Syrian brown bear importance in Near Eastern cultures

[Montezuma]

"Bears were mentioned in the Bible, with ambiguous interpretation: David fought this ferocious animal but the bears fell down before Saint Euphemia instead of tearing her to pieces."

scfh.ru/en/papers/the-most-russian-of-all-beasts/#:~:text=All%20in%20all%2C%20there%20are,

[Montezuma]

In middle east, Syrian Brown bears are praised as good symbols of love and protection with some medicinal properties.






www.oneearth.org/species-of-the-week-syrian-brown-bear/

[Montezuma]

Ironically, Bear reverence is even found in the Egyptian Civilization; were there were no Bears !

The Bear was an animal non-indeginous to Egypt but not foreign to their imagery and symbolism since some evidences have revealed a very peculiar representation in bears in egypt as formerly mention, and some more explanation is given here. Be ready to be surprised!

"Although bears were considered among the non-native animals in ancient Egypt, they were represented in various scenes because of the ancient Egyptian obsession with exotic animals. Since the pre-dynastic period, Egyptian kings had imported bears or received them as tributes from Syria and kept them inside the royal menageries. The earliest evidence of a bear is found on an ivory knife handle, which was found at Jabal al-Tarif near Abydos from the Pre-dynastic period, while the earliest occurrence of importing a foreign bear comes from the court of King Sahure mortuary temple at Abusir. This study aims to examine the origin of bears and how they were entered to Egypt, in addition to their mention in ancient Egyptian language and literature. This work sheds light on the characteristic features of bears and their representation in art from the Pre-dynastic period until the late period. It explains how bears were used as a tool to display the ancient Egyptian political and militaristic mastery over foreign lands."


"Bears are regarded as not indigenous animals in ancient Egypt. They were imported from the Near East and Syria since the pre-dynastic period. During the New Kingdom, bears and other exotic animals were introduced to Egypt as political gifts or tribute from rulers of other countries. In addition to bears, other rare animals such as: giraffes, rhinoceros, elephants, horses, ibex, and bulls were brought to Egypt as tributes from different foreign lands. The earliest occurrence of importing a foreign bear comes from the court of King Sahure mortuary temple at Abusir. This scene is a part of an expedition sent by King Sahure to the Levant to bring cedar wood. On their way back, Egyptians brought several Syrian bears, represented wearing collars and tethered to the ground. Sahure has commemorated this voyage because of the exotic creatures that he brought with him."

journals.ekb.eg/article_258029.html

[Montezuma]

Bear in Egyptian Language or Literature


"There was no definite designation for bears in the ancient Egyptian language. The word 


 Htmt which means Destroyer, or a Syrian wild animal, was mentioned next to the lion and the leopard."

"By comparing the scene of Ramses II from Luxor temple  regardingthe Satuna battle, it can be concluded that the word Htmt means bear."


"Bears were mentioned in the ancient Egyptian literature in different papyri such as Anastasia papyrus I, Turin papyrus, Sallier IV papyrus, Sallier I papyrus , Leiden demotic papyrus I. According to Anastasia I papyrus from the reign of the king Ramses II, there was a story revolves around an advice given by Hori to his friend Amenemope to avoid the idea of crossing an unknown dangerous country."

"Hori mentioned a story from the Satuna battle which appeared on a scene at Luxor temple, the story about a man trying to escape from a wild animal called "Htmt" by climbing a tree."

According to the story, Hori tells his friend:



"(When) he found the bear on the interior 17 of the balsam tree".

There is another mention of a bear from Turin papyrus from the reign of the king Ramses II reads as follows:



"(When) you find the bear".

"Bears were also mentioned in the Sallier IV papyrus (nineteenth dynasty), wherein we are told that a battle between god Horus and god Seth took place on the twenty sixth day of the month Thoth. Horus and Seth fought in the form of two men, but later they transferred themselves into two bears, and they remained for three days and three nights in this form."

