Ecuadorian Pre-hispanic "horned" beings

 

Pre-Hispanic Ecuadorian native riding a "bull" (?) . From [1]

Being saturday I will keep this post short. Browsing the Internet I came upon the image shown above. Which looks like some kind of "bull rider". The ceramic is on display at the "Museo del Banco Central del Ecuador" according to the source that posts the image, which is said to be Pre-hispanic.

It is a horned (with horns, not antlers) cow-like being. But since bovines were introduced in America by the Spanish conquistadors after 1492, what is this horned being? Furthermore, there is a Pre-hispanic native riding it!

Interesting! I have already posted on Pre-hispanic cattle in Patagonia and other parts of South America. This is just another bit of evidence.

Source

[1] Exploringecuador.com, Museo del Banco Central del Ecuador.

---

Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia Copyright 2009-2012 by Austin Whittall © 

Horned beings and Loncomeo

 

Horned creature. The caption in original text is "head wearing head gear (shaman?). From [1]

Continuing with my series of posts on Patagonian mazes and their possible link to those found in the Mediterranean basin (i.e. Cretan Labyrinth and the Minotaur myth), in this post I will write about Elel and the "initiation" dance...

Some more information on horned beings

A Spanish Jesuit priest, Sanchez Labrador (1717 - 1798), who interacted with the native Patagonians, gives us an eyewitness account on their ritual dancing (the "lonkomeo" mentioned in my first post of this series). He wirtes about their demigod, Elel as follows:

"Elel, among the -Tuelche [sic] prince of the devils, or perhaps (in my opinion) a devil mask that the president or governor uses during the dances...
Then the Indians, naked, painted red and decorated with feathers, so that they resemble devils, also place two groups of feathers on their heads, mimicking horns, and on their behinds, a tail made from feathers or horse hair...." [1]

The "dance" mentioned above is a native dance represented all across Patagonia, by the Tehuelche and also by the Mapuche, who called it Lonkomeo, whereas the Tehuelche called it yagüjü'm'anü.

The horned being depicted in the image above at Loncomán (40° 47' S, 70° 10' O, Río Negro) is interpreted as a shaman, actually the Lonkomeo dancers were not shamans, just men belonging to the native clan. By the way, Loncomeo means, in Mapuche language: shaking heads (due to the spasmodic motions of the heads of the dancers, perhaps simulating they were bulls fending off invisible assailants with their horns).

This dance was really a pan-Patagonian celebration, and the native clans of different ethnic groups enacted it when a young girl had her first period and became a woman...

Men wearing "feather" horns dance in front of the "pretty house" . From [4]

English explorer George Musters, who rode with a group of Tehuelche from Puerto Santa Cruz, on the Santa Cruz River, to Carmen de Patagones in 1870, experienced the "dance" and his book included a plate showing the dancers with their "feather horns", prancing in front of the casa bonita or pretty house, a tent which was decorated and housed the young woman who had had her first period.

So, there is a link between the men disguised as horned creatures (Minotaur-like dancers) dancing in circles, chanting, and fertility:

The female puberty rites, or menarche rites were critical: they marked that a given girl had become a woman, and was capable, as a fertile member of the community to bear children and ensure another generation.

So we do have a link between horns, mazes and fertility rites... men wearing horned costumes, with tails and all (bulls) dancing in circles (the labyrinth – see below) when a girl becomes a woman, and thus becomes fertile.

The “dancing in circles” part is, according to Casamiquela what gives the name to Gualicho, which seems to mean “who spins”, “who turns around”, “wheels around”, he goes to greath lenghts to prove this, analysing the origin of many Tehuelche words in their northern, central and southern variants. Towards the end of his book, he writes: “Summing up, here we have Gualicho, full of surprises, as the guide within the labyrinth. A labyrinth that the initiated had to go through dressed as bulls ...”

However Casamiquela believed that the real meaning of Gualicho was related to rebirth after death:[2]

... the labyrinth and its mythical meaning: ... the road of the spritis on their journey to the Other World ... the being whose spirit had to climb the mystical spiral... the labyrinth where only the bull was lord...[2]

To be continued...

It is Easter and Pesaj so, a Happy Easter and Hag Sameaj! it is also the full moon after the beginning of Spring (in the Northern Hemisphere) so it is an appropriate time to write about fertility and initiation rites! (Here in Buenos Aires we are in early autumn, in a climate changing world with mosquitoes and a balmy 20 something degrees Celsius.

Sources

[1] Sanchéz Labrador, J. (1936). Paraguay Catholico. Los indios Pampas, Puelches, Patagones. Buenos Aires.pp.67 cited by Casamiquela Rodolfo, see [2] below, pp. 57
[2] Casamiquela, R. , (1988). En Pos del Gualicho. Fondo Editorial Rionegrino.
[3] Boschín, Maria Teresa, Tierra de hechiceros: arte indígena de Patagonia septentrional Argentina. Volume 146 of Acta Salmanticensia: Estudios históricos y geográficos
Volume 146 of Estudios Históricos y Geográficos. Publisher Universidad de Salamanca,
[4] Musters C. (1871) At home with the Patagonians plate at pp. 174. The Pretty House and Dance.

---

Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia Copyright 2009-2011 by Austin Whittall © 

Phoenician gods in Patagonia: horned demons

 
Seeking a link between horned Phoenician gods and the horned deities of Patagonia
 
See Index on all my posts on Phoenicians in America.
 

Baal, supreme Phoenician god. Note the horns sprouting from his head. Source: Internet

Biblical "Molech" horned god revered by the Ammonites and also the Phoenicians. Source: Internet

We have mentioned the possibility that the Phoenicians or their Carthaginian descendants reached America some 2200 – 2700 years ago, trading Brazil wood dye, precious metals and gems of American origin in their Mediterranean markets. Perhaps they even set up colonies here (in future posts I will keep on providing “evidence” on their alleged presence in South America). In today’s post we will take a peek at their gods and review the possibility that these deities could have left an indelible impression on the local natives, especially in Patagonia, which is where there is evidence (in the form of Phoenician inscriptions) of their presence.

See my post on the Cattle like creatures in Patagonia (cows and bulls were unknown in Patagonia until they were introduced by the Spaniards in the early 1500s): the options are that (a) there was some now extinct "bovid" in Patagonia or (b) they came across cattle brought by pre-Hispanic mariners, either in effigy (such as a horned-god cult) or in person, with cattle on board these sailor's ships.

Horned gods. Molech

Molech was the main god of the Ammonite pantheon, he was also worshiped by the Phoenicians as we can see from inscriptions bearing his name “Melek. A name that meant “king” (that is, the great leader, or “top” god).[3]

Moloch derives from the word Melkarth and is abbreviated in the Phoenician inscriptions as Melkar, Mokarth and also Mokar.[3]

Each of the independent city-states of Phoenicia had their “male” deity which despite having different names, shared the same features: at Tyre he was Melqart, at Sidon Eshmun and at Byblos, Baal. They also had a female partner (who is most commonly known as Astarte). The name Baal, in Phoenician meant “lord” or “master”, and may have been referred to as adonai (my lord), which was adopted by the Greek as Adonis, their young hunter god.[4]

We find juicy references to Moloch in the Bible, who mentions it in reference to the hated enemies of the people of Israel, the Ammonites, whose religion included the worship of Moloch or Molech whom they represented as a horned bull-like deity.

Ammonites: People of Semitic origin who lived on the eastern side of the Jordan River (Transjordan), just to the northeast of the Dead Sea in what is now Jordan. [1]

We find reference to him in the Bible, in 1 KingS 11:7: “Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon”.

According to the Bible, the cult of Moloch was bloody and demanded the sacrifice of children. As the Jewish people sporadically took to adoring Moloch (abandoning the worship of Jehovah), God’s word, as recorded in the Bible, strictly prohibits this horrible kind of sacrifice.

For instance, in Leviticus 18:21 God orders: “Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.”.
His ban is repeated in Leviticus 20:2-5 (Where he tells Moses: “Say to the Israelites: 'Any Israelite or any alien living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death. The people of the community are to stone him…”) and in 2 Kings. 23:10; Jeremiah 32:35, Isaiah 30:33 and 57:5, etc.
However not all agree with this monstrous behavior:

Some are of opinion that the devotees contented themselves with making their children leap over a fire sacred to Moloch by this action consecrating them to that false deity and as by a lustration purifying them this being a usual ceremony on other occasions among the heathen. Others believe that they made them pass between two fires opposite each other with the same intention...[2]

There is even a place mentioned in the Valley of Hinnom, on the hill where Jerusalem is built, this site is known as Topheth, or “fire pit”.
The burning took place in a brazen idol (depicted above), which had the head of a bull and arms of a person. They would build a fire, and heat the idol until it was red-hot and glowing, then they would take their newborn babies and place them in those searing arms, so that they burned to death. [2]

Apparently the Carthaginians also sacrificed children, though there are many who doubt this (read both sides of the story - external link.)

Baal the other horned god

There is a stele of Baal, from a site in modern Syria, Ugarit. It dates back to the period between the 1500 and 1800 years BC. If you are in Paris, drop by the Musee du Louvre and take a look at it. Baal has two cow-like horns sprouting from his head.

Sources.

