GRAVE- HEROON DUG IN THE ROCK IN THE REGION OF THE VILLAGE OF KIRKI
Stavros D. Kiotsekoglou
SWU Neofit Rilski, Special Technical Laboratory Staff of Department History-Ethnology of Democritus University of Thrace
In one of the many rocky elevations in old mines Kirki a tomb carved in limestone rock was spotted. The characteristic appearance of the tomb to the riverbed of Kirki Peace cavities for offers and the small carved altar with characteristic groove, document its use as a grave. There are two entrances, the left - oriented western and southwestern right lead to a low yet long burial site. The two doors as Homer and Porphyry point out are predestined as follows: the north portal for the mortal soul to be reborn and the southern gateway to the immortal or deified soul.
With respect to the two-door rock - hewn tomb monument in which we find the altar trough basin structure probably indicates devotional ritual to a cinder dead leader – a hero rather than a simple votive space used for placing deals in the cavities of the rock. In place of the deceased can be a woman, wife or mother of the chief ruler of the region.The flowing water of the river symbolizes the continuous substance and contributes to the genesis and the two doors leading to the interpretation that Dr Valeria Fol described and the Etruscan tomb, as I believe, illustrates.
Keywords: Kirki Peace, tomb
Location: it is located near the old mines Kirki, next to the dirt road that leads from the village Kirki to the road Avas - Aisymi.
Description: In one of the many rocky elevations in old mines Kirki a tomb carved in limestone rock was spotted (Pic. 1) The characteristic appearance of the tomb to the riverbed of Kirki Peace (Pic. 2) cavities for offers and the small carved altar with characteristic groove, document its use as a grave. There are two entrances, the left - oriented western and southwestern right lead to a low yet long burial site. At the top of the rocky sixes, there is another shallow burial niche of southwestern direction, flanked with cavities for offers (Pic. 3). On the right of the burial there is a small carved altar with a spout (Pic. 4).
Pic. 1 Carved tomb monument with Pic. .2 Carved tomb monument facing two doors the river Peace
Pic. 3 Shallow burial niche framed Pic. 4. Carved altar with spout
cavitated bids
Comments: The Director of Thrakological Institute Valeria Fol, in her article Rock-Cut Caves with two Entrances or the Model of the Kosmos1 quotes from the Odyssey, based on which she interprets archaeological findings identified in Bulgarian Thrace and share common characteristics with those from the extract of the Odyssey that she quotes. What does the enigmatic Homeric reference to the cave of Ithaca (see Pic. 5-6) indicate?
Hom. Od. 13. 102-112
αὐτὰρ ἐπὶ κρατὸς λιμένος τανύφυλλος ἐλαίη, 102
ἀγχόθι δ᾽ αὐτῆς ἄντρον ἐπήρατον ἠεροειδές,
ἱρὸν νυμφάων αἱ νηϊάδες καλέονται.
ἐν δὲ κρητῆρές τε καὶ ἀμφιφορῆες ἔασι 105
λάϊνοι· ἔνθα δ᾽ ἔπειτα τιθαιβώσσουσι μέλισσαι.
ἐν δ᾽ ἱστοὶ λίθεοι περιμήκεες, ἔνθα τε νύμφαι
φάρε᾽ ὑφαίνουσιν ἁλιπόρφυρα, θαῦμα ἰδέσθαι·
ἐν δ᾽ ὕδατ᾽ ἀενάοντα. δύω δέ τέ οἱ θύραι εἰσίν,
αἱ μὲν πρὸς Βορέαο καταιβαταὶ ἀνθρώποισιν, 110
αἱ δ᾽ αὖ πρὸς Νότου εἰσὶ θεώτεραι· οὐδέ τι κείνῃ
ἄνδρες ἐσέρχονται, ἀλλ᾽ ἀθανάτων ὁδός ἐστιν.
