Entemena vase

Entemena (around 2400 BC) was the king of Lagash who reestablished Lagash as a power in Sumer. During his reign, the finest example of metal engraving in Sumer, the silver vase of Entemena, was produced. 

The vase was dedicated to the Storm God and the main deity of Lagash, Ningirsu. This is the translation of the inscription, form the great site "Somerian Shakespeare" 

Remember, Ningirsu is the god who arrives on a lion headed dragon...

On dragons in Mesopotamia see

"The storm-god in the ancient near east" by Alberto R. W. Green

"The Dragon in Ancient Mesopotamia" by E. Douglas Van Buren

His symbol was the lion headed eagle, like this one engraved on a votive mace head currently in the British Museum. The lion headed eagle was also the symbol of Lagash.  

Now back to the silver vase. The top frieze is decorated with bulls. 

Bull is always associated to the Storm God that arrives in August (Leo) to end the summer, which begins in May (Taurus). 

Bull and Sky God in Irish folklore 
Bull and Sky God in Serbian folklore

But the bottom decoration is really, really, really 🙂 interesting. Here it is broken into three separate images, with explanation from "A History of Sumer and Akkad History of Babylonia vol. 1" by  Leonard William King 

The explanation for the image is sooo lame. Why are lions, the symbols of Ningirsu, substituted for ibex and deer? Just another unanswered question then...To answer this question, we need to see what this bottom frieze actually looks like

We have, from right to left, deer, lion, ibex. Lion feasting on both. To understand why these animals are arranged like this, we need to look at biology of deer, lion and ibex species from Zagros Mountains and Mesopotamia.

The deer is Persian Fallow Deer. 

Its mating season starts in August, so the beginning of the Autumn symbolised by Leo, lion (because autumn starts in Leo)  

The goat is Bezoar Ibex goat. 

Its mating season starts in October/November, so at the end  of the Autumn symbolised by Leo, lion (because autumn starts in Leo) 

The lion is Asiatic lion. 

July-August is the part of the year marked by Leo...Now Eurasian Lions are also seasonal breeders. In the "THE ASIATIC LION: A study of ecology and behaviour" by Paul Joslin we can read that the mating season of the Asiatic lions starts in August and lasts until October. 

This is based on the field research which was done between 1968-1971 in the Gir Forest Sanctuary in India...

So the mating season of Eurasian (Asiatic) lions is between the mating season of deer an goats...

So the order of the animals in the frieze is not at all random...

Considering that all the other zodiac signs mark some major event linked with animal reproduction in Europe, I wonder if originally European lions, now extinct, had their mating season starting in August, and this is why Leo is where it is on the Zodiac circle (23rd of July - 22nd of August)???

Aries - marks lambing of European wild sheep
Taurus - marks calving of European wild cattle
Pisces - marks mating of European salmon
Capricorn - marks mating of Alpine ibexes

Donja Dolina

Helmet (6th. c. BC) from Sisak, Croatia found in Illyrian warrior grave. Prior to the arrival of the Romans, who gave it the Latin name Siscia, the region was Celtic and Illyrian and the city there was named Segestica or Segesta

Similar helmet, also dated to 7th-6th c BC, was found in 1896, by Ilija Knežević, a peasant from the village of Donja Dolina (Lower valley) located further downstream on Sava river in Bosnia

The discovery of this second helmet led to the discovery of a very important prehistoric industrial and trading centre, which was continuously inhabited from the second half of the second millennium BC until the Roman times.

The Donja Dolina site is located on the right bank of the river Sava, near marshy area full of fish, surrounded by big forests full of game and on the land which is ideal for agriculture. 50km southwest are mountains full of iron ore. Ideal settlement for an Iron Age community


Interestingly, the old Iron Age settlements (there were two, an older and newer one), which were abandoned 2000 years earlier, were found in areas known locally as Velika i Mala Gradina (Big and Small ruined city)...

The old, Late Bronze Age settlement was built on land. But right about the time when the place was settled (1300-1200 BC), a sudden catastrophic climate change made climate much wetter and colder.

