Master of Animals

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The Master of Animals is a concept in archaeology and anthropology that refers to the symbolic representation of a dominant animal figure, often associated with power, control, and mastery over nature. This motif appears in various cultures and is frequently linked to shamanistic practices and the spiritual significance of animals in human societies.

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Myth, Ritual and Rock Art: Coso Decorated Animal-Humans and the Animal Master

by Alan Garfinkel

Recent interpretations of rock art have often focused on these images as a somewhat exclusive record of shamanic experiences. Consideration of decorated animal-human figures (Patterned Body Anthropomorphs - PBAs) within the Coso Rock Art... more

Figure 1. Map showing the locations of the major concentrations of petroglyphs within the Naval Ordinance Test Station at China Lake and indicating the placement of China Lake within California.

Figure 2. Overview of typical Coso Range terrain. Black-brown basalt lava flows are interrupted by steep-walled canyons. Annual rainfall is less than 5 cm per year and much of the area where most of the petroglyphs are located averages around 1600 to 2000 m in elevation

Figure 5. Coso late period (c. 300-1300 C.E.) bighorn sheep in Big Petroglyph Canyon. The largest sheep is just over 2 m in length (nose to end of tail) and is superimposed over an older PBA. In this photo, part of the PBA’s vertical body can be seen between the two sheep just to the right of the upper sheep’s rear legs.

prominently placed on high outcrops at the heads of more narrowly focused classified nearly 450 su (Little Petroglyph), Up and Sheep Canyons. T] per Renegade, Big the Coso canyons just below the rims of the narrows (Figs 6, 7 and 8). Grant and his colleagues (1968) tallied 745 PBAs in their initial study of the Coso rock drawings. Recent analysis by Caroline Madd , intensively documented and ch images in Lower Renegade ock (2009), Petroglyph he present discussion is based largely on Maddock’s sample, but is amplified by PBAs identified during fieldwork in more remo well-known areas (Gar te and less finkel and Pringle 2004). PBAs are elaborate renderings — mixing human and animal characteristics (Figs 6 and 8). They are always decorated, never plain, and never solid-bodied. PBAs are diverse, no two images being identical, although designs found in one PBA often occur in another. They usually have elongated rectangular or (infrequently) ovoid torsos embellished with stripes, checks, circles, chevrons, dots, meandering lines, triangles, bars or

cross-hatching. In many instances, at the base of the torso, is a series of short vertical lines, sometimes likened to a fringe on a garment or what is commonly identified as a ‘rake’ design. Many figures have two thin, straight, perpendicular legs that end in claw-like, taloned ‘bird’ feet (Figs 6a, 6c, 6d, 6e, 6f, 6g, 7c, Ze, 7f, 7h, 7i, 8c, and 9). The PBA figure, when it exhibits upper appendages, often has outstretched limbs extending directly from the shoulders (Figs 6a, 7c, 7h and 7i). The right arm is frequently bent upward, and the left arm is often extended (Figs 6c, 6d, 6g, 6h, 8b, 7c and 8c). In some instances, at the end of the bent right arm is a ong, slender, vertical ‘rod’ (Figures 6d, 6g, and 8b). Sometimes the rod contains a knob in its midsection, an apparent rendering of a weighted atlatl (spear- throwing device). Sometimes the long rod is attached to a bulbous object that may be meant to depict a club, bullroarer, rattle or hunting bolo (Fig. 6h). Often the ong, slender pole appears more akin to a staff, cane, crook or spear (Figs 8b and 8c). The shorter arm on the figures is most often the left and that appendage frequently holds a single rod or set of multiple rods

Figure 10. Yahwera Kahniina, home of the Kawaiisu Animal Master and location of the entrance portal to the Anima Underworld. Back Canyon pictogram panel is located on a columnar island of limestone in Walker Basin, California. Right plate is an unretouched panel as it looks currently, left plate is panel with ‘d-stretch’ software program applied so that images are enhanced (Harmon 2009). Central figure is 1.1 m in height. For colour version, see back cover of this issue.

igure 11. Portion of panel with four ‘grand’ Coso style bighorn sheep in Big Petroglyph Canyon. Sheep are about 1.7 m in length from nose to tail. Sheep are superimposed over an older PBA. Uppermost sheep has a PBA with head and shoulders just above flat back and legs under boat-shaped belly. Grand sheep date to the final late period of the Coso representational petroglyph style (c. 300-1300 C.E.).

