Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Tent stakes



[I think a typical couple's hut had 2, a female venus figurine at left of doorway, a male bird/phallus figurine at right of doorway, both acting as ritual symbolic tent stakes/house posts/totem poles. Possibly the male figurine was kept outside the entry at right, the female figurine just inside at left.]

"unlike those found in Europe, some of the Venus figurines from Mal’ta were sculpted with faces. Most of the figurines were tapered at the bottom, and it is believed that this was done so they could have been stuck into the ground or otherwise placed upright some other way."

This "Tibetan ancient tent peg" has some resemblance to the Mal'ta male & female figurines of ivory, has any similar items been found in Altai or Beringia?

Except for scale it appears to resemble west coast totem poles:

A Tlingit totem pole memorializing a woman (note closed wings, perhaps open wings represent male (cf etymology of ball & wing very similar pali/pari/pela, both fly, both related to 'pair').

" The word totem is derived from the Ojibwe word odoodem, "his kinship group"" (wikipedia) [also odoodeman]


[Very interesting etymology, possibly linked to 'awtad', 'doodad', 'wood', dado (wood cutting blade), dem-duom-domus-home; in many nomad H&G cultures, the woman is responsible for hut/tipi/tent construction, while in sedentary agricultural cultures the man is the home builder while the woman is the caretaker/homemaker.]

The ancient Egyptian djed/tet column was raised annually, symbollically by the Pharoah who had the was staff.

Very likely the European Maypole was based on similar rituals long ago. Compare to the winter yule log and the standing tannenbaum/christmas tree. Perhaps the new (Swedish) midsummerstang/(Dutch/German) maisbaum/(Anglo Saxon) maegbole/(English) maypole was the dried-out tannenbaum of last winter (trimmed of needles and branches and with added symbols/feathers/ribbons), which then became the next winters yule log? This would provide a sensible recycling notion, but I don't know if it was actually done, perhaps authorized and administered by Druids? (Druids: forest-priest watershed managers, see earlier post on Ethiopian church forests). This would parallel the Egyptian priests involved with the Pharoah's djed column raising. The recent cultural practice of girls weaving ribbons around the Maypole might descend from ancestral nomadic (eg. Beduin-like) girls pounding the stakes of the goat-hair tent, while men lifted the poles.

My opinion: Note that tent stake was a kinship signal was traditional for archaic nomadic Hebrew/Arab tent dwellers, and that large totem poles are found only associated with people who lived in split plank houses, not tent/ tipi dwellers. The tent stake signalled "I/we dwell here" (temporary land ownership), and so did the totem pole. Perhaps the narrow figurines indicate active tent use (functional), while fat figurines indicate cave or timber shelters (lost function). Many ornately carved ivory/bone/wood figurines/Venuses/Dakota peace pipes/ritual spears may have originated as kinship signals/symbols, and only later (or never except as interpreted by extra-cultural observers?) became 'spirit/goddess' idol/symbols.

"And, while 18th-century accounts of European explorers along the
coast indicate that poles existed prior to 1800, they were *smaller*
and few in number. The freestanding poles seen by the first European
explorers were likely preceded by a long history of monumental
carving, particularly of interior house posts. The scholar Eddie Malin
has proposed that totem poles progressed from house posts, funerary
containers, and memorial markers into symbols of clan and family
wealth and prestige. He argues that the Haida people of the Queen
Charlotte Islands originated carving of the poles.." (wikipedia)

So were Mal'ta figurines equal to tent stakes & totem poles, or were they dolls, idols or sex objects or what?

Social markers (sign/signal/symbol) identifying spatial/temporal ownership & position within the community seems to be the original function.

Note that at Medit. island of Malta, more venuses existed much later.
Possibly: Mal'ta was old word for "waterside trade dwelling", equal to Ma'dan, Mandan (both used boats & hunted buffalo)

Among great plains Amer Indians, women assembled to craft the Tipi cover, and set it.
Among Beduin tent dwellers: young girls pound in the tent pegs, men lift the poles.