Translation
At the head of the harbour is a long-leafed olive tree, and near it a pleasant, shadowy cave sacred to the nymphs that are called Naiads.[105] Therein are mixing bowls and jars of stone, and there, too, the bees store honey. And in the cave are long looms of stone, at which the nymphs weave webs of purple dye, a wonder to behold; and therein are also ever-flowing springs. Two doors there are to the cave, [110] one toward the North
Wind, by which men go down, but the toward the South Wind is sacred, nor do men enter thereby; it is the way of the immortals.
Apparently the extract includes implicit theological symbolism which the philosopher Porphyry2 reveals, starting from Cosmogony, as he interprets the Cave as a symbol of the Universe, refers to the existence of two doors in the cave one for people and one reserved for the gods, where through interpretation of symbolism the various elements described, he reaches Hesiod. These considerations are documented based on the whole Sacramental Tradition, such as the teaching of Orpheus, the Pythagoreans, Empedokle, Plato, without ignoring the teachings of other national traditions.
Valeria Fol reports that several caves carved temples with two doors have been identified in the eastern Rhodope Mountains, which until recently have been identified as tombs. These caves carved temples have a horizontal port and a second port on the roof of chamber.3 This fact differentiates the bivalve grave - monument Kirki whose entrances are oriented west and southwest, facing the River Peace flowing thirty meters from the grave - hero, the interior of which does not fit more than one recumbent dead. That is why we call it the grave - heroon, because the dimensions of the rock carvings chamber are too small to be considered a temple.4 On the contrary, the description of the rock-cut cave - temples of Bulgaria is identical with the antral Ithaca as the following pictures show.
Pic. 5 Admission for the dead, exterior view. Source: (http://kleio2012.blogspot.gr/2013/03/blog-post_14.html 21-05-2014)
Pic. 6 The output for immortals top of the Cave of the Nymphs of Ithaca
The tomb in the village of Nipsa which was identified, described and published by Thanasis Kougkoulo, belong to this category of tombs with a chamber (4 m2) with two entrances, one horizontal and one on the roof of the tomb. Dr Kougkoulos argues: “The careful construction of carved tomb must be attributed to the local ruling class. Furthermore in the Mycenaean times burial vaults highlight the nobility.”5 It is probably a cave-temple or a grave-heroon6 a Thracian ruler of the region (Pic. 7-8).
Pic. 7 Northwestern entrance of the grave of Nipsa
Pic.8. The other entrance or output on the roof of the grave of Nipsa
The two doors as Homer7 and Porphyry8 point out are predestined as follows: the north portal for the mortal soul to be reborn and the southern gateway to the immortal or deified soul. The existence of two gates agrees with the bivalve grave –
heroon of Kirki, only the entrances of the latter is west and southwest. This fact does not remove the interpretative approach of grave - heroon Kirki according to the Orphic - Pythagorean interpretation of these symbols, and the Neo-Platonic construction of the world. Theologians and Plato taught that there are two gates of souls, the Sun and the Moon. From the gate of the Moon the souls descend whereas from the gate of the Sun they rise.9
Pic. 9 The Etruscan Tomb of the Bulls with two doors Source: (http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomba_dei_Tori 21-05-2014)
The median part of the affresco depicts the land world of the Etruscans, immune from our false morality.
The Etruscan Tomb of the Bulls with two doors is located on the eastern part of the necropolis of Tarquinia Monterozzzi in the province of Viterbo. The pictorial decoration of the facade of the tomb dated to the middle and late archaism (540-530 BC), using stylistic elements derived from the Greek culture of Ionia.10
What matters in this article are the two ports on the Etruscan tomb and the display of bulls and sexual acts on the frieze. Above the left gate a seated bull resting combined with the display of a heterosexual act is depicted, while above the right gate an aggressive bull with a human face on the move and with the genitals erect directed to two young men illustrated in homosexuality act are shown.11 Bearing in mind the reference.
