Lascaux 11 – Basque and cave art / © 2016 Franz Gnaedinger
(Basque adar
'horn')
Theo Vennemann considers Basque adar 'horn' a genuine Vasconic
word and not a loan from Celtic adarcos (Old Irish adarc)
Pre-Proto-Basque *dar *da-dar
Proto-Basque *a-daR
Basque adar
PPB *dar evokes Magdalenian TYR for the one who overcomes in the
double sense of rule and give, present in the double formula naming the supreme
sky and weather god from the Chalcolithic to the Iron Age whose guise had
(originally) been a bull
ShA PAD TYR AS
CA
DhAG PAD TYR AS
CA
Among
the derivatives are ShA PAD TYR Jupitter
Jupiter Jovis Giove, the
ruler ShA goes ahead PAD and overcomes in the double
sense of rule and give TYR (up above AS in the sky CA), DhAG
PAD TYR Dis pater, byname of Jupiter, the able one DhAG
goes ahead PAD and overcomes in the double sense of rule and give TYR (up above
AS in the sky CA); TYR emphatic Middle Helladic Sseyr
(Phaistos Disc, Derk Ohlenroth) Doric Sseus (Wilhelm Larfeld) Homeric Zeus; TYR emphatic Serri
of the Hurrites (adopted for a lower rank by the
Hittites); and ShA CA
DhAG CA Jahwe, the
ruler ShA in the sky CA, the able one DhAG in the sky CA, storm god and fertility god and rider
of clouds from Mount Seir (remember Sseyr and Serri) in the Negev. Serri was a bull, Jupiter and Zeus had once been bulls, and
Jahwe is represented by a bronze figurine of a bull
found on a hill near Samaria.
Pre-Proto-Basqua *dar 'horn' could have
been a pars pro toto for the overcomer TYR in the
guise of a bull or bullman (supreme leader, e.g. of
the Lower Rhone Valley), TYR *dar emphatic doubling
(?) *da-dar, also TYR Old High German tior Middle English der modern English deer for an animal
wearing proud antlers, while CER meaning stag or hind accounts for the Celtic
god of animals Cernunnos wearing stag antlers, Latin cervus French cerf German Hirsch
'stag' (maybe also Finnish hirvis 'moose' and sarvi 'horn'), also Greek keras
English horn German Horn.
Furthermore,
TYR accounts for Proto-Indo-European *(s)teuros
'domestic (large) animal' wherefrom English steer German Stier
'bull', Greek thaer German Tier 'animal' and maybe
also German teuer 'expensive' – Latin pecunia 'money' from pecus
'cattle' (pecunia a heavy Roman bronze ingot worth a
cow and decorated with a cow). A large domestic animal would then have been an
overcomer TYR that was overcome itself.
(etorri
zezen Basque esatari)
Magdalenian
TOR means bull in motion, accounting for Spanish toro
Latin taurus and many more
cognates in very many languages (compiled by Saul Levin).
Bulls
were a central topic in Eurasia, as we can glean from a Magdalenian formula
naming the human condition: AD TOR OC CO Mycenaean atoroqo
Greek anthropos 'human being' - toward AD bull in
motion TOR right eye OC attentive mind CO, toward the running bull with open
eyes and focused mind, facing the bull, taking the bull by the horns, coping
with fate.
Confronting
a bull was a high risk. A drawing in the cave Le Gabillou
shows a Magdalenian hunter with a lance before an immense bull (danger and fear
enlarging the animal in what I call attention perspective). Whereas a Minoan
bull leaper symbolized an astronomer coping with the moon bull = calculating
the lunar cycle. Basque etorri covering the meanings
of think and teach might be placed in this context.
What
about Pre-Proto-Basque *zen *ze-zen
Proto-Basque *zezen Basque zezen
'bull' (Theo Vennemann) ?
