<< Our Photo Pages >> The Great Goddess with three faces - Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature in North Macedonia
Submitted by GjoreCenev on Friday, 20 September 2013 Page Views: 18142
Natural PlacesSite Name: The Great Goddess with three faces Alternative Name: Great Goddess with complex of sanctuariesCountry: North Macedonia
NOTE: This site is 27.004 km away from the location you searched for.
Type: Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature
Nearest Town: Prilep Nearest Village: Selce
Latitude: 41.322221N Longitude: 21.603142E
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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(see Figure 1 and the others below).
Even at first glance, despite the monumentality, cosmogonic significance of the statue and the surrounding area is obvious. Therefore, and due to the lack of appropriate archeological information, I decided to perform a comparative cosmogonic analysis. In the past year, my team and I have visited this area on several occasions, and based on the documentation collected, measurements and analyses made, I can say that there are enough evidences for the correctness of the methodology chosen. Cosmogony is a story of the creation of the world as an organized form of material existence full of symbols. According to C. G. Jung archetypes are prototypes of symbolic units that are deeply rooted in the subconscious, and the archetypical symbol links the universal and the individual aspects in the psyche of each individual, as well as in the collective consciousness of every culture. The cultural symbols, are those that have been used to express "eternal truths," and that are still used in many religions (C.G.Jung, 1964).
It is generally know that there are cosmogonic myths in all ancient religions and civilizations. A cosmogonic religion links humans’ rituals in the present with the divine glory in the past and cosmic stability and prosperity in the future (Insoll T., 2012). Because people in early civilizations saw themselves as following collective patterns of behavior that Gods had established when they created the World, cosmogonic speculations were intimately concerned with society as well as the natural world (Trigger B.G., 2003).
Today, lots of researchers argue that the area encompassing East Mediterranean and Near East in pre-historic times and in ancient times should be considered as one and only unified cultural region. Recent studies (Bremmer J., 2004, Kristiansen K. – Larsson B. T., 2005) have shown that in this region rituals and myths regularly traveled from one to another culture. Even when completely different languages are spoken, inhabitants all over this region had similar outlook on the world and comparable ideals and lifestyles. Of course, every bigger group of people living on certain territory has its own pantheon, calendar of festivals, mythology and way of performing and worshiping cults, but yet, no fundamental difference can be traced among them. The cult of the Cybele Goddess, known in the region of East Mediterranean and Asia Minor as a Great Mother is good example of the above mentioned. In the area of Ancient Greece in the period of 8 and 7 century B.C. this Goddess was called Mountain Mother, or in Greek Meter Oreia. In Phrygia and Ancient Greece there was a wide spread cult concerning the mountain peaks, consisting of images or altars which were directly sculpted from so-called living rock (Graf F, 2004). Later, this Goddess is presented as sitting in a stone throne.
In the comparative cosmogonic analysis I used numerous written sources about cosmogonies and of ancient cultures and civilizations’ creation myths that existed in the Near East, the Augean, Egypt and the Balkans. My experience in ethnoastronomical researches that I perform among Macedonian people in the past 30 years, collected and published in the book “Sky over Macedonia” which is available unfortunately only in Macedonian language, helped me a lot. Of course, in the analysis, I could not use the original names of the Great Goddess with three faces, nor separate goddesses represented by three faces, because for this site there is no available data in the existing literature. Hence, I decided to apply the most frequently used names of the goddesses of Hesiod’s “Theogony”, despite the fact that all evidences suggest that the statue of Great Goddess with three faces, as well as certain sanctuaries can be dated in the Early Bronze Age and have much more similarities and links with the area and cultures that existed on the territory of the Near East that with the so- called Hellenic culture. As early as the fifth century B.C., Herodotus says: “… almost all the Gods has come to Hellas from Egypt:….I find by inquiry is true, and I am of opinion that most probably it has come from Egypt, because, except in the case of Poseidon and the Dioscuroi (in accordance with that which I have said before), and also of Hera and Hestia and Themis and the Charites and Nereïds, the Egyptians have had the names of all the other Gods in their country for all time. What I say here is that which the Egyptians think themselves: but as for the Gods whose names they profess that they do not know, these I think received their naming from the Pelasgians, except Poseidon; but about this god the Hellenes learnt from the Libyans…..”. (Herodotus, 1890).
