A RECEPTION WITH
OLD METEOR POETRY

-photos by Victor Chifelea-



The welcoming reception for the International Meteor Conference 2011
took place on the afternoon of September 15th at Sibiu Mayoralty.







Moderated by Alexandru Sebastian Grigore,
the event began with a movie by Valentin Grigore about IMC history
and continued with speeches from:
Valentin Grigore (President of SARM),
Klaus Iohannis (Mayor of Sibiu),
Martin Bottesch (President of Sibiu County Council),
Marius Piso (Director of the Romanian Space Agency),
Paul Roggemans (Belgium, the main creator of the International Meteor Organization),
William J. Cooke (USA) from NASA,
Detlef Koschny (Germany/Holland) from ESA…







...and

ANDREI DORIAN GHEORGHE’S SPEECH

Sibiu was an European Capital of Culture in 2007.

Now, for a few days in 2011,
Sibiu is the world capital of meteor lovers
because it hosts the International Meteor Conference.
On this occasion, Sibiu will also be
the world capital of astronomical poetry
due to the 15th Astropoetry Show
(which will include posters and live performances)
in the 16th year
since the establishment of the Romanian astropoetry movement,
the most active in the world,
led by the Romanian Society for Meteors and Astronomy (SARM).

For this reason, I’ve chosen a short collection
of old Romanian meteor verses written before World War II
by great Romanian poets,
predecessors of this moment,
as a cultural introduction to this IMC:

From “Miorita”, the Romanian national myth-ballad,
Vasile Alecsandri variant:

A star fell
At my wedding party,
The Sun and Moon
Carried my coronet,
And the stars were my torches…

From Vasile Alecsandri (1821-1890) himself:

Look at the proud treasure of the night,
Leaving to snow stars from it,
From every soul which flies in the sky
A star comes down slowly.

From the Romanian national poet
Mihai Eminescu (1850-1889):

A sky of stars below,
A sky of stars above,
He looked like an unbroken flash
Lost between them.

From Ion Heliade Radulescu (1802-1872):

Brave fiery Cherub,
My soul sees you in every meteor.

From Ion Barbu (1895-1961),
alias the mathematician Dan Barbilian:

Did you see?
A star died.
A crushed star sucked by abysses.

From Tudor Arghezi (1880-1967):

Symbolic Infinite!
Concentrate yourself into a flake
And spread yourself in me…

From George Bacovia (1881-1957):

With the star which was detached,
Dying now in Chaos,
Perhaps a heart was extinguished
To its eternal repose.

And finally, from a great poet who lived for a while right in Sibiu,
Lucian Blaga (1895-1961):

There is nothing around us.
Only up there, a star has left the sky
With a golden tear.







*

But that was not the only tribute to old meteor poetry at the IMC 2011.
Thus, an impressive poster exhibited in
the conference room of the ASTRA Library,
“Meteoritic Weapons” from the Meteor Beliefs Project series
(initiated and coordinated by Alastair McBeath),
included a special chapter reproduced below:

METEORITIC IMAGERY IN “THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH”
-by Kristine Larsen (USA) and Alastair McBeath (U.K.)-

The “Gilgamesh Epic” is one of the oldest and greatest works of world literature.
Gilgamesh may originally have been a historical king in the city of Uruk
in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) around 2800~BC.
(All ancient Mesopotamian dates here are “Middle Chronology” ones,
and in relation to the “Epic” are those suggested by George (1999, pp.~lx--lxi).)
He appeared deified in lists of gods from the region by {circa} 2600~BC,
and it is likely oral tales of his life and exploits were already extant by then too,
though the earliest surviving written poems recording some of these in Sumerian date
to only {circa} 2100--2000~BC.
Not all of this earliest material recurred in the later versions,
which also added aspects not present in the earlier texts.
The first time the potentially meteoritic imagery we are interested in here appeared was
in the Old Babylonian version, the earliest surviving, if fragmentary, “epic” form,
dating to{circa} 1700--1600~BC, written in Akkadian.
Copies of the “Epic”, with variations, continued to be recorded through to the
2nd century BC, though the composite so-called “Standard”
or “Standard Babylonian Version”, which preserved most detail regarding
the possibly meteoritic elements, dates to{circa} 1200--1000~BC.
We have cited primarily from Stephanie Dalley's (1989) translation
of the “Epic” here, as being the most accurate near-literal one
currently available in English.
In the quotes used from it below, rounded parentheses show additions to help make
better sense in English which did not occur in the original,
or to mark uncertain translations.
Square brackets give interpolated text from other tablets,
to help complete damaged sections of the copy formally translated.
All the relevant text references from the “Standard Version” occurred on Tablet I,
of which the more important sections were in columns v and vi, concerning
a pair of dreams Gilgamesh has had, which he described to his mother,
the goddess Ninsun, asking for her interpretation.
The first dream:

