Over the weekend, we had received a question from a reader as to the reasoning underpinning the Asvamedha - the Horse Sacrifice. Specifically, why would one offer a horse given the high value of such a creature in the late Bronze Age / early Iron Age milieu. Now, several people proffered suggestions as to the answer here, … Continue reading ‘For Want Of A Horse’ – On The Proper Perspective Upon Ritual Offerings And Why The ‘Asva’ Of ‘Asvamedha’ Is Held To Be Necessary As Same
Saka
On ‘Mleccha’ – A Reply To A Query
Every so often, somebody writes in via our website's contact function with a question. Often, these are theological. Sometimes, they are personal. This one, I suppose, was both. As the concept in question is likely to be of some interest to a fair few of our readers, I present both question and answer (slightly edited for … Continue reading On ‘Mleccha’ – A Reply To A Query
In Search Of Scythian Ares – Part Two : The Swords Of The Sky Father
As we'd noted towards the outset of Part One, the Scythian religion is endlessly, fascinatingly frustrating. We know so little - and yet we can seemingly 'piece together' a few elements from the scant textual (and usually virtually third hand) viewpoints of their faith that have come down to us from Antiquity. One figure in … Continue reading In Search Of Scythian Ares – Part Two : The Swords Of The Sky Father
In Search Of Scythian Ares – Part One : Mapping The Terrain
Now before we begin, we consider it of some importance to set out a few 'preliminary considerations' - sketch out how these things have been generally thought about previously, and why we are departing on a rather different trajectory with our own quest for this most scintillatingly shrouded of Sword-Gods. This shall also serve as … Continue reading In Search Of Scythian Ares – Part One : Mapping The Terrain
‘Nomads’, ‘Murmurers’, & ‘Death-Seekers At the Border’ – Three Further Perspectives On Barbarians Drawn Into The Broader Indo-European Sphere
Following on from our earlier piece looking at 'Barbarian' in Vedic understanding - here are several further examples .. along with broader Indo-European comparanda contextualizing each. Two of these were furnished by the same associate [A.P.] whom I had been discussing with in the excerpt posted earlier. I have not independently tracked them down in … Continue reading ‘Nomads’, ‘Murmurers’, & ‘Death-Seekers At the Border’ – Three Further Perspectives On Barbarians Drawn Into The Broader Indo-European Sphere
Ganesh Gets In Everywhere – The Ganesha Of Endere In The Taklamakan For Ganesh Chaturthi
Tonight marks the first night of Ganesh Chaturthi - and so therefore, some rather amazing art one and a half millennia ancient from the Khotanese Saka ( Scythian ) settlement of Endere, in the Taklamakan Desert of Western China. Why? Well, partially it is because this piece has been on my mind recently and I … Continue reading Ganesh Gets In Everywhere – The Ganesha Of Endere In The Taklamakan For Ganesh Chaturthi
Deific On Horseback With Two Ravens From Central Asia
Another votive panel from the Khotanese Saka (Scythians) at Dandan Oilik in the Taklamakan. Now there are a few points of interest here. Obviously, one of these is the fine horseman figure on the right of the image. He's a direct resonancy with the similar figure I wrote about yesterday - tentatively identifiable as a … Continue reading Deific On Horseback With Two Ravens From Central Asia
Sirius In Central Asia – Soma, Tisya, Tishtrya, Rudra
It is Wednesday - Odin's Day - and so therefore, as has become our custom, some fine devotional (a)art-i. Except this exquisite piece is not from the Northlands of Scandinavia - rather, its provenance is that most mysterious of Indo-European lands … far-flung Central Asia. Khotan, amidst the deserts and mountains fringing China's western edge in … Continue reading Sirius In Central Asia – Soma, Tisya, Tishtrya, Rudra
Vedic Dragon-Slaying In Sogdian Armour ? A Mural Of Panjikent
Something that has truly given me cause for wonder as we've been delving further into the mysteries of Indo-European Central Asia … is just how immediately recognizable certain myths, certain figures, certain truths remain even 'midst seemingly unfamiliar overlay. This fine rendering from Penjikent in modern-day Tajikistan is just such an instance. A Sogdian depiction, … Continue reading Vedic Dragon-Slaying In Sogdian Armour ? A Mural Of Panjikent
Weshparkar – Vayu-The-High-Working But Also Shiva – On Funerary Stonework Of Sogdian Wirkak And Wiyusi – Arte-Facts #12
I've had this image on my mind for some days now. Both for what it represents - yet also for what it doesn't. What's been projected upon it, in other words. Now, as for the former - it's a representation of the Sogdian deific, Vesparkar (also anglicized as Weshparkar, Veshparkar, Wysprkr etc.), from a fine relief … Continue reading Weshparkar – Vayu-The-High-Working But Also Shiva – On Funerary Stonework Of Sogdian Wirkak And Wiyusi – Arte-Facts #12
arya-akasha 