"In Genesis 3:15 God declares that the Woman will bring forth the Seed who will crush the Serpent's head" (just genesis blog)

tent, serpent, tent peg, serpent head ?
(Mal'ta site had a carving of 3 snakes with large cobra heads)

Compare words: stick/stake/(strength/string) snake/rake/peck/peg/pick/pike/spike/spigot/
dig/pig/pin/punji/punt/poke/push/pull/plug/pluck/plow (bullocks pulling plows originated from pegs driven into soil and sharpened sticks used to pull up tubers, related to pig cloven/claw hoof), and paralleling pig was hog/hock/hoof/hook/crook/hoe/hole/hoick/hoist, related to peg insertion & removal.

Pharoah of Egypt: translated as "great house" or "Dominion of the tent stake" Awtad
"‘Awtad’ comes from the Arabic Root: 'WAW-TA-DAL' [note phonetic similarity to awl, idol & doll] which does indeed mean: Stakes, Pegs, Tent Poles or to drive in a stake (into ground or wall) as a literal understanding." notice photo of people next to "totem pole?" at Mal'ta site.

OBeLisK (OBa [Lith=stone] (am)?), SHiVa LingG(am), Totem pole (OD ooD(em)), Abrams' father Terah's ((O? al?)TeRaPH(im)), similar sounds (doll, idol to "-adal"), all derived from the ancestral humble tent peg (awtad, wAWTaDaL). Note too the similarity in sound in English of mother goddess, mothers' address and home post (-box) & host & guest. Compare Micmac 'aoutem' (kin) to both Eskimo dogsled (komatik) & Cree dog (atim) as that used to pull family's property.

English maypole from maeg bole (kin beam) paralleling Dutch/German mais baum. Bole/bone (rib)/boom/beam used in tents, huts, sleds & boats.

Between Arab awtad and Micmac autim we find English taut/tie/tether (bind) and knot/naut, and in Tamil katu (bind, as in katumaram-catamaran: bound logs) and nao/prahu (boat), and Malay tali (rope) and perau (boat).

Cupola (inverted 'cup-bowl' above roof, chimney cover) relates to BaMbuti mongolu and Sanskrit bungalo dome huts, derived via qupholu/kebhala or so (Persian qupha = bowlboat, Greek hoplon = round shield), where initially the 'cup-bowl' was a portable open round basket & later hidebound roundshield/bullboat.

In Japan, the red Shinto shrine gates are torii, in India, Buddhist temple gates are toran, and in the Jewish torah (see previous post), all represent the (communal) entry (door way/portal), just as the ritually carved symbolic house post/tent peg represented the front door entrance.

Anubis amulets (Amu(rru)/Anu?) of Egypt, probably via Syria/Slovenia:

((D)Anubians: from Blue Danube of Slovenia (Swabia-Slavia) & Anu (Lake Tana & Tana delta) of Blue Nile of Nubia, J(Y)ordan, Sud(d)an, Aldan/Jana rivers of east Siberia, Danes of Denmark, Swedes of Sweden), Ma'dan, Mandan, Dhannu/Denu (OE & Sanskrit) river shore floodplains/terraces/traders.

Compare Anubis 3ka to Lion Man of Hohlenstein (possibly brought from Africa?) cave 32ka:

Anubis: Associated with funeral/grave/mummification
(Note right hand holds was tent peg remover? Jackal form from older cave lion form (sphynx)?

In N America, the Plains Cree people called the travois-pulling dog atim, [note pole/pull/pulka 1/2sledge-1/2boat of Volga/Bulghar/Saami], the horse misatim "big dog", while the James Bay Cree called the lion misatim. So the Egyptian jackal form of Anubis may have transformed from the ancient cave lion in mythology.
Note bowl/dome basket/hut/boat on travois. Early form of Eskimo sled komatic or Lapp pulka sledge-boat?

Komatic: eskimo dog sled ("kam-u-tic")

Kom: (old Dutch) bowl cf kofa/qufa roundboat, koppe/cup

-atic? related to atim?

