@PIELexicon then said that he thought that what was depicted above the dragon were thunderclouds, rain and raindrops. He then again pointed to the article "The Serpent-Fighting Imagery..." which contains the analysis of this relief in which rain/hail was mentioned as one interpretation. 

The article he also stated that "It can be that lines and circles shown above the serpent’s figure represent rain and hail caused by the Storm-God and directed by his assistants from heaven just onto the monster as an additional weapon against it".

The dots are definitely rain drops. I have found this interpretation in many places. For instance, in my post "Lapis lazuli water seal" I analyse the scene depicted on this amazing Lapis lazuli seal from the point of view of the local climate and animal calendar markers. The seal was made between 2400BC and 2000BC in Eastern Iran. British Museum.

But I don't think that the rain is "a weapon used against the monster". As I already said, (Fire Breathing) Dragon (the symbol of the destructive summer sun's heat which burns everything and brings drought) is just "an old snake" (symbol of sun's heat)...So Dragon "steals the rain" and the Thunder God kills the dragon and "releases the stolen rain" with the help of his assistants. 

I talked about this in my post "Scaring off the dragon" in which I analyse this interesting Bulgarian ritual: 

In Bulgaria, at the start of summer, all the strong and healthy village men would gather at midnight, strip naked and walk the village land in ritual silence brandishing axes or cudgels, weapons of thunder gods "to scare the dragon who steals the waters"... 

The reenactment of Teshub killing Illuyanka, or another version of this pretty universal Eurasian (And not only IndoEuropean) myth?

To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, start here…Then check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am way way behind...

Grain and lions

A shard from a Hittite vessel with a depiction of a god (?) standing on a lion with a plant above lion's head. Museum of Anatolian Civilisations, Ankara, Turkey. I'd love to know what is the official interpretation of this artefact. Here's mine:

I think that the depicted plant is not just any plant. It's grain. Mesopotamian/Levantine symbol for grain. Some posts about the symbol for grain and the Mother of grain in Neolithic Europe, Central Asia, Mesopotamia, Iran, Levant: "Mother of grain", "Altyn Tepe mother of grain", "A person in a little boat", "Sabi Abyad venus", "Hathor grain pendants"...

Interestingly, in Anatolia, the grain harvest takes place in Jul/Aug, in Leo. Which is why, I think, the grain is depicted above the lion's head...I talked about grain/lion link in Anatolia in my posts "Eagle dude from Aleppo", "Bull god from Arslantepe", "Ulucinar stelae"

I have no idea who the god standing on the lion is...Are there any depictions of the Hittite grain deity, Halki? Considering that the sex of this deity is debated, can this help in any way settle the debate?

BTW, Leo (Jul/Aug), originally had nothing to do with stars either. It is the ancient animal calendar marker marking the beginning of the main mating season of the Asiatic lions. I talked about this in many of my posts...

That's it. To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, start here…Then check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am way way behind...

Eagle dude from Alepo

This eagle dude from a frieze from Aleppo dating to 900 B.C. (left) could have been a model for artists working 30 years later on the famous reliefs at the Assyrian city of Nimrud (right)...

You can read more about it in the article "Temple of the storm god" by Andrew Lawler

They are both holding baskets and pine cones...Why?

The vulture dude is a well known symbol used in Central Asia, Mesopotamia and Iran to represent wet part of the year (Nov-Apr)...Because vulture mating season in this part of the world starts in Oct-Nov and takes place during the wet part of the year...

I talked about these eagle dudes in several of my posts. Like these ones: "Double headed eagle" "Giant eagle dude with mouflons" "Fluffy" and "Eagle calendar marker", "Eagle dance", "The judgement of the birdman", "Mysterious creature"... 

This depiction is from an Akkadian seal dated to 2200BC...

These eagle dudes are found from Central Asia to Anatolia, with identical meaning. 

It is the rain (and snow) that falls during the mating season of vultures that is the source of life in this part of the world...Hence the association of the eagle dudes with the tree of life...

Interestingly, pine cone (pine nuts, seeds) harvest season in the northern hemisphere starts in Oct-Nov (when eagle dudes bring rain) and lasts over the wet part of the year...

So probably not a coincidence that the eagle dude is holding a pine cone...

As for the basket...Have you seen this article about the pillar 43 from Gobekli tepe?

