Gobekli Tepe's Pillars

Another nail in the coffin of the Scorpion King

The above image is a copy of some rock graffiti found by John and Deborah Darnell, Egyptologists at Yale University, in the Egyptian desert, about 25 miles north west of Thebes. In Prehistory Decoded, I partially decode the lower portion of this scene. Now, I want to show how the whole scene can be decoded.

We begin with the falcon-scorpion pair on the bottom right. As shown in an earlier post, the falcon-scorpion pair likely indicate the autumn equinox is transitioning between the Sagittarius and Scorpius constellations, and therefore represent the date 3500 BC, to within a few hundred years. Darnell, suggests this pair represents the name of the Scorpion King, because the falcon (the symbol for Horus) often means 'King', or pharaoh, when followed by another symbol in hieroglyphics. The problem is that this scene, along will all supposed 'Scorpion King' inscriptions, predate the invention of hieroglyphics by hundreds of years. Therefore, using hieroglyphic conventions to interpret them is likely to mislead.

Moreover, Egyptologists that support this interpretation of the Scorpion King name have no coherent explanation for the other animals and symbols in this scene. They are just wild animals, supposedly. For example, the 'eye' symbol at the top left is thought to be a seat or boat or other object which has little to do with the rest of this scene. But, in my view, this 'eye' symbol is likely to actually be a 'sunset' symbol, just like the 'handbags' on the Horus Stone (Pillar 43) at Gobekli Tepe. It is indicating this scene represents a date using precession of the equinoxes.

So what about the other symbols? Well, we know from analysing the Cippus of Horus scene (see an earlier post) that the ibex/gazelle represents Aquarius in pre-dynastic Egypt. It's the same here. Also, we have already seen that when neighbouring zodiacal symbols are shown next to each other, it likely means the respective equinox or solstice is in transition between them - just as for the falcon-scorpion pair. We also know from our ancient zodiac that the tall bending bird represents Pisces. So the combination tall bird-ibex/gazelle probably represents a transition from Pisces to Aquarius. If this is correct, this date will also need to be around 3500 BC, to within a few hundred years, to be consistent with the falcon-scorpion pair. Using Stellarium, we find the winter solstice is in transition between Pisces and Aquarius at 3600 BC, to within a few hundred years. The agreement is excellent.

In Prehistory Decoded I explain that the tall bird with a snake at the bottom likely indicates meteors emanating from Pisces, which at that time would correspond to the constellation at the maximum intensity of the Taurid meteor stream. Indeed, there are many anomalous event at this time in prehistory, including major cultural transitions, mass migrations and rapid climate change events, all pointing to Earth's intersection with the Taurid meteor stream.

Nearly all the symbols in this scene have now been decoded. The main symbol (apart from a strange 'w' at bottom left) remaining to be decoded is the obvious figure of a person holding a mace. This symbol appears to be very similar to the figure of what is assumed to be Menes, the first king of Egypt, in the Narmer Palette (try Googling this). This is another reason why this rock graffiti scene has been interpreted as the Scorpion King. Supposedly, the figure at bottom left is the Scorpion King leading his vanquished foe on a leash. But now that the rest of this scene is decoded, an alternative astronomical interpretation for this figure with a mace can be provided. Probably, it is Orion.