Porphyry12 "... καὶ ψυχαὶ δ´ εἰς γένεσιν ἰοῦσαι βουγενεῖς…"(= and the souls who are born are boas) and the relevant literature where the soul on earth is depicted as a bull,13 according to my personal interpretive perspective, we could approach the interpretation of the decoration of Etruscan tomb and two doors , the left hand as a gateway to genesis , where the bull - soul accepts the fertilizing intercourse favoring the incarnation of the soul , whereas the right as a portal for already deified or immortal souls which do not need another genesis. The aggressive bull with a human face is usually a guard that protects a city, a treasure or gates, banishes evil and is apotropaic.14 On the right gate its movement is jeering the homosexual act, which does not help the incarnation of the soul. This means, according to Hesiod and the Greek religion, which the Etruscans, people of Anatolian origin, loved dearly along with the Greek mythology, that souls after regenerating will traverse the path of Higher Worlds and being immortal will continue their evolutionary path, without the coarse body, to senior worlds to become heroes, demons, gods etc.
In summary, with respect to the two-door rock - hewn tomb monument in which we find the altar trough basin structure probably indicates devotional ritual to a cinder dead leader – a hero rather than a simple votive space used for placing deals in the cavities of the rock (Pic. 4). In place of the deceased can be a woman, wife or mother of the chief ruler of the region. The flowing water of the river symbolizes the continuous substance and contributes to the genesis and the two
doors leading to the interpretation that Dr Valeria Fol described and the Etruscan tomb, as I believe, illustrates.
Dating: The lack of context in and around the grave - heroon of Kirki, leads to relative chronology based so far identified and dating sites that are similar in Bulgaria, date back to between the 6th and dawn of the 4th century BC. According P. Delev the tombs with two openings dating about 9th-8th century B.C.15
1. Fol (2003), 239-250
2. Porphyr. (1998), 82-130
3. Fol (2003), 241
4. Fol (2003), 246-247
5. Κούγκουλος (1992-1994), 131
6. Gergova (1984), 234 ff.
7. Hom Od. 109-112
8. Porphyr. (1998), Cap. 20
9. Porphyr. (1998), Cap. 29
10. Giuliano (1969), 3-26
11. Giuliano (1969), 3-26; Bandinelli, R. B. e Torelli M. (1986), sceda 92
12. Porphyr. (1998), Cap. 18 (souls that go to birth called vougeneis)
13. Pavan (2000), 80. In Crete, the bull seems to represent the reproductive power of nature
14. Cooper (1992), 497
15. Delev (1978), 190-191
Βibliography
Bandinelli R.B. e Torelli M. (1986). Etruria-Roma in L'arte dell’antichità classica, UTET, Torino
Bandinelli R. B. e Torelli M. (1986). Etruria-Roma in L'arte dell’antichità classica, UTET, Torino
Cooper J. (1992). An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols, London 1978, see. gr. trans. Α. Τσάκαλης, ed. Πύρινος Κόσμος, Athens
Delev P. (1978). Problems of the Thracian Megalithic Culture, Pulpudeva 3, 1978, 189-192
Fol V. (2003). Rock-Cut Caves with two Entrances or the model of the Cosmos, Thracia 15, 2003, In honour of Alexander Fol's 70th Anniversary, 239-250
Gergova D.(1984). Thracian burial rites of Late Bronze and Early Iron Age, in Thracians and Mycenaeans, Proceedins of the Fourth International Congress of Thracology Rotterdam, 24-26 September 1984, Sofia 1989, 234 ff.