“There were stars in the sky for me.
And (something) like a sky-bolt of Anu kept falling upon me!
I tried to lift it up, but it was too heavy for me.
I tried to turn it over, but I couldn't budge it.
The country(men) of Uruk were standing over [it].
[The countrymen had gathered (?)] over it,
The men crowded over it,
The young men massed over it,
They kissed its feet like very young children.
I loved it as a wife, doted on it,
[I carried it], laid it at your feet,
You treated it as equal to me.”

(Dalley, 1989, pp.~57--58, column v)

Ninsun determined the fallen “sky-bolt of Anu” represented a great man,
friend and protector, who was coming to meet Gilgamesh:
“He will be the most powerful in strength of arms in the land./
His strength will be as great as that of a sky-bolt of Anu”
(op. cit., p.~58, column vi).

The second dream:

“An axe was thrown down in the street (?) of Uruk the Sheepfold
And they gathered over it,
The country(men) of Uruk stood over it.
The land gathered together over it,
The men massed over it.
[I carried it], laid it at your feet.
I loved it as a wife, doted upon it.
And you treated it as equal to me.”

{ibid.}

Ninsun repeated her previous “sky-bolt” answer, but called this new object
“The copper axe” (op. cit., p.~59); note that the precise material was not
mentioned in other translations of this line), and repeated too the lines
from her earlier reply, which with the repetitious descriptions in the dreams,
not only added to the perceived importance of what was stated by
the storytelling conventions of the period,
but also made a clear connection between the axe and the “sky-bolt of Anu”.

The man these descriptions referred to was called Enkidu.
In the earlier Sumerian versions of the tale, he was Gilgamesh's loyal servant, but later,
as here, was his equal. Enkidu was created by the great mother goddess Aruru:
“She created a [primitive man], Enkidu the warrior: offspring of silence (?),
sky-bolt of Ninurta” (op. cit., p.~53, column ii).
Enkidu was described graphically as an animal-like wild man, very powerful,
whose “strength was very hard, like a sky-bolt of Anu” (loc. cit., column iii).
He was also called “the word (?) of Anu” (op. cit., p.~52, column ii).
Consequently, there was no question of the metaphorical linkage between
this character, the meteoritic “sky-bolt” and the axe.

What the phrasing translated as “sky-bolt” meant is another matter entirely,
and has been much debated.
Dalley's notes 10 and 13 (op. cit., p.~126) suggested the Akkadian names
for the “word (?)” and “sky-bolt” of Anu (and Ninurta), and axe,
could have been puns on the titles of various temple personnel,
but that the “sky-bolt of Anu” on its own could have meant an object
of meteoritic iron, something the stress on its great strength might support.
George's freer translation went further, on each occasion converting
the “sky-bolt of Anu” to “rock from the sky” (see George, 1999, pp.~5--11),
but very curiously he replaced “sky-bolt of Ninurta” with
“knit strongly by Ninurta” (op. cit., p.~5) instead.

The two deities Anu and Ninurta were among the greater Mesopotamian gods.
Anu was the mysterious, very powerful, yet little-described god of the sky,
one of the pantheon's leaders for much of the region's recorded history.
Ninurta was thought not quite so powerful.
He was often warlike, yet was also a farmer god. “Sky-bolt” was Dalley's translation
of the Akkadian term “kisru”, but its variant usage in the myth (and elsewhere)
made it difficult to reconcile it to a single interpretation.
It seemed meteoritic at times here, implying the associated axe was possibly
also meteoritic, despite Dalley's note that it was a copper one,
not of iron as we might anticipate were a genuine meteorite involved.
Bjorkman (1973, especially pp.~115--118) gave an excellently
detailed discussion of “kisru” in regard to its use in “Gilgamesh”,
and in other texts, which remains unsurpassed,
but came to no definite conclusions on what it represented here,
other than that it could be meteoritic in some instances.

As both fallen “sky-bolt” and axe featured only in dreams,
a literal interpretation need not be required, only that a large, very heavy object
had fallen on Gilgamesh in his first dream, which was “like a sky-bolt”,
while the axe was just “thrown down” - there was no indication where from.
The connection with the strong, loyal, trustworthy Enkidu did have
positive implications for how these potentially meteoritic objects were perceived,
at least.