There is a text from Sallier I papyrus (twenty first dynasty) that describes the dangers which might face the Egyptian:



"He no longer distinguishes between death and life because of the lions and bears".

journals.ekb.eg/article_258029.html

[Montezuma]

"Bears have been mentioned in Leiden demotic papyrus I (fourth century C.E). The Demotic story is known as The Myth of the Eye of the Sun (Leiden Dem. Pap. I 384) narrates that goddess Tefnut the daughter and "eye" of the sun god Re, had left Egypt and lived in Nubia after a fight against her father. Later, the god Re had sent Thoth to bring goddess Tefnut back to Egypt and calm her down. On their way back to Egypt, Thoth decided to entertain Tefnut with fables. Among the fables is the fable of "The Lion in search of Man", which occupies pages 17/9-18/34 of the Leiden papyrus. According to this fable, one day a lion met some animals including a bear whose claws had been removed and whose teeth had been pulled by a man. The lion asked the bear: "Is man stronger than you?" He said: "That is the truth. I had a servant who prepared my food. He said to me: "Truly, your claws stick out from your flesh; you cannot pick up food with them. Your teeth protrude; they do not let the food reach your mouth. Release me, and I will cause you to pick up twice as much food!' When I released him, he removed my claws and my teeth. I have no food and no strength without them! He strewed sand in my eyes and ran away from me." 

"According to the previous papayri, the Htmt is a large predatory animal that inhabits Syria, either in mountainous or forests, accompanied by lions." (Thats undoutably a Bear).

 "The Torah mentioned both lions and bears with each other in an equal way, and therefore the word Htmt, which means the destroyer,  came from the word htm meaning to destroy, as the bear is an animal that causes a lot of destruction because of its huge size."

"According to ancient papyri and texts, bears were regarded as a great danger to any person, like the crocodile, and they were mentioned in curses. Bears were usually mentioned together with other dangerous beasts such as lions, leopards, and panthers."

journals.ekb.eg/article_258029.html

[Montezuma]

The representation of bears in ancient Egyptian art

"The earliest evidence for the existence of a bear in ancient Egypt dates back to the pre-dynastic period. A bear was represented on an ivory knife handle, which was found at Jabal al-Tarif near Abydos. Perhaps, it was an early import from Mesopotamia (Fig.1). The bear is characterized here by some black lines that express its fur."







An ivory knife handle, Found at: Jabal al-Tarif (Egypt),  Dating: Naqada II

"A statue of a small bear with a short tail dates back to the first dynasty was found at Abydos, showing the usual attitude and characteristic features of this animal (Fig. 2)."



Clay statue of a bear, Found at: Abydos, Dating: first dynasty

"Another evidence for the existence of bears in ancient Egypt comes from Mostagedda (an archaeological site in Asyut). Some amulets of seals dating from the fourth to the eleventh dynasties were found. On one of the amulets an animal was shown, it was described by Osborn as it is a four legged animal with short ears and nose and the shape of the foot suggest that this animal is a bear. (Fig. 3)."




(Fig. 3) A bear is depicted on an amulet,  Found at: Mostagedda,  Dating: Fourth to the eleventh dynasties

journals.ekb.eg/article_258029.html

[Gorilla king]

Montezuma


Very nice research bro! I especially liked the ivory knife handle at reply #25, awesome.

[Montezuma]

"On the northern wall of Unas causeway at Saqqara, there is a well executed hunting scene of the king. Some specious of native and rare animals are represented in a procession such as: antelopes, gazelles, oryx, sheep, antelopes, wild goats, lions, leopards, desert hares, hedgehogs, foxes and hyenas. There is a bear depicted among the animals characterized by its long, flat-footed legs, short tail, and circular buttocks. This bear is similar to the bears represented on the temple of Sahure".





A bear among other animals, Location of the scene: The northern wall of Unas causeway at Saqqara, Dating: Fifth dynasty

"There is a pottery statue dating back to the twelfth dynasty or thereabout was found at Abydos representing two bears. This statue is another piece of evidence for the existence of bears in ancient Egypt between the Middle Kingdom and the First Intermediate Period".




A pottery figure resembling a bear and cub, Found at: Abydos, Dating: Between Middle Kingdom and the First Intermediate Period



A bear in a tribute scene Tomb of Rekhmire (TT 100), Sheikh Abd elQurna, 18th dynasty.

journals.ekb.eg/article_258029.html

[Montezuma]

A headless bear,  Tomb of Ineni (TT.81), Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, Eighteenth dynasty


A wooden statue of a bear, Dating: Probably New Kingdom



A man leading a bear, Tomb of Ibi (TT 36), ElAssasif, Twenty-fifth dynasty, Location of the scene: Location of the scene: West wall of the hall

journals.ekb.eg/article_258029.html

[Montezuma]

"BEAR (37, and דוב, dov)

No doubt exists about the identity of this animal, which still bears it an ancient Hebrew name in the dialects of Western Asia. The genus is well known as containing the largest, strongest, and most formidable carnivorous quadruped of Europe; but the species mentioned in the sacred Scriptures is one peculiar to the mountainous parts of Palestine and Syria, and has only recently come under the recognition of naturalista. A specimen killed by Ehrenberg and Hemprich, in Lebanon, afforded the first opportunity of determining this anciently renowned animal, and they, finding it undescribed, named it Ursus Syriacus. It in Syrian Dear-Ureus Syriacus, about as large as the brown bear of Europe, but is lower on the legs, proportionately higher at the withers, furnished with a conspicuous tail, and a high mane of stiff hair between the shoulders. Its colour is a yellowish-white, sometimes deepening to buff, and occasionally clouded with light and dark tints.