The origin of *zen might have been GEN for the three
days of the young moon bull, a word present in origin, from ORI GEN, the young
moon bull GEN on the horizon ORI. (G could become Z also in Slavic, while
ideograms accompanying the white moon bulls in the rotunda of Lascaux indicate
these numbers: 3 days of the young moon, 6 days of the waxing moon, 9 days of
the full moon, 6 days of the waning moon, 3 days of the old moon; add
alternatingly 3 and 2 days for the empty moon German Leermond
and you obtain lunations of 30 29 30 29 30 29 30 ...
days in a Stone Age way of counting synodic months.)
What
about Basque as word or name? It may derive from PAS CA given on the long wall
of the Brunel chamber in the Chauvet cave as a large
red ocher domino five reading PAS (everywhere in a plain, here, south and north
of me, east and west of me, in all five places, Greek pas pan 'all, every' pente penta- 'five') plus one
more dot (palm impression) in elevated position for CA (sky) - may the bullman (supreme leader of the Lower Rhone Valley) be born
again in the sky by the goddess of the Summer Triangle Deneb
Vega Atair (woman of the large pubic triangle on a
stalactite in the rear hall, by her side a bull, his head before her womb), and
may he roam the sky in his next life as he roamed the land in this life, may he
get everywhere PAS in the sky CA ...
Chauvet could have been the stage for a play, perhaps a
shadow dance by a fire: adventure of ARC TYR in the sky, among the stars and
constellations, overcomer TYR of the cave bear ARC. Fast moving Arcturus was by then the head of Bootes,
together ARC TYR, overcomer TYR of the cave bear ARC (a fearsome beast bigger
than a grizzly) seen in the Big Dipper as bear facing Bootes.
King Arthur of Britain fought the dragon of Lannion
that appeared in the form of a full grown bull for three days and three nights
without a break, and finally overcame him. Bones and skulls of cave bears had
been seen as remains of dragons. The many dragons in tales, fairy tales,
legends and myths combine then two archetypical animals, the bull in motion TOR
and the cave bear ARC, both overcome by the hero, the overcomer TYR. Hunting
plots and metaphors may have accounted for Basque esatari
'myth, legend' Finnish tarina 'narrative, legend'
(TYR *dar tar) and English story Latin historia (TOR tor stor – you might also remember the Minoan lunisolar calendar of Knossos encoded in the myth of
Minotaur).
Who were
the Vascons? Maybe descendants of the Chauvet people surviving in the Pyrénées?
joined by a tribe that came from Anatolia?
(Basque, a fable)
The
region of the Göbekli Tepe
between southeastern Anatolia and northern Syria was the land of the fire
archers PYR RIT and their 'fingers of light and luck' DIG LIC shot into the
night sky on New Year's Eve along the rivers they named
PYR RIT Firat
Euphrates
DIG LIC
Dicle Tigris
Later
fall and early winter were the rain season. New Year followed the winter
solstice and honored the fire giver PIR GID. Her husband was AAR RAA NOS, he of
air AAR and light RAA with a mind NOS, visualized by the big limestone ring on
the Göbekli Tepe that shows
the head of the god ex negativo, framed by the
minimally sculpted inside of the ring (arcs of the forehead, ears, cheeks and
chin), otherwise consisting of nothing else than air and light.
Some
9,000 years ago a mountain tribe left the land of the fire archers, wandered
westward, and finally reached the mountain range between southwestern France
and northeastern Spain. They called the mountains PIR NAI, the fire PIR
(archers) found a good place for a camp, NAI, a new home. The locals were
descendants of the Chauvet people who called
themselves PAS CA Basques or Vascons, keeping alive
the ancient myth of the bullman (supreme leader of
the Lower Rhone Valley) who was born again by the goddess of the Summer
Triangle and roams the heavens in his new life as he had roamed the land in his
former life - getting everywhere PAS in the sky CA ...
AAR RAA
NOS had been implored for rain on the Göbekli Tepe. Now his name accounted for Basque aran
'valley' – a valley being a hollow between hills or mountains filled with
air and light - while he was still implored for rain that fills river beds and
water holes, ponds and lakes.