Giuliano A. (1969). Osservazioni sulle pitture della Tomba dei Tori a Tarquinia, Studi Etruschi 37, 1969, 3-26
Κούγκουλος Αθ. (1992-1994). Προϊστορική έρευνα στη Νίψα του Έβρου, Θρακική Επετηρίδα 9, 1992-1994, 127-162
Pavan A. R. (2000) Iniziazone ai culti egizi: divinita, simboli, rituali, magia, amuleti, invocazioni, ed. Mediterraneo
Porphyry (1998). Περί του εν Οδύσσεια των Νυμφών Άντρου, Commentary Άγις και Παν. Μαρίνης, ed. Ιδεοθέατρον, Athens
Stavros D. Kiotsekoglou
SWU Neofit Rilski, Special Technical Laboratory Staff of Department History-Ethnology of Democritus University of Thrace
In one of the many rocky elevations in old mines Kirki a tomb carved in limestone rock was spotted. The characteristic appearance of the tomb to the riverbed of Kirki Peace cavities for offers and the small carved altar with characteristic groove, document its use as a grave. There are two entrances, the left - oriented western and southwestern right lead to a low yet long burial site. The two doors as Homer and Porphyry point out are predestined as follows: the north portal for the mortal soul to be reborn and the southern gateway to the immortal or deified soul.
With respect to the two-door rock - hewn tomb monument in which we find the altar trough basin structure probably indicates devotional ritual to a cinder dead leader – a hero rather than a simple votive space used for placing deals in the cavities of the rock. In place of the deceased can be a woman, wife or mother of the chief ruler of the region.The flowing water of the river symbolizes the continuous substance and contributes to the genesis and the two doors leading to the interpretation that Dr Valeria Fol described and the Etruscan tomb, as I believe, illustrates.
Keywords: Kirki Peace, tomb
Location: it is located near the old mines Kirki, next to the dirt road that leads from the village Kirki to the road Avas - Aisymi.
Description: In one of the many rocky elevations in old mines Kirki a tomb carved in limestone rock was spotted (Pic. 1) The characteristic appearance of the tomb to the riverbed of Kirki Peace (Pic. 2) cavities for offers and the small carved altar with characteristic groove, document its use as a grave. There are two entrances, the left - oriented western and southwestern right lead to a low yet long burial site. At the top of the rocky sixes, there is another shallow burial niche of southwestern direction, flanked with cavities for offers (Pic. 3). On the right of the burial there is a small carved altar with a spout (Pic. 4).
Pic. 1 Carved tomb monument with Pic. .2 Carved tomb monument facing two doors the river Peace
Pic. 3 Shallow burial niche framed Pic. 4. Carved altar with spout
cavitated bids
Comments: The Director of Thrakological Institute Valeria Fol, in her article Rock-Cut Caves with two Entrances or the Model of the Kosmos1 quotes from the Odyssey, based on which she interprets archaeological findings identified in Bulgarian Thrace and share common characteristics with those from the extract of the Odyssey that she quotes. What does the enigmatic Homeric reference to the cave of Ithaca (see Pic. 5-6) indicate?
Hom. Od. 13. 102-112
αὐτὰρ ἐπὶ κρατὸς λιμένος τανύφυλλος ἐλαίη, 102
ἀγχόθι δ᾽ αὐτῆς ἄντρον ἐπήρατον ἠεροειδές,
ἱρὸν νυμφάων αἱ νηϊάδες καλέονται.
ἐν δὲ κρητῆρές τε καὶ ἀμφιφορῆες ἔασι 105
λάϊνοι· ἔνθα δ᾽ ἔπειτα τιθαιβώσσουσι μέλισσαι.
ἐν δ᾽ ἱστοὶ λίθεοι περιμήκεες, ἔνθα τε νύμφαι
φάρε᾽ ὑφαίνουσιν ἁλιπόρφυρα, θαῦμα ἰδέσθαι·
ἐν δ᾽ ὕδατ᾽ ἀενάοντα. δύω δέ τέ οἱ θύραι εἰσίν,
αἱ μὲν πρὸς Βορέαο καταιβαταὶ ἀνθρώποισιν, 110
αἱ δ᾽ αὖ πρὸς Νότου εἰσὶ θεώτεραι· οὐδέ τι κείνῃ
ἄνδρες ἐσέρχονται, ἀλλ᾽ ἀθανάτων ὁδός ἐστιν.