Besides the notices that occur in Scripture, we have evidence of the existence of bears in Syria from early times. In an ancient Egyptian painting representing tribute brought to Thothmes III., the bearers, a fair haired, bearded race, clad in long garments, and white gloves, bring among many other articles a living bear, which by its form and colour belongs to the present species. Many of the adjuncts of this scene indicate the people to be Phoenicians.

A procession much like this occurred in Egypt long
after, in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, where "a single white bear" made a prominent figure. And Prosper Alpinus speaks of white bears as existing in Arabia and Egypt.

In the middle ages the crusaders occasionally fell in with the Syrian bear, and gave testimony to its fero- city. Godfrey of Bouillon, during the siege of Antioch, was riding in a neighbouring forest, when he saw a pensant carrying a load of wood, fleeing from an en- raged bear. The king gallantly spurred to the rescue, and the animal turning upon him, he was unhorsed by its furious assault on his steed, and fought on foot. After a severe struggle, in which he was dangerously wounded, he buried his sword to the hilt in his savage foe, and killed him."

The value of this story is the confirmation it affords of the ancient reputation of this beast for power and ferocity. The allusions to it in the sacred writers constantly represent it as little inferior to the lion in savage violence, with which animal it is frequently associated in historical narrative, 18a. xvii. 34-37, and in poetical imagery, Fr. xxvill. 15; La. iii. 10; Ho. xill 7, 8; Am. v. 10. The ferocity of this powerful brute was the divine instrument in the punishment of forty-two youths, who blasphemously mocked the mission of Elisha, 2 KI. 1. 24. This ferocity is manifested with pe- culiar intensity by the female, either in defence of her cube, or in revenge for the loss of them, 2 Sa. xvii. 8; Pr. xvii. 12, &c.; a fact illustrated by many well-known mo- dern narratives of other species, particularly the Polar bear, to which syrian brown bear has affinity."





www.google.com.pk/books/edition/Imperial_Bible_Dictionary/37oza7GCEmgC?hl=en

[Montezuma]

"In contrast, people in the "Holy Land," as well as those in Jordan and Syria, hold the bear in high esteem, referencing it in the Hebrew Bible to symbolize maternal protectiveness and love."

www.oneearth.org/species-of-the-week-syrian-brown-bear/

Some description about syrian bear's importance in folklore, symbolism and bible.

books.google.com.pk/books?id=KM8YRXWkS_EC&pg=PA49&dq=jerome+bear+and+lion&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&authuser=2&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwig4qKC87eDAxWpSPEDHS7JCp84ChDoAXoECAMQAw#v=onepage&q=jerome%20bear%20and%20lion&f=false

books.google.com.pk/books?id=6mLKZ9tuLzUC&pg=PA160&dq=jerome+bear+and+lion&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&authuser=2&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwja8O7V8reDAxVVa_EDHZ-gDkQQ6AF6BAgKEAM#v=onepage&q=jerome%20bear%20and%20lion&f=false

[oldcyansilverback]

Aug 5, 2022 23:35:42 GMT -5 Montezuma said:

"Bears were mentioned in the Bible, with ambiguous interpretation: David fought this ferocious animal but the bears fell down before Saint Euphemia instead of tearing her to pieces."

scfh.ru/en/papers/the-most-russian-of-all-beasts/#:~:text=All%20in%20all%2C%20there%20are,

In the Bible the Medes (represented by the bear) defeated Babylon (represented by the lion).