Figure 12. Pen and ink drawing of Yahwera panel with a side-by-side comparison with Coso PBA panel from Little Petroglyph Canyon (aka Renegade Canyon). Scale of Coso PBA enlarged to allow a direct comparison with Back Canyon image.

Rock Art Research 2009 - Volume 26, Number 2, pp. 000-000. A. P. GARFINKEL et al. ‘igure 13. Photograph of Coso PBA from Big Petroglyph Canyon. Image has a basket-like element to the right of central figure. Central PBA about 60 cm in length and situated on an individual boulder. Figure has typical posture for atlatl use and holds a long ‘rod’ in right hand and three ‘dart foreshafts’ in left. Anthropomorph has typical avian legs and feet.

Rock Art Research 2009 - Volume 26, Number 2, pp. 000-000. A. P. GARFINKEL et al. * INUMDer OF Instances where the key word or concept 1S used 1n the Narratives. items are orten mentioned multiple times in different contexts within a single story, and each mention is tallied individually. >’ 1 = Barras 1984: 30; 2 = Zigmond 1977: 69-71; 3 = Zigmond 1977: 93-94 (two versions), 4 = Zigmond 1980: 175-179 (three versions); 5 = Zigmond 1980: 181-183 (two versions). Zigmond (1980: 175-183) identified the individuals associated with these narratives: Emma Williams, Setimo Girado, Marie Girado and John Marcus. Andy Greene also shared a similar account via audio-taped interview (Bibby 1999). Contemporary individuals who have knowledge of Yahwera and shared information with the authors were Kawaiisu elders Harold Williams and Luther Girado. See Garfinkel and Williams (2009) for discussion of contemporary Kawaiisu culture and cosmology.

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The Master of Animals in Old World Iconography

by Derek Counts and

Old World iconography from the Upper Paleolithic to the Christian era consistently features symbolic representations of both female and male protagonists in confl ict with, accompanied by or transmuted partly or completely into, animals.... more

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by Lloyd Graham

2020, Eikón Imago

The iconography of the Horus cippus, an amulet popular in Egypt from the late Third Intermediate Period to Roman times (8th century BCE - 2nd century CE), is unexpectedly recapitulated in bronze “goddess plaques” of the 7-8th centuries CE... more

Figure |. Cylinder-seal of Ishma-Ilum, prince of Kisik, Mesopotamia; lapis lazuli, ca. 2500 BCE. The seal itself is at left and a modern rolling/impression from it at right; the latter reveals a naked hero mastering two lions. Louvre AO 22299. Source: © RMN-Grand Palais, Christian Larrieu; and Philippe Beaujard, The Worlds of the Indian Ocean: A Global History. From the Fourth Millennium BCE to the Sixth Century CE (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019), 1: Plate section 2, Illustration Ia.

Figure 3. Horus cippus, Egypt; steatite, 3“ century BCE. Horus-the-child stands naked on two crocodiles grasping animals (snakes, scorpions, lion, gazelle), flanked by avian standards (Horus-falcon, feather) and surmounted by the head of the dwarf-god Bes. Source: Brooklyn Museum, 60.73, “Cippus of Horus on the Crocodiles”, CC-BY.

Figure 4. Lamashtu amulet, neo-Assyrian; bronze, ca. 910-610 BCE. Louvre, AO 22205. The feared demoness Lamashtu is the central figure in the bottom two registers, while the head of the protective demon Pazuzu peers over the top of the plaque. Source: Rama, “Lamashtu plaque 9167”, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 FR.

