クーロ
عثمان دان فوديو الثاني
- Jan 23, 2024
- 5,143
There is evidence in Iberian epigraphy of a strange name that is repeated in different spaces and places. It is a single word, whose meaning does not seem to be that of a common noun or a verb, but rather has been interpreted as that of a divinity. This is the name Kaukor, which can be found with minimal spelling variants in three different places, all belonging to the ancient Iberian territory of Edetania. A first place is the oppidum of Sant Miquel de Llíria, the ancient Iberian Edeta, near Valencia (Vizcaíno, 2015: 73-74 and lam. 6). At this site, three ceramics with paintings in which this epithet can be recognized have been catalogued, among which the so-called Vaso de los Letreros stands out. The second place is the Abrigo del Tarragón, in the Serranía del Turia, a space where two graffiti that refer to the god have been found (Ferrer, 2018). There are also three inscriptions in another Saguntine rock sanctuary, in this case the Ibero-Roman sanctuary of Muntanya Frontera (Civera, 2014-15; Velaza, 2008: 301-302).
There are two characteristics that define the appearance of this theonym in Iberian inscriptions: the first, that both in Llíria ceramics and in rock graffiti the name appears as a monogram in the shape of a wheel, with the vertical strokes of the letters forming crosses. around a central axis. The second, that although there are spelling variations in the term, in all cases the constant ka-ko- and the /r/ sound are maintained.
An important part of the set of votive inscriptions with the name Kaukor belong to remains found in the Ibero-Roman sanctuary sanctuary of Muntanya Frontera. Located at the top of a huge rocky rock near Sagunto, dominating the Plain Baja to the south of Castellón, in a border region between the current communities of Castellón and Valencia. The location has an enviable panoramic view of the surroundings, seeing everything around it from the sea to the abrupt mountain ranges of the Sierra de Espadán. The place has been known since the end of the 19th century, and has provided numerous epigraphic vestiges (Aranegui et alii: 456). The sanctuary was in use from the 4th century BC. to the 2nd century AD, with the inscriptions in the Iberian language focusing on the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. (Civera, 2014-15: 153, 158). The sanctuary was dedicated to an Iberian deity who fertilized the fields, who was assimilated to Liber Pater, a Latin god related to Bacchus (op.cit.: 153-154). The incomparable location of the place, halfway between heaven and earth, gives rise to understanding the character of the god to whom the place was consecrated.
The three inscriptions are preserved today in the deposits of the Sagunto Museum. In them you can read [-]kauko on a limestone altar, ]kaukor[ on a bronze sheet, and ]ultibaisertekaukor[ on an Iberian ceramic (Velaza, 2008: 301-302). The Iberian inscription on the limestone altar appears on one of the sides, while on its opposite side a very fragmented Latin inscription is read, in which the words [L]IBERO ATILI- can be distinguished (op.cit.: 301 ), a form of votive inscription very similar to others found in the Iberian Peninsula dedicated to the divinity Liber Pater with whom the Iberian god was related (Santapau, 2005: 124-126).
(The Sign Glass of Sant Miquel de Llíria is without a doubt one of the most extensive and interesting vestiges of Iberian writing that are preserved, although its interpretation and meaning is far from being explained. Between two of the horsemen represented on the vase, Kaukor's monogram is clearly visible, with a surprising similarity to the cave inscriptions of the Abrigo del Tarragón. This monogram reflects the existence of a hidden symbolism in the writing of the name, the meaning of which remains undeciphered. Image source: Ferrer, 2018.)
Other inscriptions related to this divinity, unrelated to the conventional epigraphic support of altars or sculptures typical of a sanctuary, were found in a place with location characteristics similar to those of the Saguntine sanctuary. This is the Tarragón shelter, located in the municipality of Losa del Obispo, north of the province of Valencia. The shelter is located almost on the top of pure rock on the eastern face of the Sierra de Tarragón, rising abruptly above the valley of the Tarragón stream, which originates practically at its feet.