The discovery of Hittite/Hurrian Kumarbi Myth, dating from the mid-second millennium B.C., raise the suspicions about the originality of Hesiod’s “Theogony”, but also raise questions about the impact of cultures of the Near East in the so-called Hellenic culture. On this topic, Woodard R.D. says: When the Kumarbi cycle – particularly the Song of Kumarbi and the Song of Ullikummi – is compared to Hesiod’s succession myth, the overall parallel structure of the two traditions (Hittite/Hurrian and Greek) and the individual bits of parallelism are obvious (Woodard R.D, 2007). Therefore, despite the fact that names used for goddesses should be received with reserve already stated, it is likely that they are very close to their original, but for us still unfamiliar names.
Triple deity or Triads is any deity who is described as threefold, or as appearing in groups of three. According to the analysis of C.G. Jung, Triads have archetypical significance. “Triads of gods appear very early, at a primitive level. The archaic triads in the religions of antiquity and of the East are too numerous to be mentioned here. Arrangement in triads is an archetype in the history of religion, which in all probability formed the basis of the Christian Trinity. Often these triads do not consist of three different deities independent of one another; instead, there is a distinct tendency for certain family relation-ships to arise within the triads” (C.G. Jung, 1958).
In search of old records about shrines and characteristics of Great Goddess with three faces, it seems that analogies that can be drawn are related with the story of Pausanias, Greek traveler and geographer, who lived in the 2nd century AD in the city Stymphalus, area of Arcadia. The story goes as following: “The story has it, that in the old Stymphalus dwelt Temenus, the son of Pelasgus, and that Hera was reared by this Temenus, who himself established three sanctuaries for the goddess, and gave her three surnames when she was still a maiden, Girl; when married to Zeus he called her Grown-up; when for some cause or other she quarreled with Zeus and came back to Stymphalus, Temenus named her Widow”. At the time, described by Pausanias, area of Arcadia, according to Herodotus was inhabited with Pelasgians who did not speak Hellenic language. Thus, the Goddess can be also called Pelasgian Hera. On the other hand, many sources confirm the fact that Pelasges are the oldest inhabitants of Macedonia, and thus area of Pelagonia, where the statue of the discovered Great Goddess with thee faces is found. Continuing in same direction, it is likely that the statue of the Great Goddess with three faces is actually representing Pelasgian Hera.
The Great Goddess with three faces, located nearby Prilep, has exactly the three faces that are frequently described as the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone, each of which symbolizes both a separate stage in the female life cycle and a phase of the moon, and often rules one of the realms of earth, underworld, and the heavens. The three faces and the symbolism associated with the Moon can be compared with the goddesses Artemis, Selene and Hekate.
Figure 2 (see above) corresponds to the first face of the Great Goddess, presented as a young and stout girl. This face can be called Maiden. In the second part of my paper it can be noticed that this face is associated with a special shrine of a goddess, bearing all characteristics of a shrine dedicated to the Goddess Artemis. We can make conclusion that this is goddess, based on the crown worn on the head, which is polos crown type, as well as a long veil that is covering the shoulders. The polos crown is a cylindrical crown worn by mythological goddesses of the Ancient Near East and Anatolia and adopted by the ancient Greeks for imaging the Mother Goddesses Rhea and Cybele and Hera.
