Departamento de Estudos Orientais Vidyá

History of Vedic Culture in the Middle East – Sanskriti - Hinduism and Indian Culture Website

sanskritimagazine.com BY STEPHEN KNAPP Starting from India and heading to the west, this area had strong contacts with ancient India from many years ago, and is said to have been a part of greater Bharatvarsha before the war of Kurukshetra, which is said to have been about 5,000 years ago. In the Ramayana we find wherein...

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Massimo Vidale analyzes an exceptional recent find in a private collection in the fully illustrated online article The Lady of the Spiked Throne with potentially major implications for understanding ancient Indus culture. Dr. Vidale writes: "In Autumn 2009, I was invited by a private collector to see an artifact that was mentioned as unique and very complex, and reportedly belonged to the cultural sphere of the Indus civilization. I do not have professional links with the antique market and the world of private collectors, but the descriptions I had of the find were so puzzling that for once I accepted the invitation to examine the new find." The full article can be downloaded from https://www.harappa.com/content/lady-spiked-throne

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Pastoralism, climate change, and the transformation of the Indus Civilization in Gujarat: Faunal analyses and biogenic isotopes by Brad Chase, David Meiggs and P. Ajithprasad is an important paper - given the painstaking analysis of data - which shows just how careful one has to be in attributing the demise of the Indus civilization to climate change. "A thorough accounting of how Indus peoples were impacted by—and may have adapted to—climatic fluctuations at the end of the third millennium BC requires investigation of the specific ways in which local populations engaged with their environments and how land-use patterns changed during this period of social and climatic change (Madella and Fuller, 2006; Petrie, 2017; Petrie et al., 2017; Wright, 2010, pp. 39–44)," write the authors (p. 1). They look at pastoral practices at three sites Gujarat - Bagasra, Shikarpur and Jaidak – before and after the roughly 2000 BCE climate change event, when a major shift in the summer monsoon is thought by some to have led to major societal transformations on the ground. Given that the land became more arid, would pastoral peoples not have roamed more widely to feed their livestock? "Together, data from these three sites allow us to determine the extent to which pastoral land-use practices changed across the period when climatic changes may have impacted local environments" (p. 2).

They sort through the complexities of Bronze Age Gujarat - Indus civilization seems to have co-existed with other traditions before and afterwards - and the types of animals eaten (mainly bovines and caprines, or cows and buffaloes, sheep and goats) in what they call a "bottom-up epistemological approach" (p. 4). To put it simply, assuming that there was less rainfall, pastoral people would have had to range over larger territory to feed their livestock. If they did this, the dental remains of their livestock would reveal greater variety over time. "We evaluate this hypothesis with faunal and isotopic data that speak directly to livestock consumption, management, diet, and mobility at three well-dated archaeological sites whose occupational sequences span the period when migratory pastoralism is proposed to have in- creased. All three of these sites, Bagasra, Shikarpur, and Jaidak, were excavated by the same team of archaeologists from the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda following similar excavation and documentation protocols. Situated within 65 km of one another, they were located in a generally similar climatic setting. All three have produced radiocarbon dates (Fig. 2, Table 1) that are stratigraphically consistent and commensurate with current understandings of local ceramic sequences. Fauna from all three sites have been studied following the same documentation system (Chase, 2014, 2010), and isotopes in faunal tooth enamel have been analyzed following a common set of procedures developed during the course of pilot studies undertaken in preparation for the current expanded study (Chase et al., 2018, 2014b), as described in more detail below" (p. 5).

The results? After exhaustive dental and other analyses, they write "overall, there is very little evidence for change through time in overall patterns of mobility for either bovines or caprines . . .. In sum, our data show very little evidence for a shift in pastoral land-use practices across the time when climatic changes have been documented in adjacent areas and may have impacted environments in Gujarat. Rather, pastoral land-use practices appear to have been remarkably resilient in the face of the social and climatic changes that characterized the beginning of the Localization Era—as was the case with rural lifeways in other regions of the Indus Civilization (Petrie, 2017, p. 56, 2019, p. 127; 2017, p. 19)" (p. 16).

As other scholars have pointed out as well, Indus peoples were remarkably resilient, and developed infrastructure and practices in different areas that responded to very different agricultural, water, crop and geographical realities. They could adapt. While this does not deny the fact that climate change may have played a major role in the civilization's demise or changes, it is not a simple matter to understand how these effects played themselves out in time. This paper offers a nice way of bringing together the many factors that are needed to develop sharp and effective analyses instead of jumping to simplistic theories.

Image: A map of Gujarat showing sites mentioned in the text along with 87Sr/86Sr values monitored in herbivore dung across Gujarat. Black squares indicate dung sampling locations, white circles indicate the sites under consideration here, black circles indicate sites mentioned in the text, and grey circles indicate sites generally contemporary with the occupations of Bagasra, Shikarpur, and Jaidak.

