Rama in the rock carvings of Iraq.

The image of a man with a bow in his hand and a short figure bowing in front of him is found carved in the cliff of Darbadi Belula in Sulaymaniya, in Iraq near Iranian border. This image has created interest (reproduced at the end of this article) as it reminds of Sri Rama of Ramayana.

(Click on the image to enlarge)

The location of this image on the side of the mountain can be seen in the picture below.

The location shows that this image was not part of any worship but only a glorification or a show of admiration of the hero in that image. A carving at this height and on the side of a mountain can be the work of a sculptor who wanted to recreate the memory of a hero or chisel out that memory permanently in stone. As such, this is not a work done at the behest of the hero (in the carving) himself or something done by the order of a king (hero of the carving).

A closer look at the mountain side shows something else – a graffiti on the right side of the image. Let’s take a look at it.

A closer look at the grafitti is like this:

This image gives amazing resemblance of Hindu God with multiple hands and a crown – similar to Vishnu or Surya Narayana!

{The images of this relief from different angles can be seen in this link.}

Is this only a coincidence or a case of a sculptor having tried to create some images of a Hindu God and finally decided to make the image of Rama?

The close-up of this image shows cuneiform writing on the left side of the image which is yet to be deciphered. The decipherment would give a better idea of who this figure refers to. Until then we will be making guesses. However there are other features that are unique to this figure pointing out to a link to Rama.

The standing image has a bow in the hand with a head gear that does not look like those of the well documented figures of Akkad or Assyrian kings that ruled this part of Mesopotamia. The most common feature of those kings and his men are the beard which is also missing in this figure.

On the other hand, the ornament around the neck with a pendant and the dress around the waist look more Indian.

The bow looks unique as it is not common to see it in the figures of Mesopotamia. There are only a few exceptions – the one exception being that of Naram-Sin (whose name sounds like Narasimha) of the Akkadian empire who ruled between 2261-2224 BCE. Naram-Sin had a beard and he sported a head gear with horns in his moments of stamping victory as seen in the image of his Victory stele below.

One striking resemblance with the cliff-carving of Darbadi Belula is that Naram-Sin of Akkad also holds a bow in his hand!

There is yet another Vicory Stele of Naram-Sin in war mode, showing him with a drawn-bow in his hand. The image below shows Naram-Sin in war, with a bow in hand. But his appearance is different from the Cliff image. This is stressed here to show that Naram Sin and the cliff image are not the same.

The other exception comes from the Assyrian kings who came 1000 years later than Naram Sin of Akkad. The Assyrians were archers and used bows for hunting and in wars. The Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (668 BC – c. 627 BC) on a horseback with his bow on a hunting expedition can be seen in the relief from Nineveh. (below)

(Image:- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashurbanipal#/media/File:Assurbanipal_op_jacht.jpg )

Another image of Ashurbanipal with a bow and riding a horse chariot is reproduced below:

(Image:- https://roberthorvat30.wordpress.com/2014/09/27/war-horse-part-3-the-assyrians/ )

But his attire, headgear and beard are very much characteristic of the Assyrians which is missing in the cliff-relief that is the focus of this article.

The Assyrian foot soldiers also used bows in the battles. See the image below.

Once again their attire and beard are very much same of the people of that region of Mesopotamia, irrespective of their dynasties.

There were warriors with bows riding in the horse drawn carriages. (Image below)

 (Image:- https://roberthorvat30.wordpress.com/2014/09/27/war-horse-part-3-the-assyrians/  )

Once again what makes them out to be the people of this region is their beard and head gear. They wore conical cap on their head. Naram Sin had a conical cap though he sported two horns like a bull or a ram.

(Naram Sin of Akkad)

Ashurbanipal of Assyrian dynasty also sported a conical cap.

The beard is a common feature of these kings and of any male in their societies.

This is in contrast to the cliff relief of Sulaymaniya. The conical head gear is missing and the hero in that image was not clad in the kind of attire that is commonly found in the kings and soldiers of Akkadian or Assyrian people who ruled that part of present day Iraq.

But an amazing resemblance is found in a carving unearthed in Ur by Sir Leonard Woolley. He dated the findings of Ur to 4000 years BP. Ur which is about 650 Kilometers south of the Cliff of Sulaymaniya is found to have housed a huge block showing a man with a drawn bow in his hand travelling in a horse driven cart. No other details of this carving are available – perhaps not yet analyzed by researchers.  

