PREHISTORIC
PART
4 –
Ch.XXIV
Prehistoric
monuments of metallurgic art in Dacia
Stele Chryse Megale – The great gold column consecrated to
Uranos,
Saturn and Jove
XXIV.
1. Evhemerus about the Gold Column dedicated to Uranos, etc.
Another monument of
a capital historical importance, which had existed in ancient times on the
territory inhabited by the Dacians,
had been the great Gold Column,
erected in honor of Uranos, Saturn and Jove, about which speaks the historic Evhemerus of Mesena, a man of vast
erudition, who according to Pliny
(H. N. lib. XXXVI. 17. 2), had lived in the epoch following Herodotus, and
according to others around 316bc.
This Evhemerus, a
disciple of the Cyrenaic philosophical school, had written a sacred history
based on the documents and inscriptions collected in his various travels.
Evhemerus’ book had
enjoyed a long life in the antique literature and, as Varro tells us, the poet Ennius
had translated it (De agricultura,
In this writing of
his, Evhemerus talked about a gold column dedicated to Uranos, Saturn, Jove, Apollo and Diana, in a region called by him “Arabia from the Ocean”, or “
We will reproduce
here firstly a part of Evhemerus’ text, as we find it extracted and
intercalated in the history of Diodorus
Siculus (lib. V. c. 41 - 46).
“In this region” –
the author speaks about
At the extremities
of this region, on the lower part of the Ocean, there are a number of islands,
out of which three especially deserve a historical description. The first is called the sacred island (‘Iera) and in it is not
permitted the burial of the deceased. Another island (the second) is removed from the first by only 7 stades (1.47km) and
in this are transported and interred the deceased …Apart from these (two
islands) there exists another big island
(the third), at a distance of 30
stades (6.3km) from the latter … It is situated on the eastern part of the
Ocean and has a length of a number of stades. From the promontory which stretches
eastwards it is said that it is seen the Indic
region (‘Indicha), seemingly covered in mist because of the great
distance.
In Panchea (this is the name of the big
island and of the neighboring region) there are a number of things deserving to
be mentioned in a historical description.
The inhabitants of
Panchea are partly indigenous (autochtones), and they are called Panchei, and partly have migrated here,
and are called Oceanites, Indians,
Cretans and Scythians. In
Panchea exists a famous city called Panara
which surpasses all the other cities in its prosperity. Its inhabitants are
called the devotees of Jove Triphylios,
and they alone among the entire population of Panchea live according to their
laws (autonomoi), and without having any king …. On an open plain, at
a distance of about 60 stades (12.6km) from this city, there is the
Beyond this plain
there is a high mountain consecrated
to the gods, which is called Uranos’
Chair and Olympos Trifylios. It
is said that at the time when he had reigned over the empire of the world, old
Uranos enjoyed spending time in these parts, and that from the highest peak of
this mountain he observed the sky and the stars. Later though, this mountain
had received the name of Olympos
Trifylios because the inhabitants were composed of three tribes, namely Panchei, Oceanites and Doi, who
later had been ousted from here by Ammon. It is said that this Ammon, not only
had ousted from here this people, but had also entirely destroyed and razed to
the ground their cities Doia and Asterusa. On this mountain the priests
organize each year with great religiosity a festivity ….
There are also in
this island three big important cities called Hyracia, Dalis and Oceanis.
This entire region
produces abundant fruit. But a lot of wine of every kind is especially made
here. The men are warlike and use the old custom of chariot battles. Their
entire social organization is composed of three parts. The first class is that
of the priests (iereis) and in this same class are the artisans. The second
class is composed of the agriculturists (georgoi), and in the third class are
the soldiers (stratiotai); in this class are also the shepherds (nomeis).
The leaders of everybody are the priests. These rule over the controversies and
have power over everything which happens. The agriculturists work the land, but
they gather the fruit of the earth and share it in common. And when it is
distributed, those who had worked the land better receive the biggest part
(according to the judgment of the priests) … Also the shepherds put in common
willingly the sacrifices and all the other things destined for public use ….
But generally it is not permitted to anybody to have anything as private
property, apart from the house and garden. The priests receive all that the
animals give birth to, all the produces, and they distribute later to each what
each rightly deserves ….
