Chessquest

Goddesschess Sixth Anniversary Celebration
Trips to New York and the Oriental Institute Museum in Chicago
September 23 - October 3, 2005

Part 3

New York Trip
New York Trip 2
New York Trip 4

Photo Gallery

 

Some Images from the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art

We saw several hybrid women/chair artifacts at the Met in the "Greek" section, where the woman formed the back and arms of the chair, dating to circa 1400 BCE. As time permits we hope to find some image-examples of what we saw and publish them here. This artifact, although not like the hybrid women/chair artifacts, caught Jan's eye because she thought her form very evocative of some Islamic chess kings and queens that are shaped like thrones (although of course, much later in history). Of course, the most famous throne/woman of all is Isis (Aset), whose very name means throne in ancient Egyptian and whose symbol was the stepped throne. The call number for this artifact is 1989.281.41a,b and she is identified as:

Seated female, Middle/Late Bronze Age; 3rd-2d millennium B.C.
Central Asia, Bactria - Margiana
Steatite or chlorite, alabaster; H. 9 cm, W. 9.4 cm
Gift of Norbert Schimmel Trust, 1989

"Western Central Asia, now known as Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and northern Afghanistan, has yielded objects attesting to a highly developed civilization in the late third and early second millennium B.C. Artifacts from the region indicate that there were contacts with Iran to the southwest.

Among the few three-dimensional images assigned to this period in Central Asia are a group of stone female figures seated or squatting on a platform and wearing a robe decorated with a pattern, perhaps imitating sheep's fleece. They are always composite figures of soft green chlorite or steatite, with heads of white limestone. This example has a typical abstract form with an armless body and legs represented by a protruding ledge.

Excavated examples of this figure type come from sites in Margiana in southern Turkmenistan, a possible center of their production. Similar seated females on cylinder seal impressions from southwestern Iran appear to depict royal figures. On compartmented stamp seals from western Central Asia, a possible version of the female figure appears where she is sometimes flanked by or seated upon animals or mythical creatures. These attributes could indicate a divine quality."

Having seen this piece in person, Jan doesn't think the markings on the lady are meant to represent a sheep's fleece! The markings are far too regular and are done in the kind of design she has seen on very ancient bird goddess figurines - cross-hatch "v" or "w" marks.

* * * Note added 10/23/05: Jan found this Bactrian princess at the Louvre and it is clear that she is of the same type of piece as the one from the Met above:

Statuette d'une divinite feminine vetue d'un kaunak�s, appelee "Princesse de Bactriane''
Chlorite, calcite
Don de la Societe des Amis du Louvre, fevrier 2003
Departement des Antiquites orientales AO 31917

This "Bactrian Princess" example actually shows vestigial arms with hands resting on her 'lap'. Interesting, rather reminiscent of some of the seated 'pointed queens' from Marilyn Yalom's book, "Birth of the Chess Queen". Notice that on the Bactrian Princess, the right hand is pointed toward her knee, while her left hand is resting parallel to her chest against the "stomach" area. The chevron-shape of the markings/carvings is quite pronounced, making diamond-shapes on the Princess' lap and lower "skirt" area. "Sheep's fleece", heh? More likely, the distinctive patterns are a continuation of extremely ancient chevron patterns (also sometimes called "M", "V" or "W" patterns) always used to denote the goddess.

Here is what the Louvre website says about the piece: "A chlorite and alabaster statuette of a Bactrian princess: a gift of the Friends of the Louvre.

This small statuette is in fact made of three parts slotted together. The gown and hair are carved in chlorite, while the neck and face are in fine white limestone. The statuette is of a seated woman wearing a loose gown, crossed over on her back, which envelops her entire body. The general shape of her body is a sort of oval pebble with a horizontal shelf for the knees. Fewer than ten such statuettes of comparable quality survive. This statuette is remarkable for the soft, almost smiling expression on the woman's face. The Louvre already holds another such Bactrian princessÑa majestic statuette of a woman standing, but with the facial features barely suggested. These statuettes, generally known as Princesses, played a key role in Central Asian mythology, where they were worshipped as major goddesses. They ruled over the natural order, as the forces of nature were believed to be engaged in endless combat, requiring regulation by a superior force."

Yep, we think the Louvre has it right, this form represents a goddess of nature. It is only fitting that possibly as early as the 8th century CE Muslims (who, prior to converting to the new solo male god religion, had been worshippers of nature gods and had worshipped a triad of very important female goddesses) had adopted the goddess form (minus the head, which would otherwise obviously identify the form as a female) for the Queen and King in their chess sets in carved rock crystal sets made in Basra. That form simply carried on a very ancient tradition. By way of comparison, here is a slightly different slant on the subject at a website put together by Manfred A.J. Eder on various projects undertaken, evidently, through the auspices of financial grants from a German trust fund, the Foerderkreis Schach-Geschichtsforschung e.V. . The focus of this research is "chess out of India", a view with which Goddesschess does not necessarily agree, but the summary of some of the conclusions of the projects is worth reviewing:

7. The "Minister" (Queen) in Chess-Sets of the so-called "Arabian-Islamic" Style, with the characteristic that this piece is only smaller than the piece of the "King" but otherwise having an identical shape, is not a "degraded king" of the "four-handed" chess-like game (played with dice) - a theory strongly supported by the Chess-Historians Linder and Petzold.