(Image:- http://leabridge.org.uk/gazetteer/archaeology/house-of-sir-leonard-woolle.html )

The image of the warrior in this carving is different from the rest of the people of this region as the beard is missing and the headgear is normal and not similar to that of Naram Sin or Assyrian rulers or the other of kings of the region. There is a likelihood that the image of the cliff is the same as the person of the above block. The above image belonged to 4000 years ago as per Woolley’s account.

The excavation at the same place (of Ur) throws some light on the weapons, the dress and the head gear of the warriors and the king. While this figure (in the above image) is seen with a bow in warring mode, the figures seen in the Standard of Ur (excavated from the same place) are seen with swords and not bows. 

(The “Standard of Ur” is a small trapezoidal box (8.5 Inches high by 19.5 Inches long) whose two sides and end panels are covered with figurative and geometric mosaics made of pieces of shell, lapis lazuli, and red limestone set into bitumen. It was found in PG779 near a soldier whom Woolley thought had carried it on a long pole as the royal emblem of a king.)

The Standard of Ur shows both the war time and peace time on its two sides. The war time shows men with swords as seen in the image below.

The headgear, dress and weapon of these men are different from the man with the bow in the horse drawn carrier.

The War side of the Standard of Ur also shows carriages, but drawn by what looks like donkeys and not horses.

The other side of the Standard of Ur showing peace times depicts different cultural traits in terms of dress codes and objects. (Image below)

The seated figure looks like a king and is without a beard or a hair dress. The clothing is different.

Comparing all these excavated objects from the same region of Ur, the block showing man with a bow in the horse drawn carriage definitely stands out as someone different from the then  existing people. (Reproduced below)

The bowman of Ur and the one on the cliff relief are of similar genre but alien to the society where they are found. This makes a good ground for thinking that he must have been a well known archer of the neighboring eastern country that is Bharat. In this context it is worth recalling from my earlier article on what became Ur.

Quoting from that article,

 The term Ur is derived from Uru, the Sanskrit word for ‘thigh’. Mahabharata says that when Parashurama caused a massive devastation to the warrior class, there happened a sinking of the earth. This is conveyed as though the earth has sunk due to the misdeeds of the people as there were no kings to bring out orderliness. Seeing the Goddess Earth sinking, sage Kashyapa lifted her up in his thigh, i.e., uru. It is because of this the Earth came to be known as ‘Urvi’. { Mahabharata, Shanti parva – 49 }

….Even in the Tamil culture explained above, Ur is connected with some waterway nearby. In a surprising connection, the people living in the artificially created floating islands of Lake Titicaca in South America are known as Uru People! This name Uru with its relevance in a faraway place like South America is an example of the prevalence of same ideas related to same words prevailing over a vast part of the globe with its genesis in Vedic culture.

Similar kind of lifting from water had happened in Ur of Mesopotamia (in present-day Iraq). Ur was originally a coastal city on the mouth of Euphrates in the Persian Gulf but due to shift in coastline it is inland today. The Persian Gulf was a high land before Holocene and it started getting flooded in course of time. Any difference in the water level in Arabian Sea had an effect on the level of Persian Gulf too. If during Parashurama’s times, west coast of India had risen up (due to a fall in the Arabian Sea level), similar trends could have been experienced in the coasts of Persian Gulf. Therefore the Ur had come up there.

Location of Ur near the mouth of Euphrates is shown below. Today it is inland, but the coast was closer to it in the past when the water level was high. By its name, it is known that it was a raised land from near water.

This place Ur of Iraq was spelled as ‘Urim’ in Sumerian language that resembles Urvi, the name that Earth came to get for being lifted on the Uru of Kashyapa. (symbolism for earth- rising). In the Sumerian legend, Goddess Nanna is said to be the Goddess of Ur. In a surprising similarity, the raised (or extended) west coast of India was ruled by king Nannan and his descendants (before the Kadamaba dynasty), according to Tamil Sangam texts. Sumerian Nanna has no etymological explanation. Tamil Nannan means “good person”.

Similarly only in the context of Lake Urmia, the name Parasuwash is mentioned. Lake Urmia is in the border between Iran and Turkey. The 9^th century BCE Assyrian records mention about “Parasuwash” in the context of Lake Urmia.  Does it show that Parashurama’s followers went on to occupy the raised regions of Lake Urmia? In a surprising similarity, Urmia in Syriac language means “City of water”! This is further proof of connection between Ur and water which is explained only in Indian texts (Mahabharata).