As dress, the
inhabitants use soft vestments, because their sheep have particularly fine
wool. The men, as well as the women, wear gold ornaments. They wear woven
chains around the neck and bracelets on the arms ….The soldiers receive wages
for the ordinary services they carry out; they are divided in groups, defend
the country and strengthen it with defensive works …. The priests carry out the
religious service for gods mostly with hymns, praising in verse their deeds and
their good turns for the people.
Their nation, as
they say, comes from
They also show even
inscriptions (anagramas), redacted according to them by Jove himself at the
time when he lived with the mortals, and had put the foundation of the temple. Abundant gold, silver, copper, tin and iron mines are also in this land (chora),
but nothing is permitted to be exported outside the island …. There are also in
that temple a great number of holy gifts of gold and silver, consecrated in
honor of the gods, preserved in large heaps, from a remote age ….The Bed or
Chair of the god is 6 ells long, 4 ells wide; it is entirely made of gold and
each side is worked with great art. Near the bed is the table of the god, as
magnificent and sumptuous as the other objects. At the center of the bed is
placed a huge gold column, written
with letters, which the Egyptians call sacred.
With these letters are described the deeds of Uranos and Jove, and to
this inscription Mercury (Hermes) had also added the description of the deeds
of Diana and Apollo” [1].
[1. Diodorus Siculus resumes in another place Evhemerus’ description
about happy
“The ancients have left their
successors two different concepts about gods, namely that some are eternal and will never perish, like the sun, moon and the other stars of the sky, also the winds and others of the same
nature, because each of these has an eternal origin and life. And they tell us
that the other gods are people from earth, who had earned for themselves a cult
and divine honors, for the benefices they brought to mankind, like Hercules,
Bachus, Aristeus and others similar to them …
Evhemerus,
the friend of king Cassandrus (of Macedonia), who had to carry out some
missions, and travel far away in the interest of this king, says that, after
boarding ship from happy Arabia, had
sailed for a number of days on the Ocean, and that finally he had arrived to
some islands surrounded by big waters, out of which one was more important and
it was called Panchea. There he saw
the inhabitants called Panchei, who
excel in their piety and venerate the gods with magnificent preparations and
sacrifices, as well as with the finest gifts of gold and silver. This island is
sacred to the gods and has many
things deserving admiration, for their age as well as for the excellence of
their art, things which we have particularly described in our preceding book.
Namely, there is in this island a high
hill, and on its top there is the
Evhemerus also adds that Uranos was the first to reign, being a
man with high feelings of justice, with great goodwill and very learned in the
course of the stars. He was the first to venerate the divinities of the sky
with victims, and because of this he had been called Ouranos, Sky” (Diodorus Siculus, Ed. Didot, lib. VI. c. 2).
By comparing these two extracts made
by Diodorus, one in book V and the other in book VI of his history, we have in
front of us a small example of the confusion introduced in the original text of
Evhemerus even by Diodorus Siculus himself. In the first extract, the Sacred
island is not Panchea, in the second they are identical. In the first extract
the column of Uranos was written with letters called sacred by the Egyptians, in the second with national Panchean letters. In book V Diodorus says that the
These are the
principal geographical and ethnographical data left from Evhemerus, regarding “
The sacred history
of Evhemerus had in antiquity many enemies, because of the tendency of this
Cyrenaic philosopher to explain the mythology through history, and especially to
prove that some of the great gods of the ancient religion had been simple
mortals, who had earned divine honors for their merits and power.
These antagonists
of the system introduced by Evhemerus in the sacred history of antiquity,
declared as a lie the entire description made by him of the region called Panchea and of the happy and pious
people who dwelt in those extremities of the ancient world (Polybius, lib. XXXIV. 5. 9; Strabo, lib. II. 4. 2; Plutarc, D’Isis et d’Osiris, 1784, Tome
XI, p. 309).
Their reasoning had
some convincing appearances. These enemies of the Cyrenaic doctrines brought as
proof the fact that in the Arabian Ocean, where they looked for this happy land
of Evhemerus, had never existed either the peoples, or the cities, institutions
and islands about which this atheist philosopher spoke, who in fact wanted no
more nor less than to overthrow the ancient Greek religion.
We shall examine
here this important narrative of Evhemerus, from a historic and geographic
point of view, in order to understand the true existence and situation of this
memorable region.