Northern Plains Cree people called the travois-pulling dog atim ("u-tim")

Choctaw of lower Mississippi: itti homma = boundary marker pole/tree painted red
Muskogee of Florida: yat kitischee = red people (ochre?)

Hebrew, 'staff of life/bread' = matteh lechem

Oldest wheel & axle found in Slovene Ljubjanska/Lyubyana swamp/lake 5.3ka (same neolithic period as Otzi the ice man mummy found 150 miles away), note similarity to travois, but employed "pegs/pins" to hold square axle onto frame allowing rotation of both wheel and axle:

Teraph, Teraphim: Abram's father Terah, before written language, carved figurines represented home dominion & land ownership, later household "idol" or even 'gods', originally from tent pegs.
(note the was tent peg remover in hand, resemblance to a nail-pulling hammer-claw)
(Terah/Terai valley of Nepal terraced taro fields (1st agriculture in Papua) gradually became over run by weedy rice which became the staple, Nepali totems (lingam)

Shivalingam: (note phonetic similarity to 'shaft')

Oba (Yoruba, 'God' cf Russian 'Bog', God)

YHWH/YaHWeH/JeHoVaH (JaH ObaH?)/YesHuWaHa/YesHiVa/Shiva in the same dialectical pattern as we see in LeViTiCus/VaTiCan/VeDiC-MeDiCal/MuSiCal/MyThiCal/MaGiCal; when associated with VeNeTian/VoYaGer/ViKinGer/DaNuBian/PhoeNiCian/PuNiC/FinNiC/AiNu produces a (textile or hide-skinned) summer-tent-based nomadic herd hunting salmon/tuna fishing diaspora with female built sites, peg/post addresses, and a proto-law/medicine system. Veni, Vidi, Vicci!

The letter WaW in Hebrew is a picture of a tent stake, my name in Arab/Hebrew is Daud ~ Dawood which uses WaW after the Da-. In Chinese, Da-wei. In English, David.

Egyptian symbols from nomadic tent past: djed/tet symbol from beduin tent stake, was symbol from tent stake remover, ankh as knot of rope around stake (originally tendon?).

Tents derived from hides draped over wigwam/mongolu dome huts where fat & meat was scraped off, then hide was inverted & dried, giving warmth to dwellers in areas outside the tropical rainforests. Tendons/vines held the skins over the wicker frame (first bull/bowl boats), later portable stakes were used/carried in more open tree-less plains country, where the woven wicker frame was replaced by straight poles, pulled behind with the leather cover.

Ancient Hebrew table was a round leather hide on the ground which people sat around.

Is there a link between Komi-Zyrian people of arctic Russia and bowl-boat-using Syrians of Tigris?

related to Finnic & samoyed, name intriguing, related to Hurrian/Assyrian/Syrian?

Syr-yan (cf jor-dan) related to Yana/Jana/Aldana in Siberia etc.?

Did "Sumerian" derive from Su-mer-yana (south mer delta?) or Samoyen/Saamyan? Sumerians are said to have come earlier from the north, they were not Semites.

saami (Lapps of Finland), komi related? three of them are Uralic: Hungarian, Permic Zyrian Komi and Samoyedic Nenets

Beehive dome house of Caddo:

Investigating whether "Maypole" is a cognate to totem pole/shivalingam/obelisk/tent peg:
apparently so, but the definition changed when Christianity became dominant in Europe. Probably derived from maeg-bole? (cf proto germanic mais baum) "kin tree/beam". The English word tree bole may have been from earlier woven wicker & hide bowl boats (parical/coracle/cup/qufa) being replaced by streamlined shallow dugout canoes cut from tree trunks (compare Dutch kom (bowl) to Dutch boom (tree, pole, beam)

boom (n.)
"long pole," 1540s, from Scottish boun, borrowed from Du. boom "tree, pole, beam," from a M.Du. word analogous to O.E. beam (see beam).
"spar extending from the bow of a ship," late 13c., probably from M.L.G. bochspret, from boch "bow of a ship" (see bow (n.2)) + spret "pole" (cf. O.E. spreot "pole," Du. spriet "spear;" see sprit).

