Winged sun

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The winged sun is a symbol associated with divinity, royalty and power in the Ancient Near East (Egypt, Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Persia).

1 Ancient Near East
2 Astronomical basis
- 2.1 Universality
3 Modern use
4 Literature
5 External links

[edit] Ancient Near East

[edit] Ancient Egyptian use

"Winged Sun of Thebes" (from Egyptian Mythology and Egyptian Christianity by Samuel Sharpe, 1863)

In Ancient Egypt, the symbol is attested from the Old Kingdom (Sneferu, 26th century BC), often flanked on either side with a uraeus. In early Egyptian religion, the symbol (Behedeti) represented Horus of Edfu, later identified with Ra-Harachte. It is sometimes depicted on the neck of Apis, the bull of Ptah. As time passed (according to interpretation) all of the subordinated gods of Egypt were considered to be aspects of the sun god, including e.g. Khepri.

[edit] Mesopotamia and the Levant

Stele to Assurnasiripal II at Nimrud (9th century BC), detail showing the winged sun.

From roughly 2000 BC, the symbol spread to the Levant and to Mesopotamia. It appears in reliefs with Assyrian rulers and in Hieroglyphic Anatolian as a symbol for royalty, transcribed as SOL SUUS (literally, "his own self, the Sun", i.e., "His Majesty").

[edit] Hebrew

From ca. the 8th century BC, it appears on Hebrew seals, by now as a generic symbol for "power". One example is a seal where the winged sun is flanled by two Ankh symbols and a Hebrew inscription translating to "possession of Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, king of Juda". Numerous pottery finds dating to the same time bear the symbol together with the inscription lemelekh "king's [property]".

Compare also Malachi 4:2, referring to a winged "Sun of righteousness",

But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings... (KJV)

[edit] Zoroastrianism

The Faravahar in the Behistun Inscription.

The symbol evolved into the Faravahar (the "visual aspect of Ahura Mazda") in Zoroastrian Persia. This symbol also incorporates anthropomorphic components which appear to date from the heroic age of Indo-Iranian prehistory.

[edit] Astronomical basis

In the mid-19th century the British astronomer Edward Walter Maunder convincingly theorized that the winged sun symbols of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia were originally inspired by a bird-like pattern that is manifested within the sun's corona during some total solar eclipses. Maunder's total solar eclipse theory was rediscovered and expanded upon by eclipsologist Robin Edgar when he was researching the possibility that the mythical phoenix bird was inspired by this coronal "Sun Bird".

[edit] Universality

It is now clear that the winged sun symbol is not unique to Egypt and Mesopotamia but is found in various forms throughout the world. For example winged sun symbols are found in the religious iconography of the Mayan and Aztec civilizations of MesoAmerica and the Nazca culture of ancient Peru.

[edit] Modern use

as a symbol in Alchemy: a winged sun hovers over a sepulchre filled with water (from Rosary of the Philosophers).

The Egyptian symbol appeared in Jehovah's Witnesses literature during the 1910s, and was also in use by various groups such as Freemasonry, Theosophy and Rosicrucians.

[edit] Literature

R. Mayer, Opificius, Die geflügelte Sonne, Himmels- und Regendarstellungen im Alten Vorderasien, UF 16 (1984) 189-236.
D. Parayre, Carchemish entre Anatolie et Syrie à travers l'image du disque solaire ailé (ca. 1800-717 av. J.-C.), Hethitica 8 (1987) 319-360.
D. Parayre, Les cachets ouest-sémitiques à travers l'image du disque solaire ailé, Syria 67 (1990) 269-314.