The Swastika Part 7

Waring[123] says, "In Babylonian and a.s.syrian remains we search for it [the Swastika] in vain." Max Muller and Count Goblet d'Alviella are of the same opinion.[124]

Of Persia, D'Alviella (p. 51), citing Ludwig Muller,[125] says that the Swastika is manifested only by its presence on certain coins of the Arsacides and the Sa.s.sanides.

PHENICIA.

It is reported by various authors that the Swastika has never been found in Phenicia, e. g. Max Muller, J. B. Waring, Count Goblet d'Alviella.[126]

Ohnefalsch-Richter[127] says that the Swastika is not found in Phenicia, yet he is of the opinion that their emigrant and commercial travelers brought it from the far east and introduced it into Cyprus, Carthage, and the north of Africa. (See p. 796.)

LYCAONIA.

Lempriere, in his Cla.s.sical Dictionary, under the above t.i.tle, gives the following:

A district of Asia Minor forming the southwestern quarter of Phrygia.

The origin of its name and inhabitants, the Lycaones, is lost in obscurity. * * * Our first acquaintance with this region is in the relation of the expedition of the younger Cyprus. Its limits varied at different times. At first it extended eastward from Iconium 23 geographical miles, and was separated from Cilicia on the south by the range of Mount Taurus, comprehending a large portion of what in later times was termed Cataonia.

Count Goblet d'Alviella,[128] quoting Perrot and Chipiez,[129] states that the Hitt.i.tes introduced the Swastika on a bas-relief of Ibriz, Lycaonia, where it forms a border of the robe of a king or priest offering a sacrifice to a G.o.d.

ARMENIA.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 35. BRONZE PIN-HEAD FROM CHEITHAN-THAGH. De Morgan, "Au Caucase," fig. 177.]

M. J. de Morgan (the present director of the Gizeh Museum at Cairo), under the direction of the French Government, made extensive excavations and studies into the prehistoric antiquities and archaeology of Russian Armenia. His report is ent.i.tled "Le Premier age de Metaux dans l'Armenie Russe."[130] He excavated a number of prehistoric cemeteries, and found therein various forms of crosses engraved on ceintures, vases, and medallions. The Swastika, though present, was more rare. He found it on the heads of two large bronze pins (figs. 35 and 36) and on one piece of pottery (fig. 37) from the prehistoric tombs. The bent arms are all turned to the left, and would be the Suavastika of Prof. Max Muller.

CAUCASUS.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 36. BRONZE PIN-HEAD FROM AKTHALA. De Morgan, "Au Caucase," fig. 178.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 37. SWASTIKA MARK ON BLACK POTTERY. Cheithan-thagh. De Morgan, "Au Caucase," fig. 179.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 38. FRAGMENT OF BRONZE CEINTURE. Swastika repousse.

Necropolis of Koban, Caucasus. Chantre, "Le Caucase," pl. 11, fig. 3.]

In Caucasus, M. E. Chantre[131] found the Swastika in great purity of form. Fig. 38 represents portions of a bronze plaque from that country, used on a ceinture or belt. Another of slightly different style, but with square cross and arms bent at right angles, is represented in his pl. 8, fig. 5. These belonged to the first age of iron, and much of the art was intricate.[132] It represented animals as well as all geometric forms, crosses, circles (concentric and otherwise), spirals, meanders, chevrons, herring bone, lozenges, etc. These were sometimes cast in the metal, at other times repousse, and again were engraved, and occasionally these methods were employed together. Fig. 39 shows another form, frequently employed and suggested as a possible evolution of the Swastika, from the same locality and same plate. Fig. 40 represents signs reported by Waring[133] as from Asia Minor, which he credits, without explanation, to Ellis's "Antiquities of Heraldry."

The specimen shown in fig. 41 is reported by Waring,[134] quoting Rzewusky,[135] as one of the several branding marks used on Circa.s.sian horses for identification.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 39. BRONZE AGRAFE OR BELT PLATE. Triskelion in spiral.

Koban, Caucasus. Chantre, "Le Caucase," pl. 11, fig. 4.]