The long veil is also one of the recognizable clothing of Hera, that links this Goddess with the goddesses of Anatolia. The cult statue found in the oldest temple of Hera in the so-called Samian Heraion has long veil under the Goddess’s polos. Related to this, J.V. O’Brien says: “the veils, so prominent in Samian art, were at one time signs of Hera’s general fecundity, which she shared with other Anatolian goddesses, rather than specific signs of bridal array, as Varro assumed” (O’Brien J.V., 1993). That the Great Goddess with three faces has the attributes of Goddess of fertility and of Mother Earth, evidences are found in location of the cult statue. As it can be seen from Figure 3, the statue has dominant and to say protective position over Pelagonia, as one of the main agricultural regions in Macedonia.
Everywhere in the Mediterranean world, sacrifice was at the center of cult. That each face of the Great Goddess has attributes of specially practiced cult we find evidence in a specifically crafted alters as places for sacrificial gifts and offerings. Alter shown on Figure 4 is registered as alter linked to the first face. Four- angular form of the alter (Figure 5) with four pillars is associated with the sides of the world, but also they are symbols of Earth and Heaven or pillars on which it relies (West M.L., 1997).
The second face (Figure 6) represents a mature middle-aged woman. This face, according to the previously said, can be called Мother. In the second part of my paper it can be seen that this face is associated with a special shrine dedicated to the Goddess Selene. That this face in the past was also recognized as cultic image we find proof in the ritual space in front of the face (Figure 7) processed with special area for sacrificial offerings (Figure 8).
The third face of the Great Goddess with three faces represents exhausted old woman (Figure 9). In general, this face can be called Crone. As in previous cases, it can be said that this face is associated with particular type of shire as those shrines dedicated to the Goddess Hekate. In this cult complex with the cult statue of the Great Goddess with three faces there is a ritual area for sacrificial offerings and gifts dedicated to this face. This area is characterized by distinctive pyramidal stone (Figure 10 ) which is called Pyramid by the local inhabitants. In the background of this stone, there is a ritual area for sacrificial offerings and gifts (Figure 11).
At the end of this part as an additional argument that this is one big cult complex with cult statue of the Great Goddess with three faces, as same as Hera’s complexes, to note that the cow, the lion and the peacock are sacred animals of the Goddess Hera. On the figure 12, that represents the wider area surrounding the statue of the Great goddess with three faces, two statues made in rock can be noticed, which relentlessly reminds –one of the peacock, and the other of a lion.
References:
Bremmer Jan, 2004, “Ritual”, in “Religions of the Ancient World” a Guide, general editor Johnston Iles Sarah, Harvard University Press, p.32
Graf Fritz, 2004, “What Is Ancient Mediterranean Religion?”, in “Religions of the Ancient World” a Guide, general editor Johnston Iles Sarah, Harvard University Press, p. 4-7
Herodotus, 1890, “The Second Book of the Histories”, MacMillan and Co., [50], [51],
Insoll Timothy, 2012, “The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Ritual and Religion”,Oxford University Press, p.76
Jung Carl G., 1964: “Man and His Symbols”, Dell Publishing, p.83
Jung Carl G., 1958: “A Psychological Approach to the Dogma of the Trinity”, The Collected Works of C.G.Jung, Volume 11, Psychology and Religion: West and East, Bollingen Foundation Inc., p.113
Kristiansen Kristian – Larsson B. Thomas, 2005: “The Rise of Bronze Age Society: Transmissions and Transformations”, Cambridge University Press, p.357,
O’Brien Joan V., 1993, “The Transformation of Hera: A Study of Ritual, Hero, and the Goddess in the Iliad”, Rowman & Littlefield, p.35
Pausanias, 1918, “Description of Greece” Volume III, Book 8, Harvard University Press, [8.22.2]
Trigger Bruce G., 2003, “Understanding early civilizations: a comparative study”, Cambridge University Press, p.456
West M.L., 1997, “The East Face of Helicon : West Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and Myth: West Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and Myth”, Oxford University Press, p.148-149
Woodard Roger D., 2007, “The Cambridge Companion to Greek Mythology”, Cambridge University Press, p. 95
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