Megalithic Menhir and Roman Tour in Traben-Trarbach

As reported by Hubertus Schulze-Neuhoff of Traben-Trarbach at his DemoWiki (no longer a demo but in full use), a megalithic menhir tour took place under his leadership on April 9, 2005 in the Traben-Trarbach area, attended also by Uwe Anhäuser, much published travel author (e.g. Dumont's Paris) affiliated with the major newspaper of Trier, Germany. There were several other experts in the field, including myself.

The tour by bus and taxi included 27 participants on a route from Traben-Trarbach and the Red Goddess (Rote Göttin) megalith to the homespun Museum of Oberkleinich, the modern high-tech Roman Museum of Belginum including the top of a Jupiter Column, Hochscheid, the SIRONA shrine and Kappelbach, Hellertshausen, the base of a Jupiter Column in the church in Hottenbach, Sulzbach, the Kings Stone Megalith (Menhir) at Rhaunen, Weitersbach, Krummenau, Horbruch, Hirschfeld, Irmenach, Starkenburg, Enkirch, Reil, and back to Traben-Trarbach and e.g. the Monk's Stone.

The Jupiter Columns were of special interest to all because they show "Roman Gods" which have been adapted from older pagan astronomical gods. As written at Livius.org:

"The problem that behind a familiar Roman form hides an unidentified native god, can also be illustrated with the example of the high, column-shaped monuments dedicated to what is called the Roman supreme god Jupiter. These columns have been found in the Rhineland, among the Treveri of the Moselle, in the country of the Tungri and among the Nervians. Usually, their square base is decorated with reliefs of the gods, and on their top is a statue of Jupiter, sitting on a horse, fighting against a monster. The ancient Mediterranean knew many myths about the struggle between the gods and the giants, but representations of the supreme god on a horse are absent.


Jupiter killing a Giant (Gallo-Romeins Museum, Tongeren, Belgium)


Eighth-century Frieze of Wodan (Odin) and Sleipnir (Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte, Halle, Germany)

[both graphics are from: http://www.livius.org]

The closest iconographic parallel is the west-Germanic supreme god Wodan (or his northern alter ego Odin), who fought against the powers of darkness, seated on his horse Sleipnir. It is very likely that the Treveri, Tungri, Nervians and the inhabitants of the Rhineland have equaled these two deities, and told each other stories about Jupiter that once had dealt with Wodan/Odin. There is nothing strange about this. In Gaul, the old god Lugh had been renamed Mercurius, but seems to have maintained something of his old character. Another example is the Christian Saint George, who was once known as Perseus."

Nebra Disc Decipherment Publication

Our decipherment of the Nebra Disc has just been published in the German magazine Efodon Synesis, in issue number 2 of 2005, at pages 45-51. The full citation is Andis Kaulins, Die Himmelsscheibe von Nebra: Beweisführung und Deutung [The Nebra Disc: Evidence and Interpretation], Efodon Synesis, Vol. 12, Issue Nr. 68, March/April, Issue 2 of 2005, pp. 45-51.

The following graphic shows our decipherment of the Nebra Disc:



For those readers lacking the background on the Nebra Disc, please look at the BBC report, Secrets of the Star Disc.

We deciphered this disc upon its initial presentation to the public some years ago, concluding it depicted a solar eclipse, which we thought then took place in 2340 BC. In the interim, we have conducted more research and revised the date of this solar eclipse, for the reasons given below, to April 16, 1699 BC, which also fits better with the dating of the disc by the archaeologists (ca. 1700-1600 BC).

The main reason for our revision of the date was our discovery that three of the stars depicted on the disc were the planets Venus, Mars, and Mercury, which joined the Sun and the Moon at the Pleiades at the Solar Eclipse of April 16, 1699 BC (solar eclipse calculated using Starry Night Pro) in exactly the same positions as the stars marked between the Sun and the Moon on the disc. Their identity is clear.

This means that the stars to the left of the Sun mark Ursa Major, those to right mark Capricorn, those above the Pleiades mark Lupus and those stars below at the Solar Boat mark Eridanus. Hence, the stars on the Nebra Disc, excluding those marking Venus, Mars and Mercury, marked the Solstice and the Equinox positions at the horizons (except for Ursa Major) in the stars at 1699 BC.

Our article also resolves the question, previously unsolved, of the solar boat viz. "sun ship" on the disc. According to the ancient Latvian Dainas, the sun is transported by the solar boat at night, just as it was so also seen in ancient Egypt (although the Egyptologists make the mistake (?) of thinking that the solar boat was also used during the day). However, the Sun on the Nebra Disc is not in the boat, which indicates that this is a "daytime" scene, during which the solar boat is beached, according to the Latvian Dainas. Since the stars are visible, the Nebra Disc can thus only represent a solar eclipse, when day has turned to night, when the Sun is in fact visible, but is not in its solar boat. Note here that the Latvian Dainas also completely negate theories that the "Solar Boat" cosmogenic imagery is native to Egypt.

The German article has 60 footnotes, 3 photos and 3 illustrations. When we find the time to do so, we will try to put out a version in English, presuming also that an English publisher can be found who is interested in this material.

As you may or may not know, a rather foolish and desperate attempt has been made recently in Germany to mark the disc as a fake, which it is not by any means. See the FAZ, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and the article (in English), "The heavens are captured on a disc: A trial to determine whether the Nebra find is authentic", March 25, 2005 by Reiner Burger, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.