Figure 5. Drawings comparing (a) a Horus cippus (Egypt, 34 Intermediate or Late Period, 712-332 BCE, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 57.143, with (b) the Lamashtu plaque shown in Figure 4. In the latter, iconography without a counterpart in the cippus panel has been de- emphasized (registers 1-3). Source for (a): Drawing after James P. Allen, The Art of Medicine in Ancient Egypt (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005), 63-64, and Nick West, “Gods on Small Things: Egyptian Monumental Iconography on Late Antique Magical Gems and the Greek and Demotic Magical Papyri”, Pallas 86 (2011): 155 (Fig. 1b). Source for (b): Drawing after S. Beaulieu, reproduced in Samantha C. Sinclair, “The Lament of Lamastu: Biography of a Near Eastern Dark Goddess”, 23.

Figure 6. St. Menas pilgrim flasks, Egypt; terracotta, 6-7" centuries CE. St. Menas is shown in an attitude of prayer between two camels. (a) Louvre, E 24445. (b) Louvre, MN 1469. The vertical snakes in Horus’s hands on the cippus have morphed into a cloak hem in panel (a), while the crocodiles/quadrupeds on the cippus have become kneeling camels (both panels). Source for (a): Christiane Lyon-Caen, “Pilgrim flasks”, Louvre, E 24445; © Musée du Louvre, G. Poncet. Source for (b): Marie-Lan Nguyen, “Pilgrim Flask St. Menas”, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.

A recent publication on the animal-style art of the Eurasian steppe, in the form of a PhD thesis completed in 2018 by Petya Andreeva, focuses on the continuity of animal-style motifs in the arts of the Eurasian steppe during the later 1“ millennium BCE. Permian bronze plaques of the 1“ millennium CE are covered in an excursus titled “The Mysticism of Permian Animal Style (6"-12" c. CE): The Totemism Narrative”. The description runs as follows:

Despite the large geographic distance from the Alai mountains [of Kyrgyzstan / Tajikistan], the imagery represented in the Permian animal style plaques indicate a return to the familiar Iron Age concept of animal syncretism. Here, the local people offer a slightly different take on this decorative approach as they also incorporate female images in most of the metalwork thus making even more complicated visual narratives of hybridity. [...] Animal (and human-animal) hierarchy coupled with the concept of metamorphosis and transition between realms is indubitably present in the art of the people who inhabited the southern Urals from the early [1°] millennium CE to the 13" century CE.

Figure 18. African Master of Animals and Abrasax. (a) Master of Animals; Benin plaque, bronze, 16-17" century CE. British Museum, Af 1898,0115.30. (b) The snake-legged deity (or “Gnostic” archon/aeon) known as Abrasax or Abraxas; illustration from a Late Antique amuletic gem. Source for (a): © Trustees of the British Museum, “Benin Plaques”, British Museum, Af 1898,0115.30; . Source for (b): Bernard De Montfaucon, L’Antiquité expliquée et représentée en Figures (Paris: F. Delaulne, 1719), 2.2: 358.

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CULTURAL TRANSLATION AND THE ICONOGRAPHY OF THE MASTER AND MISTRESS OF THE ANIMALS

by Jeremy Dubhros

2018, The Research Annual of the UTA Honors College

The image of a figure holding two wild animals, often called the "Mistress/Master of Animals", has appeared across many ancient periods and regions, on artifacts from proto-literate Mesopotamia in the Near East to the Aegean Iron Age.... more

Figure. 1.1: Francois Vase, Detail Chiusi, Circa 570 BCE lorence, Museo Archeologico Etrusco 420: Whereas many prior researchers have presented almost any depiction of a person interacting with animals as a “Master” or “Mistress” image, the term is reserved by museums exclusively to describe those motifs that specifically conform to the aforementioned criterion. Perhaps most importantly, a great many unrelated cultures have scenes depicting animals and people together, but in spite of humanity’s

