1
Cone symbol indicates the Egyptian God Sah and Sopdet
Figure 1: Triangle - Indus symbol.
Figure 2: Indus seal showing the conical object.
Seal picture courtesy - (1)
Figure 3: Photo shows the conical object in Vedic ceremony.
Picture courtesy - (2) Cone object in the ritual ceremony
The above-given photo shows a traditional Hindu marriage and Vedic Yajna is being performed. Note the conical shaped object in the right-side bottom corner of the photograph. (2) The relevance of this conical object to Indus Valley Civilization symbol is that similar conical symbol appears in Indus script. Most probably 2 the cone indicates the presence of God Sah/Sahu (Egyptian god). I made enquiries with many priests regarding the meaning of the 'cone object' in a yajna ceremony. The priests are aware of this conical object but do not know the meaning or significance of using that conical object. An important ritual has likely been forgotten, but only the remnant of that ritual is still being practised.
Figure 4: Grave goods - conical bread made of clay
Picture courtesy – Flicker.com Ancient Egyptian Funerary Cones were part of grave goods
Funerary cones are a type of funereal object from ancient Egypt. It is well known that the ancient Egyptians were extremely concerned about the afterlife and that they did all they could to provide for the dead. Funerary goods were buried with the dead to provide protection and sustenance in the afterlife (3).
Amulets and magic spells, for example, protected and aided the dead in their journey through the Underworld, whilst little figurines called shabtis could be magically animated to perform tasks for the dead in the afterlife (3). 3
Making Funerary Cones
Funerary cones are made of fired Nile mud and are most commonly found to be in the conical shape, hence its name. Nevertheless, there are also funerary cones of other shapes, though these are understandably less common. Other shapes include pyramidal, horn-shaped, trumpet-shapes, double-headed and triple-headed cones (only one example of each is known at present), as well as cone-imitated bricks (3). Similar is the case of Indus script symbols. The cone symbol appears in different types. Below given are some of the examples.
The cone symbol looks like a metallic ritual cone
The cone symbol looks like the arithmetical conical diagram 4
The cone symbol looks like a rhino horn
The cone symbol looks like an arrowhead with three knobs (symbol at the right-side end)
The cone symbol looks like a rhino horn
(symbol on the right-side end) here with some engravings. 5
The cone symbol looks like a weighing scale here, but most probably it is the sign of god over a conical symbol.
Figure 5: Picture shows the triangle formed by three prominent stars. Winter Triangle
The Winter Triangle, or the Great Southern Triangle, is an asterism formed by three bright stars in three prominent winter 6 constellations. These stars are Betelgeuse in Orion, Procyon in Canis Minor and Sirius in Canis Major constellation. The Winter Triangle is prominent in the night sky in the northern hemisphere during the winter months, from December to March. This could be the idea behind the identification of Sothis with triangle (Conical) symbol.
Egyptian funerary cones of Mentuemhet with hieroglyphic script 650 BC.
Picture courtesy Ancient origins.net (3)
The inscriptions on funerary cones indicate the name of its owner (usually an official serving a pharaoh) and his title. These are stamped onto the face of the cone, which has an average diameter of between 5-10 cm (2-4 inches) (3). 7
Purpose of Funerary Cones
It is not entirely clear what the funerary cones were used for, and various hypotheses have been put forward over the years. Some, such as Champollion, suggest that the cones simply served as some sort of labels for the deceased. (3)
Researcher Petrie is of the opinion that the cones were symbolic offerings. Others researchers speculate that the cones were architectural ornaments, architectural material to reinforce the entrance wall, solar symbols, and even phallic symbols. No one knows for certain what the cones were used for, but they were obviously of importance to death rituals for some time. (3)
Figure 6: Clay cone of Gudea of Sumeria.
Picture courtesy- Wikipedia-commons (4) Cone symbol in ancient Sumeria
The above-given picture shows the Mesopotamian cuneiform foundation cone. It is not a religious offering of conical 8 bread. This cone is from the Neo-Sumerian period, 2120 BC. This cone was dedicated by Gudea, the governor of Lagash to the god Ningirsu, the mighty warrior of Enlil, for the construction of the Eninnu Temple. Cuneiform inscriptions cover the entire surface area of the cone. Size of the cone is 4.75 x 2.5 inches.
