THUNDERBOLT
The
thunderbolt is the weapon of heaven in the most literally sense of the word.
In a narrower sense it is the arms or attribute of the supreme god or, when
the armed authority is delegated to a lower god, of the god of war. When used
by human beings the thunderbolt is the symbol of armed authority. As a
symbol the thunderbolt doubtlessly is of Mesopotamian origin. There are
different forms, the first consisting of a bident with two undulated points.
This form is of Babylonian origin and is the attribute of the war-god Adad.
Derived from this form of thunderbolt is the Sword of Ali, also called the
Sword of Islam or Dhu ‘l Fakr. The
second form is a trident. This is probably of Hellenistic origin. In its most
known form it is the attribute of the sea-god Poseidon / Neptune. This form
has evoluated in Europe to the fleur de lys. Also
derived from the trident is the trisula, (= three points) the trident
of the hindu destroyer-god Shiva. The
third form is a double trident. This form is of Assyrian origin. It is the
prototype of the hellenistic thunderbolt in the west and the vajra or dorje
in the east. The
fourth form is the four-fold trident or Dorje Gyatum. This form is
evoluated in Tibet from the double trident. For a
gallery of pictures of the different thunderbolts see Trident et Foudre (in french). |
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Seal of the god Adad. Babylon,
9th cent. B.C. Vorderasiatisches
Museum, Berlin The
god is swinging a two-bladed knife or a thunderbolt |
The Investiture of ‘Ali at Ghadir Khumm, from
the Kitab al-athar al-baquya ‘an al-qurun al-khaliya (Chronology of
Ancient Nations), copied by Ibn al-Kutbi, northwestern Iran or northern Iraq,
a.h. 707/ a.d. 1307-08. Fol. 162r; ink, colors,
and gold on paper. Edinburgh University Library (MS Arab 161) |
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Dhu-‘l Fakar |
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Banner of the Bey of Tunis, 19th -20th Century See my essay about
Dhu-‘l Fakar |
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The trident is the attribute of the greek God
Poseidon or Neptune. Poseidon
or Neptune is the son of the Titans, Cronus and Rhea, the brother of Zeus and
Hades and one of the Olympian gods. Zeus gave him the task of reigning over
the deep sea. His appearance is similar to his brother Zeus, except that he
is depicted with a trident instead of a thunderbolt. His epithet is the
Earth-shaker, for he is known to produce earthquakes. His chariot is driven
by dolphins, but he is known for having created the horse. Two tetradrachmons of Demetrios Poliorketes, King of Macedonia
(294-287 BC) minted
in Salamis (300-295 B.C., left) and in Amphipolis (290-289 B.C., right). The
king armed with a trident. L.: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΔΗΜΗΤΡΙΟΥ. |
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Octodrachme with the portrait of
Ptolemaios III Euergetes, king of Egypt (246-222 BC.) Alexandrië 25304. Goud. Herkomst: nn. Begin regeringsperiode
van Ptolemaios IV Philipator (222/1-205/04 v.C.) Op de voorzijde de portretbuste van Ptolemaios III Euergetes
naar rechts. Op zijn hoofd een zonnekroon en achter hem boven zijn schouder
uitstekend de bovenkant van een scepter in de vorm van een drietand, de
middelste punt bezet met een kleine bol, mogelijk omvat door een wassenaar. Op de keerzijde een hoorn van overvloed met
erboven een stralende zon. L.: πτολεμαιου
βασιλεωσ. (Goden en Farao’s, n° 90.) |
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‘Tri’ means three and ‘sula’ means point. It
consists of a long wooden handle topped by three sharp metal pikes. The Hindu-god Shiva has always been depicted
with a trisula in his hand. The trident for that reason was often
adopted by Hindu rulers as a symbol of their armed authority. Also it
developed to and emblem of the Hindu armed force. Throne of King Bhumibol
Adulej of Thailand. Trísūla of the king before the
imperial symbol of Thailand. |
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The
fleur the lis is a one-and-a-half thunderbolt, the lower part being smaller
than the upper part. See my essay about the fleur de lis |
