Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

To: akash; anu_shr; keri
In the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara, Turkey
there is a famous heraldic ornament from Catal Huyuk
dating from 2500 B.C.
It is decorated with 19 swastikas.

The ancient swastika is found in many cultures
including the Hindu, Buddhist, and pre-Buddhist Tibet.

It adorns temples both Hindu and Buddhist
not just in India
but even as far away as Korea.

On one occasion
while dining in a Chinese restaurant
staring idly at the wall decorations
I was startled to notice a pair of swastikas.

In Hindu theology
the clockwise turning swastika represents the positive forces of the universe.
(One ALWAYS circles a temple or shrine in the clockwise direction.)
A swastika turning counter-clockwise represents forces tending to destruction.

The Nazis adopted the counter-clockwise swastika as their emblem.
39 posted on 11/15/2002 7:54:55 PM PST by Nogbad
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies ]


To: Nogbad
Thanks for the information. I always learn something from you.
40 posted on 11/15/2002 8:06:23 PM PST by keri
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies ]

To: Mitchell; keri
I thought you might be interested in my post #39
since it bears on the origin of the Indo-European languages
which I mentioned to you some time ago.

My belief
(not my theory, since many others proposed it before me)
is that these languages originated in present day Turkey
more particularly, in the Anatolian plain.

The archaeological site
Catal Huyuk
(umlauts over the U's and a cedilla under the C)
("Fork Mound" in Turkish)
is the oldest in Turkey
and probably one of the oldest cities in the world
dating back at least 8000 years.

I believe it was the source of the Indo-European languages.
The swastika is one little piece of evidence for this theory.
(By the way, I never have seen this ornament mentioned anywhere
in any of the articles, or polemics, about the origins of IE.)

The Hittites who are the earliest known Indo-Europeans
and inhabited Anatolia about 1800 BC
also used the swastika in their art.
For example,
in the stunningly beautiful bas-relief engraved on a bare rock face
near the tiny village of Ivriz
(not far from Catal Huyuk and very rarely visited by tourists.)

I also agree with those who say
there never was any 'Aryan invasion' of India
but rather a gradual migration of farmers
who moved steadily across the plains over the centuries
in search of new land.
41 posted on 11/16/2002 12:01:04 AM PST by Nogbad
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies ]

To: Nogbad
"On one occasion while dining in a Chinese restaurant staring idly at the wall decorations I was startled to notice a pair of swastikas."

It is used as a good luck charm in China.

47 posted on 11/16/2002 5:59:07 AM PST by blam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson