AMAZING INDIAN LIKE PRE HISTORIC SCULPTURES AT SHUWAYMUS IN SAUDI ARABIA!
IS THERE AN AJANTA IN ARABIA?
V.S.Gopalakrishnan
Right now, I am reading a book titled “History of the Arabs” by Prof. Philip K.Hitti (Macmillan, student Edition, Tenth Edition, 822 pages). I have scarcely read a more engaging historical book and I wish I had written it. The book handles the subject of Arabia, Arabs and Arabians across the widest canvas covering history, geography, culture, religion etc. The Islamic history is only 1300 years old but Arabia’s name, fame and influence go back to nearly 4000 years back. When I would finish the reading of the book, I would fancy bringing out a series of enlightening blogs on the subject.
Mind you, this book came out in 1937! Never mind that as it essentially covers a range of nearly 4000 years. I am reading the Tenth edition, updated and reprinted, as of 1979! And, surprise of surprises, I don’t find the place called SHUWAYMUS mentioned in the voluminous index-section at the end. So, I have discovered something today, of enormous significance to us, of which Prof.Hitti was unaware! What is it?
Do you remember all those great things said about Arabian traders from ancient times, and about the fanciful Arabian Nights etc? Yet, I would say that the land was greatly disadvantaged due to the enormous desert areas and very little development has happened there till oil became wealth. Despite its enormous history, it seems to have very few tourist places of interest even today for the average international traveller.
Out of curiosity, I was browsing the internet contents on touristic places in Saudi and most of them are mosques. But out of a dozen touristic places generally mentioned, a place called Shuwaymus totally flabbergasted me. Just take a look at the sculptures found there, shown in the photo below.
My God, I could not believe my eyes! I googled for “shuwaymus” and there were just 49 entries on it. Many of them, when opened, repeat like a parrot the following text.
QUOTE
Rock Carving Site
Shuwaymus is yet another Rock Carving Site in Saudi Arabia that has been recently discovered. The rock arts at this place tell us a lot about the domestication of animals in the early times. This place had been home to the Neolithic people and this Saudi Arabia Rock Carving Site tells you that the country had not always been a desert and has undergone plenty of climatic alterations.
UNQUOTE
To me, the sculptures look like old sculptures we see at Indian temples, in caves etc. It is perhaps possible that Indian master craftsmen went over there long, long ago and executed such marvelous figures. I just cannot believe that this could have happened. I have seen similar stone sculptures made by Indian master-craftsmen in the distant Angkor in Cambodia and in Indonesia (Prambanan and Borobodur). They are UNESCO Heritage sites and are well-known to tourists throughout the world.
QUOTE:
“The darker ones are the oldest,” he explains, showing a life-sized figure, depicted with a characteristic oval head, holding a curved, boomerang-like throwing stick and followed by a short-horned bovine. “Now let me show you our prize figure, an ancient ruler.” Finely incised in the dark patina of desert varnish is a life-sized male human figure with a crown-like headdress. Nearby is the curved horn of an ibex reaching and arching to its back, its face complete with a small beard.
UNQUOTE
I would suppose that the human figure with “crown-like” head-dress is a reference to the sitting figure we see in the photo. From the article, it is clear that this discovery is about only 10 years old! I wonder whether any Indian archaeologists have gone over to Shuwaymus to study the sculptures which seem to be Indian handiwork.
There was a huge trade between India, Middle East, Egypt and Rome even before the Christian era. The trade routes went through certain parts of Arabia, and Arabian traders were buying from the Orient. It is said that Arabs worshipped Shiva idols and other images in Kaba (in Mecca) as a part of more than 300 gods they worshipped before Islam came in.
I am very disappointed that more pictures about the sculptures extant in Shuwaymus are not available. It is equally disappointing that there are hardly any write-ups about the sculptures on the Net . If the readers can unravel any and bring it to my notice, that will be greatly appreciated.
=====================
POST SCRIPT (29 Oct, 1 pm)
My friend Mr.K.Padmanabhaiah IAS retd wrote to me an email as follows:
QUOTE
Gopal,
I hope you have included the correct pictures because these pictures are so clear that there cannot be any doubt whether they represent humans etc.
The first and enduring impression I get on seeing these pictures is that you have by mistake attached pictures from the Kailas Temple, Ellora.
I am sure you visited Ellora. These picures totally resemble "Ravana Shaking Mt.Kailas". Ravana’s face is disfigured (in the lower portion).But one can imagine that Ravana’s heads and uplifted arms were there in the original.
The figure in the upper portion is clearly Shiva sitting on Kailas.
Padam.
UNQUOTE
I checked the Ellora sculpture and also the Elephanta cave sculpture of "Ravana lifting Mount Kailas", and it looks as if the Elephanta sculpture's photo has been used in the Saudi tourism sites! The Elephanta cave photo is reproduced below from the Net:
It is thus pretty clear that the Elephanta sculpture/photo has been wrongly used by the various parties that have given the touristic write-up about Shuwaymus! This is unpardonable indeed! Surely the Saudi Government should ensure that outside tourists are not misguided. My special thanks to Mr.K.Padmanabhaiah for the corrective enlightenment he has brought along! I am giving below the sites which give the photo as pertaining to Shuwaymus:
I am also posting below a photo of the Ellora sculpture of Ravana lifting Mount Kailas, which is different from the Elephanta sculpture in compositional details:
========================
IS THERE AN AJANTA IN ARABIA?