[Montezuma]

Göbekli Tepe and Çatalhöyük are two among most oldest Neolithic cultures in the world found in ancient upper Mesopotamia (modern day Turkey). In these two important cultures, figures of bear and bear-woman (probably bear goddess) are found respectively which signifies the reverence of bears in Near East's two most ancient cultures. Here is some details about those:

Göbekli Tepe

Göbekli Tepe (Turkish: [ɟœbecˈli teˈpe],[2] 'Potbelly Hill';[3] Kurdish: Girê Mirazan or Xirabreşkê, 'Wish Hill'[4]) is a Neolithic archaeological site in the Southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. The settlement was inhabited from c. 9500 to at least 8000 BCE,[5] during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic. It is famous for its large circular structures that contain massive stone pillars – among the world's oldest known megaliths. Many of these pillars are decorated with anthropomorphic details, clothing, and sculptural reliefs of wild animals, providing archaeologists rare insights into prehistoric religion and the particular iconography of the period. The 15 m (50 ft) high, 8 ha (20-acre) tell is densely covered with ancient domestic structures[6] and other small buildings, quarries, and stone-cut cisterns from the Neolithic, as well as some traces of activity from later periods.



en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6bekli_Tepe

Çatalhöyük

Çatalhöyük (English: Chatalhoyuk /ˌtʃɑːtɑːlˈhujʊk/ cha-tal-HOO-yuhk; Turkish pronunciation: [tʃaˈtaɫhœjyc]; also Çatal Höyük and Çatal Hüyük; from Turkish çatal "fork" + höyük "tumulus") is a tell (a mounded accretion due to long-term human settlement) of a very large Neolithic and Chalcolithic proto-city settlement in southern Anatolia, which existed from approximately 7500 BC to 6400 BC and flourished around 7000 BC.[2] In July 2012, it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[3]



en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%87atalh%C3%B6y%C3%BCk

[Montezuma]

Çatalhöyük

"The discovery in 2005 of a well preserved stamp seal, or pintadera, in the form of a bear emphasizes the wild animal theme and has introduced a new interpretation of the famous full- body plaster reliefs, at least ten, of which, have been found on sanctuary walls in Levels VII and VI of the site.
These are stylized figures with outstretched and sometimes upturned arms and legs. In all cases the heads, and usually the hands and feet, have been knocked off in antiquity, apparently as part of a closing ritual. Many have navels indicated. It has never been clear whether these were meant to be humanoid (Mellaart´s goddess giving birth), animal, or a therianthropic blend. In one case the surrounding plaster retained signs of what seemed to be rounded ears. Thanks to a stamp seal found in the summer 2005 season . . . we can now argue persuasively that these are animal figures, probably bears (Russell 2006b: 186).

In the recent catalogue of an exhibition on Çatalhöyük that took place in Istanbul where the pintadera was displayed, stamp seal specialist Ali Umut Türcan writes:

Although these reliefs have been interpreted as figures of the mother goddess, this evidence points to the fact that they actually represent a bear, and are therefore a male image (Türkcan 2006:48).
Türkcan’s declaration conforms to Hodder’s systematic reinterpretation of symbolism at Çatal in primarily male terms.





www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.archaeomythology.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/2007-vol3-a7-marler-haarmann.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjfwKq4zuGHAxU7QvEDHcw_CMcQFnoECBgQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0DSaZkgogKfJIE_0xTabTg

[Montezuma]

"A bear paw with plaster still on it, found in a side room of Shrine VI/10, suggests that the paw may have originally been attached to the bas relief in the main room (Hodder 2006a:199). It is even possible that a bear skin, with paws attached, could have been stretched over the human-like contours of the relief creating a fusion between human and bear."


"One view of metaphor, according to Lakoff and Johnson (1980:5) is “understanding one thing in terms of another.” While Hodder has jettisoned Mellaart’s interpretation that the reliefs represent a Mother Goddess, preferring the notion that they are simply bears, it useful to inquire into the possibility that a bear-woman may indeed have functioned as a complex metaphor for the people of Çatalhöyük. 

  I’m only willing to go so far as the evidence will take it and we either have to wait for more things to be found or you have to come up with some other idea of how to look at the evidence that will show that the mother is there, or that the bear things are women (from Interview with Ian Hodder, this issue). "



"The cryptic handle of the bear seal, which is precisely in this iconic shape, replicates an exceedingly ancient visual formula for woman. It therefore provides a visual key for recognizing the conjoining of both bear and woman into one composite image. It also provides a key for acknowledging the hybrid nature of the anthropomorphic bas reliefs found on the walls of houses at Çatalhöyük. Given the great longevity of this female imagery, the visual and mythological associations between woman and bear, and the nature of female bears as fierce protective mothers, we therefore propose that a bear woman, or Bear Goddess at Çatalhöyük may have represented the primordial potency of the one who gives birth to all life, who is the protector of life, and who is also the death-wielder and source of rebirth. While it is not possible to know the specific lore and ritual practices associated with such an image, this Bear Woman, or Bear Goddess—who, as a potent presence, was ritually replastered and renewed again and again in specially appointed rooms—must have functioned as a powerful visual metaphor of enduring significance for the inhabitants of the remarkable settlement of Çatalhöyük."


www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.archaeomythology.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/2007-vol3-a7-marler-haarmann.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiB1_bq0OGHAxVtB9sEHY8rBj0QFnoECBgQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0DSaZkgogKfJIE_0xTabTg

[Montezuma]

Before I move to the other Neolithic cultures please first let me know that are these images visible?

