The cosmic movements of the heavenly bodies has always intrigued mankind all throughout history. To depict this "moving of the gods", the earliest civilizations used feathered wings to symbolize the rising and setting of the #sun and #moon, travelling around the astral plane.

The earliest attestations of this concept originated as early as the #Egyptian Old Kingdom (3rd mil. BC). This became most apparent in the symbol for the assimilated Horus-Behdeti deity, the so-called #Horus of Edfu. In his Temple of Edfu, the winged sun-disk is visibly present.

In the temple (237-56 BC) in Upper #Egypt, the feathered solar disk is flanked by two uraeus snakes. It represents the sun, its rising and setting symbolized by the wings through which it "flies" through the skies. (Text below from "Greco-Egyptian Interactions" by I. Rutherford).

The winged sun disk has also been depicted with the god Ptah, the embodiment of the rising sun, father of the universe. A winged sun can be seen above a door of his temple in #Karnak. It also appears on the neck of #Apis, who served as an intermediary between humans and #Ptah.

Besides its direct association with a specific deity, the winged solar disced represents the concept of the heavens, the sky, the sun. It stands highly elevated above anything else depicted. Its the personification of rebirth, creation and the inception of life.

The first stela is a Meroitic sandstone showing a figure under a winged sun [Penn Museum]. The second stela is 1539-1292 BC #Memphis ( #Egypt) limestone stela [Penn Museum]. Thirdly, the Stela of Amenhotep II offering to Amun, ca. 1427–1400 B.C. [MET Museum].

Because of this significant and ubiquitous symbolism, the winged sun evolved into a symbol of protection and became a popular protective amulet during the Late and #Ptolemaic Period, like the 700 BC ones below [Penn Museum and Walters Art Museum].

This symbol was extremely popular, and was soon exported all over the Near East and adopted into the native art and symbolism of Canaan, #Assyria, Babylonia and #Anatolia, in a beautiful example of inter-cultural exchange and the transferring of ancient symbols... To be continued

The winged disk was incorporated in the religious symbolism of the Near Eastern peoples, from #Anatolia and Canaan to the #Persian empires. I became more than just a solar icon, effectively representing major male and female deities as a de-facto visualisation of their supremacy.

The winged disk is usually placed atop everything else. High positioning of an element within a given image implies high rank in ancient Near Eastern art. I'm not going to dwell too long on this subject, but please do read this study (35 p.) on the matter

https://menasymbolism.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/solar-disk.pdf

For this thread, however, it's important to focus on the #Assyrian use of the winged disk, which they used to depict their supreme deity, Aššur. The first occurrence of the winged disk in monumental Assyrian art is probably on the 11th c. BC Broken Obelisk (British Museum).

If you look carefully, you can see that the winged disk actually has hands and holds a bow and arrows. This is a prominent typically #Assyrian modification of the symbol, which would later become only more anthropomorphised. Divine legitimacy was important for the Assyrian #king.

And indeed, as Aššur gained importance and "defeated" the #Babylonian Marduk during the Neo-Assyrian period, he BECAME the winged disk, the supreme deity elevated above all. The disk was no longer aniconic, but received a human-like form, holding a ring or bow.

This represented Aššur. Just like the above wall relief depicting king Ashurnasirpal II with an official, this relief shows him below the divine Aššur shooting a bow in exactly the same pose, signifying that everything the #king does is equivalent to the action of the #god.

The anthropomorphism of Aššur was no coincidence. Such imagery could only confirm/propagate the consubstantiality of the #Assyrian king with god, the divinity that resided in his body and which justified his divine mandate, an increasing trend during the Neo-Assyrian period.

In the above quoted "Relations of Power in Early Neo-Assyrian State Ideology" by Mattias Karlsson, one name stands out, Ashurnasirpal II. Like the reliefs above, he might be the best example for this concept of divine kingship. His palace in #Nimrud had yet another relief:

The ethnic flag of the #Assyrian people features Aššur in his winged disk depiction shooting an arrow from a bow, similar to the relief of Ashurnasirpal II in battle. Aššur was the deified form of #Assur, the capital of the Assyrian empires. This flag was adopted in 1971.

Interestingly enough, the ethnic Syriac/Aramean flag chose to adopt the #Babylonian and Anatolian interpretations of the winged disk, not the Assyrian one, and thus a non-anthropomorphic icon. The flag was adopted and designed by the #Syriac federation in #Sweden in 1980.

Its image is Near Eastern, but not Assyrian. Royal divinity was frowned upon outside the Neo-Assyrian Empire, so it didn't develop the human-like features so typical for the Assyrians. Instead, the flag resembles reliefs found at Tell Ḥalaf & Tell Barsip in northeastern #Syria.

The sun is changed to a fire/torch in the Aramean flag, to symbolize #Christianity. However, some chose to exclusively retain the ancient symbolism.

The Syriac Union Party in Syria (1) is an Assyrian political party that represents the interests of the Arameans in #Syria. They're closely allied to the #Rojava entity. The SUP has set up the Sutoro police (2). They retained the sun disk in the form of the Star of Shamash.

This, again, is not typically #Assyrian, but rather common for the Aramaic peoples, most notably Neo-Hittite, in Syria and eastern Anatolia. Compare it with a bronze ornament found in Samos with Aramaic inscriptions (1) or the sun disk on a relief found in Sam'al (Zincirli).