The following figure shows Lake Urmia and Ur in red circles.

(End quote)

Near the Upper circle (Urmia), the cliff relief of a bowman is found.

This memory of Vedic kings and Vedic living has been brought here by the people who came for trade or for other reasons like exile.  

The Ashurs were exiled Maruttas which I have discussed in an article in this link.

King Ushpia the early king of the Assyrians who lived in tenets and who founded the temple of Ashur bears resemblance to Maruttas who went into hiding in Parashurama’s times and whose kin were engaged in iron smelting even as early as Rama’s times.

(Image from my article http://jayasreesaranathan.blogspot.com/2014/04/maruttas-as-progenitors-of-mundas-and.html where the details on Marutta connection to Ashur can be read).

King Ushpia (around 2030 BCE) belonged to the period of Ur block of bowman in the chariot. Though this period comes close after Mahabharata times (read my article here), there is every possibility that they carried the memory of Rama. Rama was 2000 years previous to Mahabharata period. The name of Rama was chanted everywhere according to Valmiki. I would even call it as “Raman Effect” in west Asia in those times. (Read my Tamil article here.) Or how else so many names of places with Rama- naama can be found in that part of the globe?

The characters of Jewish, Biblical and Islamic stories were associated with Ram as names of people and also as names of places that were established long before these religions emerged. As I was preparing this article I came across denouncements from Hindu hating Aryan invasion theorists questioning the rationality of equating the Cliff image with Rama. Let them answer why so many Rama-s exist in West Asia well before Biblical times.

My questions is if so many Rama- names can exist in West Asia, why not an image of Rama – done by an admirer of those times, which had escaped destruction down the Biblical times, owing to its unique location in a remote mountain-side in an inaccessible area exist in that part of the globe? Let anyone who refuses to accept this Cliff image as Rama explain the genesis of each and every Rama in the following quotes:

{Taken from Bible in the link https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=Ram&qs_version=31 }

(1) Ram, son of the firstborn of Jerahmeel (Chronicles 2:27)

(2) A’ram’ - Son of Hezron and an ancestor of Jesus » Called ARAM (Matthew 1:3,4; Luke 3:33)

(3) 33 the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram, Luke 3:33

(4) RAMATH - A city of the tribe of Simeon (Joshua 19:8)

(5) RAMATH-LEHI - The place where Samson killed one-thousand Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey (Judges 15:17)

(6) RAMATH-MIZPEH - A town in the territory of the tribe of Gad (Joshua 13:26)

(7) RAMESES - The district in Egypt which was inhabited by the Israelites (Genesis 47:11; Exodus 1:11;12:37; Numbers 33:3,5)

(8) (Called also Raamses.) RAMESES - The district in Egypt which was inhabited by the I » City of, built by the Israelites as a treasure city for one of the Pharaohs (Exodus 1:11)

(9)RAMIAH - An Israelite at the time of Ezra - Had taken a non-Israelite wife (Ezra 10:25)

(10)DAVID » King of Israel » Saul attempts to kill him; he escapes to Ramah, and lives at Naioth, where Saul pursues him (1 Samuel 19:9-24)

(11) NAIOTH » A place in Ramah (1 Samuel 19:18,19,22;20:1)

(12) RAMOTH-GILEAD » Also called RAMAH (1 Kings 8:2; 2 Chronicles 22:6

(13)SAMUEL » A judge (leader) of Israel, his judgment seat at Beth-el, Gilgal, Mizpeh, and Ramah (2 Samuel 7:15-17)

(14) ISRAEL » (Usually, in lists, the names of Levi and Joseph, » Journey from Rameses to Succoth (Exodus 12:37-39)

(15) SUCCOTH » The first camping place of the Israelites after leaving the city of Rameses (Exodus 12:37;13:20; Numbers 33:5,6)

(16) JEHOSHAPHAT » King of Judah » Joins Ahab in an invasion of Ramoth-gilead (1 Kings 22; 2 Chronicles 18)

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Checked another link on Bible:
http://www.biblegateway.com/topical/Ramah/Nave/


The noun RAMAH appears in the following contexts:

