Similarities_between_Syrian_stone_circles_and_Thalpan_rock__suggesting a Route of the Aryans From Anatolia via Syria to India - Copeland

SimilaritiesbetweentheSyrianstonecirclesandThalpanrockaltars- SuggestingarouteoftheAryansfromAnatoliaviaSyriatoIndia-

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By Mel CopelandJune 28, 2013

The main pass between China and the Indus River is covered by about 50,000 petroglyphs inscribed by travelers and migrants. The earliest rock art dates from about 5,000 – 1,000 B.C. and is represented by animals, triangular human figures, axes, sun symbols and hunting scenes. Later drawings are of Buddhist and Christian themes. It has been suggested that because the pass along the ancient Karakorum highway is covered high, travelers often found themselves idle, waiting for the pass to clear, going either north or south on the highway. “Because mountain passes through the western Himalayas to the south of the Upper Indus valley are usually open between June and August and passes to the north through the Karakorum remain free of snow until December, “Southbound traffic started in June, north bound traffic in October.” While waiting for the right conditions to continue their journeys, travelers abraded the dark patina of desert varnish covering the rocks with auspicious images andgraffiti. Graffiti and petroglyphs provide evidence that passage between South Asia and Central Asia via capillary routes through steep mountains and deep valleys was certainly possible under the right conditions.” 1

Central to our theme, tracing the movements of the Aryans from southern Anatolia to the Indus River valley, is the town of Chilas. a small town along the famous Karakorum Highway. It is located at a height of about 3000 feet above sea level at the foot of Nanga Parbat which stands as a wall against the monsoon winds leaving no rain for Chilas. Thus Chilas is dry and very hot in the summer 52 degrees C. heat and very cold in winter -10 degrees with chill winds. Chilas is the main crossing point of the Karakoram Highway leading to Khunjerab Pass that connects Pakistan with China. It is a main point for travelers to and from Islamabad. In Chilas there are archaeological sites in Thalpan, on the left-hand side of the Indus River, which attract most visitors. In the olden times it was called Vishiya. Chilas (Viva Soimanagar) is an ancient city. From Chilas begins the Babusar Road to Kashan Ganga, leading to Kashmir and Khagan Naran NWFP. Diamer district and the mountainous frontier of Kohistan are full of archaeological sites. Diamer district is about 40 miles from Thalpan, a forty mile stretch that has ancient carvings on both sides of the road.2

1 “La Vieille Route Reconsidered: Alternative Paths for Early Transmission of Buddhism Beyond the Borderlands of South Asia,” uploaded to academia.edu by Jason Neelis. He says, “La Vieille Route de l’Inde de Bactres à Taxilawas the culmination of a scholarly labor of loveby Alfred Foucher (1865–1952), the founder of theDélégation

archéologique française en Afghan-istan (DAFA) in 1922. In La Vieille Route, he proposed that the “grande-route” for foreign invasions and consequent flow of Hellenistic, Iranian, and Central Asian cultural influences into northwestern India crossed the Hindu Kush of Afghanistan. Although Foucher was primarily interested in the diffusion of foreign elements from West to East, he also believed that Indian Buddhist missionaries followed similar itineraries in the opposite direction to Central Asia and China.”

2 From visitorsheaven.com; a site that contains a description of the area and its attractions.


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Stanislas A. Grigoriev’s “Ancient Europeans”3 offers a theory that the Indo-European migration from the steppe Sintasha and Andronovo cultures (1,800 -1,600 B.C) – from the northern Caucuses and centered perhaps on the southern end of the Caspian Sea, near Tehran – moved through northern Syria and then into India through Bactria. Girgoriev suggests that these people were the ancestors of the Iranians (Persians) and Indus Valley Aryans, whose books the “Avestan” and “Rig Veda” record a common tradition of worship using Soma (Persian Hoama), a sacred, golden drink made from Cannabis, which was offered to the gods in ceremonial banquets involving horse and other animal sacrifices. See Banquet of the gods - Comparing Etruscan banquets to the Iliad, Celts, Scythians, Egyptians, and Rig Veda .

If we compare the Syrian stone circles with the Thalpan altar rock we can see a similarity in the use of what would appear to be sun symbols. They have multiple spokes, ranging from a simple cross to eight spokes and more complex designs, with dots and rays around the wheels. (Stone circle image from google earth; Thalpan rock art from www.rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de/~u71/kara/intro.html.)