As the 6th c. BC Achaemenid #Persians didn't really have a religious art of their own, they adopted many external elements into their native Zoroastrianic religion. An example is the winged disc of Aššur, which became the most famous symbol of #Zoroasterianism, the faravahar.

No longer holding a bow, the figure in the faravahar holds a ring (a symbol of eternity) or branch and extends his other arm to bless. Below cylinder seal is of 6th-4th c. BC #Achaemenid #Persian origin and found near #Babylon.

It's unclear what the faravahar exactly represents. One might argue that it represents Ahura Mazda, the sole most important figure in #Zoroastrianism. That would explain his depiction within a winged disk and his appearance among royalty on Persian seals.

Others argue that the faravahar (فروهر) actually symbolize the so-called fravashi, the Zoroastrian concept of a personal spirit of each human individual, dead or alive, that fights the battle of good versus evil. It's depiction would in that case serve a protective function.

The fact that a faravahar appears on this 6th-5th c. BC seal of Darius I hunting a lion could indeed indicate one of either interpretations. Is it the fravashi of Darius I? Or is it Ahura Mazda blessing the king with his divine mandate and support, similar to the #Assyrian kings?

A stone relief of a faravahar on the walls of #Persepolis, which was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire between the 6th and 4th c. BC.

The faravahar also appears on the so-called Behistun Inscription, a multilingual inscription and large rock relief near the city of Kermanshah in western #Iran, established by Darius I (550–486 BC).

The tomb of Xerxes I (r. 486–465 BC) in Naqsh-e Rustam, an ancient necropolis located northwest of #Persepolis, features a beautiful relief showing Xerxes himself holding a bow and extending his arm to a faravahar. The latter holds a ring, and extends his other arm.

The Coat of Arms of Pahlavi dynasty featured on one of the Imperial Plates of #Persia. These plates have been produced in 1971 by Shāh Moḥammad Riḍā Pahlawī in a limited edition of ten thousand to commemorate the #Persian monarchy. The faravahar is depicted in the 2nd quarter.

I finished my piece on the winged disk, an important religious symbol used across the entire Near-East that survived up until today as the Zoroastrian faravahar in #Iran. From #Egypt to #Assyria, people depicted their supreme gods with it. A read: https://menasymbolism.com/2019/05/23/the-winged-disk/

A banner used by the #Zoroastrian Parsi community of #India, especially concentrated in Sanjan (Gujarat), features a faravahar on a background of red, yellow and blue bands. Most descend from 7th c. AD refugees. There are about 69.600 Zoroastrians in India.

A 50 Riyāl banknote published under Reza Shah Pahlavi in 1938. The note features a faravahar. The #Pahlavi dynasty made grateful use of old #Iranian symbols like the faravahar, the shir-o-khorshid and the simurgh to highlight their self-declared #Persian heritage.

The winged disc is a prominent symbol in the world of #British sports and luxury cars, mostly because of its royal and divine meaning, the divine #sun flying through the heavens with its majestic wings, which is indeed a great metaphor for any car producing company.

Commemorative stone stela from the Middle #Babylonian period (900-800 BC) depicting a priest of Marduk and his son, it being normal in ancient #Mesopotamia for a son to adopt his father's profession. High above them, the symbols of three major deities.

The winged sun disc represents Shamash, the crescent represents Sīn and, as opposed to the customary depiction of Ishtar on such stelae, a lion's head on a scepter, the symbol for Nergal. Currently in the #British Museum, found in the Temple of Marduk ( #Babylon).

Neo- #Assyrian cylinder seal (9th-7th c. BC) found in northern #Mesopotamia. A cultic scene showing bullmen and winged figures around a tree-like structure. Above the tree, an anthropomorphic deity inside a winged disc, probably Aššur himself. MET Museum, New York.

Eclipsologist @RobinEdgar introduced yours truly to an intriguing theory with regard to the astronomical origins of the winged #sun disc. I'll mention some important points, which I will expand on in the future God willing. The main authority on this theory was Edward W. Maunder.

Maunder (d.1928) was a #British astronomer known for his #solar observations and founder of the British Astronomical Association. In "Knowledge - A monthly record of science Vol. 20" (London, 1897), Maunder made a connection between the solar eclipse's corona and the winged disc.

He describes how the ancient #Egyptians and Mesopotamians must have considered the total solar eclipse a manifestation of the unseen divine, its mysterious lights a #symbol of unapproachable powers. He states that the winged discs are the earliest images of total eclipses.

As @RobinEdgar himself notes how the diaphanous equatorial streamers of the total solar eclipse's corona, bear a remarkable resemblance to the outspread wings of a celestial being. Since the #Egyptians and Mesopotamians were skilled astronomers, this couldn't be far off.

The solar eclipse bears striking similarities with the winged sun discs described in this thread. Since the disc itself seemingly exists from a solid mass, a black, incomprehensible darkness impacting everything below, it must have had a striking impact on the #ancient peoples.

This thread won't be updated anymore. I believe enough has been written to sufficiently understand this symbol. You can use this tweet to bookmark, reference or navigate the thread, whose first tweet can be found at https://bit.ly/2P3n14B  ⁽ʷᶦⁿᵍᵉᵈ ᵈᶦˢᵏ⁾

Today I learned that the emblem featured on the flag of the 1950's fascist political party National Socialist Workers Party of #Iran ( #SUMKA) is actually a very stylized faravahar. Worth mentioning, so I'll still include that in this thread.