Israeli researchers have discovered one of the oldest religious symbols in the Levant region.
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New research has revealed that a turtle may be the oldest religious symbol revered by a Middle Eastern society.
At Manot Cave in Western Galilee, Israel, researchers have found evidence of human spiritual rituals dating back to 37 000 ans.
More than 35,000 years BCaround a hundred individuals gathered in the Manot cave around a turtle shell sculpted from a rock.
Although theit is not known exactly what the turtle symbolized for this community of early humans, it is believed that the ancient inhabitants of the Middle East revered this creature. Tortoise shells regularly appear on the tombs of prominent Stone Age figures.
There is evidence that humans have frequented Manot Cave for at least 50,000 years. This new research results from the discovery of a “ritual compound” inside the cave.
The cave’s tortoiseshell carving is believed to have been made using a deer antler also found in the cave. Researchers were able to date a mineral layer on the wood to a similar time as the engraving, suggesting it may have been used as an engraving tool.
The discovery of the tortoiseshell, examined by scholars in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), provides new evidence for the religious practices of humans from the Upper Paleolithic of the Aurignacian, 43,000 to 26 years ago 000 years.
Turtles are often present in religious cultural practices. One of the most common myths in world cultures is that of a giant turtle supporting the entire world on its back. This creature is known as “Akūpāra” in Hindu mythology, “Ao” in Chinese mythology, and appears in the creation myth of the indigenous North American Lenape people.
“Beyond their dietary importance, turtles likely played a major role in the spiritual world of Paleolithic peoples, perhaps because of the resemblance in form and function between the shell and the cave, both providing a shelter and protection,” according to the research.
So far, the “Cave of Manot is the only site in the Levant to provide clear evidence for the existence of a community ritual complex in the Upper Paleolithic,” the researchers say, showing how essential this discovery is to understanding humans of that time.
Based on research into carbon formation on the roof of the cave, it is believed that people gathered in the ritual chamber and used hand torches to see, away from any natural light sources.
Several people from the region could have gathered, unified by this common religious practice around the symbol of the turtle.
This unification, the researchers suggest, may have been “a successful adaptation strategy to deal with the major demographic and economic challenges that human society faced in the Upper Paleolithic.”
The block on which the turtle is engraved is the only one of its kind found in the Upper Paleolithic Levant and is unique in its size and detail. This is one of the most important times for understanding this region of the Middle East before the development of early Mesopotamian societies such as Sumer.