This diagram is from my post about ancient salt extraction techniques. 

The cold and wet period, which increased the river water level, caused frequent floods, made land even more marshy and pretty much completely wiped out agriculture in the area, culminated around 850 BC.

It is around 800 BC when people finally abandoned land life and started living in houses on stilts. The image by Igor Ilijev from his upcoming book about Donja Dolina.

The excavations started in 1896. The settlement was exceptionally well preserved because of the fact that it was covered by thick layers od mud. Pic 1: support substructure. Pic 2: stairs going down to the water level

A very interesting burials were discovered in the settlement. 8 people were buried in wooden coffins in the ground between the stakes which supported the house platforms. None of the people buried under the settlement were warriors

Most of the people were buried in cemeteries located near the settlement. They were either cremated and urns (pic) were placed in shallow graves or their bodies were placed in the ground either directly or in wooden coffins

Most burials had no grave goods apart from food vessels (bowls and cups). These are particularly beautiful examples

However hight status individuals were buried with jewellery, armour and lots of additional grave goods (multiple ceramic vessels). This is a grave of a high status woman buried with her jewellery

Warrior graves contained weapons and food and drink vessels. Here are contents of three warrior graves all dated to 7th-6th c BC. From: The Forgotten Graves from Donja Dolina 
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The Donja Dolina was an important trading centre. Goods from as far as Greece in the south, Italy in the west, Bulgaria in the east and Baltic in the north were found in the graves belonging to the people from settlement

The settlement was also an important metallurgical centre. This fibula mould found in one of the graves is of a type found only in Italy at the time, suggesting that this was a grave of an immigrant metalworker

Among many items produced in the Donja Dolina Iron Age settlement, I particularly like this type of bracelets. Are they unique? Anyone seen anything similar from the period 800-400 BC?

Another interesting type of objects found in Donja Dolina Iron Age settlement were bronze "ornamental rods". Up to 10cm long, they are found in graves as components of the funerary ornaments. Anything similar anywhere else? Meaning?

Here is a complete inventory of one of the warrior graves where these ornamental rods (also classified as staffs, even though they are only 10cm long) were found

Most helmets found in the Donja Dolina 7th-6th c BC graves, were made in Macedonia where they were found in princely graves. At that time in Greece, they are found only in sanctuaries, linked with the territory of ancient Macedonia

Among the scattered finds from the cemetery, these two peculiarly shaped clay objects stroke my attention. The size of the objects is less than 10cm. Use unknown. Any ideas? Stamps of sort? For bread maybe?

Another type of objects without good explanation are these sandstone prisms with swastikas engraved on the top and bottom.

Another interesting swastika design was reconstructed from several fragments found at the site

The results of the excavations, were published by Ćiro Truhelka in 1904 in "Der vorgeschichtliche Pfahlbau im Savebette bei Donja Dolina" 

I like this stamp issued by Bosna i Hercegovina - Republika Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina - Serbian Republic), showing weapons found in Donja Dolina site

To me the most interesting finds from Donja Dolina Iron Age archaeological site are boats. This is the biggest one, 12 meter long oak dugout, currently in Zemaljski muzej Bosne I Hercegovine, Sarajevo

And this is the photo from 1901 showing the lifting of the boat from the site. Were boats like this one used during the early Iron Age for trade transport along Sava river?

And this is the picture showing the smallest boat found in the Early Iron Age settlement Donja Dolina in Bosnia, a miniature model of an oak dugout. Several are found in every house in the settlement. Toys? Or???

What is interesting is that almost identical boats were still used in Donja Dolina in the early 20th century. In the book "Vremeplov: Narodno ribarstvo u Bosni I Hercegovini" we find this fishing boat

I particularly like this picture from the book about the folk fishing from Bosnia, showing three types of dugout boats from Donja Dolina: a) male, b) female, c) front male back female...

The dugout boats are not the only thing which has been in continuous use since the early Iron Age in Donja Dolina. These are stilt houses in which people lived in Donja Dolina in the early 20th c

And finally here is my favourite picture. Women from Donja Dolina, in a "female" boat, coming back home from a bridal party. This could easily be a scene from the Iron Age Donja Dolina...

