A Seafarer's Decoding of the Irish Symbols

by Donald McMahon

  The current names of the harbors of Ireland surely indicate that the ancient seafarers may have selected names having common roots: Donegal, Galway, Dingle, Knocknarea, Cork, Wexford, Dublin, and Belfast. Even the theme of giants in the Giant’s Causeway has common myths about seafaring giants. Ireland played a role in the CE invaders’ endeavors. Further discussion of the CE seafarers in Ireland is the subject of another book.

  Conclusion

  All peoples, tribes, and invaders who came to Ireland arrived on boats. Those who departed Ireland also left on boats. They had different names, but they were all seafarers, who had a common understanding of navigation. The symbols for navigation were created and recorded because oral traditions were not sufficient. These invaders will be called, for simplicity, the N’DNs.

  The Book of Kells indicates that the invaders had a common heritage as well as a common language. At least, the Fir Bolgs, Tautha Dé Danaan, and the Milesians were different tribes of the great Celtic family, who, long ages before, had separated from the mainstream but many centuries later became one tribe of Gaels. The southern invaders had specific names or a generic name, like the Beaker people. The northern invaders had specific names or a generic name, like the Grooved Ware people.

  The invaders, by the nature of their name, would come and go. They came for economic gain from gold and copper, and they returned for more gain. Sizable fleets of boats became greatly diminished from the beginning of the trip. This was a significant investment by the customers who sent them. When they arrived, they needed to replenish the supplies, so they planted gardens (of Eden). They built and refurbished their boats. They found valuable rocks and then defended their finds.

  Much interest was given to the west and northwest coasts of Ireland, the location of the gold during the Stone and Copper Ages. As the Bronze Age unfolded, the southeast copper mines and the east coast of Ireland were developed.

  The invaders built storage facilities for the grains, the fruits, and the valuable rocks. They built safe and dry storage structures and built stone forts to defend them.

  The trade routes south, north, and even west to North America resulted in the construction of numerous stone structures on the west coast of Ireland. Initially, Ireland was a supplier of gold and copper, but by the late Bronze Age, the country became a consumer as well as a supplier.

  As the Irish cultures developed, great mound structures with the beautiful carved kerbstones were built in the Boyne Valley region, which will be decoded. The seafarers’ crews brought expertise in stonecutting, building, navigation, astronomy, and mathematics, which was passed on as the crews became great teachers for those who stayed in Ireland.

  Because of the common heritage of the various invaders, serious attention is needed to understand their symbolic legacy—the symbols generated on the stones, the mound designs, and even the oral phonics associated with the names of their locations. They stand as testaments—the oldest—of a sophisticated culture in 3200 BCE.

  All of the invaders of Ireland were seafarers who came looking for gold and copper. Symbols were created related to the seafarers’ need to know the latitude and longitude of key locations, and they will be decoded in this book. Figure 3-6a shows the ankh, tri-spiral, the ringed cross, and the gold symbol used in 3200 BCE. These have been transformed into today’s Irish symbols (see Figure 3-6b): the shamrock, the high stone cross, gold, and the harp. From the seafaring experiences, the seafarers’ boats became the symbol for the AIB Bank of Ireland.

  Figure 3-6a: Megalithic symbols

  Figure 3-6b: Today’s Irish symbols

  The Irish invaders’ reality became symbols of myth, math, metaphor, and music.

  • • •

  Chapter 4:

  WHY: Golden Rule for Metals

  The Golden Rule for metals is very simple: “He who has gold, rules.”

  Chapter 4 will address the gold and copper trade influencing the Nile River dynasties. The golden rulers of the Nile influenced the seafaring capability by the ruler’s desire to “follow the sun” for gold and copper. By following the sun, the mining techniques were transported to the islands of supply. The major mining locations were Cyprus, Sardinia, the Iberia Peninsula, Brittany, and the island of Ireland.

  Gold

  Gold was one of the first metals to be found and exploited in the Nile Valley. Gold was easily found by riverbeds—the gold of the water. The alluvial gold was obtained by washing away the lighter sand particles with water and then melting the remaining gold particles. The greatest deposits of gold were found in quartz veins running up and into the mountains. The gold of the mountains was mainly found in the eastern deserts of the Nile River and Nubia, shown in Figure 1-5.