The Lord of the Wood who wielded the axe that cuts the pillars holding the beasts of sacrifice held a special place in the Rig Veda banquet: 4

3 Stanislas A. Grigoriev, “Ancient Indo-Europeans,” 2002, Chelyabinsk Scientific CentreThe Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (www.eah.uu.ru), uploaded to academia.edu.4 All quotes from the Rig Veda from Mel Copeland, “Banquet of the Gods,” 6.13.13 http://academia.edu/3704869/Banquet_of_the_gods__Comparing_Etruscan_banquets_to_the_Iliad_Celts_Scythians_Egyptians_and_Rig_Veda

http://academia.edu/3704869/Banquet_of_the_gods_-_Comparing_Etruscan_banquets_to_the_Iliad_Celts_Scythians_Egyptians_and_Rig_Veda


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Book 3, Hymn VIII Sacrificial Post

1. God-serving men, O Sovran of the Forest, with heavenly meath at sacrifice anoint thee.Grant wealth to us when thou art standingupright as when reposing on thisMother's bosom.2. Set up to eastward of the fire enkindled,accepting prayer that wastes not, richin hero.Driving far from us poverty and famine,lift thyself up to bring us great goodfortune.9. Like swan's that flee in lengthened line,the Pillars have come to us arrayed inbrilliant color. 10. Those stakes upon the earth with ringsthat deck them seem to the eye likehorns of horned creatures;Or, as upraised by priests in invocation,let them assist us in the rush to battle.11. Lord of the Wood, rise with a hundredbranches: with thousand branches maywe rise to greatness,Thou whom this hatchet, with an edgewell whetted for great felicity, hath5

brought before us.

Of interest are the images of axes in the Thalpan Rock Art and the one axe that has rays radiating from it. The image suggests that the axe itself had special power, and the passage in the Rig Veda describes the source of the power of its axe. Among the enemies that the Aryans overthrew there were those who lived in cities built of stone which contrast with the Indus Valley Harappa cities which were built of brick:

Book 4, Hymn XXX Indra

20. For Divodasa, him who brought oblations,Indra overthrew 5 "Sovran of the Forest," the tall tree, vanaspati, out of which is made the sacrificial post to which the victim is tied[Griffith's note]. The Sacrificial Posts are in alignments, from the east toward the fire! Could the British (including Brittany) stone alignments have served this purpose?


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A hundred fortresses of stone.

Book 1, Hymn X Indra

1. The chanters hymn thee, they who saythe word of praise magnify thee.The priests have raised thee up on high,O Satakratu, like a pole.2. As up he climbed from ridge to ridge andlooked upon the toilsome task,Indra observes this wish of his, and theRam hastens with his troop 253. Harness thy pair of strong bay steeds,l ong-maned, whose bodies fill the girthsAnd, Indra, Soma-drinker, come to listento our songs of praise.Image: Thalpan rock art of a sacrifice. The costume compares to those in the Indus Valley

seal describe below, with fringes on the bottom of the costume.

Rig Veda Book I, Hymn V Indra

1. O come ye hither, sit ye down: to Indra..9. Indra, whose succour never fails, acceptthese viands thousandfold,Wherein all manly powers abide.

10. O Indra, thou who lovest song, let no manhurt our bodies, keepSlaughter far from us, for thou canst.

Central to the banquet was fire, the god Agni, who was self-created, from the beginning, and messenger of the gods. It was Agni who would bring the other gods, Indra, etc., to the feast. The throat of the beaker used to drink the Soma was called the “throat of Indra” and the jar itself was called the “heart of Indra.” The law that governed the feast appears to have been called the “Law of the red steer”: (Image: Indus Valley seal).

The cross-legged, horned character resembles the Celtic god Cernnunos,shown on the Gundestrup Cauldron.


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Book 5, Hymn XII Agni

2....I use no sorcery with might or falsehood:the sacred Law of the Red Steer I follow.4. Who, Agni, in alliance with the foeman,what splendid helpers won for themtheir riches?Agni, who guards the dwelling-place offalsehood? Who are protectors of thespeech of liars?5. Agni, those friends of thine have turnedthem from thee: gracious of old, theyhave become ungracious.They have deceived themselves by theirown speeches, uttering wicked wordsagainst the righteous.6. He who pays sacrifice to thee with homage,O Agni, keeps the Red Steer's Laweternal.

