Sacred meteorites and various stories associated with them.
In the long history of knowledge of meteorites, they have been the property of temples, rulers, shamans, magicians, charlatans, and tricksters. They were the object of religious beliefs, a punishment or a divine gift, magical or medical means. In the history of antiquity, we have many examples of meteorites owned by temples as well as examples of their collection and worship as gifts from the gods.
In the Artemision in Ephesus, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, a large black stone that fell from heaven was stored. During the Roman period, the temple dedicated to the goddess Cybele and the associated ceremony of „Ludi Megalenses” was famous. It was an official religious ceremony in honor of the goddess Cybele in Rome. The cult of the Great Mother, and with it the mysteries in honor of the goddess Cybele and Attis, reached Rome in 204 B.C. during the Punic Wars. It was then that the Black Stone, a symbol of the goddess Cybeli (a large meteorite reminiscent of the chthonic properties of the Great Mother), was brought from Pergamon and placed on Palatine Hill, in the temple of Victory, intended for priests Cybele and Attis. Along with the stone, priests – slaughterers came to Rome. Orgiastic ecstatic dances were performed in and around the temple. The ceremonies commemorating the goddess’s protection over the fate of the nation during the wars were held between April 4 and 10.
In the time of Emperor Claudius, a new celebration was established between March 15 and 27, combining the worship of deities with the festival of spring. The main rites took place on March 21. Then the „tree bearers” solemnly brought the cut crown of light green pine trees to the Palatine Hill. It was Attis’ body and it was returning to Cybele. After a day of break (mourning and fasting) followed a day of blood (Sanguis) – Attis demanded blood. In religious ecstasy, bodies were mutilated. Neophytes deprived themselves of masculinity with sharp flint. Blood was dripping at the foot of the Holy Stone. On March 25, the day of joy (Hilaria) – resurrection began, because Attis was waking up from holy lethargy. A procession with the good news was going to the city.
The next one to be worshiped in Rome was the Emesa Stone, which was most likely a fallen meteorite in Emesa, Syria [now Homs]. It played a very important role in ancient Rome. In 219 A.D.. the young warrior Elagabal defeated the Roman army and in great glory entered Rome with the black Stone of Emesa. The stone was placed on a cart, decorated with numerous jewels and pulled by white horses. Elagabal walked backwards in front of the stone in silent homage. The name Elagabalus means – „god creates”, but it is often misinterpreted by historians as Elagabalus – „sun god”. Elagabalus ordered the public worship of the stone and built a temple for it, the ruins of which are under the present Church of St. Sebastian in Rome. In the temple, together with the Stone of Emesa, he also placed objects most sacred to the Romans, such as: the Fire of Vesta, a sign from Cybele, Palladium – a statue of a goddess who fell from heaven, as well as shields or ancile of Mars, i.e. objects believed to have fallen from heaven the reign of Numa Pompilius and who were „sent” to defend Rome.
In 222 C.E. when Elagabal died as a victim of the conspiracy, his successor Alexander Severus returned the pagan saints to their temples and also sent the Emesa Stone back to Syria, where he was possibly lost. Also worth mentioning are the meteorites depicted on coins from the city of Sidon in Phenicia with the imagination of a meteorite on a chariot and coin of Seleukeia in Syria with the imagination of the meteorite in the temple.
On the other hand, in the Koran there is a description of where in the Battle of Beder God struck his enemies by dropping stones „for the benefit of the faithful”. This description probably refers to the fall of the meteorite in Wabar around 570 A.D. (Wabar is located in the desert of Saudi Arabia).
However, the best example of a meteorite being protected by religion and owned by a temple to this day is the famous Kaaba. In short, the Kaaba is a temple in Mecca (Saudi Arabia), a holy place for all Muslims and an annual pilgrimage destination (Hajj). This most famous temple of Islam has the form of a cuboid built of blocks of gray stone on a marble base. Its corners – the Corner of Iraq, the Corner of Syria, the Corner of Yemen and the Black Corner – mark the directions of the world. In the eastern, Black Corner, there is the so-called Black Stone (al-Hajar al-Aswad), possibly a meteorite, the greatest sanctity of Muslims. Around the mosque there are porticoes of the courtyard, which in turn protects the wall with 19 gates and 7 minarets (the most in the world). The cult of the Kaaba as a place of traditional pilgrimages dates back to the pre-Islamic period. Arab tradition says that the Kaaba was built by Abraham and Ishmael or even Adam, and the Black Stone was brought from heaven by the archangel Gabriel (Jibrila).
It is impossible to establish and decide when, in principle, the Kaaba actually arose. It is known, however, that already in the 3rd century A.D. it was considered by many Arab tribes to be a holy place with a long history. Until the time of Mohammed’s appearance, the Kaaba was a simple structure containing many pagan idols. At the Prophet’s order, they were destroyed, but the Black Stone was left behind. Muhammad maintained the custom of pilgrimages to this place among his followers. It continues today and millions of Muslims visit the Kaaba each year.
The worship of meteorites probably also referred to the Stone of Kronos in Delphi as well as the stone of the temple of Kassandra in Macedonia. In Thebes, however, prayers to the pear-shaped meteorite were prayed. Aristotle and Pliny the Elder [Gaius Plinius Secundus 23-79 A.D.] mention that in 467 B.C. meteorite fell in Aigospotamoy, in Thrace, on the European side of the Dardanelles, and a comet was seen that same year. In Natural History (Book II, Chapter 59), Pliny states that a meteorite fell during the day. It was brown in color and the size of a loaded wagon. Unfortunately, it is not known what happened to this meteorite. Besides, Pliny the Elder in his work describes another very interesting story in Book XXXVII. Well, the 135 Mages, who were a group of Zoroaster priests in Persia, also turned out to be diligent meteorite seekers. In support of this, there are numerous reports of the existence of a medium-sized (about 1.5 tons) iron meteorite in a great mosque in Ardabil, northwest Iran, which was originally the temple of Zoroaster’s fire. According to Kazhani, who heard it from „nobles and dignitaries” in Ardabil, this meteorite was in the first temple of fire that Zoroaster (or perhaps the Magi) built in Ardabil. Until the fifteenth century, the meteorite was almost intact, but in later centuries, during the attacks of the Turks and Russians, which resulted in the destruction of the old temple, the meteorite disappeared, although there is hope that it may still be found either in its original place or in one of the old ones. Russian meteorite collections now scattered around the world.