Tablet II, column i of the earlier Old Babylonian version featured the two dreams,
but more succinctly.
The axe was still in the second, but the first was more problematic:

“The stars of heaven gathered (?) to me,/
And a decoy (?) from Anum fell on to me”
(Dalley, 1989, p.~136).

“Then the stars of the sky {hid} from me,/
A {piece}of the sky fell down to me”
(George, 1999, p.~102).

George used italics to indicate uncertain phrasing,
while “Anum” was merely a variant of Anu's name. Bjorkman (loc. cit.) noted
the difficult “decoy/piece” phrasing as having featured “kisru” again,
but both more recent translations indicated the reading of these lines
was not so straightforward.
This version of the story did suggest an actual sky-fallen object however,
rather than only something that was like one.

Examining earlier modern translations of “Gilgamesh”
simply added further confusion, due to “kisru” there being treated as
meaning “meteorite” in most (often, by the common error,
actually given as “meteor”), reinforced by the presumed “fact” that
early words for iron supposedly derived from phrases meaning
“metal from heaven”.
This presumption was neatly dealt with and dismissed by Bjorkman
(1973, pp.~114--115), who cited the belief as presented
in texts dating from 1928--1969~AD.
The 1928 date also tied in with the period when it was
“proved beyond doubt that the earliest form of iron used by mankind was
“meteoric iron”” (Forbes, 1964, p.~198).
Forbes' cited three items by T. A. Richard from 1929--1932,
plus G. F. Zimmer's 1916 paper
“The use of meteoric iron by primitive men”
(Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute, pp.~306--356).
This idea has since been discarded:
“All of [the] examples of the use of iron prior to about 1100~[BC]
have traditionally been interpreted as objects made of meteoritic iron...
There is precious little good analytical evidence for this identification,
which is really based upon the assumption that all early iron artifacts {must} be
made of meteoritic iron” (Muhly, 1995, p.~1514).
Muhly continued that a high nickel percentage in iron objects need not demonstrate
only a meteoritic provenance, as earthly smelting techniques could have produced
a similar result, plus there are naturally-occurring, if rare,
instances of earthly nickel-iron ores, while very few archaeologically-recovered
early iron objects have been properly analyzed.
The timing of so much activity in this regard in the 1920s--1930s is
at least interestingly coincidental with J. R. R. Tolkien's decision
to include meteoritic swords in his own works, and probably more than that,
given his own philological expertise and interests.

Bibliography:

-J. K. Bjorkman, 1973, “Meteors and Meteorites in the Ancient Near East”,
Meteoritics, 8, pages 89-130
-S. Dalley, 1989, “Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, The Flood, Gilgamesh,
and Others”, Oxford University Press
- R. J. Forbes, 1964, “Studies in Ancient Technology”, Volume IX, publisher E J Brill
-A. George, 1999, “The Epic of Gilgamesh: The Babylonian Epic Poem
and Other Texts in Akkadian and Sumerian”, publisher Allen Lane, The Penguin Press
-J. D. Muhly, 1995, “Mining and Metalwork in Ancient Western Asia”,
Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, Volume III, editor J. M. Sasson,
publisher Charles Scribner's Sons, pages 1501-1521



Another fine surprise was initiated by Haritina Mogosanu,
a Romanian lady established in New Zealand,
who obtained from a representative of “maori” community
the following essay, exhibited as a poster at the IMC 2011:

MAORI STAR LORE, METEORS & COMETS
-by Toa Waaka (New Zealand)-

Whakatauaki mo te raa - Daily Proverb:

"He Kotuku rerenga tahi koe"
"The Kotuku who flies the long journey"
A term of honouring a visitor from afar or a visiting chief
- The migratory flight of the Kotuku
from Okarito South Island to Siberia-
A messenger of the heavens - a good omen.

Maori star lore, Meteors & Comets

Tihei Mauri ora.
Behold the sneeze of life.
Tihe uriuri, Tihe nakonako,
Behold the darkness of existence,
Ka tauha whakatau ko Ranginui e tu iho nei,
Ka tauha whakatau ko Papatuanuku e takoto ake
Placed within this darkness was the sky & earth
Laid forlorn to procreate
Ka tauha whakatau ko te Matuku mai I Rarotonga.
Follow the bird Matuku of Rarotonga
Koia rukuhia Manawa pou roto
Koia rukuhia Manawa pou waho
Whakatina, kia tina, Te More I Hawaiiki,
E pupu ana hoki e wawau ana hoki,
The eminent strand of lifeforce that flowed from
Our ancient homeland
Tarewa tu ki te rangi,
Standing above was the star Tarewa
Eke panuku, eke Tangaroa,
Passing beneath us was the swift ocean
Tau mai te mauri,
Whano, whano, haere mai te toki
Haumi e hui e taiki e!!
Bound to the lifeforce,
We gathered together and struck the post
That unified us.