Mr. Frederick Remington, the celebrated artist and literateur, has an article, "Cracker Cowboy in Florida,"[136] wherein he discourses of the forgery of brands on cattle in that country. One of his genuine brands is a circle with a small cross in the center. The forgery consists in elongating each arm of the cross and turning it with a scroll, forming an ogee Swastika (fig. 13_d_), which, curiously enough, is practically the same brand used on Circa.s.sian horses (fig. 41). Max Ohnefalsch-Richter[137] says that instruments of copper (_audumbaroasih_) are recommended in the Atharva-Veda to make the Swastika, which represents the figure 8; and thus he attempts to account for the use of that mark branded on the cows in India (supra, p. 772), on the horses in Circa.s.sia (fig. 41), and said to have been used in Arabia.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 40. SWASTIKA SIGNS FROM ASIA MINOR. Waring, "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," pl. 41, figs. 5 and 6.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 41. BRAND FOR HORSES IN CIRCa.s.sIA. Ogee Swastika, tetraskelion. Waring, "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," pl. 42, fig. 20_c_.]

ASIA MINOR--TROY (HISSARLIK).

Many specimens of the Swastika were found by Dr. Schliemann in the ruins of Troy, princ.i.p.ally on spindle whorls, vases, and bijoux of precious metal. Zmigrodzki[138] made from Dr. Schliemann's great atlas the following cla.s.sification of the objects found at Troy, ornamented with the Swastika and its related forms:

Fifty-five of pure form; 114 crosses with the four dots, points or alleged nail holes (_Croix swasticale_); 102 with three branches or arms (triskelion); 86 with five branches or arms; 63 with six branches or arms; total, 420.

Zmigrodzki continues his cla.s.sification by adding those which have relation to the Swastika thus: Eighty-two representing stars; 70 representing suns; 42 representing branches of trees or palms; 15 animals non-ferocious, deer, antelope, hare, swan, etc.; total, 209 objects. Many of these were spindle whorls.

Dr. Schliemann, in his works, "Troja" and "Ilios," describes at length his excavations of these cities and his discoveries of the Swastika on many objects. His reports are grouped under t.i.tles of the various cities, first, second, third, etc., up to the seventh city, counting always from the bottom, the first being deepest and oldest. The same system will be here pursued. The first and second cities were 45 to 52 feet (13 to 16 meters) deep; the third, 23 to 33 feet (7 to 10 meters) deep; the fourth city, 13 to 17.6 feet (4 to 5-1/2 meters) deep; the fifth city, 7 to 13 feet (2 to 4 meters) deep; the sixth was the Lydian city of Troy, and the seventh city, the Greek Ilium, approached the surface.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 42. FRAGMENT OF l.u.s.tROUS BLACK POTTERY. Swastika, right. Depth, 23 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 247.]

_First and Second Cities._--But few whorls were found in the first and second cities[139] and none of these bore the Swastika mark, while thousands were found in the third, fourth, and fifth cities, many of which bore the Swastika mark. Those of the first city, if unornamented, have a uniform l.u.s.trous black color and are the shape of a cone (fig. 55) or of two cones joined at the base (figs. 52 and 71). Both kinds were found at 33 feet and deeper. Others from the same city were ornamented by incised lines rubbed in with white chalk, in which case they were flat.[140] In the second city the whorls were smaller than in the first. They were all of a black color and their incised ornamentation was practically the same as those from the upper cities.[141]

Zmigrodzki congratulated himself on having discovered among Schliemann's finds what he believed to be the oldest representation of the Swastika of which we had reliable knowledge. It was a fragment of a vase (fig. 42) of the l.u.s.trous black pottery peculiar to the whorls of the first and second cities. But Zmigrodzki was compelled to recede, which he did regretfully, when Schliemann, in a later edition, inserted the footnote (p. 350) saying, that while he had found this (with a companion piece) at a great depth in his excavations, and had attributed them to the first city, yet, on subsequent examination, he had become convinced that they belonged to the third city.

The Swastika, turned both ways [S] and [Z], was frequent in the third, fourth, and fifth cities.

The following specimens bearing the Swastika mark are chosen, out of the many specimens in Schliemann's great alb.u.m, in order to make a fair representation of the various kinds, both of whorls and of Swastikas.

They are arranged in the order of cities, the depth being indicated in feet.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 43. SPINDLE-WHORL WITH TWO SWASTIKAS AND TWO CROSSES.

Depth, 23 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1858.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 44. SPINDLE-WHORL WITH TWO SWASTIKAS. Depth, 23 feet.

Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1874.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 45. SPINDLE-WHORL WITH TWO SWASTIKAS. Depth, 23 feet.

Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1919.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 46. SPINDLE-WHORL WITH TWO SWASTIKAS. Depth, 28 feet.

Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1826.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 47. SPINDLE-WHORL WITH THREE SWASTIKAS. Depth, 23 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1851.]

_The Third, or Burnt, City_ (23 to 33 feet deep).--The spindle-whorl shown in fig. 43 contains two Swastikas and two crosses.[142] Of the one Swastika, two arms are bent to the right at right angles, while the other two are bent to the right in curves. The other Swastika has but two bends, one at right angles, the other curved, both to the right. The specimen shown in fig. 44 has two Swastikas, in one of which the four arms are bent at right angles to the left. The entire figure is traced in double lines, one heavy and one light, as though to represent edges or shadows. The second Swastika has its ends bent at an obtuse angle to the left, and at the extremities the lines taper to a point. The whorl shown in fig. 45 is nearly spherical, with two Swastikas in the upper part. The ends of the four arms in both are bent at right angles, one to the right, the other to the left. Fig. 46 represents a spindle-whorl with two irregular Swastikas; but one arm is bent at right angles and all the arms and points are uncertain and of unequal lengths. The rest of the field is covered with indefinite and inexplicable marks, of which the only ones noteworthy are points or dots, seven in number. In fig. 47 the top is surrounded by a line of zigzag or dog-tooth ornaments. Within this field, on the upper part and equidistant from the central hole, are three Swastikas, the ends of all of which turn to the left, and but one at right angles. All three have one or more ends bent, not at any angle, but in a curve or hook, making an ogee. Fig. 48 shows a large whorl with two or three Swastikas on its upper surface in connection with several indefinite marks apparently without meaning. The dots are interspersed over the field, the Swastikas all bent to the right, but with uncertain lines and at indefinite angles.

In one of them the main line forming the cross is curved toward the central hole; in another, the ends are both bent in the same direction--that is, pointing to the periphery of the whorl. Fig. 49 shows a sphere or globe (see figs. 75, 88) divided by longitudinal lines into four segments, which are again divided by an equatorial line. These segments contain marks or dots and circles, while one segment contains a normal Swastika turned to the left. This terra-cotta ball has figured in a peculiar degree in the symbolic representation of the Swastika. Greg says of it:[143]

We see on one hemisphere the [Z] standing for Zeus (= Indra) the sky G.o.d, and on the other side a rude representation of a sacred (_somma_) tree; a very interesting and curious western perpetuation of the original idea and a strong indirect proof of the [Z] standing for the emblem of the sky G.o.d.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 48. SPINDLE-WHORL WITH SWASTIKAS. Depth, 23 feet.

Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1982.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 49. SPHERE DIVIDED INTO EIGHT SEGMENTS, ONE OF WHICH CONTAINS A SWASTIKA. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1999.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 50. BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH SWASTIKA. Schliemann, "Ilios," Fig. 1949.]

Fig. 50 represents one of the biconical spindle-whorls with various decorations on the two sides, longitudinal lines interspersed with dots, arcs of concentric circles arranged in three parallels, etc. On one of these sides is a normal Swastika, the arms crossing at right angles, the ends bent at right angles to the left. The specimen shown in fig. 51 contains four perfect Swastikas and two inchoate and uncertain. Both of the latter have been damaged by breaking the surface. The four Swastikas all have their arms bent to the right; some are greater than at right angles, and one arm is curved. Several ends are tapered to a point. Fig.

52 shows a whorl of biconical form. It contains two Swastikas, the main arms of which are ogee forms, crossing each other at the center at nearly right angles, the ogee ends curving to the right. In fig. 53 the entire field of the upper surface is filled with, or occupied by, a Greek cross, in the center of which is the central hole of the whorl, while on each of the four arms is represented a Swastika, the main arms all crossing at right angles, the ends all bent to the right at a slightly obtuse angle.

Each of these bent ends tapers to a point, some with slight curves and a small flourish. (See figs. 33 and 34 for reference to this flourish.) The specimen shown in fig. 54 has a center field in its upper part, of which the decoration consists of incised parallel lines forming segments of circles, repeated in each one of the four quarters of the field. The center hole is surrounded by two concentric rings of incised lines. In one of these s.p.a.ces is a single Swastika; its main arms crossing at right angles, two of its ends bent to the left at right angles, the other two in the same direction and curved.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 51. BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH SIX SWASTIKAS. Depth, 33 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1859.]