The Iberian inscriptions on this shelter were discovered at the end of the 70s, which allowed it to be interpreted generically as a place of Iberian worship (Silgo and Martínez, 2012). The shelter includes a series of inscriptions from different periods engraved in the rock, up to 21 in number, including some medieval and also contemporary (Ferrer, 2018: 223-224). Among those that correspond to the Iberian period, in addition to the two inscriptions dedicated to Kaukor, another text is repeated in eight other inscriptions: urdal, with some orthographic variation between them (op.cit.: 232 ff.), which could perhaps be the name of another divinity. The set of Iberian inscriptions could be dated between the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. (Ferrer, 2018: 252).
The two writings that refer to the god Kaukor are found close to each other, near the entrance to the shelter, on the right wall (Ferrer, 2018: fig. 3). The inscriptions were made at a distance of approximately one meter from the ground, which indicates that their author wrote them crouching or kneeling (op. cit.: 230). The two inscriptions have been classified by Ferrer as Tarragón 12 and Tarragón 13.
Tarragón 12 (Ferrer, 2018: 238-240) consists of 9 spokes, at the end of each one is the sign of a letter of the Iberian alphabet. The complete inscription allows for a kaurgoberole reading, although it is not clear what the actual point of origin of the inscription would be.
Tarragón 13 (Ferrer, 2018: 241-244) consists of 8 signs. This inscription is somewhat more difficult to read than Tarragón 12, as it is located in a space where the fragmentation of the rock has deteriorated some of the signs. This second inscription shows a curious fact: although there are 8 writing signs, the figure also has nine spokes. In the reading sign be the letter is superimposed on one of the spokes, to which no sign corresponds. It seems that the person who made the inscription first drew the radii and then, realizing the error of having drawn an extra radius, wanted to correct it by ignoring the excess radius (op.cit.: 243-244). Although the starting point of the reading is not certain in this inscription, the specific inscription allows for a kaugoberole reading, differing from Tarragón 12 only in an r, a minor spelling variant in the text as a whole, which could coincide with the ninth radius that For some reason the scribe did not know or did not want to include the god in his dedication.
Unlike the fragmented inscriptions found in Muntanya, in the radial inscriptions of the Abrigo del Tarragón the reading of two words can be distinguished, kaurgo/kauko and berole (Ferrer, 2018: 247). In the ceramic inscriptions from Llíria that can be seen in the so-called Vase of the Signboards, a radial inscription appears identical in its shape and structure to those of the shelter, in which in turn one can read karko and elole (Vizcaíno, 2105: plate. 6; Ferrer, 2018: 247). The differences in the writing of the name are explained by Jesús Rodríguez (2020: 271) by the possible oral transmission of a repetitive formula of invocation or a phrase made with an invocation or ritual nature, transcribed in the form of radio writing, or by being terms that come from a linguistic loan or an onomatopoeia.
Saving the orthographic differences, it is notable that the three inscriptions want to explain the same words, Kaukor and berole/elole could be a dedicatory inscription to the god Kaukor, similar to the Iberian formula neitin iunstir (Orduña 2009: 505 ff.), with a possible meaning of dedication or greeting to the divinity (op.cit.: 507). The connection between Kaukor and the Liber Pater of the Muntanya Frontera sanctuary seems to reside in the location of the sanctuaries, located at a certain height and in mountain areas. These spaces are symbolically related to the sky, the place of residence of this fertilizing god, giver of health, and in that sense, protector of the fields. Kaukor's formulation in radial form is older than its names in times of Romanization, in which the cult of the Iberian god had already been influenced by the Roman interpretation. That is why the invocation "Kaukor berole" seems to be the original, and due to its wheel-shaped structure it may mean a pre-established ritual invocation formula from an antiquity that cannot be materialized.
As to what type of divinity this god Kaukor would be, there are diverse positions. For Joan Ferrer (personal comment) and Velaza (2008: 301) this divinity would be assimilated in Roman times to Liber Pater, although it would be difficult to specify its specific character as an Iberian god. Taking into account the features of the god Liber, or "Father Liber", he is an agricultural and peasant god, forming a triad with Ceres and the goddess Libera: Liber and Libera would be children of Ceres. As a whole, these divinities were protectors of orchards, patrons of agriculture and its fruits (Bruhl, 1953), from which we can perceive the general meaning that the Iberian divinity would have, as a personification of the fertility of the land and of its abundance.