The “thunder” god Indra is the lord of the cattle. He is also called “the Ram,” as rams thunder in clashing horns in the mountain, apparently so sounded he.

Book 7, Hymn XVIII Indra

4. Vasistha hath poured forth is prayers,desiring to milk thee like a cow ingoodly pasture.All these my people call thee Lord ofcattle: may Indra come unto theprayer we offer.5. What though the floods spread widely,Indra made them shallow and easy forSudas to traverse.He, worthy of our praises, caused theSimyu, foe of our hymn, to curse theriver's fury.11. The King who scattered one-and-twentypeople of both Vaikarna tribes throughlust of glory —As the skilled priest clips grass within the


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chamber, so hath the Hero Indrawrought their downfall.13. Indra at once with conquering mightdemolished all their strong places andtheir seven castles.

Book 7, Hymn XXXIII Vasistha

1. These who wear hair-knots on the right, themovers of holy thought, white-robed,have won me over. 6

Book 7, Hymn XLI Bhaga

1. Agni at dawn, and Indra we invoke atdawn, and Varuna and Mitra, and theAsvins twain:Bhaga at dawn, Pusan, and Brahmanaspati,Soma at dawn, Rudra we will invoke at dawn.2.We will invoke strong, early-conqueringBhaga, the Son of Aditi, the great supporter:...6...Bhaga who discovers treasure.

Book 7, Hymn CIV Indra-Soma

1. Indra and Soma, burn, destroy the demonfoe, send downward, O ye Bulls, thosewho add gloom to gloom.

4. ...Yea, forge out of the mountains yourcelestial dart wherewith ye burn to deaththe waxing demon race.5. Indra and Soma, cast ye downward outof heaven your deadly darts of stoneburning with fiery flame.19. Hurl down from heaven thy bolt of stone,

6 "hair knots," or single lock of hair left on the head at tonsure, which, according to the Scholiast, it wascharacteristic of the Vasisthas to wear on the right of the crown of the head [Griffith's note]. This recalls the Greekcustom mentioned in the Iliad, where Achillês cuts the lock that he was supposed to have dedicated to the rivergod back home and puts it in the hand of the dead Patroclos upon the funeral pyre. This also calls to mind theIndus seal with the Horned God midst plants and his seven attendants who have hair-knots on the right side oftheir head.


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O Indra: sharpen it, Maghavan, madekeen by Soma.....smite down the demons with thyrocky weapon.20...now let him cast his bolt atfiendish wizards.22. Destroy the fiend shaped like an owl orowlet, destroy him in the form of dogor cuckoo.Destroy him shaped as eagle or as vulture:as with a stone, O Indra, crush thedemon.23. Let not the fiend of witchcraft-workersreach us: may Dawn drive off thecouples of Kimidins.24. Slay the male demon, Indra! slay thefemale, joying and triumphing in arts ofmagic.Let the fools' gods with bent necks falland perish, and see no more the Sunwhen he arises.7

17. Press out the Soma with the stones, andin the waters wash it clean.The men investing it with raiment madeof milk shall milk it forth from out thestems.

Book 8, Hymn II Indra

2. Washed by the men, pressed out withstones, strained through the filter madeof wool.'Tis like a courser bathed in stream.3. This juice have we made sweet for theelike barley, blending it with milk.8. Three reservoirs exude their drops, filled

7 Any images falling into the list here that are found on the Indus Valley seals would identify whether these peoplewere friends or foes of the Aryans of the Rig Veda. The owl is sacred to the Greek goddess Athena, a major playerin the Iliad. The eagle is a powerful Indo-European symbol, and it is interesting that the bard considers those whoworship it as sorcerers. Curiously, in The Ramayana Rama's last weapon was a flock of eagles which descendedupon and consumed the snakes Ravana threw at Rama.


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are three beakers to the brim,All for one offering to the God.9. Pure art thou, set in many a place, andblended in the midst with milkAnd curd, to cheer the Hero best.10. Here, Indra, are thy Soma-draughts pressedout by us, the strong, the pure:They crave admixture of the milk.11. O Indra, pour in milk, prepare the cakeand mix the Soma-draught:I hear them say that thou art rich.12. Quaffed juices fight within the breast.The drunken praise not by their wine, The naked praise not when it rains.14. Foe of the man who adds no milk, heheeds not any chanted hymnOr holy psalm that may be sung.40. Shaped as a Ram, Stone-hurler! Oncethou camest hither to the sonOf Kanva, wise Mdhyatithi.