In the end, here is the link to the report about Donja Dolina Archaeological site published by the commission for preservation of national monuments from Bosnia and Hercegovina from which I translated some excerpts for this post.  

Iovan Iorgovan

This is Iovan Iorgovan, a Romanian mythological Dragon Slayer. He is usually depicted armed with a battle club or with a battle hammer (axe).

The legends featuring Iovan are mainly centred around the Cerna river in souther Carpathian mountains

In one of the legends, a three-headed dragon dared to disturb Iovan who chased the dragon down the Cerna river valley cutting his heads off one by one until he finally killed him close to Sviniţa in Danube gorge. Dying dragon bled so much that the place is still called Red Valley

Another legend is linked to the Retezat mountains.

There a three headed fire breathing dragon kidnapped a shepherdess that Iovan was in love with. Iovan got himself a huge maul (battle hammer, axe) in Transylvania and defeated the dragon. But not before the dragons fiery breath burned all the trees on the mountain making it bare.

The mountain Retezat is linked to another very interesting legend, which explains why the mountain is missing its top.

Now there is a problem with this mythological character: his name. Iovan is Romanised Serbian Jovan. Ethnographers are themselves puzzled by the fact that one of the main Romanian folk heroes has a Serbian name...

You can read more about this in this article: "The Myth of the Hero slaying the Dragon" from the blog dedicated to "Comparative studies in European and Romanian mythology and folklore". 

But the main legend of Iovan actually states that he was originally a Serbian prince who came from the south:

The whole area where the legends about Iovan Iorgovan originated is full of Serbian toponyms and hydronyms. River "Cerna" means Black in Slavic languages. Its main tributary is "Belareca" = Bela Reka = White river in Serbian.

A lot of place names in the same area have Serbian roots. Sviniţa, Sichevița, Camenița, Crușovița, Lucacevăț, Martinovăț, Iablanița, Șumița, Socol, Zlatița, Cruşovăţ, Zbegu, Dolina...My favourite are these two toponyms one close together: studena=cold and topla=hot 🙂.

So the legend about a hero with a Serbian name started in the area which once had (and even today has) a sizeable Serbian population. But that Iovan was Serbian is not the most interesting thing about Iovan Iorgovan...

In the legend, Iovan is named "fiu de Ramlean" which is translated as "son of Rome." But he also came from Serbia. There was a time when Serbia was Rome...Before Romans crossed Danube and invaded Dacia...Is this how old the legend is?

Where does Iorgovan comes from? Iovan is the dragon slayer. This role is usually reserved for St George (Γεώργιος). So Iovan Iorgovan is Iovan Iorgu Iorgos (George), the dragon slayer  🙂.

Dragon represents the destructive power of the burning summer sun. Summer starts on the 6th of May, Slavic God Jarilo (Raging fire) day. So Jarilo is the Dragon. Funnily Jarilo was Christianized into St George, the Dragon killer 🙂.

The Dragon, Summer heat (Veles), is "killed" by Autumn thunderstorms (Perun), every year on 2nd of August, the day of Perun. Perun, Slavic thunder god is armed with a battle axe, battle hammer, just like Iovan.

Now interestingly Iovan, Jovan, just like English John, is said to come from New Testament Greek Ἰωάννης (Iōánnēs), from Hebrew יוֹחָנָן (Yōḥānān). 

But here "Iovan" kills dragon with an axe (hammer). He is a thunder god. And he is "the son of Rome" who came from the south. And in the late Roman empire, the thunder god Jupiter is also known as Jove, Iovis... Is the origin of Iovan Iov(is)?

Iovan is also "young". In Latin, young is "iuvenis". It comes from Proto-Italic *juwenis, from PIE *h₂yuh₁en-. cognates with Sanskrit युवन् (yúvan), Persian جوان (javān) 🙂 And Jarilo, apart from Raging, Brightly burning, also means Young 🙂.


A very interesting fella that Iovan Iorgovan 🙂...