V.S.Gopalakrishnan
Right now, I am reading a book titled “History of the Arabs” by Prof. Philip K.Hitti (Macmillan, student Edition, Tenth Edition, 822 pages). I have scarcely read a more engaging historical book and I wish I had written it. The book handles the subject of Arabia, Arabs and Arabians across the widest canvas covering history, geography, culture, religion etc. The Islamic history is only 1300 years old but Arabia’s name, fame and influence go back to nearly 4000 years back. When I would finish the reading of the book, I would fancy bringing out a series of enlightening blogs on the subject.
Mind you, this book came out in 1937! Never mind that as it essentially covers a range of nearly 4000 years. I am reading the Tenth edition, updated and reprinted, as of 1979! And, surprise of surprises, I don’t find the place called SHUWAYMUS mentioned in the voluminous index-section at the end. So, I have discovered something today, of enormous significance to us, of which Prof.Hitti was unaware! What is it?
Do you remember all those great things said about Arabian traders from ancient times, and about the fanciful Arabian Nights etc? Yet, I would say that the land was greatly disadvantaged due to the enormous desert areas and very little development has happened there till oil became wealth. Despite its enormous history, it seems to have very few tourist places of interest even today for the average international traveller.
Out of curiosity, I was browsing the internet contents on touristic places in Saudi and most of them are mosques. But out of a dozen touristic places generally mentioned, a place called Shuwaymus totally flabbergasted me. Just take a look at the sculptures found there, shown in the photo below.
My God, I could not believe my eyes! I googled for “shuwaymus” and there were just 49 entries on it. Many of them, when opened, repeat like a parrot the following text.
QUOTE
Rock Carving Site
Shuwaymus is yet another Rock Carving Site in Saudi Arabia that has been recently discovered. The rock arts at this place tell us a lot about the domestication of animals in the early times. This place had been home to the Neolithic people and this Saudi Arabia Rock Carving Site tells you that the country had not always been a desert and has undergone plenty of climatic alterations.
UNQUOTE
To me, the sculptures look like old sculptures we see at Indian temples, in caves etc. It is perhaps possible that Indian master craftsmen went over there long, long ago and executed such marvelous figures. I just cannot believe that this could have happened. I have seen similar stone sculptures made by Indian master-craftsmen in the distant Angkor in Cambodia and in Indonesia (Prambanan and Borobodur). They are UNESCO Heritage sites and are well-known to tourists throughout the world.
The above write-up on Shuwaymus says that the rock carvings were “recently discovered”. How recent is it? I have been unable to find any material on it except for an article available at this URL which you could open and read: http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200202/art.rocks.in.saudi.arabia.htm
The above mentioned article is by one Peter Harrigan and another Lars Bjurstrom. A significant para from the article is as follows (on the Shuwaymus sculptures):QUOTE:
“The darker ones are the oldest,” he explains, showing a life-sized figure, depicted with a characteristic oval head, holding a curved, boomerang-like throwing stick and followed by a short-horned bovine. “Now let me show you our prize figure, an ancient ruler.” Finely incised in the dark patina of desert varnish is a life-sized male human figure with a crown-like headdress. Nearby is the curved horn of an ibex reaching and arching to its back, its face complete with a small beard.
UNQUOTE
I would suppose that the human figure with “crown-like” head-dress is a reference to the sitting figure we see in the photo. From the article, it is clear that this discovery is about only 10 years old! I wonder whether any Indian archaeologists have gone over to Shuwaymus to study the sculptures which seem to be Indian handiwork.
There was a huge trade between India, Middle East, Egypt and Rome even before the Christian era. The trade routes went through certain parts of Arabia, and Arabian traders were buying from the Orient. It is said that Arabs worshipped Shiva idols and other images in Kaba (in Mecca) as a part of more than 300 gods they worshipped before Islam came in.
I am very disappointed that more pictures about the sculptures extant in Shuwaymus are not available. It is equally disappointing that there are hardly any write-ups about the sculptures on the Net . If the readers can unravel any and bring it to my notice, that will be greatly appreciated.
=====================
POST SCRIPT (29 Oct, 1 pm)
My friend Mr.K.Padmanabhaiah IAS retd wrote to me an email as follows:
QUOTE
Gopal,
I hope you have included the correct pictures because these pictures are so clear that there cannot be any doubt whether they represent humans etc.
The first and enduring impression I get on seeing these pictures is that you have by mistake attached pictures from the Kailas Temple, Ellora.
I am sure you visited Ellora. These picures totally resemble "Ravana Shaking Mt.Kailas". Ravana’s face is disfigured (in the lower portion).But one can imagine that Ravana’s heads and uplifted arms were there in the original.
The figure in the upper portion is clearly Shiva sitting on Kailas.
Padam.
UNQUOTE
I checked the Ellora sculpture and also the Elephanta cave sculpture of "Ravana lifting Mount Kailas", and it looks as if the Elephanta sculpture's photo has been used in the Saudi tourism sites! The Elephanta cave photo is reproduced below from the Net:
It is thus pretty clear that the Elephanta sculpture/photo has been wrongly used by the various parties that have given the touristic write-up about Shuwaymus! This is unpardonable indeed! Surely the Saudi Government should ensure that outside tourists are not misguided. My special thanks to Mr.K.Padmanabhaiah for the corrective enlightenment he has brought along! I am giving below the sites which give the photo as pertaining to Shuwaymus:
I am also posting below a photo of the Ellora sculpture of Ravana lifting Mount Kailas, which is different from the Elephanta sculpture in compositional details:
========================