Book 8, Hymn IV Indra

4....Soma pressed in the mortar didst thoutake and drink, and hence hast wonsurpassing might.8. On his left him the Hero hath reclinedhimself: the proffered feast offends himnot.The milk is blended with the honey ofthe bee; quickly come hither, haste,and drink.9. Indra, thy friend is fair of form and richin horses, cars, and kine.He evermore hath food accompanied bywealth, and radiant joins the company.10. Come like a thirsty antelope to the drinkingplace: drink Soma to thy heart's desire.14. To the brown juice may his dear vigorousBay Steeds bring Indra, to our holytask.


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Book 8, XLVIII Soma

1. Wisely have I enjoyed the savoury viand,religious-thoughted, best to find outtreasure,The food to which all Deities and mortals,calling it meath, gather themselvestogether.3. We have drunk Soma and becomeimmortal; we have attained the light,the Gods discovered...5. These glorious drops that give me freedomhave I drunk. Closely they knit myloins as straps secure a car.Let them protect my foot from slippingon the way: Yea, let the drops I drinkpreserve me from disease.6. Make me shine bright like fire produced byfriction: give us a clearer sight andmake us better.10...This Soma now deposited within me. Forthis, I pray for longer life to Indra.11. Our maladies have lost their strength andvanished: they feared, and passed awayinto darkness.Soma hath risen in us, exceeding mighty,and we are come where men prolongexistence.

Book 8, Hymn LXI Agni

9. Three times the newly-kindled flame proceedsaround the sacrifice:The priests anoint it with the meath.10. With reverence they drain the fount thatcircles with its wheel aboveExhaustless, with the mouth below,11. The pressing-stones are set at work: themeath is poured into the tank,At the out-shedding of the fount.


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12. Ye cows, protect the fond: the twoMighty Ones bless the sacrifice.The handles twain are wrought of gold.13. Pour on the juice the ornament whichreaches both the heaven and earth:Supply the liquid to the Bull.17. I took some Soma when the Sun rose up,O Mitra, Varuna.That is the sick man's medicine.

Book 8, Hymn LXXXVI Indra

3. The riteless, godless man who sleeps, OIndra, his unbroken sleep, —May he by following his own devices die.Hide from him wealth that nourishes.12. The Holy sages form a ring, looking andsinging to the Ram.Inciters, full of vigor, not to be deceived,are with the chanters, night to hear.

Book 9, Hymn LXXIV Soma Pavamana

2. A far-extended pillar that supports the sky,8

the Soma-stalk filled full, moves itselfevery way.5...he swells with sap for man theskin which gods enjoy.

8 Note that in the Indus Valley seal above a god stands between the two stalks of a plant that may be stalks with cannabis buds. Kneeling before the plant is an individual who is appearing to offer the contents of a pot to the person between the two plants. Watching the sacrifice is a human-faced bull which appears to have a bird on its back. The seven characters at the bottom of the scene appear to be the Seven Marats. The character between the stalks of the plant and the Seven attendants (Marats?) all have rays coming out of their arms and their hair is tied in knots on the right side of the head. “the Rsis, seven holy singers," recalls the seven attendants in the Indus Valley seal showing the Horned god seated midst a plant, and they may be the seven holy rivers, including the Sarasvati, besides the Marats. Again we see: Book 10, Hymn XXXV Visvedevas9. This day we pray with innocence in strewinggrass, adjusting pressing-stones, andperfecting the hymn...10. To our great holy grass I bid the Gods atmorn to banquet, and will seat them asthe seven priests, —


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7. Soma assumes white color when he strivesto gain: the bounteous Asura knowsfull many a precious boon.Down the steep slope, through the song, hecomes to the sacrifice, and he will burst thewater-holding cask of heaven.8. Yea, to the shining milk-anointed beaker,as to his goal, hath stepped the conqueringCourser...9. Soma, thy juice when thou art blendedwith the streams, flows, Pavamana,through the long wool of the sheep.

Book 9, Hymn XCII Soma Pavamana

...The Rsis came to him, seven holy singers,when in the bowls he settled as Invoker.