Translation
At the head of the harbour is a long-leafed olive tree, and near it a pleasant, shadowy cave sacred to the nymphs that are called Naiads.[105] Therein are mixing bowls and jars of stone, and there, too, the bees store honey. And in the cave are long looms of stone, at which the nymphs weave webs of purple dye, a wonder to behold; and therein are also ever-flowing springs. Two doors there are to the cave, [110] one toward the North
Wind, by which men go down, but the toward the South Wind is sacred, nor do men enter thereby; it is the way of the immortals.
Apparently the extract includes implicit theological symbolism which the philosopher Porphyry2 reveals, starting from Cosmogony, as he interprets the Cave as a symbol of the Universe, refers to the existence of two doors in the cave one for people and one reserved for the gods, where through interpretation of symbolism the various elements described, he reaches Hesiod. These considerations are documented based on the whole Sacramental Tradition, such as the teaching of Orpheus, the Pythagoreans, Empedokle, Plato, without ignoring the teachings of other national traditions.
Valeria Fol reports that several caves carved temples with two doors have been identified in the eastern Rhodope Mountains, which until recently have been identified as tombs. These caves carved temples have a horizontal port and a second port on the roof of chamber.3 This fact differentiates the bivalve grave - monument Kirki whose entrances are oriented west and southwest, facing the River Peace flowing thirty meters from the grave - hero, the interior of which does not fit more than one recumbent dead. That is why we call it the grave - heroon, because the dimensions of the rock carvings chamber are too small to be considered a temple.4 On the contrary, the description of the rock-cut cave - temples of Bulgaria is identical with the antral Ithaca as the following pictures show.
Pic. 5 Admission for the dead, exterior view. Source: (http://kleio2012.blogspot.gr/2013/03/blog-post_14.html 21-05-2014)
Pic. 6 The output for immortals top of the Cave of the Nymphs of Ithaca
The tomb in the village of Nipsa which was identified, described and published by Thanasis Kougkoulo, belong to this category of tombs with a chamber (4 m2) with two entrances, one horizontal and one on the roof of the tomb. Dr Kougkoulos argues: “The careful construction of carved tomb must be attributed to the local ruling class. Furthermore in the Mycenaean times burial vaults highlight the nobility.”5 It is probably a cave-temple or a grave-heroon6 a Thracian ruler of the region (Pic. 7-8).
Pic. 7 Northwestern entrance of the grave of Nipsa
Pic.8. The other entrance or output on the roof of the grave of Nipsa
The two doors as Homer7 and Porphyry8 point out are predestined as follows: the north portal for the mortal soul to be reborn and the southern gateway to the immortal or deified soul. The existence of two gates agrees with the bivalve grave –
heroon of Kirki, only the entrances of the latter is west and southwest. This fact does not remove the interpretative approach of grave - heroon Kirki according to the Orphic - Pythagorean interpretation of these symbols, and the Neo-Platonic construction of the world. Theologians and Plato taught that there are two gates of souls, the Sun and the Moon. From the gate of the Moon the souls descend whereas from the gate of the Sun they rise.9
Pic. 9 The Etruscan Tomb of the Bulls with two doors Source: (http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomba_dei_Tori 21-05-2014)
The median part of the affresco depicts the land world of the Etruscans, immune from our false morality.
The Etruscan Tomb of the Bulls with two doors is located on the eastern part of the necropolis of Tarquinia Monterozzzi in the province of Viterbo. The pictorial decoration of the facade of the tomb dated to the middle and late archaism (540-530 BC), using stylistic elements derived from the Greek culture of Ionia.10
What matters in this article are the two ports on the Etruscan tomb and the display of bulls and sexual acts on the frieze. Above the left gate a seated bull resting combined with the display of a heterosexual act is depicted, while above the right gate an aggressive bull with a human face on the move and with the genitals erect directed to two young men illustrated in homosexuality act are shown.11 Bearing in mind the reference.