  The Koptos gold, for instance, was mined in the Bekhen Mountains. The gold mines were given to a small temple and dedicated to Amen, Re, Osiris, and a number of other gods. The workers mining the gold, the “flesh of the gods,” the goldwashers, were exempt from any other work. Temples and gold were associated very early in the Nile Valley history.

  In the Wadi Hammamat, where gold-containing quartz was found, the underground quartz veins were mined by crushing the rock so that the gold could be extracted. This required a great deal of manpower, provisioned only with difficulty in these desert regions in the Nile Valley. The gold was transported from the mines to the refining locations.

  The following figures are presented as an overview of the slurry mining process for the purposes of developing an awareness of the symbols and structures associated with the mining of metal-bearing quartz rocks in the Nile Valley. These symbols and structures may be the basis for observing similar symbols and structures in locations near the gold and copper supplies on the trade routes.

  The following figures relate to how gold was found in quartz veins, was dug out, and was then crushed in a slurry crushing mill. This is based on the excellent research found in Reference 27.

  The slurry crushing mills were used for gold but also for any other quartz-containing metal, like tin.

  Figure 4-1a: Nubian Desert, showing a quartz vein, (Reference 27)

  Figure 4-1b: A mined quartz vein

  Figure 4-2: A quartz rock with embedded gold

  Before smashing the rock, it could be heated, making it brittle, and then broken with stones or stone hammers. The chunks of ore were smashed with small hammers and ground in mills similar to corn mills. The resulting dust was then washed, and the metal was extracted. The ore was spread on declining surfaces, and the gold was washed out, which was then caught in some sort of sieve: the fleece from sheep (golden fleece).

  Figure 4-3a is a schematic of a quartz slurry crushing mill. The slurry crushing mills had various designs. Figure 4-3b shows a Nubian quartz slurry mill with a center-passage water feed. Figure 4-3c shows a Nubian quartz slurry mill with a side-passage water feed.

  Figure 4-3a: An artist’s view of a quartz slurry crushing mill (Reference 27)

  Figure 4-3b: A Nubian quartz slurry mill with a center-passage water feed

  Figure 4-3c: A Nubian quartz slurry mill with a side-passage water feed

  There are stones associated with these quartz-crushing mills that have various symbols carved on them.

  Figure 4-4a shows the symbols for gold and a bird. The Nubians were known as the birdmen. The bird was a symbol for ownership of the metal or was present when one went to the otherworld.

  Figure 4-4b shows an elephant and a camel. Elephants and camels were used for portage, with both animals having a root, “el.”

  Figure 4-4: Stones having symbols found in the Nubian Desert.

  The crushing mills were part of larger complexes that had stone circles constructed. Figure 4-5a shows a “cemetery” stone circle with standing stones. Astronomical observations can be made from these stone circles. The oldest stone circle that I have researched is shown in Figure 4-6b. This is a Nubian stone circle with a center shadow stone, c. 4800 BCE.

  Figure 4-5: Stone circle in Nubian Desert, with a st
anding stone, c. 4800 BCE

  These stone circles suggest that the Nubians had an early understanding of astronomy. Seasonal considerations were essential for the timing of the mining activities as well as the predictions of the flooding of the Nile River for boat travel to the customers. Sirius, the dog star, indicated the dog days of summer when gold mining did not occur. Canopus, the southern polestar, indicated when flooding would start in late summer, the fall equinox.

  Consider that the rise of Canopus could indicate the beginning of the gold mining season. The slurry process needed water from the desert. At the center of Canopus is nop, which is a variation of nub (gold). The symbols for gold—a bird, an elephant, and a camel—were carved into the stones.

  A map of an ancient gold mine in the Nubian Desert is seen in Appendix C, Figure C3 and is one of the oldest maps found. A grid represents the entrances into the mine.

  Figure 4-6 shows gold being delivered to a pharaoh (Reference 61).