Book 10, Hymn XXIII Indra

1. Indra, whose right hand wields the bolt,we worship, driver of Bay Steeds seekingsundered courses.Shaking his beard with might he hatharisen, casting his weapons forth anddealing bounties. 4. With him too is this rain of his thatcomes like herds: Indra throws dropsof moisture on his yellow beard.

Book 10, Hymn LV Indra

6. Strong is the Red Bird in his strength,great Hero, who from of old hath hadno nest to dwell in. 9

The essence of the sacrifice / banquet in the Rig Veda is identical to the rite described in the Avestan (though the gods, except the Asvins and Mitra, may differ):

9 The Red Bird may be the bird on the back of the bull (Could it be a ram?) on the Indus Valley seal.


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The rite described in the Avestan:YASNA 3

2. And I desire to approach Haoma and Para-haoma with my praise for the propitiation of theFravashi of Spitama Zarathushtra, the saint. And I desire to approach the (sacred) wood with mypraise, with the perfume, for the propitiation of thee, the Fire, O Ahura Mazda's son!3. And I desire to approach the Haomas with my praise for the propitiation of the good waterswhich Mazda created; and I desire to approach the Haoma-water, and the fresh milk with mypraise, and the plant Hadhanaepata, offered with sanctity for the propitiation of the waterswhich are Mazda-made.9. And I desire to approach Ushahina, Berejya, and Nmanya with theYasht of Sraosha (Obedience) the sacred, the holy, who smites with the blow of victory, andmakes the settlements advance, and with that of Rashnu, the most just, and Arshtat whofurthers the settlements, and causes them to increase.10. And I desire to approach the monthly festivals, the lords of the ritual order, and the newmoon and the waning moon, and the full moon which scatters night,11. And the yearly festivals, Maidhyo-zaremaya, Maidhyo-shema, Paitishahya, and Ayathrimathe breeder who spends the strength of males, and Maidhyairya, and Hamaspathmaedhaya, andthe seasons, lords of the ritual order,(12) and all those lords who are the three and thirty, who approach the nearest at the time ofHavani, who are the Lords of Asha called Vahishta (and whose services were) inculcated byMazda, and pronounced by Zarathushtra, as the feasts of Righteousness, the Best.

Conclusion

We may refer to Gigriev’s arguments:

“…Based on the idea that the suspected penetration of Indo-Aryans into Hindustan took place in the Middle Bronze Age of the Circumpontic zone, identification of the people of Catacomb culture with Indo-Iranians, and the primary localization of Indo-Iranians in the Near East, I have presumed that Indo-Aryan material culture should be comparable with both Catacomb cultureand Near Eastern antiquities. In outcome it has been found that there are archaeological complexes adequate to these requirements in regions directly adjoining the areas of Indus civilisation, and they have been known for a long time. A true understanding of them did not occur in Russian historiography because of their incompatibility with former historico-cultural schemes. In Southern Tajikistan the Tulkhar and Aruktau cemeteries have been investigated[Mandelshtam, 1968]. It is necessary to describe them briefly because they are regarded by supporters of the southwards movement of the Indo-Aryans as a link between the steppe cultures and those of the Indian subcontinent. “These cemeteries are situated within the Bishkent valley, in the area of the outflow of the rivers Kaphirnighan and Surkhan-Darya into Amu-Darya. Eighty-eight burials relating to this period were excavated [Mandelshtam, 1968, p. 6] (Fig. 54). In most cases the burials of the