[1] Watson E. Mills, Roger Aubrey Bullard, (1990). The Mercer dictionary of the Bible. Mercer University Press, 1990. pp. 23.
[2] Agustin Clamet, (1832) Dictionary of the Holy Bible. Crocker and Brewster, pp. 677.
[3] George Rawlinson, The Religions of the Ancient World. pp. 146.
[4] Glenn Markoe, (2000) Phoenicians. Vol 2 of Peoples of the past. University of California Press, pp. 117.

---

Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia

2011 International Year of Forests Copyright 2009-2011 by Austin Whittall © 

Phoenicians, Tehuelches, Patagonia and cryptozoology - Part 1

 
Phoenician symbols engraved on Patagonian rocks. Native or Semitic art?
 
See Index on all my posts on Phoenicians in America.
 

Fig. 1. Alleged Tehuelche engraved stone with several intertwined snakes. Source: Internet

Fig. 2. Tehuelche, snake and symbols. Engraved stone. Source: Internet

Fig. 3. Ancient Patagonian sculpture. Cross, moon and symbols. Source: Internet

Fig. 4. Ancient Patagonian sculpture. Phoenician symbols or letters and a Berber symbol. Source: Internet

Fig. 5. Berber symbol and letters on ancient Tehuelche engraved rock. Source: Internet

Fig. 6. Native face, sun and moon on Tehuelche engraved rock. Source: Internet

Fig. 7. Tehuelche engraved stone, with an arrow head and, a horse?. Source: Internet

Fig. 8. Boulders engraved by Tehuelches. Above: a strange horse like? creature and symbols. Below: Guanaco, snake, symbols. From [1]

(See my post on this "horse-like cryptid").

Fig. 9. Woman's face, Tehuelche or Phoenician sculpture. Patagonia. "Dama de Comodoro Rivadavia". Source: Internet

And this image, which I already posted before when I mentioned the Phoenician-Patagonian connection for the first time:

Fig. 10. Tehuelche Rock Art with Semitic symbols and weird snake. From [2]

If the title of today's post surprised you, well, that was my intention. I had already mentioned in a previous post that I would delve in this weird subject: Phoenicians or Hebrews in Pre-Hispanic Patagonia.

I posted those images of objects which, are all (except one, the "Dama de Comodoro") actually exhibited at the Museo Salesiano, at Rawson, in the Province of Chubut, Patagonia, Argentina. The "Dama de Comodoro" was at a museum in the town of Comodoro Rivadavia, Chubut, and, which apparently has disappered.

Tehuelche engraved rocks and sculptures

I came across those images while looking for Tehuelche sculptures. I have already posted in January 2010, on a Cryptid, strange animal - Tehuelchense art, which I photographed and saw at the Museo Perito Moreno at Bariloche, in Rio Negro, Patagonia, Argentina.

Now, the engraved rocks shown above, don't look at all like anything else produced by the Tehuelche natives. They did "engrave" flat stones, and these are known as "Placas Grabadas", in Spanish (engraved stone plate). But these were just scratches etched on a flat stone, crude drawings. They weren't bas-reliefs like those shown above: see an example and an image of a genuine Tehuelche engraved stone.

They don't resemble either other kinds of Tehuelche stone sculptures, such as the stone snake reported by Deodat [3] in 1942, in Santa Cruz province, Patagonia.

These are more complex and neater. They are actually executed as bas-relief sculptures. A Bas-relief is a sculpture in which figures are carved in a flat surface so that they project only a little from the background.

This, at least in Patagonia is an unknown technique.

After seeing the photographs I thought that they may be fakes, so I got in touch with the Museum at Rawson, and they confirmed that the pieces are real, and event though the Museum is now closed, that these stones are in good shape and stored.

I also found them in Father Molina's book [1]. I had also seen them in another book (dated 1951)[2], so these all facts reassured me of their existence.

The question is, are they genuine or are they forgeries?

If genuine, were they carved by the Tehuelche natives? or by someone else?

We have some clues...

The symbols :Semitic, Phoenician, Punic, Berber or something else?

There are symbols, resembling Semitic letters, that is, Hebrew or Phoenician letters, on the stones. This is highly unusual.

What is more, there is a symbol, which appears in some sculptures (Figs. 1, 4, 5 and 8 bottom), which is shown below:

This symbol is actually a letter belonging to an ancient writing system, the Tifinagh alphabet. It is a "Lybico-berber" character that has been used by Berber speaking people of North Africa and also, the Canary Islands for several hundreds of years between, the third century B.C., and up to around the third century A.D. The arrival of the Muslim Arabs after 600 AD led to its demise.

What is a Berber symbol doing in a native Patagonian sculpted stone?