The objective of cone object in Sumeria as well as in Egypt is looking similar. In both cases, the individual’s name and designation are mentioned. And also, the name of the god to whom the offering/dedication is made is also mentioned. The objective seems to be that the person’s name and meritorious work should be put forth before the god and made as a permanent record. So that the dead man’s soul will be given a favourable treatment at the netherworld.
Figure 7: Bread cone and Sothis cone
Picture courtesy - (5)
The "white bread" cones are often adjacent to a hieroglyph that is called the "Sacred Sothic Triangle" (6). The above-given picture shows the difference between, conical bread and Sothis 9 triangle. The Sothis triangles seem to be more regular in shape than the bread cones (5).
The above-given picture shows another important character of this Sothis triangle (5). This triangle always appears in pair form along with the ankh symbol. Similar is the nature of Indus script cone symbol, it is always followed by Sastha symbol.1 (7) This pairing of these two symbols shows that as such it was the name of a god, not merely shewbread.
Sah and Sopdet - Father and mother of Egyptian gods
1 Branch symbol indicates the word ‘Sastha’ in Indus seal inscriptions. Sastha means God. 10
In Egyptian mythology, Sah was the "Father of the gods". The above-given picture of Sah is the anthropomorphic representation of a large Egyptian constellation represented by the modern constellations of Orion and Lepus. (8) (9) This representation also includes stars from modern Eridanus, Monoceros and Columba constellations. (10) His consort was Sopdet (Spdt, Sepedet) known by the ancient Greek name as Sothis, the goddess of the star Sirius (the "Dogstar"). Sah came to be associated with a more important deity, Osiris, and Sopdet with Osiris's consort Isis. (11 p. 129)
Sah was frequently mentioned as "the Father of Gods" in the Old Kingdom Pyramid texts. Pharaoh was thought to travel to Orion after his death. (11) This above said observation of Wilkinson and Richard seems to be important. Because the entire scheme of mortuary temples and rituals are oriented towards the after-life journey of a dead man’s soul. The final destination of the soul is the Orion constellation, which is the world of the ancient father the God Sah.
In the context of Hindu religious ideas, this Egyptian god could have been replaced by Brahma and Brahma-Loka. Because Brahma was the first god who emerged of his own in this universe at the time of the creation of gods and animals. Brahma only created all the other gods and beings; he was also the father of all other Rishis. Hence, Brahma looks more like the father god of Egyptian gods. 11
Figure 8: Goddess Sopdet
Picture courtesy -Wikipedia
During the early period of Egyptian civilization, the heliacal rising of the bright Sothis star preceded the usual annual flooding of the Nile (11). It was therefore apparently used for the solar civil calendar which largely superseded the original lunar calendar in the 3rd millennium BC. Despite the wandering nature of the Egyptian calendar, the erratic timing of the flood from year to year, and the slow procession of Sirius within the solar year, Sopdet continued to remain central to cultural depictions of the year and the Egyptian New Year. She was also venerated as a goddess of the fertility brought to the soil by the flooding. (12)
During the Old Kingdom, she was an important goddess of the annual flood and a psychopomp guiding deceased pharaohs through the Egyptian underworld. During the Middle Kingdom, she was primarily a mother and nurse and, by 12 the Ptolemaic period, she was almost entirely subsumed into Isis. (11)
Figure 9: Hieroglyphic symbol of Sopdet (Sothis) One important thing to be noted here is the hieroglyphic name of Sopdet. See, the conical bread glyph is appearing in the name of the god. Literally also the word ‘Sopdet’ means "Triangle" or "Sharp One". There is a possibility that the conical symbol could be indicating the goddess Sopdet (Greek name Sothis). (Or) The other possibility is that the cone symbol could be indicating the god Sah, who was also called as Sahu.
One relevant observation to be noted here is that both these names are appearing as name titles even today in India. The title ‘Sah’ is common in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The title ‘Shah’ (sounds like ‘Sah’) is common in the state of Gujarat. The title ‘Sahu’ is prevalent in the state of Orissa.
God Dakshinamurthi.
Picture courtesy –Wikipedia (13) ‘Proto- Shiva’ seal and Dakshinamurthi 13
The above-given picture shows the god Dakshinamurthi, surrounded by sages. This god is generally shown with four arms. He is seated under a banyan tree, facing the south. He is seated upon a deer-throne and surrounded by sages who are receiving his instruction. In many other depictions, this god is surrounded by wild animals instead of sages.
