VULTURES OVER THE MOTHER GODDESSOne of the most common symbols we encounter on kilims is the so-called "elibelinde" (hands on hips). The symbolic meanings of patterns can be explained in reverse chronology like this:
Although they all produce some kind of cultural value, this article will try to trace only the last one. Rather than presenting an academic study, we aim to provide objective data and a framework on which the reader can speculate after reviewing numerous sources. Besides the widely supported "Mother Goddess Theory," we will introduce two alternative arguments. |
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1- THE MOTHER GODDESS THEORYThe most widely accepted interpretation of the origin of the "elibelinde" pattern is that it can be traced back to the Mother Goddess, named Kybele, Kubaba, Artemis or Ishtar by different cultures throughout history. Since no kilim-like weaving has survived from ancient times, we will compare the pattern with objects such as statues, stone carvings and murals. The most popular example, though not the oldest, is the Mother Goddess figurine dating from the 7th millennium BC, found during the Çatalhöyük excavations that began in the 1960s. Like later Phrygian and Byzantine versions, this figure dominates the two lions on either side of her. Denying that these lions evolved into the zigzags of the elibelinde pattern is as difficult as accepting the theory as absolute fact. Yet both the statue and the elibelinde pattern undeniably have a dominant expression. Since the Mother Goddess is a symbol of fertility, the argument is strengthened by the presence of another small elibelinde, or at least another symbol, in the center or "between the legs." Ishtar, the Sumerian Mother Goddess, completes the puzzle by giving the elibelinde pattern its zigzags through her wings and feathers. |
1- Mother Goddess, Çatalhöyük, 6500 BC
2- Ishtar or Inannaomega, Sumer, 2500 BC
20th-century Balkan kilim |
2- THE VULTURE AND REINCARNATIONBased on the findings at Çatalhöyük, we assume that bodies were offered to vultures and their bones were buried beneath the houses after the flesh—and the spirit—had been carried to the sky. The vulture appears to have held an important meaning after death, just as the Mother Goddess did during life. When James Mellaart, who led the Çatalhöyük excavations during the 1960s, published his book in the late 1980s, my friends and I were excited by drawings that appeared to document murals containing patterns almost identical to those on contemporary kilims. I was equally disappointed when I searched for those murals and discovered that they did not exist. I will therefore be much more careful this time. The drawing of a vulture and a headless human body on the right is based on the mural shown below.
4- Çatalhöyük vulture mural, 7th millennium BC You may also encounter drawings of towers surrounded by vultures with kilim patterns on their backs, or Mother Goddess figures giving birth, but you will not find the archaeological objects on which these drawings are supposedly based. The vulture's role as a courier between earth and sky was not limited to Çatalhöyük; it appears across a vast territory stretching from Siberia to the Americas and continued for thousands of years. The vulture, vulture-god and vulture-goddess figures can be traced from the 10th-millennium Göbekli Tepe Temple through Sumerian, ancient Egyptian and Maya cultures. |
3- Drawing of the Çatalhöyük vulture mural
20th-century Anatolian kilim
5- The Vulture Stele, 2500 BC, Sumer, Louvre Museum
6- Seal, Çatalhöyük, Early Neolithic
20th-century Anatolian kilim |
3- THE VULTURE AND ASTRONOMYIdeas, beliefs, events and concepts are subject to distortion in proportion to how exciting they are. Sometimes we believe so strongly that we cannot protect our beliefs from the lies that support them, and evidence is eventually obscured by rumor. I will therefore not dive into this subject beyond what my breath can endure, although I must admit that it deserves much deeper research. Excavations conducted at Göbekli Tepe since 1994 have revealed a major milestone in the history of civilization. Dating from the 10th millennium BC, this first known temple of humankind consists of four similar structures in which T-shaped stones form circles about 20 meters in diameter. Unlike Stonehenge, built some 6,000-7,000 years later, many of these stones are decorated with carved animal figures such as vultures, scorpions, foxes and bears. None of the animals appears in a hunting scene or in relation to another practical use. Another striking detail is the seemingly irregular placement of these symbols within an otherwise highly ordered structure. These are the basic facts, without any contribution from my or anyone else's imagination. Let us now try to interpret them. Göbekli Tepe and Stonehenge both command a 360-degree horizon like observatories and face north. The rotational axis of the earth, often assumed to be fixed toward the Pole Star, actually traces a circle over about 26,000 years. When Göbekli Tepe was built, people looking north would have seen Cygnus rather than the Little Bear near the celestial pole.
10- The Cygnus Constellation In ancient mythology, Cygnus is associated with a swan, vulture or eagle. The Sumerians, ancient Egyptians and Maya were interested not only in vultures but also in astronomy. We encounter the vulture figure mainly among civilizations that left durable objects in stone or metal. Asian nomadic tribes, for example, practiced vulture shamanism into modern times. The Astronomy Theory does not appear to conflict with the Reincarnation Theory. They may even complement each other in contrast to the Mother Goddess Theory. |
7- Model of the Göbekli Tepe Temple
8- Göbekli Tepe Temple, 10th millennium BC
9- God Enki walking out of the water, Sumer
20th-century West Anatolian tribal pile rug |
CONCLUSIONUsing the available data, we can trace kilims back to the 14th-15th centuries. Other weavings that use kilim patterns date back to the 7th-9th centuries. We must therefore seek the origins of these patterns in earlier periods. Because weaving cannot render forms as clearly as stone carving or mural painting, the symbols appear in much more abstract shapes. Apart from angels, we have not encountered an element in present-day religions corresponding to the winged human or human-bird appearance of the elibelinde. The three arguments presented above are not proven truths, but the truth clearly lies in a period that is difficult to reveal. RESOURCES1) www.columbia.edu |