Read the paper at Academia.edu https://www.academia.edu/43051387/Pastoralism_climate_change_and_the_transformation_of_the_Indus_Civilization_in_Gujarat_Faunal_analyses_and_biogenic_isotopes

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A truly fascinating paper by Dennys Frenez and Massimo Vidale on composite Indus creatures and their meaning: Harappa Chimaeras as 'Symbolic Hypertexts'. Some Thoughts on Plato, Chimaera and the Indus Civilization."

Abstract
An analysis and interpretation of the so-called Harappan chimaera, one of the most peculiar and elaborate iconographies of Indus Civilization. It is represented on many stamp seals of fired steatite and corresponding clay sealings, terracotta tablets in bas-relief, copper tablets and tokens. The Harappan chimaera was composed of body parts derived from different animals, as well as humans and other fantastic beings of the Indus imagination. A detailed documentation and description of all the objects bearing chimaeras makes it possible to recognize not only a basic set of regular combinations and some aspects of their possible changes in time, but also visual associations among selected parts of the chimaera's body that could be perceived and semantically intepreted at different levels. We believe that the sophisticated structure of these images fully deserves to be considered an early form of 'hypertext', following current definitions used in computer sciences. We conclude by relating the evidence and its cognitive background to other spheres of the early urban societies in the Indus basin.

Above: Harappan chimaera and its hypertextual components

Read the full article at https://www.harappa.com/content/harappan-chimaeras

Nassim Haramein

According to Nassim Haramein's unified field theory, the foundational fabric of spacetime itself has a holofractal tetrahedral lattice structure at the sub-quantum Planck scale. The seed of this geometry at any point is a 64 tetrahedron grid that forms the first two of what are infinite scalar octaves of perfectly balanced cuboctahedral structures forming a vector equilibrium at each scale (octave). To form one 64 tetrahedron grid you need 8 star tetrahedrons put together.

The star tetrahedron is one of the most foundational geometries in the universe, at all scales. Here we see this structure, also known as a Merkaba, made from 8 tetrahedrons pointing out (while the cuboctahedron is made of 8 tetrahedrons pointing inward) being depicted in 2D, in cultures form around the world.

One major question then becomes... how did they know?

Find out possible answers to this question and the many others that arise when you go down rabbit-hole that is unified physics meets ancient civilizations in the free online Unified Science Course in the Resonance Academy (available in English, French & Spanish) at ResonanceScience.org

Resonance Science Foundation • Resonance Science Foundation - Français • Resonance Science Foundation - Español • Nassim Haramein - Français • Post by Jamie Janover

Yôga e kundaliní

Retirado de Swami Narayanananda, "The secrets of prana, pranayama & yoga-asanas".

Federación Nacional de Jujitsu y DD.AA.

ORGANIGRAMA DE LA FEDERACIÓN NACIONAL DE JUJITSU Y DISCIPLINAS ASOCIADAS.

Directores de departamento, junta directiva y comisiones de apoyo.
Seguimos creciendo.

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One of the most evocative seals from Mohenjo-daro, depicting a deity with horned headdress and bangles on both arms, standing in a pipal (sacred fig) tree and looking down on a kneeling worshiper. A human head rests on a small stool and giant ram and seven figures in procession complete the narrative.

Asko Parpola writes "An anthropomorphic figure has knelt in front of a fig tree, with hands raised in respectful salutation, prayer or worship. This reverence suggests the divinity of its object, another anthropomorphic figure standing inside the fig tree. In the ancient Near East, the gods and goddesses, as well as their earthly representatives, the divine kings and queens functioning as high priests and priestesses, were distinguished by a horned crown. A similar crown is worn by the two anthropomorphic figures in the 'fig deity seal. Among various tribal people of India, horned head-dresses are worn by priests on sacrificial occasions." (Deciphering the Indus Script, pp. 256-8.)

Mark Kenoyer writes: "In the lower register is a procession of seven robed figures with long braids, short curved head ornaments, and arms covered with bangles. Some scholars identify the attendants as priestesses, but no specific gender is indicated, and lacking examples of female figurines with long braids and single plumed head ornaments, we cannot determine if the procession is comprised of male or female attendants." (Ancient Cities, p. 106).

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An amazing catalogue of female figurines from Neolithic times across the world, in places connected and witness to constantly shifting populations. Beautifully illustrated, with focus on Mehrgarh and the Indus Valley pieces which are seen in connection to a long, sophisticated tradition. "The exhibition at the Giancarlo Ligabue Foundation gathers numerous objects testifying to the ongoing representation of the female body with manifest sexual attributes during the Neolithic period, from Sardinia and India to Greece and Ara- bia. The Neolithic revolution was quickly superseded, however, during the fourth millennium, by a new, even more radical revolution – the urban revolution and its far-reaching consequences. Thus the world’s first states formed in a succession of civilizations, beginning with Egypt, passing through Mesopotamia, Iran and Central Asia to reach India, followed shortly thereafter by China and the Americas."