The
Anatolian tribe settled in the region of many swamps and lakes and rivers they
called AD DA AAR RAA Andorra, highland of rivers that flow toward AD plains and
seas while coming from DA here, this region, where they are filled with rain by
the one of air AAR and light RAA. One river was called DAL AAR RAA Valira, river of the valley DAL (proper Magdalenian word
for a valley or dale) filled with rain by him of air AAR and light RAA);
another AAR RAA SAL, he of air AAR and light RAA fills the watery ground SAL of
the valley with rain; still another AAR RAA AC Aričge,
he of air AAR and light RAA is the lord over an expanse of land with water AC,
the region called Aričge (Ličge/Lüttich
another case of -ac -ach -ičge -ich),
irrigated by the river of the same name, Aričge.
(Magdalenian cosmology, Divine Stag)
CER KOS
named the Divine Stag of Magdalenian cosmology, CER meanings stag or hind, also
shaman or shamaness, present in Latin cervus French cerf German Hirsch
'stag', in the name of the Celtic god of animals Cernunnos
wearing stag antlers (on the silver cauldron from Gundestrup,
Denmark, probably made by Galataean Celts in
Anatolia), in Greek keras English horn German Horn,
and KOS meaning heavenly vault, present in cosmos.
The
Divine Stag and his helpers guarded the exits from and entrances to the
Underworld KAL that were passed periodically by the sun horse and moon bull. A
small group of stags wearing large antlers can be seen in the midsummer hall
(rotunda) of Lascaux: before the bull of the full moon (marked as such by the
ideogram along his front) and the red mare of midsummer morning rising above
the horizon of the ledge
menhir6e.JPG
The
stags are astronomer shamans watching the full moon followed by the sun rise on
a midsummer morning, June 21, a rare occasion (ideal start of an eight-year
period in the lunisolar calendar of Lascaux). One
antler of the stag on the left side touches the mouth of the bull in a
significant manner. Can this perhaps indicate a sound, a horn blown when the
full moon rose, especially on a midsummer morning?
CER KOS
read as stag CER on the heavenly vault KOS refers to the summer constellations
of Sagittarius and Scorpio seen as antlers of the Divine Stag.
Derivatives
of CER KOS are Latin quercus 'oak' and Gaulish érkos 'oak-forest'. How
come? Antlers of the stag Cervus elaphus
and oaks branch at the same wide angle followed by a curve which gives them a
similar look. The sacred tree of the Divine Stag and his astronomer shamans
would then have been the oak.
CER and
CER KOS may have a parallel in Basque adar
'horn' and Celtic adarcos 'horn' (Old Irish rump form
adarc). If so, adarcos in
the wake of CER KOS testifies to the longevity of Magdalenian cosmology, and so
does the (Irish?) legend of a stag whose antlers are decorated with burning
candles – replacing the stars of the above summer constellations by
flames, tiny lights blinking in the night ...