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Double Thunderbolt
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The
three-pointed thunderbolt was doubled at an early stage to the double
thunderbolt. This form can be seen on a Assyrian relief and is the weapon of
the Assyrian god Ninurta from the 9th century B.C. This double trident is also
known as the thunderbolt of Zeus / Jupiter and a relation between Ninurta and
Zeus therefore seems to be obvious. Ninurta chases Imdugud. Scene
on a stone relief from the time of Assurnasirpal II (883-859) in the
Ninurta temple in Kalhu (Nimrod). Ninurta keeps two thunderbolts in his hands which
are the prototypes of the Eastern as well as the Western thunderbolts. |
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Birth of Athena on a Greek vase Zeus
giving birt from his head, in his hand a thunderbolt, on the right a chief
commander. The
Greek and Roman thunderbolts (the keraunos (κεραυνός) and the fulmen) do not differ from the Assyrian thunderbolt
but in their artistic elaborations. In
the Hellenistic and Roman world it was
the attribute of Zeus/Jupiter. Three staters from the Peloponesos, 420 - 400
BC.
On
the reverse thunderbolts Winged thunderbolt on a greek dish, 5th
century BC. Museo Nazionale, Ferrara |
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Shield with eagle and thunderbolt On
the Monument of Bocchus, 1st c. BC. Museo
della Centrale Montemartini, inv. 2752 In the
Imperium Romanum the thunderbolt was also the arms of heaven. The combination
of the eagle of Jupiter, the emblem of rank of a king or consul, and a
thundebolt in Rome meant “The armed force of the consul”. This consisted of
the legions manned by Romans which bore the eagle-thunderbolt emblem on their
standards after the reform of the army by Marius. The
thunderbolt itself was the charge of the shields of the Pretorian Guard. |
General of the Pretorian Guard on
a relief from the time of Antoninus Pius (161-180). (Musée
du Louvre) The
general bears a shield charged with a thunderbolt. |
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In
the 7th century the roman example was
followed in England. A thunderbolt almost Roman style was on the famous
Sutton Hoo shield on which it was mounted as a grip extension at the back
side. This shield has belonged to Bretwalda King Rædwald of East
Anglia (600-624). Reconstruction of the back-side of the Sutton Hoo shield After
Hauck: Herrschaftszeichen.[1] 12th
and 13th century West-European shields suggest a continuity of the use of the
emblem, the thunderbolt multiplied. In heraldry this figure is called a carbuncle.
Only a few examples of it are known. The one on the left below may have been
and early version of the arms of Kleve. [2] The
second is on the seal of the Count of Saarwerden and qualifies him as a
bailiff of a ruler with the rank of a caesar. The third,
on a stained window in Strasburg Cathedral is probably of the bailiff of
Jerusalem. And the
fourth is from the Wijnbergen Roll for “the king of Hungary” (?). |
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The
idea was also adopted by Muslim warriors as this Sarracenic shield on a
fresco in the Cathedral of Clermont Ferrand testifies. This fresco depicts a
scene from the Crusade of St. Louis (1249). Probably the thunderbolt was the
emblem of a connetable or bailiff, in this case the wali (military
governor of Cairo). [3] Foto
H.d.V. 08. 2004 Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption, Clermont Ferrand. Mural
paintings, absis 8. St. Georges Chapel. Shield
of the wali of Cairo. The pennon on the right is
of the Marshal of the Templars, Renaud de Vichiers. |
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We may
recognize the Assyrian thunderbolt in the hindu vajra, the weapon of
the God Indra. The Buddhist dorje, a symbol frequently occurring in Mahayanism
and Lamaism, is the Buddhist form of the vajra. Vajra: The thunderbolt, the
favourite weapon of Indra. [4] |
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This
“thunderbolt” emblem first appeared in Indian Buddhism as the symbol of
Vajrapani (“thunderbolt in hand”), the special protector of Shakyamuni, a
direct borrowing of the trident weapon of the Vedic god Indra. In later