The identical shape of "King" and "Queen" (Minister) is due to the fact that all the time right from his earliest existance the Caturanga-"King" had his "Advisor" (Minister: "Queen") next to him, and his qualification as a Statesman was always only little less than that of the Monarch.

(Project by Dr. habil. Renate Syed, Munich)

From this and from comparisons of "Arabian-Islamic" Chess-Sets with "Indian-Islamic" or earlier figurative Indian Chess-Sets it becomes clear that the concept of designing those two pieces principally identical is Indian and of ancient origin.

(Project by Manfred A.J. Eder, Kelkheim/Ts.)

8. It may be assumed that the "Arabian-Islamic" Style of Chessmen has its origin in a genious interpretation of "Indian-Islamic" Chess-Pieces by artisans working with rock-crystal in Basra (Iraq) Ð earlier than 800 AD.

It was already in the second half of the 8th century that the court of Bhagdad became famous of its chess-players and that game and gaming-pieces (made of rock-crystal) were brought from there to the Califat of Cordoba (Andaluz/Spain).

(Project by Manfred A.J. Eder, Kelkheim/Ts.)

The form of this late Minoan terracotta larnax (burial chest) is extremely reminiscent of earlier forms of Egyptian burial chests that were made out of wood that we saw at the Met in the Egyptian exhibits. (Our notes do not reflect that there were the type of designs that we are interested in on the older Egyptian burial chests, but the form otherwise is remarkably similar.) This one is call number 1996.521a,b and is identified as:

Larnax (chest-shaped coffin), mid-13th century B.C.;
Late Minoan IIIB Minoan; Greece, Crete Terracotta;
H. 40 in. (101.6 cm), W. 18 in. (45.7 cm), L. 42 1/4 in. (107.3 cm)
Anonymous Gift, in memory of Nicolas and Mireille Koutoulakis, 1996

This type of terracotta Minoan larnax (chest) with gabled lid was the standard burial vessel used in Crete from the early fourteenth to twelfth century B.C. Typically, it has a raised border and recessed panels on all four sides. Its structure suggests a wooden prototype, and recent scholarship has identified Egyptian linen chests as the probable models. The deceased was placed in a flexed position, and the larnax was secured with a cord strung through the holes in its rim and lid.

Spirals, wavy lines, checkerboards, and multiple arcs decorate the body and lid of this larnax. These nonfigural motifs, which are also well attested in contemporary pottery, may be simply decorative, or they may be conventional renderings of naturalistic images, such as rocky terrain or the sea."

Hmmm, who writes these descriptions for the Met? The checkerboard motif appears in countless artifacts all around the world, across all eras. It is universal. It must have some meaning other than being used as purely decorative mish-mash! It is, in fact, a constant motif intimately connected to goddess worship. Note that our supposition was right about this larnax being modeled after an Egyptian form. Well, after almost seven years of constant study, we have learned a great deal and earned our degrees, even if they aren't from "universities"

 

Terracotta krater, Krater, ca. 750735 B.C.; Geometric;
Geometric Attributed to the Hirschfeld Workshop Greek,
Attic Terracotta; height 42 5/8in. (108.3cm) diameter 28 1/2in. (72.4cm)
Rogers Fund, 1914 (14.130.14)

During the Geometric period, monumental grave markers were introduced in the form of large vases, often decorated with funerary representations. It was only in the Archaic period that stone sculptures were used as funerary monuments. On this magnificent krater, the main scene, which occupies the widest portion of the vase, shows the deceased laid upon a bier surrounded by members of his household and, at either side, mourners. For optimal clarity, the dead man is shown on his side and the checkered shroud that would normally cover the body has been raised and regularized into a long rectangle with two projections. The zone below shows a procession of chariots and foot soldiers. The figures may refer to the military exploits of the deceased; however, as hourglass shields and chariots played a more limited role at this time than in the earlier Bronze Age, the scene more likely evokes the glorious ancestry and traditions to which the dead man belonged.

Don specifically pointed out this example of the Greeks borrowing from a much more ancient Egyptian motif - the checkered ceiling representing the vault of the Heavens in a tomb context. This example is exceptional. Another terracotta krater from the Greek Attic period c. 725 BCE (item number 14.130.15) is not available on the Met's on-line catalog. It also showed extensive use of the checkerboard motif and a checkered ceiling over the body of the deceased, that was laid out on a sort of bier, but the artwork was not as fine as this example.