Baton Rouge
city in Louisiana, U.S., a French translation of Choctaw itti homma "red pole," perhaps in reference to a painted boundary marker. [compare to Red Wing & Mississippi river Indians painting red on trees]
yard (2)
"measure of length," O.E. gerd (Mercian), gierd (W.Saxon) "rod, stick, measure of length," from W.Gmc. *gazdijo, from P.Gmc. *gazdaz "stick, rod" (cf. O.S. gerda, O.Fris. ierde, Du. gard "rod;" O.H.G. garta, Ger. gerte "switch, twig," O.N. gaddr "spike, sting, nail"), from PIE *gherdh- "staff, pole" (cf. L. hasta "shaft, staff").
device for raising weights by winding a rope round a cylinder, c.1400, alteration of wyndase (late 13c.), from Anglo-Fr. windas, and directly from a Scandinavian source such as O.N. vindass, from vinda "to wind" (see wind (v.)) + ass "pole, beam."
"a covered litter," 1580s, from Port. palanquim (early 16c.), from Malay and Javanese palangki, ultimately from Skt. palyanka-s "couch, bed, litter," from pari "around" + ancati "it bends, curves," related to anka-s "a bend, hook, angle," and meaning, perhaps, "that which bends around the body." Some have noted the "curious coincidence" of Sp. palanca, from L. phalanga "pole to carry a burden."

stake (n)
"pointed stick or post," O.E. staca, from P.Gmc. *stakon (cf. O.N. stiaki, Du. staak, Ger. stake), from PIE root *steg- "pole, stick."

probably from O.E. *picg, found in compounds, ultimate origin unknown. Originally "young pig" (the word for adults was swine). Another O.E. word for "pig" was fearh, related to furh "furrow," from PIE *perk- "dig, furrow" (cf. L. porc-us "pig," see pork).

late 14c., "plug used to stop the hole of a cask," probably from O.Fr. *espigot (cf. Gascony dialect espigot "core of a fruit, small ear of grain"), dim. of O.Prov. espiga "ear of grain," from L. spica "ear of grain" (see spike (n.2)).

early 14c., tohte, possibly from tog- [compare to 'dog'], pp. stem of O.E. teon "to pull, drag," from P.Gmc. *tugn, from [IMO unlikely] PIE *deuk- "to lead" (see duke).


string (n.)
O.E. streng "line, cord, thread," from P.Gmc. *strangiz (cf. O.N. strengr, Dan. streng, M.Du. strenge, Du. streng, O.H.G. strang, Ger. Strang "rope, cord"), from *strang- "taut, stiff," from PIE root *strenk- "tight, narrow; pull tight, twist" (see strain). Gradually restricted by early M.E. to lines that are smaller than a rope. Old English meaning "ligaments, tendons" is preserved in hamstring, heartstrings.

Eskimo skin boat being transported over ice on sleds, childrens, adults:

St. Laurence island eskimo angyapik umiak boat:

Amur river trading Ainu with 'itaomachip' sewn plank boat and shallow dugout canoe:

Kanak/Kanaka: Austronesian/Melanesian/Polynesian/Malaysian/Indonesian

Kanak Totem poles in New Caledonia, as Great House door posts and roof poles:

Compare the Kanak wood carvings to the Giant Easter Island Moai stone statues:

These Moai had been originally 1 meter tall ("Tiki" in Marquesas isles.), sitting in ahu altars, then enlarged in the same way that US west coast Indians enlarged their totem poles upon establishing sedentary villages and halting nomadism and regulating warfare.

The Maori of New Zealand carved wooden totem poles:
Symbol of 10th month: Pou-tu-te-rangi (pole raise sky, similar to Malay kutub angkat langit)

Turkish Crescent/jingle/Chinese hat - a long post/walking stick with bells, originally from Central Asian shaman/santa clause

Manasota canoe in Florida:

"The Manasota people provided the indigenous culture on the west cost of Florida.
They were a race of hunter-gatherers who lived there from around 550BC until around 900AD.
Weedon Island, where the canoe was discovered, was a key religious ground for the culture, and many people and objects were laid to rest there in sand burial mounds.

link of manasota to minnesota?