Carthage, was a Phoenician colony in Tunisia, North Africa, which was later razed by Rome after the Punic wars. The Tifinagh alphabet incorporated several Punic - Phoenician letters. This is a tenuous but clear link between Phoenicia and Patagonia.

From the cryptozoological point of view, the large snakes (Figs. 1, 2, 8 -bottom-, and 10) are interesting (I have posted extensively on Patagonian gigantic snakes), and so are the two animals (Figs. 7 and 8 -above) which resemble horses, as I have also posted on the possible survival of Native Pre-Hispanic horses in Patagonia. I posted on the animal in Fig. 8, a dog or horse-like cryptid.

Yet, from a historical point of view, the idea of Phoenicians having reached Patagonia long before the Spaniards did in the 1500s, is an extremely exciting one.
Furthermore, the Phoenicians or, to put it correctly, "Ancient Mediterranean sailors" who brought Phoenician letters with them to Patagonia, may have also brought their myths and beliefs with them, and shared them with the local natives.

If this happened, could they have been the origin of some of the Patagonian mythical monsters?. For instance, the horned creatures, so cow-like, or, should I say bull-likethat we find in Patagonian native lore, (see my posts on Native Pre-Hispanic cattle in Patagonia and Patagonian devils or cattle?), could have originated in the bull myths of ancient Crete and Greece (Crete-Mycenaean culture), such as the Minotaur of the Minoan labyritnt.

As you can see, this is a long story with many open options. So, I will keep on posting on it over the next few days (weeks?), till, as I did with the "Homo erectus in America" hypothesis, I bore you to tears!.

Sources

[1] Molina, M., (1976). Patagónica: Prehistoria, tradiciones y mitologías. Roma: Ed. LAS. pp.121
[2] Antonio Garcés,(1951). Libro del Cincuentenario de Comodoro Rivadavia, 1901-1951. Aspectos de la Arqueología Patagónica. Chap. 29.
[3] Deodat, Leoncio, S. M., (1942) Un bastón mágico herpetiforme descubierto en Patagonia austral. Relaciones de la Sociedad Argentina de Antropología, III, pp. 99-118.

---

Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia

2011 International Year of Forests Copyright 2009-2011 by Austin Whittall © 

Patagonian devils or cattle?

 

Horned Satyr. A horned devil resembles a horned animal. From [3]

Devils are usually depicted as horned beings in our western and Christian world. In a previous post I mentioned that the Tehuelche groups of Patagonia believed in demons or devils which, surprisingly were "horned" beings (Native prehispanic cattle in Patagonia?).

Today I came across an interesting comment written after the voyage of English Admiral and Privateer Sir Francis Drake, which touched the coasts of Patagonia in 1577. Upon returning to England his Chaplain, Francis Fletcher, wrote an account of this journey and in it, he mentions the Tehuelche natives and their head-dress as follows: (in its original ancient English spelling)[1]

Some of them […] sticke on either side of their heads […] a large and plaine feather, shewing like horns afarre off: so that such a head upon a naked body (if diuels [devils] do appaere with horns) might very nigh resemble diuels [devils]. [1]

Original text in the box below:



So Fletcher gives us an indication that the natives used feathers attached to their heads in a manner that resembled "diuels" or devils. Perhaps the devil connotation was due to the chaplain's religious upbringing and the natives merely did it because they liked how the feathers looked. However, I am inclined to believe that they did it to imitate some sort of horned animal that then roamed Patagonia.

I base this assertion on the comment written by another English explorer, John Narbrough in 1670. While in Patagonia, at San Julián (where Magellan had wintered in 1520 and Drake in 1577), he explored the surrounding areas and discovered that:

The People of the Country have made in a Valley, the form of the Ship in Earth and Bushes, and stuck up pieces of sticks for Masts […] theModel i imagin is to record our Ship, for they cannot have any Records but by imitation. [2]

Original text below:



If Narbrough's comment is valid, then the Tehuelche made a model ship to depict the European ships that had passed through San Julián. Why not do the same to depict a massive Patagonian buffalo with large sharp horns?

Sources.

[1] Fletcher, Francis, (1854). The world encompassed... London. Haklyut Society. pp. 53
[2] Narbrough, John, (1670). An Account of several late voyages & discoveries to the south and north ... 1694. London. S. Smith and B. Walford.
[3] Image Credits. Name: mask_7032. Description: Satyr, Italian Renascence by Sansovino. Source: F. S. Meyer, Handbook of Ornament (New York: The Bruno Hessling Company, 1917) 96. Retrieved: 18.10.2010. Online: http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/

Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia

2010 International Year of Biodiversity Copyright 2009-2010 by Austin Whittall ©