In the area of Gobekli tepe the solar year is divided into two seasons, dry season (end of May to start of October) and rain wet season (end of October to start of May). And in places with this kind of climate, the arrival of life giving rain is the most important calendar event.

Vultures begin their mating season when the first rains arrive, November. 

And you can't miss it, because they start their mad areal synchronised displays:

I talked about this in my article "Double headed eagle"...

Scorpions hide when the first rains arrive, November. And you can't miss this because they disappear from the fields, where it's cold and wet, and appear in your houses, where it's warm and dry

I talked about this in my post "Dilmun goats seal"...

So both scorpion and vultures being depicted on the pillar 43 could mean: when rains arrive...

Cool, I can hear people say, but maybe just a coincidence. How do you explain the bags?

Well, scorpion was used in Mesopotamia (just down the road from Gobekli tepe) as calendar marker to mark the beginning of the grain sowing season. 

Sowing of grains was done after the first rains, when the scorpions disappear. I talked about this in my articles "Sowing" and "7 stars of scorpio"...

After the furrow is made, the seeds are planted into the furrow. Now how did these early sowers bring the seeds to the field? Most likely in a basket...or a bag...with a handle...

Like this one carried by the sower walking next to the plow on this Mesopotamian seal.

So Eagle dude with a pine cone and a bag = pine harvest, grain sawing time, when vultures mate...

One more interesting bit...The eagle dude is not the only dude with a handbag found in Aleppo temple...There is also the lion dude...

But the lion dude is not holding a pine cone...He is holding grain...Why?

Remember my article about this orthostat (engraved stone block) from Arslantepe, dated to 1200-700BC...

In it I talked about Hittite agricultural calendar. In Hittite Anatolia the harvest time was late July early August, End of summer...Leo, beginning of the main mating season of Eurasian lions...

So lion headed dude holding grain and a basket = grain harvest time. Time to refill the grain baskets and get them ready for the next sawing...

Interesting, right?

Bull god from Arslantepe

The other day, Waššukanni (@dutpekmezi3), one of my favourite twitter accounts, and someone I would definitely recommend you to follow if you like archaeology, published a picture of this orthostat (engraved stone block) from Arslantepe, dated to 1200-700BC...

Here is the drawing of the same orthostat where the actual features are even clearer to see

The description under this artefact contains few "mistakes": 

First: the god is not holding a boomerang 🙂 in his raised right arm, he is holding a sickle. That this is not a boomerang is is kind of obvious...Why it is a sickle, not so obvious...But it will become obvious...

Second: the god is also not holding a "lightning bundle" 🙂 in his left arm, he is holding a sheaf of wheat...

The reason why I don't think this is a "lightning bundle" is because on another stone monument from the same period, Uluçinar stela, we can see what the "lightning bundle" of the Anatolian storm gods actually looks like: it's a trident...

I analysied the Uluçinar stelae in this article… What I have found during that analysis can help us understand the meaning of the scene from the Aslantepe orthostat too...

It is all to do with Anatolian climate and with the grain agriculture which was the most important activity in the Hittite kingdom...

The late April early May (Taurus, Beginning of summer) is the time of maximum precipitation and maximum thunderstorms in the land of the Hittites.

Which is why the Thunder god on the Uluçinar stelae stands on the bull...

And which is why on the Aslantepe orthostat, the first image on the left depicts the Thunder god arriving on the chariot pulled by a bull...

It is this rain that fills the wells, rivers and canals and waters the grain and makes it grow. It is also this rain that can completely destroy the grain...So if you were a Hittite grain farmer, you were at the complete mercy of the Storm god...

If it was his will, and he brought just enough rain, at just the right time, the harvest time, late July early August (Leo, End of summer) will be the time of celebration and thanksgiving...

This is what the second, central picture on the Aslantepe orthostat depicts: a merciful Storm god giving a sheaf of wheat to a grateful king...

The fact that both "gods" on the Aslantepe orthostat are carrying a sickle is basically telling us two things: that this is actually one and the same god, in two different periods of the year: beginning and end of summer...And that the Storm god is also the Grain god...

The king in response pours a water libation. The harvest time in the Hittite land was the driest part of the year. The time of drought. The time of water shortages...Which is why a water libation was a deliberately chosen as the sacrifice...