Australian marsh canoes from bark, hand paddled:

Yurt & skin boats:



Susan Burns said...

I am not convinced that the "waw" actually represents a tent stake although that is the scholarly consensus. The reason is because every Hebrew letter must have a connection to the divine. The ancient semites thought that was how the world was created. In a Just Genesis discussion some time ago, a connection was made between "waw" and "ave" as in "Ave Maria". This was the command the Angel of the Lord gave Mary to "swell forth". Inserting vowels (waw) into consonants in later chapters of Genesis also made the words "swell forth" and created new words and new meanings.

Susan Burns said...

(continued) ... I have since been trying to discover a connection between a tent stake and impregnation:)!

On another subject - would you object to answering some questions I have about calcinating lime? I have read the wiki articles but do not have the scientific background and am not smart enough to understand fully. I would appreciate it very much! If you agree, would you send me your email address to Thank you, Susan.

"the Dude" said...

If you reread, you'll see:


Obelisk (Oba lech(am)?), shivalingg(am), Totem pole (odood(em)), Abrams' father Terah's (teraph(im)) idols, all derived from the ancestral humble tent peg (wawtadal). Note too the similarity in sound of mother goddess, mothers' address and house post (-box) & host.

In Japan, the Shinto shrine gates are torii, in India, Buddhist temple gates are toran, and in the Jewish torah, all represent the (communal) entry (door way/portal), just as the ritually carved symbolic house post/tent peg represented the front door entrance.

"the Dude" said...

I agree that "waw" doesn't represent a tent stake, but like the Greek Tau/tav (cf taut), it probably derived from it.

I'd guess Ave descends from beit v/b rather than waw/vav/uau.

Ave (fare well) seems related to vector/venue which links to viking, voyage, vaya, via.

"the Dude" said...

The Arabic 'waw' and both the Greek Tau and digamma (from Phoenician 'waw', cf Egyptian 'was' stake remover) relate to tent stakes origins.

The Malay 'wau bulan' kite probably also related (taut string WOUnd around a tent peg), and the New Caledonian house post/totem pole and ridge post (above great house) also. Kanak/kanaka is an Austronesian term for people from Malaysia to Hawaii, all great sailing people that must have formerly used tents but switched to rectilinear houses except for ceremonial/communal round-houses.

"the Dude" said...

Waw as peg restraining a taut cord =
wau as a kite being restrained by a taut cord lashed around a peg/pin/spindle in hand cf spike/spire/spar

Wau -> prau, a Malay-Polynesian canoe with crab-claw sail which resembles the Malay moon kite (wau bulan) and Kanak great house spire.

cromlech: welsh, circle "comb" of pegs (around tipi-like tent), or circle of standing stones. Similar to Hebrew/Jewish lech as houseposts/doorframe dividing private from communal space in village.

Susan Burns said...

I watched an interesting program last night on Gobekli Tepe and was struck by how the doorway to the circular enclosure was constructed. It was a perfect square and carved out of one block of stone. More like a window. The word "portal" immediately came to mind.

"the Dude" said...

Perhaps wawtadal relates to citadel (fortress), perhaps an early hill fort, a square of stones above a round mound?

The oldest wheel, in Slovenia swamp, had axle squared at fitting and round in middle to rotate. This fits well with the Giza pyramids being constructed with drum-wheels, the stone blocks put inside quarter-circle wood 'cradles' bound together with peripheral rope into drum-wheels to roll uphill, which I think was the normal way to move large stone megaliths before the wagon or ship.

In many cultures, the planting stick or plow is considered an insemination device to plant seeds, obviously a fertility connection. Totem poles & symbolic tent stakes are connected to this, but tented nomads weren't full time farmers and vice versa, so its hard to classify artifacts as to specific functions in general society.

"the Dude" said...

The oldest true spoked chariots of the steppes (differed from 2 disc-wheeled carts) had square spokes (10 - 12) connecting the hub/nave-l to the bent-wood wheel. Topographically, this square-spoke matches the gobekle tepe square portal, both radiate in-outwards, as do the stone stele pillars.

The square axle fitting on the ancient Slovenian wagon is orthograde 90 degrees to that and instead resembles the (pyramid stone block) drum-wheels in direction, which matches Stonehenge stele pillar circumferential orientation.

carlos lascoutx said...

...the Oroqen/Oregon of the Altai
worship the center pole of their tipi, in fact their tribal=tribu(sp)=
tepulli(Nauatl)=male member, means just that: ololoa-cen(N)= dressed/ollin= holycenter.
their names for husband/wife=
atir-ken/center and atir-kan/canaua(N)=hammer flat.
i have atir as atli(N)=
drink=i(Nauatl)=in, to hammer,
put in.
so here we have the division of labor you talk about: the men put
in the center pole, the sun totem,
which would be the Tone=Tonatiuh
(N/solar deity), and the women
would put in its children, canaua(N)=
canauatli(N)=canard(Fr)=ducks, which
be ourselves, the raza=tlaza(N)=
throw down.
as to To-tem, Nauatl has no d,
so a d-word cannot be root of Totem
as T/d, e.g., Danube/Du(nau)/Du(nai)/
Du(narea)/Du(na)/Du(nav)/ d/Tuna=
Tona-tiuh/dieu(Fr)= Tionantai(Alkonquin)=
Father/tati Sun.
To-/our descent/temo(N)=to lower, ah,
temi(N)=fill, =time, t/th/hemi/demi/
semi, t/th/He(r)mes(Myth), as a child
prodigy, Hermes stole Aeolus's
cattle by wrapping their hooves
in sheepskin, when well away he ate one or two until full, so he's named for that gourmet/gormy exploit.

carlos lascoutx said...

=pisca(sp)=mite, jot=ni pisca(sp)=
not a jot/iota/yotl(Nauatl).
picker, and, tzotl(N)=tzo/sow.
toctli(N)=green, tender cane of corn,
young plant/caña verde y tierna de
maíz, fertilized land/tierra abonada,
Book of Souls/Tionatati(Alkonquin)= Tonatiuh(N/Anthony, the Sun, the music of our Universe).
tlaca=t/l/ra(n)k(first string, 2d, etc.),=tag(E/noun), tl/track.
tlaca(N)=t/l/rack, etc. tlaca(N)=body, a large and long word
in Nauatl, along with, tlapa, giving
birth to thousands of words in every

carlos lascoutx said... Susan, waw=ciuatl(N)=woman.
if the center pole is the Tona/
Tonatiuh the sun, masculine,
put up by men, the poles its rays,
and the stakes are
pounded in, in spanish we could call
them palos=palli(Nauatl)=phallus,
also, p/barley(E), and they go into
earth, are, toca(N)=sown and buried,
=to-/our being/-ca=tocar(N)=play an
you will find behind Hebrew is
Nauatl, e.g., H/Th/Tep/b(r)ewa(letra)
=Tepeua(N)=mountain wa/ua(N)=owners,
also, Te(m)ple and Tipi/Tepee owners.
also, herb=h/th/Tep/(r)b(letra)=
Tepetl(N), also becomes the word,
T/deep and T/Depp, Johnny Mountain,
the actor.

DDeden said...

tent pole: mu'ammad
ropes: mumaddad
pegs: muwattad

In the Quran, King David had a coat of mail: Indeed, mail armour is mentioned in the Koran as being a gift revealed by Allah to David:


In the bible, young "David rejects the unaccustomed armour" (detail of fol. 28r of the 13th century Morgan Bible).

As King, David must have been custom fitted, but as a youngster it would have been cumbersome.

sabigna fada nathra - chain mail

DDeden said...

David's Weave:

But actually David's weave includes pentagons for curvature, 12 to make a sphere, less to fit a body for armor purposes. Hexagons are planar.

Beduin-style tent: