New Views over Megalithia

[Boreades]

As Sol Invictus Mithras, the sun certainly was an eye in the sky, with Mithra solar deity (the Pagan Christ) watching over the world.

The Indian Mitra was essentially a solar deity, representing the "friendly" aspect of the sun. So too was the Persian derivative Mithra, who was a "benevolent god" and the bestower of health, wealth and food. Mithra also seems to have been looked upon as a sort of Prometheus, for the gift of fire.

According to the Roman historian Plutarch (c. 46-120 AD/CE), Mithraism began to be absorbed by the Romans during Pompey's military campaign against Cilician pirates around 70 BCE. The religion eventually migrated from Asia Minor through the soldiers, many of whom had been citizens of the region, into Rome and the far reaches of the Empire. Syrian merchants brought Mithraism to the major cities, such as Alexandria, Rome and Carthage, while captives carried it to the countryside. By the third century AD/CE Mithraism and its mysteries permeated the Roman Empire and extended from India to Scotland, with abundant monuments in numerous countries amounting to over 420 Mithraic sites so far discovered.

http://www.truthbeknown.com/mithra.htm

[hvered]

Yes, Mithraism seems to have had a great appeal especially to soldiery across the Romanised regions which rather puts the kybosh on Christianity being introduced as a means of unifying the Empire.

Scilly or Sully looks like another Sul-observatory but perhaps more to do with 'soil' than with 'sun', being drowned land. The etymology of Scilly is unknown though etymonline speculates that it may derive from Sulis, 'a Roman god', e.g. Aquae Sulis (being hot springs it's possible that the 'sulis' could mean sun but the springs come from the ground so sulis = soil seems more plausible).

The Scillies, the high ground that remains, are chocka with standing stones, cairns and megalithia in general, including graveyards because the islands are notorious for shipwrecks. The landmarks were presumably essential navigational aids for ships on the tin route.

[TisILeclerc]

Wikipedia suggests that Scilly may be from Sulis which they equate with eye/vision and possibly sun.

The exact meaning of the name Sulis is still a matter of debate among linguists, but one possibility is "Eye/Vision", cognate with Old Irish súil "eye, gap", perhaps derived from a Proto-Celtic word *sūli- which may be related to various Indo-European words for "sun" (cf. Homeric Greek ηέλιος, Sanskrit sūryah "sun", from Proto-Indo-European *suh2lio-).[2][3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulis

It's possible that Sulis comes from an ancient sun goddess Sulevia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suleviae

[hvered]

Sulevia, and indeed 'Sulis', has a distinctly Latin feel. It's more likely that sailors rather than the Romans named the Scillies, being such an important sea-mark, or hazard. There may be some mythical god/dess attached at a later date I suppose, particularly if the names sound similar.

[TisILeclerc]

Sulis may have a Latin feel.

It also has a Gaelic feel. As in Sula Sgeir another isolated island. Although Wiki claims that it from the Norse for gannet. Which, given that it is the local delicacy for Lewis crofters, may be true. In which case the Scillies could be a Norse island. Are there any gannets there?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sula_Sgeir

And a bit further east there is Sule Skerry of the famous Silkie legend from Orkney.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sule_Skerry

Sulaire certainly exists in Gaelic as well as the Guga of culinary fame. Perhaps a Gannet was seen as an 'eye in the sky' which would help to tie it into the idea of ravens and crows etc being lookouts.

And suil as eye is still a legitimate interpretation I feel. I wonder if there are any variants further down the Atlantic coast on the way to France and Spain?

[hvered]

A 'Gannet rock' is presumably a relatively common feature but no less useful, either the guano or the birds themselves would make the rock appear gleaming white. Where there are fish, there are gannets so the Scillies have their fair share.

Gannet, according to etymologists, is related to gander linguistically and belongs to the Sulidae family. Not sure how these names are coined, it may be to do with wingspan since cormorants/shags are lumped in there too. In Christian symbology, angels/messengers are depicted with swans' wings. Perhaps in nautical terms, the word sail related to large bird wings? The Irish word seol, i.e. sail, has a multiplicity of related meanings such as bed, bonnet, canvas, clew (seoil) as in the corner of the sail showing wind direction, etc.

I can't see why gannets should be an eye in the sky since they aren't real high-fliers but if they are particularly numerous and raucous, their rocks would make good sea-marks and the birds easier to snare perhaps. In French, gannet is 'fou de Bassan', interchangeable with 'booby' [so Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth, famous for its gannet colony, is an Anglo-Norman name].

[TisILeclerc]

It's funny how words take on a variety of meanings within a language and between languages. It's as if there are only a handful of words which then change meaning when needed and become separate words.