Figure. 1.2: Francois Vase, Detail Chiusi, Circa 570 BCE orence, Museo Archeologico Etrusco 420: 1.2.1 Iconography In current parlance, the term “4conography” is often assumed to be related to divinity, since most persons today encounter the word in the realm of religion. Iconography is derived from the Greek words eikav (“image”) and ypa@etv (“to write”). It is used in this paper in its historical and academic context simply to refer to the study of the composition, identification of parts, and possible significances of an image or

Figure 1.3: Boeotian amphora, Potnia Theron, detail Thebes, 680 - 670 BCE National Archaeological Museum, NM 220, AT 119

Figure 1.4: Tepe Giyan Stone Seal Iran, 5000 - 4000 BCE itish Museum — BM 128660 (ANoo109870_001_] The examples in Figure 1.6 and 1.7 are also Lorestan bronze pins. Their motifs, like prior example,

Figure 1.5: Lorestan Bronze Pin Iran, 1000 —- 600 BCE ,os Angeles County Museum of Art — M.76.97.135 There is no reason to assume that these early cultures did not engage in the same processes when interpreting images from other cultures. When viewing images, they too were likely to interpret them based on their own histories, both personal and cultural. A single personal interpretation at the point of contact could become a whole new cultural interpretation. Even assuming some communication between two cultures, and an individual in one culture being able to

Figure 1.6: Lorestan Bronze Pins Iran, 1000 — 600 BCE Los Angeles County Museum of Art - M.76.97.183

Figure 1.8: Lorestan Bronze Pin Iran, 1000 — 600 BCE Los Angeles County Museum of Art - M.76.97.142 Figure 1.7: Lorestan Bronze Pins Iran, 1000 —- 600 BCE s Angeles County Museum of Art - M.76.97.18

Figure 2.1: Master of Snakes Sea Tepe Giyan, 5000 — 4000 BCE British Museum - 128660 There have been suggestions that the snake may have actually been a symbol of healing (Van Buren 1935). This concept is echoed by later writers who

Figure 2.3: Master of Snakes Seal Tepe Giyan, 5000 - 4000 BCE British Museum - 128664 Figure 2.2: Master of Snakes Seal Tepe Giyan, 5000 — 4000 BCE British Museum — 128659

This may be a very early example of priest kings merging political authority with concepts of healing and life. Attributing divine aspects or healing powers to rulers has occurred in a great many cultures, for instance

the King’s Touch in 16th century Europe (Toynbee 1950). Such an association often reinforces the legitimacy of ruling elites, and was not unknown in the Near East.

Figure 2.9: Sites of Early Seals on Map of Trade Routes Proposed by Majidzadeh

Figure 2.8: Stone Stamp Seal Tell Ahmar, 4500 - 3500 BCE British Museum — 135249 In addition to the overall composition, , the Tel Ahmar example also incorporates the asterisks from Yousef Majidzadeh was able to establish that the trade routes had become well used by the end of the 4th millennium BCE or the beginning of the 3rd. There is evidence that the trade along

Figure 3.1: Hierakonpolis Tomb 100 (Painted Tomb) Hk loc. 33, Detail Nagada IIC, circa 3500 - 3200 BCE

Figure 3.2: Hippo Ivory Dagger Handle Abydos or Gebel el-Arak, circa 3300 - 3200 BCE Louvre - £11517

Figure 3.3: Hippo Ivory Dagger Handle Abydos or Gebel el-Arak, circa 3300 - 3200 BCE Louvre - E11517

Figure 3.9: Clay Tablet — Drawing - Detail Susa, 3100 — 2850 BCE Louvre - SB2801

Figure 3.11: Lexical List of God Names Sumer, 2400 - 2200 BCE The Schgyen Collection - MS 2272_f, Oslo and London