Porphyry12 "... καὶ ψυχαὶ δ´ εἰς γένεσιν ἰοῦσαι βουγενεῖς…"(= and the souls who are born are boas) and the relevant literature where the soul on earth is depicted as a bull,13 according to my personal interpretive perspective, we could approach the interpretation of the decoration of Etruscan tomb and two doors , the left hand as a gateway to genesis , where the bull - soul accepts the fertilizing intercourse favoring the incarnation of the soul , whereas the right as a portal for already deified or immortal souls which do not need another genesis. The aggressive bull with a human face is usually a guard that protects a city, a treasure or gates, banishes evil and is apotropaic.14 On the right gate its movement is jeering the homosexual act, which does not help the incarnation of the soul. This means, according to Hesiod and the Greek religion, which the Etruscans, people of Anatolian origin, loved dearly along with the Greek mythology, that souls after regenerating will traverse the path of Higher Worlds and being immortal will continue their evolutionary path, without the coarse body, to senior worlds to become heroes, demons, gods etc.
In summary, with respect to the two-door rock - hewn tomb monument in which we find the altar trough basin structure probably indicates devotional ritual to a cinder dead leader – a hero rather than a simple votive space used for placing deals in the cavities of the rock (Pic. 4). In place of the deceased can be a woman, wife or mother of the chief ruler of the region. The flowing water of the river symbolizes the continuous substance and contributes to the genesis and the two
doors leading to the interpretation that Dr Valeria Fol described and the Etruscan tomb, as I believe, illustrates.
Dating: The lack of context in and around the grave - heroon of Kirki, leads to relative chronology based so far identified and dating sites that are similar in Bulgaria, date back to between the 6th and dawn of the 4th century BC. According P. Delev the tombs with two openings dating about 9th-8th century B.C.15
1. Fol (2003), 239-250
2. Porphyr. (1998), 82-130
3. Fol (2003), 241
4. Fol (2003), 246-247
5. Κούγκουλος (1992-1994), 131
6. Gergova (1984), 234 ff.
7. Hom Od. 109-112
8. Porphyr. (1998), Cap. 20
9. Porphyr. (1998), Cap. 29
10. Giuliano (1969), 3-26
11. Giuliano (1969), 3-26; Bandinelli, R. B. e Torelli M. (1986), sceda 92
12. Porphyr. (1998), Cap. 18 (souls that go to birth called vougeneis)
13. Pavan (2000), 80. In Crete, the bull seems to represent the reproductive power of nature
14. Cooper (1992), 497
15. Delev (1978), 190-191
Βibliography
Bandinelli R.B. e Torelli M. (1986). Etruria-Roma in L'arte dell’antichità classica, UTET, Torino
Bandinelli R. B. e Torelli M. (1986). Etruria-Roma in L'arte dell’antichità classica, UTET, Torino
Cooper J. (1992). An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols, London 1978, see. gr. trans. Α. Τσάκαλης, ed. Πύρινος Κόσμος, Athens
Delev P. (1978). Problems of the Thracian Megalithic Culture, Pulpudeva 3, 1978, 189-192
Fol V. (2003). Rock-Cut Caves with two Entrances or the model of the Cosmos, Thracia 15, 2003, In honour of Alexander Fol's 70th Anniversary, 239-250
Gergova D.(1984). Thracian burial rites of Late Bronze and Early Iron Age, in Thracians and Mycenaeans, Proceedins of the Fourth International Congress of Thracology Rotterdam, 24-26 September 1984, Sofia 1989, 234 ff.
Giuliano A. (1969). Osservazioni sulle pitture della Tomba dei Tori a Tarquinia, Studi Etruschi 37, 1969, 3-26
Κούγκουλος Αθ. (1992-1994). Προϊστορική έρευνα στη Νίψα του Έβρου, Θρακική Επετηρίδα 9, 1992-1994, 127-162
Pavan A. R. (2000) Iniziazone ai culti egizi: divinita, simboli, rituali, magia, amuleti, invocazioni, ed. Mediterraneo
Porphyry (1998). Περί του εν Οδύσσεια των Νυμφών Άντρου, Commentary Άγις και Παν. Μαρίνης, ed. Ιδεοθέατρον, Athens
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