(Magdalenian cosmology, Divine Hind or Hind
Woman)
CER -: I
-: or CER LIL was the Divine Hind or Hind Woman. She called life into
existence, also moon bulls, thus creating time, lunations
of alternatingly 30 and 29 days. The main sanctuary of the Divine Hind was the
cave of Altamira, Santillana del Mar, Cantabria,
northern Spain (adjacent to Euskadi, land of the
Basques of Vascons). Altamira is famous for the
compact and energetic bulls covering walls and ceilings. By far the largest
animal, however, is a beautiful hind licking the horns of a small bison under
her, thus calling him into life and existence hind1.JPG
Pronounce
the lip lick -: by touching both lips with the tip of the tongue. CER -: I -:
accounts for cow-eyed Hera of Greek mythology, and North-West
Proto-Indo-European *kerdeh- 'herd, series', -: I -:
for a call of Celtic herdsmen surviving in the locally famous lyoba call of herdsmen in the Swiss Canton of Fribourg,
also for German Leben English life, German Liebe English love, Latin libido 'desire', English lip
(licking the lips a signal of appetite, once maybe of love and desire that
finds a first fulfillment in a kiss, lips on lips), Ugaritic dd 'loved one' Phoenician Dido 'Beloved One', female given
names Libby and Lily, flower lily, German Laub
'foliage' and Laube 'arbor' suggesting arbors in
honor of the goddess who made also plants grow (some Altamira bulls have regular
tails in form of a paintbrush, others have tails in form of a fur twiglet). One
more class of derivatives are articles like English the French le la les that
call the subsequent noun into existence, one might say. Finally, the Divine
Hind could grant a second life in a heavenly beyond when implored by red ocher
dots on cave walls that have the meaning of SAI for life, existence, while the
cave wall represents the sky CA, together SAI CA psychae,
asking for a next life in a heavenly beyond for a worthy soul. Bulls and hind
of Altamira are a little younger than Lascaux while the earliest painted
element in the Altamira cave is a red ocher dot, over 41,000 years old.
The
heavenly abode of the Hind Woman was ORE EON, she on the beautiful ORE bank or
shore EON of the celestial CA river or lake LAK together CA LAK overformed in Galaxy 'Milky Way' - she on the beautiful
bank of the Milky Way, appearing in the winter constellation of Orion, across
the sky from the summer constellations of Sagittarius and Scorpio that were
seen as antlers of the Divine Stag CER KOS.
Marie
E.P. König identified the bull of Lascaux as moon
bull, the horse as sun horse, the line of descending horses in the niche at the
rear end of the axial gallery as winter sun giving way to the pair of
antithetic ibices (or ibexes), midwinter emblem (also antithetic mountain goats
for example in the Middle East.) Now if the niche symbolizes midwinter, the
glorious rotunda midsummer, the axial gallery connecting them a year, the
lovely pair of 'Chinese' horses heading (in clockwise direction) from niche to
rotunda spring, and the roaring megaceros 'giant
stag' near them a chief astronomer (geometrical figures being calendar
ideograms). While the arcs of horns and heads of the opposing ibices ) ( evoke the hourglass figure of Orion; the Hind
Woman being present as a mere hunch, Lascaux celebrating midsummer when winter
is far away.
The
sacred tree of the Divine Hind and Hind Woman was the fir. Arbors in her honor
were made of fir branches, while the custom of decorating a fir tree with
candles, outdoor then also indoor, might originally have symbolized the union
of Divine Stag and Hind – promise of new life, another spring and summer ...
(Euskara, an old
memory? part 1)
Ideograms
marking the moon bulls of Lascaux indicate 3 6 9 6 3 days for the young -
waxing - full - waning - old moon; add alternatingly 3 and 2 days for the empty
moon German Leermond and you have lunations
of alternatingly 30 and 29 days (Stone Age way and still Celtic way of counting
lunations or synodic months). GEN was the young moon
bull: a pretty animal in the midsummer hall of Lascaux, and the small bison
under the beautiful hind of Altamira hind1.JPG
The Hind
Woman in Orion called moon bulls forth from the constellation of Taurus above
her, Taurus from TOR for bull in motion, while the Divine Hind of Altamira
called them out of niches and crevices in the rock of cave walls –
animals emerging from and disappearing into niches and crevices of rock are
seen in both European cave art and in the rock art of Southern Africa.
On a
second level of meaning, the small bison of Altamira might be the bull(man) given a second life. Remember the bull(man) of Chauvet, supreme leader of the Lower Rhone Valley, given a
second life by the goddess of the Summer Triangle Deneb
Vega Atair (possibly one of the emanations of the
triple goddess of the fire giver PIR GID and fur giver BIR GID and fertility
giver BRI GID who became the Celtic triple goddess Brigit).