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Tulkhar cemetery are in ‘T-shaped’ catacombs, with narrow rectangular entry pits and oval burial chambers (Fig. 54.1-2). In some cases chambers are rectangular with rounded corners. Two burials have been found in which the longitudinal axis of the entry pit coincides with that of the burial chamber. In some single chambers there are oval stone ‘circles’ around the skeletons, or rectangular recesses lined with stone slabs with secondary burials. The majority of chambersare small. As a matter of fact these are ‘pits with a sloping descent’ (Fig. 54.1). However theywere undoubtedly covered, which generally integrates them with true catacombs also present in the cemetery. Most burials are inhumations, although single cases of cremation have been found. “…From the material of these cemeteries and separate finds in the south of Central Asia, the Bishkent culture, which has been dated to the early 1st millennium BC, was isolated. Its connection with the Indo- Iranians was determined too [Mandelshtam, 1968, pp. 135-141]. From the materials of this culture it has been concluded that steppe components penetratedsouth in the final period of the Bronze Age. Thus, this culture serves as a link between Eurasiansteppe complexes and Indo-Aryan sites in India. It is impossible today to agree with such a dating of the Bishkent culture. “…The ceramics have analogies in the west too. Jars with concave walls were widespread on sites in both North-Western and North-Eastern Iran. Cylindrical jars with concave walls are known also on the Kura-Araxian settlement of Pulur in Eastern Anatolia. Similar forms were widespread also far to the south – on the Umman-Nar settlement in Oman, dated to the 3rd millennium BC. Jars on a base with a narrow neck and spherical walls are known in North-Eastern Iran [Stankevich, 1978, fig. 7.71A, 14.71B, 26.72B, 28.174B; Serge, 1984, fig. 41.19.5,41.20.3; Keban Project, 1976, tab. 61-64, 80-82]. Numerous parallels to the Tulkhar ceramic complex are known at Halava in Northern Syria in levels relating to the last period of the Early Bronze Age. “…[Ortmann, 1985, pp. 67-69, 75-79] – which corresponds in Syria to the levels Selenkahiyeh III and IV, in Anatolia to levels Troy III-IV, and in Mesopotamia to the period of the third dynasty of Ur [Loon, 1985, p. 58]. Burials in catacombs have parallels within the Circumpontic zone too, in South-Eastern Caspian area and Palestine. Indeed, ‘T-shaped’ catacombs are regarded as quite early. Contracted burials on the right side are also characteristic of Catacomb culture rites. But in this case we can speak about Catacomb people, dated by ceramics to the end of the Early Bronze Age, and by metalwork to the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age of the Syrianchronological system, which corresponds to the late 3rd – early 2nd millennium BC [Avilova, Chernikh, 1989, pp. 36, 37; Bickermann, 1975, p. 181; Loon, 1985, p. 58]. Therefore, the period of use of Tulkhar cemetery may be defined as at least from the early 2nd millennium BC, and that of the Aruktau cemetery somewhat later. “…The anthropological evidence confirms connections with Western Asia too. Examination of skulls has shown that a number their features are comparable with those in the Timber-Grave, Andronovo and Tazabagyab series, but they are considerably larger [Vinogradov et al., 1986, pp. 178, 183]. Their height has allowed the Tulkhar skulls to be linked with the Near East and


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adjacent areas [Kiyatkina, 1968, p. 182]. Skulls of this type are found also in other areas of Central Asia. They are combined into East Mediterranean type III and have nothing commonwith skulls of the previous Kelteminar culture [Vinogradov et al., 1986, pp. 198, 199; Dryomov,1988, pp. 41, 42; Ginzburg, 1972, p. 68]. To a very great degree anthropological materials of the Bishkent culture show connections with western Central Asian (Caspian) series, represented in the Sumbar cemetery in South-Western Turkmenistan...The Bishkent burial rite shows no parallels in the north. At the same time, the combination of catacombs and grave pits having an entrance with contracted burials and secondary burials is characteristic of the earlier Parkhai II cemetery in the South- Eastern Caspian area (Fig. 60). “Material from Vakhsh culture cemeteries investigated in Southern Tajikistan, the best known of which is Tigrovaya Balka, is very similar to Bishkent [Piankova, 1974]. The skeletons lie contracted on their side in catacombs and pits with recesses, faces orientated to the entry shaft. The radiocarbon date is about 1400 BC, however, the size of the cemetery (130 mounds) suggests that it functioned for a long time. Unfortunately, there are a very few artefactswherewith to date it. The ceramics are most comparable with those in the Tulkhar cemetery, asare the razor and mirrors. “….. It is possible that precisely Bishkent and Vakhsh materials can be connected with Kafirian. This dialect had separated from the Indo-Iranian tongues very early, and its speakers lived to the north of the Indo-Aryans, within the mountainous regions of Northern India [Gamkrelidze, Ivanov, 1984, p. 915]. “The Gandhara cemeteries found in this region and dated from 1710 to 430 B. C, contain burials in pits covered with stone slabs and surrounded by stone rings. Within the pits are found contracted on the back and secondary burials, less often cremations. All parallels to this culture are present on the sites of Iran and the Caucasus [Allchin, Allchin, 1982, pp. 237-240]. No less important for us is the resemblance of the Gandhara graves with the early stage of Painted Grey Ware culture, as well as with materials from the Gumla V level covering the Harappan level in the valley of the Gomal, a western tributary of the Indus in Northern Pakistan [Bongard-Levin,Ilyin, 1985, p. 138]. In the late Harappa period links increased between the Indus valley and Southern Baluchistan, whence came some types of artifacts, thanks probably to migrations of the Baluchistan tribes (by this term a territorial not an ethnic identity is meant) and East Khorassan tribes. The outcome was the formation of the Jhukar culture in various regions formerly held by Indus civilization [Bongard-Levin, Ilyin, 1985, p.110-111]. The seal-amulets of this culture are similar to those in Margiana, and have parallels in Susiana as well as in Hittite glyptic, which indicates western connections [Sarianidi, 1976, pp. 66- 67]. Parallels for pins and axes are known in Hissar IIIB [Allchin, Allchin, 1982, pp. 241-242]. Thus it is clear that at the end of the Harappa period, a number of close ‘barbarous’ cultures existed in the Indus valley, some of them connected with the Near East via Central Asia, another part with Iran, including its north-east. “…The infiltration of Indo-Aryan tribes into the Indus valley was not such a rapid affair. The advanced early Harappan states encountered them here. They were broken by the ecological