1. A city of the territory of the tribe of Asher (Joshua 19:29)

2. A city of the territory of the tribe of Naphthali (Joshua 19:36)

3. Called RAMA (Matthew 2:18)

4. Also called RAMATHAIM-ZOPHIM » A city near Mount Ephraim (Jude 1:4,5; 1 Samuel 1:1)

5. Also called RAMATHAIM-ZOPHIM » Home of Elkanah (1 Samuel 1:1,19;2:11)

6. Also called RAMATHAIM-ZOPHIM » Home of Samuel (1 Samuel 1:19,20;7:17;8:4;15:34;16:13)

7. Also called RAMATHAIM-ZOPHIM » David flees to (1 Samuel 19:18)

8. Also called RAMATHAIM-ZOPHIM » Samuel dies and was buried in (1 Samuel 25:1;28:3)

9. Called RAMA » A city allotted to the tribe of Benjamin (Joshua 18:25; Judges 19:13)

10. Called RAMA » Attempted fortification of, by King Baasha; destruction of, by Asa (1 Kings 15:17-22; 2 Chronicles 16:1-6)

11. Called RAMA » People of, return from the Babylonian captivity (Ezra 2:26; Nehemiah 7:30;11:33)

12. Called RAMA » Jeremiah imprisoned in (Jeremiah 40:1)

13. Called RAMA » Prophecies concerning (Isaiah 10:29; Jeremiah 31:15; Hosea 5:8; Matthew 2:18)

14. RAMAH » See RAMOTH-GILEAD 

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For Ramoth -Gilead, checked  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramoth-Gilead

Ramoth - Gilead finds mention in the following:-

http://www.biblegateway.com/topical/Ramoth-Gilead/Nave/

{If you click each one of the following in the website, you will find the passages in which it (Ramoth) appears}

(1) Besieged by Israel and Judah; Ahab killed there (1 Kings 22:29-36; 2 Chronicles 18)

(2) In the possession of the Syrians (2 Kings 22:3)
One of Solomon's commissaries there (2 Kings 4:13)

(3) Recovered by Joram; Joram wounded there (2 Kings 8:28,29;9:14,15; 2 Chronicles 22:5,6)

(4) Also called RAMAH (2 Kings 8:2; 2 Chronicles 22:6)

(5)Elisha anoints Jehu to be king there (2 Kings 9:1-6)

(6) A city of the territory of the tribe of Gad, and one of the cities of refuge (Deuteronomy 4:43; Joshua 20:8; 1 Chronicles 6:80)

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Mathew 2.18

“A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”[a]

(End of the article)

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From

http://www.vina.cc/2015/09/28/6000-year-old-lord-rama-and-hanuman-carvings-in-silemania-iraq/

6000 year old Lord Rama and Hanuman carvings in Silemania, Iraq

AN ANCIENT RAM-CHAPEL IN SUMER

One of the major triumphs of modern archaeology was the hair-raising discoveries of Sir Leonard Woolley at Ur. Amidst the ruins of Ur, he unearthed a Ram-chapel but totally missed its relevance in world history. This crucial finding not only bridges the wide gaps between Indian tradition and archaeology but also unfolds the historic bonds that once united ancient India, Iran and Sumer. Ram-Sin of (Larsa) to whose memory this chapel was dedicated must have been Rama of Valmiki. The name Ararama of Larsa may be an echo of Rama. This Ram-Chapel of Ur is the earliest known memorial to the great Rama and may have been erected by Dilmun merchants who resided nearby. Dilmun was always mentioned in the Sumerian texts together with Magan and Melukkha and it is possible that these three states were somehow allied to each other.

RAMA, BHARATA & LAKSHMANA IN SUMER

The Cambridge Ancient History[xvi][iii] which is usually not considered as a sourcebook for Indian history by writers like Romila Thapar contains priceless information relevant to Indian ancient history. In the highly authentic Sumerian king list appears such hallowed names as Bharat (Warad) Sin and Ram Sin. As Sin was the Moon god Chandra Ram Sin can be seen to be same as Rama Chandra. Bharat Sin ruled for 12 years (1834-1822 BC), exactly as stated in the Dasaratha Jataka. The Jataka statement, “Years sixty times hundred, and ten thousand more, all told, / Reigned strong-armed Rama”, only means that Rama reigned for sixty years which agrees exactly with the data of Assyriologists. Ram Sin was the longest reigning monarch of Mesopotamia who ruled for 60 years. The mention of the father in the inscriptions of both Warad Sin and Ram Sin is noteworthy and may point to a palace intrigue. Joan Oates is not aware of the Ramayana but writes with great insight (p. 61) that Warad sin was manoeuvred to the throne by his father. In Mesopotamia, a prince normally became king only after the death of his father. Lakshmana, mentioned the Bible as Lakhamar, ruled as a great king.