  In the Treasury at Medinet Habu, there is a depiction of eight sacks, each bearing an inscription:

  1.Gold of Kush

  2.Gold, 1000 deben

  3.Gold of the mountains

  4.Gold of the water, 1000 deben

  5.Gold of Edfu

  6.Gold of Ombos, 1000 deben

  7.Gold of Coptos

  8.Lapis lazuli of Tefrer]

  The containers (bags) for the valuable rocks and the bag names were associated with the supplier location. Counting and identification were a part of the inventory process, as seen in Figure 4-6a. Weights and measurements were established to make sure the weights from the supply locations equaled the weights delivered to the pharaoh—the customer. The counting process began during the reign of the First Dynasty pharaoh, Den (D’Ewen) in 2900 BCE. Note the scales in Figure 4-6a.

  Egypt became known as “The Land of Measurement.” The Nile River dynasties would measure everything and record the results on stone and pottery. Appendix D develops some of the math concepts used by the Nile dynasties.

  The safest way to transport gold or any other commodity in the Nile Valley was by boat. Since gold was coming from the Nubian Desert, the Nubians, experts in mining, became experts in boat making and sailing. To get around the six cataracts on the Nile, they used elephant portage. On the southern side of the cataracts is the Isle of Meroe, and on the northern side of the cataracts is Elephantine Island. The traders found security staying on the islands.

  As kingdoms grew, so did the need for that which sustains the kingdom: the money supply—that is, gold. The annual production of gold during the early Nile River dynasties is thought not to have exceeded one ton. In comparison, Spain, a major producing center in Roman times, shipped over one thousand tons of gold to Rome per year.

  Exploration was critically needed. This could only be achieved by the seafarers sponsored by the reigning Nile River Dynasties. The need to find gold and copper expanded into sea routes in the Mediterranean Sea, known as the Great Green. The Nile River Dynasties called the Great Green boats, Byblos boats, referring to sea travel from the Nile Delta to the ancient town of Byblos, Lebanon. It is interesting that Byblos is close to the cedar trees used in boat construction, and is within a one day sail to the great copper island, Cyprus. The seafarers followed the sun, east and west, to new locations of gold.

  Figure 4-7 shows Osiris, god of the otherworld (West) and his overseer, Anibus. The tools they are holding are measuring tools.

  There are pictures in Nile River structures that show metal being delivered to Osiris, 2500 BCE, and how a trip to get metal from the underworld in 2500 BCE. This trip will be decoded in Chapter 12.

  The symbol for gold is seen in Figure 4-8 with the three dots. The gold symbol reflects the slurry refining of metal, and the three dots are the Egyptian symbol for a metal.

  Figure 4-8: Symbol for gold and metal

  The gold content changed as a function of time, 3000 BCE to 1000 BCE, which was influenced by trade locations, the suppliers. Gold content varied with silver, which became known as electrum. This is fascinating because it shows a wide range of compositions for gold, implying different gold sources and alloying techniques. The gold alloy range increased as time marched on, which reflects the increased number of metal source locations from the seafaring explorations.

  Copper

  Copper was probably the first metal to be worked in the Egyptian region during the Neolithic Age (sixth millennium BCE). It was found in ores containing 10–12 percent copper, which had to be smelted. Crucibles found at the mines indicate that the art of extracting the metal included some refining. At first it had to be worked cold, as the necessary heat could not be achieved to melt and cast the copper droplets produced.

  Copper production may have started in the Wadi Maghara region, but experts claim that there was never enough copper there to be exploited. The copper mines in the Sinai Desert were the aim of the first major Egyptian forays abroad.

  Copper was generally mined under dreadful conditions. The miners were slaves and were worked to death in the mines in Western Sinai, Timna, and other locations in the Arabah Valley, which stretches from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Dead Sea. A slag-heap in the Sinai Desert has been estimated to contain one hundred thousand tons of dross, which would have meant a yield of about fifty-five hundred tons of copper. During the Bronze Age, the Nile River dynasties produced about four tons of copper annually. Therefore, considerable quantities of copper had to be imported from Syria, Cyprus, and other countries.

