Bowl from Sāmarrā, Iraq, circa 5000 BCE. I assume this is a photo of a reconstruction. Photo credit unknown.
This neolithic town created a long line of splendid painted ceramics and female figurines (which start back in the pre-pottery era, so old is the tradition there). Here women stand in the quadrants, their hair whirling in the Four Winds, circled by a ring of scorpions. Scorpion Goddess is common in ancient Iraq and Iran as well as Egypt — Serqet, the companion of Auset (Isis) — and also known in Central America.
This is an early type of swastika. With tendril-like appendages. There is exhaustive documentation in this book:
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![[PDF]](https://www.eixdelmon.com/wp-content/plugins/papercite/img/pdf.png)
R. F. S. Starr, Indus Valley Painted Pottery, Princeton University Press., 1941.
[Bibtex]@Book{indusvalleypaint031721mbp, author = {Starr, Richard F. S.}, title = {Indus Valley Painted Pottery}, year = {1941}, date = {1941}, editora = {{Osmania University} and {Digital Library Of India}}, publisher = {Princeton University Press.}, pagetotal = {127}, url = {http://archive.org/details/indusvalleypaint031721mbp}, urldate = {2016-06-20}, abstract = {A guide to pottery created by one of the great forgotten civilisations, the Harappa people of the Indus valley. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.}, comment = {ark:/13960/t7xk85x1n}, editoratype = {collaborator}, file = {indusvalleypaint031721mbp.pdf:media/trismegisto/Vitamin/Documents/Bibliography/indusvalleypaint031721mbp.pdf:PDF}, keywords = {{NATURAL} {SCIENCES}}, timestamp = {2016-06-20} }
Let’s see more swastikas or, as I call them here, swirls:
Paintings (reconstructions) of bowls from Samarra. Probably after Ernst Herzfeld, Die Ausgrabungen von Samarra V: Die vorgeschichtischen Töpfereien, pl. 30.
The Samarra bowl (ca. 4000 BC) on exhibit at the Pergamonmuseum, Berlin.
The bowl was excavated as Samarra by Ernst Herzfeld in the 1911-1914 campaign, and described in a 1930 publication. The design consists of a rim, a circle of eight fish, and four fish swimming towards the center being caught by four birds. As is typical of cultures from this region, the use of a base six numerical system can be seen in the lines surrounding the bowl, so that there are a total of 120 lines, or four quarters with 30 lines each. At the center is a swastika symbol.
The bowl was broken, part of the rim is missing, and one crack ran right across the central symbol, so that the swastika symbol should be considered a reconstruction.
Bowl with Mirror Pattern of Birds Framed by Geometric Motifs, A.D. 950/1150. Ceramic and pigment, 14.6 × 31.8 cm. From the Mimbres branch of the Mogollon, Classic Mimbres Black-on-white, New Mexico, United States.
Hugh L. and Mary T. Adams Fund, 1976.306. © The Art Institute of Chicago. Permission for scholarly use.
Scythian art, from Respublika Adygeya, Russia. Photo taken at Hungarian National Museum by ZerindApja.
Engraved stone found in Havor, Gotland. On display at the Swedish History Museum, in Stockholm, Sweden. CC BY-SA by The Art Archive/Historiska Museet Stockholm/Dagli Orti via diaphanee.
The Snake-witch (Ormhäxan), Snake-charmer (Ormtjuserskan) or Smiss stone (Smisstenen) is a picture stone found at Smiss, När parish, Gotland, Sweden. Discovered in a cemetery, it measures 82 cm (32 in) in height. The stone has been dated to 400–600 AD. By Berig. CC BY-SA.