Figure 10: Sky map showing Orion constellation
Picture courtesy - Wikipedia
Further, the southern side position of Dakshinamurthi is reaffirmed by the position of Orion constellation in the southern 14 hemisphere of the sky. This constellation is located south of the ecliptical pathway, which is the pathway of the Sun moon and all the planets. The basic visualization of Hindu priests is that all the celestial gods (Planets) pass through a pathway (ecliptic pathway), which is also the main axis of the Hindu temple. In this scheme, Orion is a minor god on the southern sidewall of the Garbha Graha (Inner Sanctorum of the temple).
The relevance of this discussion about Dakshinamurthi is that the ‘Proto-Shiva’ seal corresponds with this god Dakshinamurthi in all aspects. For more details, read my article,” Proto-Shiva seal and Dakshinamurthi”. (14)
Indus seal showing 'Proto-Shiva'/ Brahma/Dakshinamurthi 15
Orion constellation and surrounding animals The conclusion is that the god depicted in the above-given seal could be Sah/Sahu of Egyptian god. We do not know, what is the name by which, this god was called by Indus people. Till a finality is arrived at on this issue, we shall call him as ‘Sah/Sahu’.
The final conclusion is that the Egyptian gods Sah and Sopdet are associated with Orion constellation and are being called as ‘Dakshinamurthi’ by the modern Hindu priests. The Canis Major constellation was viewed as Goddess Sopdet (Sothis in Greek) by ancient Egyptian people, but it is not clear, how the Indus people called this god. This Canis Major is simply shown as ‘Tiger’ in Indus seals.
Finally, what is the meaning of cone symbol?
Cone symbol stands for the god ‘Sah/Sopdet’ as well as the concept of the final salvation of a soul. Cone symbol also stands for the word ‘Given’ as interpreted by Egyptologists. 16
The researcher Max Distro states that the ancient Egyptian Bread Cone is one of the oldest ideas from Ancient Egypt. It was used in the early dynasties of Egypt. Max Distro explains that the meaning of the Bread Cone is: “to give”, “present”. The above given hieroglyphic inscription says that the pharaoh was “Given Eternal life like Ra”. (15)
Similar is the situation of interpreting ‘cone’ symbol of Indus script. It does not merely indicate the offering of a conical bread to god. It does not merely indicate the god ‘Sah/Sopdet’. This cone symbol indicates the broad idea of ‘giving eternal life’ to the soul of a dead person. It looks like that it was the final funeral ceremony in which the soul entered the netherworld at Orion constellation and the soul was given eternal life to live with ‘Sah’.
Frequency distribution analysis
The research paper submitted by Sundar et al contains the statistical analysis and frequency distribution analysis 17 of various Indus symbols (16). The data about cone symbol are extracted and presented in the below-given table.
Table 1: frequency distribution analysis table by Sundar et al.
Symbol Solu Initi Medi Final Total s al al 0 29 2 0 31
0 15 0 0 15
0 12 0 0 12
0 0 15 1 16
1 5 6 0 12
0 5 6 0 11
1 66 29 1 97
Symbol t Reading of symbols Meaning otal All these pairs of symbols should be read from right to left 3Sah and Gatekeeper god The meaningful 1 pairing of symbols
1Sah - Sastha The meaningful 5 pairing of symbols
1 Karma- Sah This combination is 2 meaningless because 'Karma' is done for 'Pithrus', not for the god. 1Sah -Kavu (Sacrifice) Meaningful 6 association of symbols
1Sah- Kur Kur is the netherworld 2 indicated by three mountains. God Sah was the lord of ‘Kur’ 1Sah- seventh day It is a meaningful 1 association and
18
important one also. It says Sah was the lord of the seventh day. 9 7
Out of the above-given symbol pairs, only one pair is meaningless. Other pairs are meaningful. This statistical analysis of Indus symbols has been fruitful, it has yielded some good results.
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10. Belmonte, J.A. Calendars, symbols and orientations: Legacies of astronomy in culture - The Ramesside star clocks and the ancient Egyptian constellations . Stockholm : s.n., 2003.
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