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Petroglyphs
are images created by removing part of a rock by carving or
engraving. This term is made out two Greek words, “petros”
(stone) and “gliphein” (to carve). The oldest petroglyphs are
believed to be at least 10,000 years old but as they are
carved on rocks the exact date cannot be determined by
carbon-14 dating. Petroglyphs are also defined as “rock art”
but the message that they convey is totally disregarded. This
is because the meaning in these carvings is closely related to
the beliefs of that forgotten period. Without knowing the
belief system of these ancient people it is quite impossible
to decipher the hidden meaning of the petroglyphs. In this
chapter I will try to unravel the hidden meaning of
petroglyphs.
Petroglyphs
are found worldwide, but the maximum concentration of these
carvings still exists in the high regions of the Altai
Mountains of Central Asia. The number of these carvings
surviving in Central Asia is estimated to be around 50,000.
This huge number of carvings cannot be simply explained as
being love of art or addiction to carving. There
must be another important reason for such a continuous and
consistent effort.
The most
common figure found worldwide is the wild goat (ibex) with
long curved horns. Why were they carved on rocks by ancient
people? Was it because they were the main prey of these
people? Were the petroglyphs related to some magic wish for an
abundant hunt? I do not think so. This is because we can find
the same figure of the ibex in regions where they were very
scarce, such as the hot plateau of Arizona, Nevada and New
Mexico in the south and central parts of North America. The
pictures below show an ibex of the Altai Mountains.
The ibex was
venerated as being the symbol of agility and power. Its
agility and capacity to climb the highest peaks was considered
to be related to some super-power not existing in humans.
Because as one climbs the high mountainous regions the air
becomes thinner and oxygen concentration reduces. It becomes
more and more difficult to breathe on these high mountains.
But the ibex has no such problem. It can jump from rock to
rock without any difficulty and climb the highest peaks. This
special power was probably one main reason for venerating the
ibex as a sacred animal. Another important reason for
venerating the ibex was its capacity to approach the sun.
Ancient people
considered the sun as their main deity. The sun was the holy
power residing beyond the horizon. It gave heat and light
during the daytime and was the symbol of the life-giving
creator deity. When it moved beyond the horizon darkness
settled and wild animal came out for hunting. Therefore, the
sun was the symbol of life, protection and goodness. Its
presence gave comfort and its lack gave fear to the early
humans. Any creature that could approach the sun was venerated
as having mystical powers. The ibex and most birds, especially
the eagle, were such sacred animals. Also mountains were
accepted as being special places. This is because mountains
were natural formations rising towards the sun.
Early people
believed that the power of the ibex resided in its horns. The
horns of an ibex are much longer than an ordinary goat and
therefore contain more power. The male ibex had longer horns
compared to its female. This was also considered as a sign of
force and special energy. So, not only the ibex but also all
horned animals were considered to be sacred and their horn was
the site where their power resided. Since the horn, by itself,
was accepted to be the site where that mystical power resided,
leaders of the ancient tribes started to wear horned helmets
and horned head ornaments in order to show that they too were
special and powerful. The leaders were incarnations of the sun
deity on earth and therefore could rise towards the sun and
perform mystical flights. This is how shamanism and mystical
dances and rituals started among early humans speaking the
proto-language. During these sacred gathering songs were
chanted around bonfires. Fire became holy because it had the
same power and characteristic as the sun.
I have
mentioned in Chapter 1 that the Turkic Mu (Uighur) Empire was
named as Empire of the Sun.
Their symbols were representations of the sun and their leader
was the shaman. The pictures below are clear indications of
this connection. On the left side we see a person wearing
horns and holding a spiral
(1).
There are several animals turned towards that person. The
person on that petroglyph is the shaman incarnating the sun
deity. He is the leader of the tribe. This is why all horned
animals are looking in his direction. The same situation can
be seen in the petroglyph at the center.
The central
image is a petrogylph from a high peak in the Altai region of
Central Asia (2). A long horned ibex and a horned deer are the
main figures of this image. The length of the horn of the ibex
is exaggerated on purpose to tell that this is not a regular
ibex, but a special sacred one. The petroglyph on the right
hand side is again an ibex from eastern Turkey, from the
Tirishin plateau near the city of Van(3). If we find the same
symbols in such distant regions of the world, we can conclude
that these cultures were once connected and their source was
common.
The early
culture of the proto-world venerated a common
Sun god.
Since the sun resides in the sky, all creatures as well as
natural formations rising towards the sun had also to be
venerated. This cultural belief started in Eurasia and spread
into the world as these people moved towards new, unexplored
regions and territories.
In the
pictures below we see petroglyghs from the new world.
Concentric circles are representation of the sun deity. A rope
ladder and a hand is rising toward the sun. There are ibexes
and a person wearing horns in the lower left side.
These
petroglyhs are the precursors of the early ideograms.
Ideograms are symbolic signs that convey an idea in a more
sophisticated, rationalized and refined manner. They are the
early forms of symbolic writing. They were not drawn by chance
or by purposeless imagination. Their origin was rooted in the
early forms and pictures existing in petroglyphs drawn by
their ancestors. Let us not forget that several thousand years
elapsed between the pictographic rock carvings and the
symbolic ideograms.
There is a
special term used to define the ideograms in Turkish. This
word is “Tamga”, which means “an ideogram containing
a complete message”. Therefore, the early ideograms were
not phonetic letters but visual images conveying a sacred
message. Early ideograms were not carved on rock or on the
interior of caves just for fun or for counting herd animals,
as many believe. They were carved for sending messages to the
sun god. They were the early forms of written prayers. I will
ponder and convey more detail on early ideograms in the future
chapters.
In the picture
above we see three different but similar carvings of the sun
deity. The one on the left is from Central Asia. The one in
the center is from the southern side of the Alp, in the
mountainous region of north Italy. The one in the right is a
petroglyph from Canada. One interesting common feature is that
the sun and the human are merged in a single image. This is
because the shaman who is also the leader of the tribe
incarnates the power of the sun deity.
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