A
pharaoh was born again by Nut, sky goddess residing in a fig tree (Egyptian
sycamore) but also arching herself over the land, whereupon the reborn king led
a double existence, dwelling in his pyramid, 'house of a million years', and
following Ra in a sun bark along the swaying kha-channel
(identified as band of the ecliptic by Rolf Krauss).
If the bull(man) born again by the goddess (one of her many
emanations) led a similar double existence, traveling across the sky but also
dwelling in his cave, we may assume that caves were forbidden zones protected
by taboos, accessible only for shamans and shamanesses
and whom they invited, for example aspiring shamans and shamanesses
in the case of Lascaux, and generally wandering arch shamans and shamanesses who held together and stabilized a Magdalenian
society. Wide wandering shamans hold together Amazonia still in our time.
(Euskara, an old
memory? part 2)
Wandering
arch shamans and shamanesses were given as megaceroi, giant stag and hind. The roaring megaceros in the axial gallery of Lascaux was a chief
astronomer. Others may have been healers. Again others were judges, for example
the stately pair of a male followed by a female in the cave le Cougnac, Payrignac, Lot. In the
same cave is a drawing of a falling man pierced by lances, considered by
experts on cave art the capital punishment for a crime - inflicted by wandering
judges?
Magdalenian
AIS means fate, while GAR named a crevice in rock where animals emerged from or
disappeared into. Now imagine a couple of wandering judges wearing emblems of megaceroi, visiting a cave, entering the crevice GAR,
consulting the spirit of a former bull(man) inside the
cave, then leaving the dark halls and chambers, emerging from the crevice GAR,
announcing their decision or verdict, and thus deciding on the fate AIS of a
single person or a goup or the entire tribe
AIS GAR Euskara ?
This
etymology of the alternative term for the Basque language, Euskara,
is motivated by a local superstition. Remember that GEN for the young moon bull
might have become Pre-Proto-Basque *zen
*ze-zen Proto-Basque *zezen
Basque zezen 'bull' (Theo Vennemann;
by the way, zezen might have a cognate in Manchurian sisen 'herd'). Now there is a Basque belief that a zezen dwells in a cave, a genie in form of a terrible bull
haunting people who approach the cave by night. Can this fear be rooted in a
darkly remembered remote past? If so, *eusk- 'Basque'
ara 'manner' Euskara '(to
speak in the) Basque manner' is an overforming.
Also
Basque or Euskara itself is keeping old memories, for
example of AAR RAA NOS, the sky god of the Göbekli Tepe region, he of air AAR and light RAA with a mind NOS, a
god of several emanations, human (big limestone ring on the Göbekli
Tepe showing the head of the god ex negativo), bull (bucrania, one in
the gathering house 1A at Hullan Cemi
pronounced Chemi, another on the neck of the male
central pillar of temple D on the Göbekli Tepe), and bird (various depictions), accounting for Basque
arano 'eagle, vulture' and German Aar, König der Lüfte, poetic for
eagle, king of the airs (plural)
AAR RAA NOS arano Aar
while Basque ara 'manner' might
be a shortened AAR RAA of the original meaning: in the manner of those who
follow the sky god of air AAR and light RAA whether he assumes the guise of a
man or bull or bird.
By the
way, AAR RAA NOS might already have been worshipped 14,000 years ago on the
hill west of the river of Altay in the northwestern tip of China. He would have
mirrored himself in lakes, naming a lake NOS AAR RAA nuur
(?). As young moon bull GEN he would have become the father of herds, emphatic
doubling GEN GEN Manchurian sisen
'herd'.