In the traditions of the Tuhoe tribe from the Urewera National Park
and Lake Waikaremoana, they can retrace their ancestry right back
to the arrival of their Hawaikiian voyaging ancestors on one lineage.
Upon another lineage, they identify with the original people of the land,
the people referred to as Ngapotiki and their migrating ancestor of Hawaiki,
Tuhoe Potiki.
Tuhoe and Ngapotiki (Tuhoe Potiki) recite their ancestry back to
Te Maunga a comet, and Hinepukohurangi ; the mist and light maiden
who was the daughter of Uenuku the rainbow.
Hinepukohurangi saw Te Maunga sailing through the skies each night
and planned to lure him to land.
Having the abilities of a light being herself, Hinepukohurangi let Te Maunga know
of her whereabouts and he descended upon Maunga Pohatu
where they cohabited and bore the mortal lines of the Tuhoe people.
Looking deeper into this story one can see the significance and relevance
of a Mist maiden and a comet as they are joined together.
When one considers anecdotal evidence of extremophiles,
an organism that lives and thrives in physically or geochemically extreme conditions,
say for instance the heat created by a comet entering our atmosphere.
Then one also considers the abundance of the potential held within water,
should the two come into contact, then maybe, just maybe,
this could spell not the ending of our world, but the beginning.
This is an analytical view I have taken upon some research
conducted by Miller, Ryder W.*
Millers evidence suggests that extremophiles exist under the icy surfaces of
Jupiter’s Moon, on Mars, in underground caverns, in clouds of Venus
and on approaching comets, bringing eminent strands of the original lifeforce
from accros the universe towards our galaxy and our planet.
If a comet did hit the Waikaremoana region, then the neighboring lake,
quite possibly could have been affected or even formed by the impact and a resulting
immediate reaction to a comet hitting the earth, even one the size of a car,
would send debris and water into the air,
creating clouds of fallout and abundant mist.
This is one of the Maori origins stories that connect us to celestial origins.
Another one again is that of the South Island ancients, the Waitaha people.
In their origins lore, they can retrace their lineage back to our
seafaring ancestors of Hawaaiki, but also to a celestial arrival to earth.
The Waitaha people had shared some of these stories with Brailsford
in 1986 – 1996 period that formed the basis for his popular books
including “The Song of Waitaha”.**
In this book, Brailsford recalls the arrival of a
pounamu waka - greenstone canoe descending upon the Earth,
landing on the East coast of the South Island and breaking off what
the ancients call the right hull of the waka of Maui as the South Island is also
the landform representation of Mauis canoe who arrived from Hawaiiki
over 2,000 years ago circa.***
This story was also a prophetic statement song in words and foretold how
the East coast would be lost into the sea and therefore should not be settled
in the region of Canterbury and Christchurch.
The tragic earthquakes that continue to ravage Christchurch,
what was to be the venue for Romania to play their first game
(at Rugby World Cup 2011),
is a place of extreme sloping mountains in the distance and the wild Pacific ocean
that pounds the coastline and a resilient people that have endured great hardship
and brought people from all over Aotearoa - NZ
and the world together to support them in their plight.
Top this end, I acknowledge the many families who have lost their homes
and family members, they will be remembered, they will not be forgotten.

It is no coincidence then, that the Maori will acknowledge the dead,
as if they were stars in the sky,
Nga tini mate, kua wheturangitia ratou - the multitude that have become the stars
in the heavens, that have gone through Matariki,
the Pleiades and pass along the platform of Rehua (Antares)
to our ancient homeland Hawaiiki, Hawaiiki Pamamao the distant homeland.
From the origins of the universe to death do we depart and return to the place
from whence we originated, like a comet that shot out from the ignition of the universe,
the spark of life returns.
Tihei Mauri Ora.

Bibliography

* Extremophiles, NASA, Astroenvironmentalism, and Planetary Protection
Journal Issue: Electronic Green Journal, 1(22)
** Song of Waitaha, Whariki publishing Ltd. 1999–2005, Brailsford. Barry
*** Fidelio Magazine, Vol.8, No.1, Spring 1999, Lyndon H. Larouche, Jr.

*

VALENTIN GRIGORE INVITES YOU
TO THE CONFERENCE ROOM OF ASTRA LIBRARY,
THE PLACE OF LECTURES AND POSTERS




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