5,000-year-old Egyptian "Nativity
Scene", www.seeker.com
Italian rock art researchers have announced the discovery of what they
are calling "the oldest nativity scene ever found." Because of the
magnitude of the claim they are making about its meaning I am quoting the article
in its entirety. On December 22, 2016, Rossella Lorenzi wrote on seeker.com, "Italian researchers have discovered
what might be the oldest nativity scene ever found - 5,000-year-old rock art
that depicts a star in the east, a newborn between parents, and two
animals." (Lorenzi 2016)
Now the panel undoubtedly does depict a man and woman with a small
figure between them, two animals (one a probable), and a dot on the right that
has been identified as the "star in the east."
The description goes on: "The
scene, painted in reddish brown ochre, was found on the ceiling of a small
cavity in the Egyptian Sahara desert, during an expedition to sites between the
Nile valley and the Gilf Kebir Plateau. "It's a very evocative scene which
indeed resembles the Christmas nativity. But it predates it by some 3,000
years," geologist Marco Morelli, director of the Museum of Planetary
Sciences in Prato, near Florence, Italy, told Seeker. Morelli found the cave
drawing in 2005, but only now his team has decided to reveal the amazing
find." (Lorenzi 2016)
"The
discovery has several implications as it raises new questions on the
iconography of one of the more powerful Christian symbols," Morelli said.
The scene features a man, a woman missing the head because of a painting
detachment, and a baby. "It could have been interpreted as a normal
depiction of a family, with the baby between the parents, but other details
make this drawing unique," Morelli said. He noted the newborn is drawn
slightly above, as if raising to the sky. Such position, with the baby not yet
between the parents, would have meant a birth or pregnancy." (Lorenzi 2016)
Where in the world would this conclusion have come from, that a position
between and slightly above would have meant birth or pregnancy? But what if it
is not rising to the sky? What if it is slightly higher to represent that it is
farther away? They do not say that the lion is rising to the sky, yet it is
much higher than the small figure. Maybe the lion is not yet born either.
"As death was
associated to Earth in contemporary rock art from the same area, it is likely
that birth was linked to the sky," Morelli said." (Lorenzi 2016) I
would love to see the references that back this statement up, I just don't
believe it.
"The scene
becomes more symbolically complex if the other figures, two animals and a small
circular feature are taken into consideration. On the upper part is a headless
lion, a mythical beast which appears in several rock art drawings from the same
area, while below the scene a baboon or an anthropomorphic monkey can be seen.
In the east, the Neolithic artist (has) drawn what appears to be a star. The
researchers called the site the "Cave of the Parents." No doubt it's
an intriguing drawing," Morelli said. "We didn't find similar scenes
until the early Christian age." (Lorenzi 2016)
In the above statement the author failed to distinguish whether any
lion in general was the "mythical
beast which appears in several rock art drawings from the same area" or
whether it is the headless state of the lion which renders it mythical. Given
the long tail it does appear to represent an lion, a figure important to the
later Egyptians, and, as an apex predator, a figure likely to be of importance
to anyone who lives where they are found. As to the "baboon or an anthropomorphic monkey", it is just as
likely to represent a seated human with outstretched arms. Without a head I
don't believe it can be definitely identified.
All in all this story would be perfectly acceptable if the author had inserted
the word "possibly" about a dozen times, but as it stands it is
unacceptable sloppy rock art analysis and reporting.
REFERENCE:
https://www.seeker.com/5000-year-old-nativity-scene-found-2161058490.html
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