Jesús Rodríguez (2020: 270-271) offers the hypothesis that Kaukor would be eminently a warrior god. It is based for this on the presence of armed horsemen in the only known case of plastic representation together with the name of the god, on the ceramic of the Líria Signboard Vase. In these drawings, the appearance of the monogram could indicate an invocation to the god with a war cry. This prayer could be used to entrust oneself to divinity both on a battlefield and during some initiation rite that included the ascent of the mountain to the rock sanctuary of Abrigo del Tarragón.
There are two characteristics that define the appearance of this theonym in Iberian inscriptions: the first, that both in Llíria ceramics and in rock graffiti the name appears as a monogram in the shape of a wheel, with the vertical strokes of the letters forming crosses. around a central axis. The second, that although there are spelling variations in the term, in all cases the constant ka-ko- and the /r/ sound are maintained.
An important part of the set of votive inscriptions with the name Kaukor belong to remains found in the Ibero-Roman sanctuary sanctuary of Muntanya Frontera. Located at the top of a huge rocky rock near Sagunto, dominating the Plain Baja to the south of Castellón, in a border region between the current communities of Castellón and Valencia. The location has an enviable panoramic view of the surroundings, seeing everything around it from the sea to the abrupt mountain ranges of the Sierra de Espadán. The place has been known since the end of the 19th century, and has provided numerous epigraphic vestiges (Aranegui et alii: 456). The sanctuary was in use from the 4th century BC. to the 2nd century AD, with the inscriptions in the Iberian language focusing on the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. (Civera, 2014-15: 153, 158). The sanctuary was dedicated to an Iberian deity who fertilized the fields, who was assimilated to Liber Pater, a Latin god related to Bacchus (op.cit.: 153-154). The incomparable location of the place, halfway between heaven and earth, gives rise to understanding the character of the god to whom the place was consecrated.
The three inscriptions are preserved today in the deposits of the Sagunto Museum. In them you can read [-]kauko on a limestone altar, ]kaukor[ on a bronze sheet, and ]ultibaisertekaukor[ on an Iberian ceramic (Velaza, 2008: 301-302). The Iberian inscription on the limestone altar appears on one of the sides, while on its opposite side a very fragmented Latin inscription is read, in which the words [L]IBERO ATILI- can be distinguished (op.cit.: 301 ), a form of votive inscription very similar to others found in the Iberian Peninsula dedicated to the divinity Liber Pater with whom the Iberian god was related (Santapau, 2005: 124-126).
(The Sign Glass of Sant Miquel de Llíria is without a doubt one of the most extensive and interesting vestiges of Iberian writing that are preserved, although its interpretation and meaning is far from being explained. Between two of the horsemen represented on the vase, Kaukor's monogram is clearly visible, with a surprising similarity to the cave inscriptions of the Abrigo del Tarragón. This monogram reflects the existence of a hidden symbolism in the writing of the name, the meaning of which remains undeciphered. Image source: Ferrer, 2018.)
Other inscriptions related to this divinity, unrelated to the conventional epigraphic support of altars or sculptures typical of a sanctuary, were found in a place with location characteristics similar to those of the Saguntine sanctuary. This is the Tarragón shelter, located in the municipality of Losa del Obispo, north of the province of Valencia. The shelter is located almost on the top of pure rock on the eastern face of the Sierra de Tarragón, rising abruptly above the valley of the Tarragón stream, which originates practically at its feet.
The Iberian inscriptions on this shelter were discovered at the end of the 70s, which allowed it to be interpreted generically as a place of Iberian worship (Silgo and Martínez, 2012). The shelter includes a series of inscriptions from different periods engraved in the rock, up to 21 in number, including some medieval and also contemporary (Ferrer, 2018: 223-224). Among those that correspond to the Iberian period, in addition to the two inscriptions dedicated to Kaukor, another text is repeated in eight other inscriptions: urdal, with some orthographic variation between them (op.cit.: 232 ff.), which could perhaps be the name of another divinity. The set of Iberian inscriptions could be dated between the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. (Ferrer, 2018: 252).