The caption for the stunning figurine above is: "Standing Female Statuette, Indus, Balochistan, Mehrgarh VII style (ca. 2700–2500 BC) Terracotta, H. 15 cm, W. 6 cm Ligabue Collection, Venice (Bibliography: Ligabue, Rossi-Osmida 2006, p. 185).

"This terracotta female figurine with a bald head, thin nose, incised eyes and eyebrows, broad shoulders, bent arms, broad hips and straight cylindrical legs is a rare example of a complete item of this category. Heads of this type have been found in numerous sites of Balochistan, in particular in the Kachhi plain at Chhalgarhi, associated with a comparable female fragmentary body, or at Pirak (unstratified). Many were excavated at Mehrgarh in level VII B (ca. 2700 BC), in particular one item attached to a male torso with broad shoulders. A carefully modelled female body found in the same level with a thin wash covering the applied parts was associated with one head of this type. The occurrence of bald-headed figurines calls to mind the funerary figurines from Shahdad, from a group of graves older than those which belong to the late Bronze, and which P. Amiet associates with Presargonic art. There are also striking similarities with some stone sculptures from Mesopotamia in the third millennium, in particular from Tello, Tell Asmar and Mari. Such parallels foresee the links which one will try to establish between the later head of Dabarkot, the “king-priest” from Mohenjo-daro, the stone heads found in Helmand and at Mundigak. The question of exchange networks – obviously associated with phenomena of influences and diffusion from the point of view of symbolism and ideology – may explain the emergence of types which, at Mehrgarh, even if they are part of the same craft tradition, are linked with phenomena which can be outlined all over Middle Asia. J.C."

The book is available on Amazon, or can be downloaded for free at https://www.academia.edu/39046307/Idols_The_Power_of_Images

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Journey of a Civilization Indus to Vagai is an exceptional book, from its high production value to well marshaled arguments and the broad perspective of its author, R. Balakrishnan. He has been researching the materials for decades in a careful and constructive manner. It is also a tribute to the late Iravatham Mahadevan, one of my favorite people in ancient Indus studies and India's most accomplished Indus script scholar.

Balakirshnan takes takes on two large questions in ancient Indian history: What happened to the ancient Indus culture and/or people after 1700 or so BCE? What are the origins of Tamil Sangam literature that describe cities, creatures and landscape features far different from the south India it is first geographically located in? Balakrishnan offers a single yet multi-faceted answer, and draws on the Indus script readings proposed by Mahadevan and Asko Parpola. This is supplemented with a variety of other evidence from words, visual motifs, the division of towns and cities, DNA analysis, and much, much more to weave a substantial answer that argues for the cohesion of ancient Indus and modern Tamil and Dravidian culture.

Nonetheless, if one agrees with the general conclusions, it also raises new questions about the "continuity" of culture and peoples across thousands of years. What that relationship between culture and people and language – are they even the same thing or separate manifestations that may float across time, space and peoples? What is identity across millennia?

"Of all the suggestions on the language of the Indus civilization," writes Balakrishnan, "the Dravidian Hypothesis is by far the best working hypothesis for the decipherment of the Indus script and the understanding of the language and culture. This book attempts to assemble all possible ideas that would essentially substantiate this view" (p. 59). Indeed, it is not only the language theories from Parpola and Mahadevan that drive the approach, but also the author's painstaking look at place names in present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan and their frequent parallels in Tamil Nadu and other parts of South India. "Place-names do Travel," is the first of these chapters, and it must be said that Balakrishnan has a gift for metaphor and relevant quotations – as in the preamble quote from a tribal man in Odisha for this chapter: "How can we change the name of the village given by our ancestors? Their spirits may get confused when they want to visit us!"

The analysis of place names is rooted in an appraisal of Sangam ("royal literary academy") literature, which have been thought to date to roughly 300 BCE, but contain numerous references to even earlier texts and poems as well as geographic features - like the Himalayas - far from present-day Tamil country but seemingly quite familiar to Sangam poets. They also invoke a rich, multi-cultural urban life and references to tribes in hill country, from where they emigrated, not to mention a vibrant coastal trade with goods from the west coast of India like teak wood, pearls and ivory. They could have been sourced from the region and were traded in ancient Indus times as far away as Mesopotamia – "it would be hard to believe that the Indus traders would have missed the scope and opportunity southern India offered them for sourcing their export mercantile" (p. 95). This is a very solid point. There were many roads to the South, and if Dravidian speakers originated in Iran as some have supposed (there is pre-Indus Iranian ancestry in the Ancestral South Indian genome, as well as linguistic traces), a migration of people, traditions and culture is well within the realm of possibility. In fact the free flow of peoples has been happening throughout the history of the subcontinent and Central Asia. Assuming that Sangam literature is drawing from an earlier, hazy past and oral tradition, the best candidate for this might well be the Indus civilization, however wide the gap in centuries from what we know today.

Continue reading the second half of the review at https://www.harappa.com/content/journey-civilization-indus-vaigai