Figure 3.12: Hematite Seal Mesopotamian, 1720 - 1650 BCE Morgan Library - (seal_0979)

igure 4.4: Seal of Ur-Nammu Babylon - 2100 BCE British Museum — 89126

Figure 4.5: Chlorite Vessel Detail Khafajah, Iraq, 2600 - 2400 BCE British Museum - 128887

Figure 4.7: Steatite Relief Mari, Syria, 2645 - 2460 BCE National Museum of Damascus - 08-02-08-15

The Harappan culture sprang up along the Indus river in Pakistan and is considered the oldest civilization of south Asia. Many of the goods produced there show evidence of cultural exchange with Mesopotamia, and the tiles in Figures 4.8 - 4.10 show that the motif had also spread to the to the Indus Valley by ca. 2600. Of particular interest is the seal in Figure 4.8, which

~ Like the Egyptian dagger, the terracotta seal in Figure 4.10 is both evidence of cultural translation and a foreshadowing future divinity. For the first time the figure appears as Mistress, rather than Master, of Animals. It is suggested that this may be the earliest depiction of what would become the Hindu goddess Durga (Chakravarty 1971). This is bolstered by Durga’s association with lions and tigers, the only animals depicted with the Mistress motif in this culture. The divinity of the image is confirmed by the six-spoked wheel pictured above

Figure 4.11: Signet Ring of Tiryns Tiryntha, 1500 BCE Athens Archeological Museum - 6208

Figure 5.1: Stone Seal and Imprint Assyrian, 1400 - 1300 BCE Metropolitan Museum of Art - ss43_102_37 But this was no simple homecoming. By this time the Sumerian Empire had collapsed, the rise and fall of the Akkadian Empire had supplanted the Sumerian dialect with its own Semitic language, and the Babylonian Empire had become history. Although the region was the birthplace of the motif, the Assyrians The Master motif retained its importance long after the veneration of Nanna ceased. The Bull Man disappears from the images, and the Nude Hero starts

it enjoyed early trade with Mesopotamia and Susa as far back as the 4th to 3rd millennium BCE (Begemann et al. 2008). But it was not until after the Lorestan Iron Age, beginning about 1300 BCE, that craftsmen start producing a style of artifacts that scholars now refer to as the “Lorestan Bronzes” (Fleming et al. 2005). of this time were a culturally different population from the one that that had originally created the Master of Snakes and later Nude Hero motifs. What is occuring is a continuation of the cultural translation that had taken place in outlying regions. By now enough change had occurred within the regional culture to obscure the common origin of the motifs, and to allow for the acceptance of newer interpretations.

Figure 5.5: Lorestan Horse Bit Iran, 1000 — 600 BCE »s Angeles County Museum of Art - M.76.97.1¢

Figure 5.7: The Hell Plaque Mesopotamia, 934 - 612 BCE Louvre - AO 22205

Figure 6.1: Locations of the Master/Mistress Motif in the Aegean

Figure 6.2: Pendant, Sheet Gold Aegina, 1850 - 1§50 BCE British Museum - 1892,0520.8

Figure 6.5: Agate Seal and Imprint Mycenae, Necropolis - Tomb 515, 1450 - 1300 BC Archaologisches Museum - (CMS-I-144)

Sparta, Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia - 660 BCE National Archaeological Museum, Athens - A15502 It was very rare for the motif to be pictured with birds at all, and the Aegina pendant and jasper seal are examples of a form of the Mistress/Master motif that does not appear outside the Aegean. As in other regions, the cultural adaption of the motif

Figure 6.8: Gold Pendant Kamiros, 700 - 600 BCE British Museum - 1861,0425.3

eo - ‘ Ye The seventh century BCE was a time of intense exploration and trade between the Aegean and the Syro-Palestinian coast; as Greek merchants interacted with the older cultures of the eastern Mediterranean, they were exposed to religious iconography that began

Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University - 2003.011.001

Figure 6.11: Ceramic Cup Kamiros, 700 - 600 BC British Museum- 1860,0404.21

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Master of Animals

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