The two writings that refer to the god Kaukor are found close to each other, near the entrance to the shelter, on the right wall (Ferrer, 2018: fig. 3). The inscriptions were made at a distance of approximately one meter from the ground, which indicates that their author wrote them crouching or kneeling (op. cit.: 230). The two inscriptions have been classified by Ferrer as Tarragón 12 and Tarragón 13.
Tarragón 12 (Ferrer, 2018: 238-240) consists of 9 spokes, at the end of each one is the sign of a letter of the Iberian alphabet. The complete inscription allows for a kaurgoberole reading, although it is not clear what the actual point of origin of the inscription would be.
Tarragón 13 (Ferrer, 2018: 241-244) consists of 8 signs. This inscription is somewhat more difficult to read than Tarragón 12, as it is located in a space where the fragmentation of the rock has deteriorated some of the signs. This second inscription shows a curious fact: although there are 8 writing signs, the figure also has nine spokes. In the reading sign be the letter is superimposed on one of the spokes, to which no sign corresponds. It seems that the person who made the inscription first drew the radii and then, realizing the error of having drawn an extra radius, wanted to correct it by ignoring the excess radius (op.cit.: 243-244). Although the starting point of the reading is not certain in this inscription, the specific inscription allows for a kaugoberole reading, differing from Tarragón 12 only in an r, a minor spelling variant in the text as a whole, which could coincide with the ninth radius that For some reason the scribe did not know or did not want to include the god in his dedication.
Unlike the fragmented inscriptions found in Muntanya, in the radial inscriptions of the Abrigo del Tarragón the reading of two words can be distinguished, kaurgo/kauko and berole (Ferrer, 2018: 247). In the ceramic inscriptions from Llíria that can be seen in the so-called Vase of the Signboards, a radial inscription appears identical in its shape and structure to those of the shelter, in which in turn one can read karko and elole (Vizcaíno, 2105: plate. 6; Ferrer, 2018: 247). The differences in the writing of the name are explained by Jesús Rodríguez (2020: 271) by the possible oral transmission of a repetitive formula of invocation or a phrase made with an invocation or ritual nature, transcribed in the form of radio writing, or by being terms that come from a linguistic loan or an onomatopoeia.
Saving the orthographic differences, it is notable that the three inscriptions want to explain the same words, Kaukor and berole/elole could be a dedicatory inscription to the god Kaukor, similar to the Iberian formula neitin iunstir (Orduña 2009: 505 ff.), with a possible meaning of dedication or greeting to the divinity (op.cit.: 507). The connection between Kaukor and the Liber Pater of the Muntanya Frontera sanctuary seems to reside in the location of the sanctuaries, located at a certain height and in mountain areas. These spaces are symbolically related to the sky, the place of residence of this fertilizing god, giver of health, and in that sense, protector of the fields. Kaukor's formulation in radial form is older than its names in times of Romanization, in which the cult of the Iberian god had already been influenced by the Roman interpretation. That is why the invocation "Kaukor berole" seems to be the original, and due to its wheel-shaped structure it may mean a pre-established ritual invocation formula from an antiquity that cannot be materialized.
As to what type of divinity this god Kaukor would be, there are diverse positions. For Joan Ferrer (personal comment) and Velaza (2008: 301) this divinity would be assimilated in Roman times to Liber Pater, although it would be difficult to specify its specific character as an Iberian god. Taking into account the features of the god Liber, or "Father Liber", he is an agricultural and peasant god, forming a triad with Ceres and the goddess Libera: Liber and Libera would be children of Ceres. As a whole, these divinities were protectors of orchards, patrons of agriculture and its fruits (Bruhl, 1953), from which we can perceive the general meaning that the Iberian divinity would have, as a personification of the fertility of the land and of its abundance.
Jesús Rodríguez (2020: 270-271) offers the hypothesis that Kaukor would be eminently a warrior god. It is based for this on the presence of armed horsemen in the only known case of plastic representation together with the name of the god, on the ceramic of the Líria Signboard Vase. In these drawings, the appearance of the monogram could indicate an invocation to the god with a war cry. This prayer could be used to entrust oneself to divinity both on a battlefield and during some initiation rite that included the ascent of the mountain to the rock sanctuary of Abrigo del Tarragón.