The last picture on the right depicts "a man holding a bull ready to be sacrificed"...

This is very interesting. In Serbia and in Ireland, bulls were sacrificed in August to the storm gods who were also associated with grain agriculture...As thanksgiving for bountiful harvest...

I talked about this in my posts "Bull of Crom Dubh" and "Bull of Grom Div"

Also in Serbia and in Ireland, these gods were actually both Storm and Sun, Sky gods and grain gods...And in both places their day was celebrated at the time of maximum drought, the hottest part of the year, the beginning of August...

Beginning of August, which marked the end of summer, the season symbolised by a bull...So it was fitting that on that day Serbs and Irish sacrificed a bull, a sacred animal of the sky god, symbolically killing summer...

It seems that the Hittites did that too...

By the way the reason why summer, May, Jun, Jul, is symbolised by a bull is because it starts with the calving of Aurochs, wild Eurasian cattle, and ends with the mating of Aurochs, wild Eurasian cattle...You can read more about this in my post "Ram and Bull"...

The reason why autumn is symbolised by a lion, is because Eurasian lions main mating season started in August and spanned Aug, Sep, Oct...You can read more about this in my post "Musth"...

You can read more about the symbols of the seasons in my posts "Symbols of the seasons"...

So these Aslantepe orthostats are another great example of the use of animal calendar markers in agricultural calendars...These markers, based on the timing of the main events from the reproductive cycles of the animals used as symbols, are found everywhere in Eurasia...

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...

Uluçinar stelae

In 2007 two stelae, each bearing figures of the Storm-god leading a ruler and a duplicate Hieroglyphic Luwian text, were discovered at Uluçinar (formerly Arsuz), on the Turkish coast south of İskenderun...

The inscription is the work of a Suppiluliuma, son of Manana, king of the land of Walastin, now understood as the Luwian designation of the Amuq plain with its capital at the Iron Age site of Tell Tayinat...

The stelae, probably dating to the later tenth century BC, record the successful reign of the ruler who "achieved things his father or grandfather could not" like conquer the city of Adana and the land of Hiyawa (most likely Ahhiyawa, the Hittite designation of Greeks)

All his military victories and the abundance of grain and wine in his kingdom, the king attributes to the mighty Storm god. On both stelae, the king is depicted holding grapes in his right hand and grain in his left, while being led by the hand by the Storm god, his patron deity...

On the first stela the storm god, stands on a bull under the winged sun disc... 

On the second stela the storm god, stands on a plant under the winged sun disc... 

Why?

Well here is why: This is a chart showing yearly temperature and precipitation in Eastern Anatolia...

The late April early May (Taurus) is the time of maximum precipitation and maximum thunderstorms. The time when Thunder god arrives to the land of the Hittites...Hence the bull...This is also start of summer...Hence the winged sun disc...

The inscriptions are from the article "Two new inscribed Storm-god stelae from Arsuz (İskenderun): ARSUZ 1 and 2" by Belkis Dinçol, Ali Dinçol, J.D. Hawkins, Hasan Peker and Aliye Öztan

One more thing: Look at the end of the spring rain season. Jul/Aug. The Storm god is leading the king who is holding grapes and grain towards the end of the summer (symbolised by a bull) and the end of the rain season. And Jul/Aug is the beginning of the grain and grape harvest in Eastern Anatolian plateau. 

In "The Palaeoethnobotany of Tell Tayinat, Turkey" we read that "Hittite texts discuss the process of harvesting grains in some detail. The harvest (BURUX) would occur in Jul/Aug."

Here is something interesting. 

Summer starts on the 6th of May, in the middle of Taurus (end of April beginning of May) and is symbolised by a bull. 

Autumn starts on the 2nd of August, in the middle of Leo (end of July beginning of August) and is symbolised by a lion.

You can read more about the beginnings of seasons in my post "Two crosses"...

You can read more about this in my post "Symbols of the seasons"...

You can also read about why are the zodiac signs where they are on the zodiac circle (spoiler: it has to do with reproductive cycles of the animals used as zodiac symbols) in the posts linked from my page "Zodiac"...

Now, the autumn (lion) succeeds summer (bull). The autumn (lion) ends (kills) summer (bull). End of July beginning of August. Lion kills Bull. But also harvests begins...

Killing of the bull = Killing of the grain = Beginning of Harvest?