(lessons for aspiring shamans and tribal leaders –
Lascaux)
The cave of Lascaux was never inhabited but served for
teaching aspiring shamans and tribal leaders (my hypothesis). From
the midsummer hall (rotunda) one can go to the midwinter niche, or to the
cabinet of the felines, or to the pit
midsummer hall --- midwinter niche
connected by the axial gallery
lessons in astronomy and calendars
midsummer hall --- cabinet of the felines
connected by passageway and nave
polarity of life and death?
lessons in healing?
midsummer hall --- pit
connected by passageway and apse
lessons in ethics and moral
The original entrance in shape of the left eye socket
(photograph taken from tv, sorry for the poor
quality) revealed a composite animal that follows the morning horses rising
above the horizon of the ledge menhjr88.JPG / menhir6f.JPG
The composite animal shows the head of a bearded man,
a pairof horns growing as lances from his forehead;
the mottled hide of a feline; the hind body of a bull; and the swollen belly of
a pregnant mare
GER
SAP )EI TAC MUC CRA
AMA CED
Make a wise use of your weapons; wait patiently and
then act in a decided manner as a lion; be strong as a bull; and care for your own
like a mare for her foal …
The Magdalenian rebus conveys a message to aspiring
tribal leaders. Upon following the passageway and apse they reached the pit
where they were given another message by three enigmatic figures: a falling
birdman, a wounded bull, and a bird on a pole sinking down, while a woolly
rhinoceros passes under them, running from the right to the left side,
according to Marie E.P. König the goddess of giving
life and taking life menhir6d.JPG
The birdman might have been the supreme leader of the
Guyenne, the bull the supreme leader of the Lower Rhone Valley, and the bird on
a pole the supreme leader of the Pyrénées. Now
they are dying. What will happen to their souls?
Michael Rappenglück
identified the birdman with the constellation of Cygnus, the bull with the one
of Lyra, and the bird on a pole with the one of
Aquila. I’d say the eye of the birdman is Deneb in
Cygnus, the eye of the bull Vega in Lyra, and the eye
of the bird on a pole Atair in Aquila, all together
the Summer Triangle, meaning that worthy tribal leaders will be born again by
the goddess of the Summer Triangle and spend a second life in a heavenly beyond
…
Have a closer look at the rhinoceros. There are three
and three dots behind her, three behind her vagina, indicating a second life
for worthy souls, and three behind her anus, meaning that she will drop
unworthy souls. A drastic message, contrasting with the almost humoristic
message seen from the ancient entrance, a lesson in ethics and moral for
aspiring tribal leaders.
However, the center of Lascaux is the midsummer hall,
symbol of life and happiness. Maybe there was a midsummer festival in the
region of Lascaux?
By the way, the above geographical identification is
facilitated by the birdman seen as river map of the Guyenne menhir6i.JPG
(midsummer festival at Yverdon-Clendy
– menhir site)
An impressive menhir site
comprising more than forty large and middle-sized and small stones, among them
groups or families (very charming) can be found at Yverdon-Clendy
in western Switzerland, at the southwestern end of Lake Neuchâtel. The oldest menhirs are about 6,400 years old. In my opinion seven menhirs belonged to the first site representing a large
raven spreading his wings upon landing on the shore of the lake menhir1b.GIF
Five of the seven stones would have been or simply
were a calendar of the solstices and equinoxes menhir1d.GIF
Four of the seven stones define the corridor of the
midsummer festival, leading to the northeastern end of the lake, where the
midsummer sun rises from the lake, between two low hills (no longer visible,
the shore being filled up and overgrown) menhir1f.GIF
A relief on the spring menhir
shows a pair of courting ravens (they perform love-crazy acrobatic dances in
the air in spring) menhir3d.jpg / menhir3h.jpg
And here the large menhir of
the autumn solstice, a fascinating shape-shifter of a stone, among the
appearances are a big round bird eye, a tree, a hand, a bird’s beak, and the
profile of the birdman as supreme leader of the region of the three lakes,
pointing in the direction in which the bird flew or landed menhjr61.JPG
Later on the site was slightly modified, and the
number of stones much increased. There is again the calendar of the solstices and
the midsummer corridor. New are cycles of plant and animal and human life
– too much to explain here, but you can find a thorough interpretation in
three pages beginning here
menhir0a.htm
(text in German, plenty photographs)