In the ancient Avestan language of the Zoroastrian books, the word asana unexpectedly means both heaven and stone. In Gatha 30.5, as proven by Zoroaster himself (Zarathustra), dated at least 1000 B.C, the sky is described as made of the hardest stones, erected by the god Ahur Mazda as an armor against an evil spirit. All these descriptions seem to have their roots in actual observations of the fall of several meteorites before 1000 B.C. In Erethe Yasht 13.2 and Videvdat 19.4, two Zoroastrian texts from around 1000-200 B.C., it is claimed that Zoroaster once used a massive house-sized meteorite to repel an evil spirit.
As for the texts in the Holy Scriptures, for example in the Bible we have two examples of the destructive effect of meteorites, and so: – in Exodus, 9.23 – where, according to various researchers, one of the plagues under the name of „hail from heaven” was a meteor shower. – in Joshua 10.11 – there is a description of Joshua’s victory, caused by meteorites – “When they were on the slope of Beth-Choron while they were fleeing Israel, the Lord threw huge stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, so that they perished. And more died by the hailstones than by the sword of the Israelites. „
There is also a story about the tragic consequences of a meteorite fall in China in 211 B.C . Well, Emperor Chi-hoang-ti gained notoriety because he ordered all the books to be burned in one night. When a meteorite (lit. „the star that fell to the ground”) was dug from the ground in the Tong-kien province, with an inscription announcing the death of the emperor, the division of the state and the author of the inscription could not be identified, the emperor ordered the meteorite to be smashed and all inhabitants to be killed . However, his effort was wasted as the prophecy came true and soon the emperor died.
The use of meteorites to deceive the people, especially in the field of beliefs or medicine, is known to this day. It is also worth noting that from the earliest times, glass meteorites tektites, were also valued and revered. When Tibetan tektites were „discovered” for the West in 1991, they were found to be mined from a dry river bed by the Drak`s, a nomadic tribe living in Chang Tang, a plateau in central and northern Tibet near Motsobuhna Lake. In the past, they were highly regarded by the locals as „a gift from heaven”. They are considered powerful talismans and are readily accepted by monks and lamas as voluntary tithes instead of money.
In the past, meteorites and tektites were attributed to the favorable influence and power of talismans. Amulet made of tektite from the Czech so-called The Moldavites (or Vitavin in Czech) was found in the Cro Magnon settlement dating back 29,000 years. In China, in the 10th century AD, tektites were collected as „thunder god stones”. Some shamans believe that they have the power to transmit and receive messages over long distances and that they possess anti-disease properties!
Aborigines in Australia believe they have always been associated with magic and have power in the rites of raining down. It is worth mentioning that in the 1960s the Swiss government purchased the Moldavites for $ 5,000 bound in platinum and surrounded by diamonds, which it gave to Queen Elizabeth II. Pope John Paul II received a rosary made of polished Moldavites as a gift from the Czech people.
So much for ancient times. However, it is worth mentioning a few meteorites that have been worshiped or are still worshiped by people. For example, in the evening of August 16, 1865 in Sabetmahet, India, a stone meteorite weighing 1.25 kg won such honor as an object of religious worship that only a 3-gram fragment remained for scientists. On the other hand, in Tamentita in Morocco, from the 14th century until 1864, the local population prayed to an iron meteorite weighing about 510 kg. The inhabitants of Kota-Kota in Niasa still worship the rock meteorite, and the fallen on August 14, 1992, the rock meteorite in Mbale, Uganda, was largely pulverized by the local population as a gift from God and used as a cure for the AIDS virus!
Iron meteorites were used to make various items for warfare, such as swords, daggers, knives, etc. (also by people of First Nation of America or Inuits), and today, for example, from the Gibeon meteorite fallen in Namibia in Africa, jewelry and shields for watches, medals or local screws, nails and various types of everyday tools.
Literature:
Kotowiecki A., 2003. Polskie zabytki wykonane z żelaza meteorytowego, Materiały, II Seminarium Meteorytowe, Olsztyn, s. 55-64
Kotowiecki A., 2003. Święte meteoryty, Meteoryt nr 3, s.26-28
Kotowiecki A., 2004. Artifacts in Polish collections made of meteoritic iron, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, vol. 39, nr 8, supp. s. A151-A156.\
O’Keefe John A., 1976, Tektites and Their Origin ,Amsterdam, Elsevier Scientific Publishing, Co. 254 p.
O’Keefe John A., 2019, Meteorutes & sacred stones on coins of ancient Greece and Rome, 97p
Photo – on the left – Bronze coin from city of Sydon in the Phoeniciawith the imagination of the meteorite on the chariot. On the right coin of Seleukeia in Syria with the imagination of the meteorite in the temple.
Author: ANDRZEJ KOTOWIECKI
Born in Wadowice near to Krakow in 1954. A lawyer by education, studies at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, a prosecutor by profession, a passionate historian, archaeologist, geologist, palaeontologist and traveler. A member of the founder of the Polish Meteoritical Society.
Zostaw komentarz