[Gorilla king]

Aug 6, 2024 19:35:39 GMT -5 Montezuma said:

Before I move to the other Neolithic cultures please first let me know that are these images visible?

Yeah they are visible. Great research.

[Montezuma]

Göbekli tepe






"The spirit essence of the Bear is, the one that arises from the long sleep, a metaphor made with death. In the horizontal orientation of the stone the Bear can be viewed as, pictorially, crawling, or, climbing upwards. The Bear’s rounded Ears are the “U” shaped sign for. turning, positional, on the surface,. The Ears allude to the orifices, or, the holes, Left and Right or, in the east and in the west.2 Pictorially, the Marks on the Bear’s back represent, fur, but in terms of a sign, they represent, flowing water. The Line of the Spine of the Bear indicates, at. or, on the surface-side. The Bear’s short Tail, is in the Form of a Finger pointing a direction, there, downwards, positional, on the side. The Curvature, arising, of the Bear’s Stomach as, a vessel, a container of water, and the Throat as, a connecting tunnel, between, the Stomach and the Mouth, a source of water. The Bear’s Arm, the warrior, and Hand, the steward of the Sun, positional, below and above, have a rightward Tilting Stance that indicates, awaiting, the arising, positional, on the side. Finally, we come to the Bear’s Circular, the one, his location, Eye, The Eye of the Sun, --Venus. There is another Form that might be considered a Shadow of the Bear as it is rather deeply incised and smoothed compared to the rest of the engravings. This Form does seem to express some sort of relationship between the Bear and the Feline’s spirit essence, the one that hunts in the darkness (the night). The Feline represents the nocturnal Sun. The Head alludes to the Face, her appearance, in the darkness. The Sun is also, heading, east and follows the Form of the arising bear."




www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.academia.edu/36332230/The_Gobekli_Tepe_Animal_Imagery_Enclosure_D_&ved=2ahUKEwjw4qux9eGHAxXmcaQEHZryH38QFnoECBoQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2sHB15DlwZ0tsNeSNgvdPj

[Montezuma]

"Despite its incompleteness, the horizontal part of P11 probably suggests the presence of another large carnivore : From the proportions of the four extremities, which clearly characterize the animal as heavy, and the fact that the paws present five toes, it can be postulated that brown bear also figured among the taxa depicted."

"Besides wild boar, brown bear may also have been depicted at enclosure C. Interestingly, evidence for this large quadruped in the PPN archaeofaunal record is rare, but its remains have been found at Çayönü (Hongo et al. 2002)."

www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237785162_Animals_in_the_Symbolic_World_of_Pre-Pottery_Neolithic_Gobekli_Tepe_South-eastern_Turkey_A_Preliminary_Assessment&ved=2ahUKEwjkq9qZ9uGHAxU6RaQEHawMCxcQFnoECBUQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3G0ChR2Frbjh_Ud1x8Ww_A

[Montezuma]

"Moreover, the study which I made of the stamp seal assemblage in 1997, of a hand-shaped seal, with larger and bold digits in oval form, was already singled out (Level IV, Area E1; Mellaart 1964.Fig. 41.4), as it was considered as likely to be a bear paw as a human hand (Türkcan 2005.Seal No. 19). In earlier research, I was hesitant to say that it was a bear paw, but in the light of our bear representation, it can be called as a bear paw on the light of bear paw (Fig. 5)."



"The evidence from the stamp seals and probable splayed figures testify that the bear cult was another important ritual figure, as well as the leopard and bull cults throughout many levels among the Çatalhöyük Neolithic community. On the other hand, the cult of the bear was already a deeply rooted belief from the Middle Paleolithic (and until recent peoples in the Arctic. The first evidence of a bear cult is observed at a Middle Paleolithic site at Régourdou. Régourdou constitutes a case for some kind of bearcentered animal cult some 60 000–70 000 years ago (Hayden 2005)."

www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228931893_Is_it_goddess_or_bear_The_role_of_Catalhoyuk_animal_seals_in_Neolithic_symbolism&ved=2ahUKEwil-qfThPeHAxUSQ_EDHS3CBloQFnoECBUQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3aMUEG8IhAu_6qOJaCgDL1