Jan recalled seeing in the Egyptian exhibit at the Met a portion of stone carving from a very early tomb, perhaps Old Kingdom; it was very large, and distinctly showed the checkered pattern vaulted across the top of the stone and down the left side. Don pointed it out to Jan; unfortunately, Jan does not recall more about it, and has no written notes on that particular exhibit. Don tried taking a photo of the exhibit but it didn't turn out. Drat! If we succeed in finding an online example of this ancient Egyptian usage of the checkerboard pattern, we'll publish it here.

Unfortunately, this image is only a portion of the original, which was quite large and depicted three or perhaps four "land masses" (for fields) separated by these wavy lines, representing water. Jan thought it might possibly be a symbolic representation of the "game board of life" or something like that, and mentioned it to Don as they looked at the exhibit in the Met. Here is the info from the Met website:

Facsimile of a scene depicting the afterlife
(Tomb of Sennedjem) (detail) , ca. 1922
Charles K. Wilkinson (American, born Britain, 1897-1986)
Tempera on paper; H. 54 in. (137.2 cm)
Rogers Fund, 1930 (30.4.2)

The east wall of Sennedjem's vaulted crypt is decorated with a vignette that illustrates spell number 110 in the Book of the Dead. Here, in a photograph taken at the site, Sennedjem and Iineferti are shown harvesting grain, sowing seeds, and pulling flax in the abundant fields of the next world.

Note the official description says that the scene shows the happy couple harvesting abundant flax in the next world. Water divides each of these scenes. Jan thought this tomb painting showed an obvious connection of water and the after-life that is fairly common in tomb paintings. This connection is represented in the "water" square in the Egyptian game Senet.

 

* * * Note added 10/24/05: Jan found two additional examples of this type of tomb painting, both at the British Museum:

Papyrus from the Book of the Dead of Any From Thebes,
Egypt 19th Dynasty, around 1250 BC
Vignettes showing agricultural scenes

These vignettes (small scenes that illustrate the text) accompany Spell 110 of Any's Book of the Dead. Spell 110 is essentially a series of addresses to deities who dwell in the 'next world', specifically the Field of Offering and Field of Rushes. The deceased was expected to undertake agricultural work in the Field of Rushes.

The vignette schematically renders areas of land surrounded by water. Any is shown offering to three deities of the ennead (group of nine gods) at the top, and then paddling his boat across the Lake of Offerings. Any is also shown worshipping the 'Western Falcon' and the 'Heron of Plenty'. He is shown reaping, winnowing and ploughing below. The boat of Wennefer (a name for the god Osiris ), shown with a head of a snake, is moored on the edge of the water at the bottom.

Length: 70 cm (frame) Width: 42.2 cm (frame)
Gift of Sir E.A.T. Wallis Budge EA 10470/35
Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan (study collection)

R.B. Parkinson and S. Quirke, Papyrus, (Egyptian Bookshelf) (London, The British Museum Press, 1995)

R.O. Faulkner, The Ancient Egyptian Book of the dead, (revised ed. C. A. R. Andrews) (London, The British Museum Press, 1985), pp. 43-50 S.

Quirke and A.J. Spencer, The British Museum book of ancient Egypt (London, The British Museum Press, 1992), pp. 97-102 * * *

Land masses surrounded by water AND agricultural scenes. This is a traditional representation of the Sacred Grid in typical Egyptian symbolic short-hand - showing four divisions surrounded by water. We know that the number four is sacred to many ancient societies and is often associated with an earth or mother goddess.

 

Here is the other image:

Papyrus from the Book of the Dead of Nakht From Thebes,
Egypt Late 18th Dynasty, 1350-1300 BC
Agricultural scenes

Nakht was a royal scribe and overseer of the army (general) at the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty (about 1550-1295 BC). His Book of the Dead is a beautifully illustrated example.

This papyrus shows Spell 110, a series of addresses to deities who dwell in the 'next world', specifically in the Field of Offering and the Field of Rushes. The deceased was expected to undertake agricultural work in the Field of Rushes.

The vignette evolved from a map of the Field in the earlier Coffin Texts. It shows areas of land surrounded by water. Nakht is shown with Thoth at top right, with the balance and feather of Maat (referring to the Judgement Scene). He then paddles his boat across the Lake of Offerings where two mummiform deities stand before a table of offerings. Nakht is also shown worshipping the Heron of Plenty. He is shown pulling flax, reaping, and ploughing below. The boat of Wennefer (a name for the god Osiris ), shown with a head of a snake, is moored in a channel of the water at the bottom. Three deities of the ennead (group of nine gods) are shown bottom right.

Height: 34 cm EA 10471/13 Room 63 ,
Egyptian Funerary Archaeology, case 3

R.B. Parkinson and S. Quirke, Papyrus, (Egyptian Bookshelf) (London, The British Museum Press, 1995)

More Images:
New York Trip 4
New York Trip
New York Trip 2

Photo Gallery