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crisis discussed above. Besides, the fortifications of Harappan towns were not designed to withstand serious attacks. They were probably constructed for protection against small groups of bandits and cattle thieves [Kesarwani, 1984, p. 72]. “…one ascribes cemetery H in Harappa to the Indo-Aryans. The Indo-Aryan invasion of the Ganges basin took place later, and is connected with Painted Grey Ware culture. It is dated no earlier than the 11th century BC, though an earlier phase of the culture has recently been distinguished. Such a late dating is confirmed by analysis of the texts of ‘Rig Veda’, where the Sarasvati, the Indus and the rivers of the Punjab are mentioned repeatedly, and the Ganges occurs only once [Bongard-Levin, Ilyin, 1985, pp. 134-135]. Recently, however, sites with Painted Grey Ware have been detected on the east bank of the Indus as well [Mughal, 1984]. The conformity of early materials of the Painted Grey Ware culture with Gandhara graves and Bishkent culture, mentioned above, permits the hypothesis that the Indo-Aryan infiltration of the Ganges valley might have begun about the mid-2nd millennium BC. This picture of the Aryan invasion is supported by linguistic evidence [Bongard-Levin, 1988]. Apart from the Vedic Aryans, it was Indo-Aryan groupings speaking Dardic and Kafirian dialects that entered Hindustan. Judging from the absence in their language of Vedic inclusions, these groups came here earlier. In the Indus basin Aryans interacted with the proto-Dravidian groups, and in the Ganges basin with people who spoke Mundian tongues, which belonged to the Austro-Asian language family.We can assume that people speaking various other unknown Indo-Aryan dialects, other (non-Mundian) Austro-Asian languages and languages of the Tibeto-Burman family, were also included in this process. However, these problems are still little studied.” 10

Branches of Indo-Iranian people moving out of Anatolia through the Anatolian/Syrian border area, possibly linked to the Indo-Iranians of the southern Caspian area, and eventually moving into the Indus Valley through the northwest territories of Pakistan suggest a reasonable link between the people who created the mysterious stone circles of Syria and the petroglyphs on the Indus River near the village of Thalpan. Like the later Celts, or the 19th century movements of Americans west in their covered wagons, they would have been in many waves over perhaps generations. As in the case of the movements of whole tribes of Celts, with women, children and their cattle, amounting to as many as 50,000 men or more, such excursions across great expanses of plains, forests, rivers and mountains could take a matter of months, with only the weather in the mountain passes – or possible hostiles – inhibiting them. They, of course, carried their traditions with them. The Syrian stone circles seem to share the same images of the wheels of heaven described by Indo-Europeans, namely the Celtic god Cernunnos, and perhaps the people that crafted some of the Indus Valley seals.

Launched: 06.28.13

Copyright © 2013 Mel Copeland. All rights reserved.

10 Grigoriev, “The Indo-Europeans,” pp 161-171


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Similarities_between_Syrian_stone_circles_and_Thalpan_rock__suggesting a Route of the Aryans From Anatolia via Syria to India - Copeland

Documents

town of chilas

main pass

vieille route

ancient karakorum highway

indus river valley

chilas viva soimanagar

borderlands of south

famous karakorum highway