'seol' or in Scots Gaelic 'seala' or 'seabhal' is pronounced and means 'shawl' which is also a 'sail'. 'Siubhail' pronounced 'shewal' means to move or in nautical terms I suppose 'sail'.

So the cloth serves several practical purposes as well as becoming a metaphor for moving across the water.

Could a 'sale' be what happens when a ship lands with its cargo and 'sells' it off?

Speaking of wings 'Sgiath' (sgeea) means wing or shield. One interpretation for the Isle of Skye is the winged isle but perhaps it also has a possibility of being a shielded isle?

[Boreades]

Mick graced me with a phone call to says he's offline because his ISP has dug the wrong kind of holes in his road. But now that he has some enforced spare time, perhaps he can fix the TME charabanc? Here's why we need it. There's a big chance for a TME Summer Works Outing. Or, How To Get Down & Dirty In Wildest Wiltshire.

Excavating a Neolithic henge - Fri 8th Jul 2016 - Sun 24th Jul 2016

Marden Henge is the third 'super-henge' in Wiltshire, alongside Stonehenge and Avebury. In July 2016 there is a fantastic opportunity to find out more about prehistory and these enigmatic henges before a visit to see the site being excavated by archaeologists from the University of Reading. Available on selected dates from 7 July – 24 July (excluding Fridays). If you are interested in bringing a group of 8 or more, then please contact us to see how we can help.

Website: http://www.wiltshiremuseum.org.uk/event ... 061&prev=1

Event details
Organiser: Wiltshire Museum
Booking details: Book online via our Yapsody booking service http://wiltshiremuseum.yapsody.com/even ... ?ref=elink
Fee details: £40 (£35 Wiltshire Archaeological & Natural History Society members)
Dates and times
Fri 8th Jul 2016 10:30-16:30 — Sun 24th Jul 2016 10:30-16:30
Additional times information
Itinerary: 10.30 - Visit Wiltshire Museum, tea/coffee served on arrival. Museum specialist tour 12.00 - Lunch at the Museum or a local pub 13.30- Depart for the archaeological site at Marden Henge with a member of Wiltshire Museum staff (duration 2 hours).

Venues and locations
Wiltshire Museum
41 Long Street
DEVIZES
SN10 1NS

Tel: 01380 727369
Email: [email protected]

Damn, 40 quid? That'll take some explaining to my Financial Director. What, I want to pay someone to dig holes in their garden? There are holes a-plenty in our garden that haven't been dug yet. Late potatoes don't plant themselves you know.

[Boreades]

TME inmates (who don't fancy going wild in Wiltshire) might prefer Berks.

Before the Romans showed up at Silchester : Life and landscape at the Iron Age Oppidum

Wed 27th Jul 2016

Annual archaeological excavations by the University of Reading at Insulae III and IX of the Roman Town of Silchester have given us many insights into life as part of the Empire. The site has even more to tell us however, below the Roman layers they have found a large Iron Age town or Oppidum. Dr Catherine Barnett will talk about ongoing analysis of the remains there and also the new Silchester Environs project. This aims to investigate the wider Iron Age landscape, settlement and economy of West Berkshire and North Hampshire through use of large area geophysics, aerial photo and Lidar interpretation, earthwork surveys, coring, targeted excavation and scientific analyses. She will also introduce results from the summer 2015 excavation and subsequent post-excavation analysis of Pond Farm Hillfort.

Website: http://www.westberkshireheritage.org/wh ... silchester

Event details
Organiser: West Berkshire Museum
Booking details: Tickets £5 available from West Berkshire Museum or online (all online bookings incur a booking fee).
Fee details: Contact organisers - http://www.westberkshireheritage.org/wh ... silchester

Dates and times
Wed 27th Jul 2016 13:00-14:00

IIRC, Hattie has already extensively covered Silchester. Did we look at Pond Farm Hillfort?

[TisILeclerc]

Looks like the ancient Brits had a Common Agricultural Policy long before the euro lot dreamt it up.

They've found evidence of farming on the South Downs on a massive scale. The Beeb calls it a Farming Collective. So perhaps Stalin was there a long time ago. No wonder the Romans came to save us.





http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-36771564

James Kenny, archaeological officer at Chichester District Council, said it suggested a civilisation closer to ancient Greece, Egypt or Rome than what is known of prehistoric Britain.

Whatever happened to the painted savages in animal skins who frightened Caesar so much?

At least us oop north still stuck to our savagery and bear skins unlike the effete south. Always knew it. Mind you according to the beeb on normal occasions we didn't have any crops before they were all brought here by kind strangers. Potatoes, wheat, carrots, and all the rest. So what were these southern farmers growing?

The article also mentions a new found Roman road going from Brighton to Chichester. Wherever they are.