  Because of this need for additional copper, the copper trade routes to the West began. The Nile Valley dynasties needed to find good copper sources. They found the copper on Cyprus, the copper island. The root for Cyprus is cuprous, meaning copper. The gold and copper trade routes evolved. It is important to note the role Ireland played in these metal trade routes. The North Atlantic trade routes all passed through Ireland.

  What a surprise when the navigation eventually reached the Isle Royale in Northern Michigan, where the purest copper in the world exists—97 percent copper from open ground pits. The seafarer only needed to cut, transport, and do minimal melting and refining.

  Five hundred thousand tons of pure copper were mined in Northern Michigan from 2200 BCE to 1200 BCE. Where did the copper go?

  We can now hypothesize a penultimate trip: the Isle of Meroe, Nubia, to the island of Ireland, to the Isle Royale, Northern Michigan, and return during the Bronze Age, 2500 BCE.

  Tin/Silver/Lead

  Tin, silver, and lead are all found in quartz and need similar refining steps. The purpose is not to define the metallurgy but to show that the slurry mining techniques can be used for these metals. The refining facilities had similar designs and had stone carvings. The slurry crushing mining techniques were transferred to the regions containing the quartz rocks. The combination of these metals with gold and copper produced strategic alloys for the sustaining of the kingdoms of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.

  Iron

  Iron changed the copper trade significantly. The Nubians, however, became the iron-refining experts in the Nile Valley. From 1000 BCE onward, iron was one of the most important metals worldwide, and the Nubian metalworkers were among the best in the world. We have already seen that Nubia was very rich in gold.

  Iron sources closer to the Eastern Mediterranean basically stopped the copper routes to the West. The Greeks and then the Romans became the power cultures. The Nile Valley dynasties were over. Travel to the underworld, the West, was over. The underworld moved its interests to South America, and Atlantis now became a myth. The past kingdom glories, dependent on gold and copper, became legends of the “good old days” and were passed to new generations in myth, math, metaphor, and music.

  Conclusion

  The Golden Rule of metals: He who has the gold, rules.

  As explorations expanded, metallurgy developed. He who has the gold, copper, tin, silver, lead, and then iron, rules.

  The gold and copper trade routes were establis
hed as the seafarers followed the sun west. The seafarers also went north and through Europe. At various times, they all migrated over water toward Ireland. So the Irish symbols need to be decoded from a seafarer’s perspective.

  The seafarers played the key role in connecting the locations of the customers with the suppliers. They created symbols on stones and mounds and in the oral phonics. The symbols and names aided in finding the locations of the mines, harbors, storage facilities, suppliers, and customers.

  Counting, angles, stone circles, jars, basins, containers, and names (phonics) were observed. Note the use of stone circles for gold processing.

  The phonetic roots of the gods were Ra, El, and Bal. Ra is the sun god. El, or E, is for Eloha. Bal is for Baal. Also associated with the name of the gods is Rho.

  It is interesting to note that the Nubian standing stone was named a BAAL. This evolved to an oBALisk, and eventually, to a totem pole, in my opinion.

  The purpose of Section 1 was to define 1) what the seafarers were looking for; 2) where the seafarers were searching; 3) who the seafarers were who got to Ireland; and 4) why the seafarers sailed the world. Symbols were coded from 3200 BCE to 2500 BCE, by the seafarers, on stone and pottery logbooks at that time. The rest of this book will decode these symbols.

  • • •

  Chapter 5:

  HOW: Navigation Symbols

  To navigate the great seas, the seafarer needs information on latitude, longitude, north/south/east/west, sun/moon/Venus, winds, currents, and locations for harbors, mounds, metal mines, and storage. Because the winds and currents change during the seasons, the seafarer needs timing information—calendars. The seafarer must be able to count and to measure angles and to notice the rotation of the angles.

  Chapter 5 presents the basic Irish symbols, the combinations of these symbols, and the rotations around an axis of these symbols, all from a seafarer’s perspective. Chapter 6 will describe the tools the seafarer used to count and estimate angles.