Buddhism, Vajrapani became the chief deity of the powerful beings converted
to Buddhism. The vajra thus symbolizes indestructibility and
overwhelming power. The Tibetan word dorje can be translated “diamond”
or “sovereign of stones”. Thus vajra/dorje is expressive of the
adamantine (“diamond-hard”) quality of Buddha-mind. The vajra is seen
in Tibetan art as the attribute of several deities who either hold it in one
of their hands or have it placed near or on their body. The vajra is
also used as an element in religious architecture and decoration, both in the
single and crossed forms. This symbol
furthermore occurs in Tibet as a tool for ritual use. As such it is
always paired with the bell (T. dril-bu; S. ghanta). The bell
must match the vajra in size and have as its handle a half-vajra of
similar form. Mahayanist
doctrine developed a scheme of pairing the vajra symbol, with is
conceived of as “means” and masculine, with the lotus symbol, conceived of as
“wisdom” and female. The union of vajra and lotus symbolizes the
supreme truth. In Tibet the bell replaces the lotus as the female emblem of
wisdom and is manipulated together with the vajra in rituals. ï14th century Vajra from Jembrana (Bali) (National
Museum Djakarta) |
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Tibetan throne hanging In
Tibet and Bhutan the dorje is doubled again
to a cross of lightning. Because of the martial and administrative aspects of
the symbol it can be compared with the Christian cross-and-christogram
symbol. A Dorje gyatum is on the throne hanging of the Dalai Lama and
on his cushion. In the corners of the throne hanging are swastikas, symbols
of the sun. It may be suspected that the dorje gyatum was introduced
by the Fifth Lama (Ngawang Losang
Gyatso (Blo bzang rgya mtsho)
r.1642-‘82) but the oldest pieces known are from the 18th century. The dorje
gyatum of Bhutan is also a symbol of secular power. Supported by two
dragons it is the emblem of the royal government. Royal Arms of Bhutan, 20th century |
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The Japanese Thunderbolt |
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Lightning (inazuma) This
pattern is known to have been used in China during the Chou dynasty (eleventh
to fifth centuries B.C.), although it is not clear when it became identified
as a depiction of lightning. Its transition to Japan and use as a crest there
is not well documented, but only a small number of families had adopted it as
a family emblem by the Edo period (1603-1868). The martial connotations of
the lightning emblem are unmistakable, and in all probability the pattern
carried religious connotations as well. One of the religious implements used
in the Shingon sect of Buddhism, which flourished in Japan , for example, is
the vajra or symbolic thunderbolt. The very ideographs with which inazuma is written suggest a quasi
religious dimension, for literally they mean “rice-plant wife,”suggesting
fecundity and the basic forces of life. [5] Japanese inazuma-mon |
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The
Celtic Thunderbolt is a globe- or ball-lightning. On
Pictish Stones and on Irish Royal portraits there is a special form of
thunderbolt differing from all other designs of thunderbolts and apparently
developed independently from continental designs. The
sources documenting the Pictish thunderbolts are the 6th to 7th century
pictisch stones which can be found in the country of Angus and around Moray
Firth. The
symbol consists of two connected whirls and a Z-shaped flash. |
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Two pendants with thunderbolts and dog’s heads Length
90 mm. Function unknown. Museum
of Scotland, Edinburgh |
Thunderbolt on the Aberlemno stone, Scotland |
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The
Scottish version of the thunderbolt is on the sceptres of 8th century Scottish rulers in Ireland
Portraits of those rulers are on some high-crosses and on a portrait of a
scottish ruler in the Lichfield Gospels. Thunderbolt on the sceptre of King Flaithbertach (728-734) in the Lichfield Gospels fol. 218. These thunderbolts consist of two whirls ending in
points. The fact that the Celtic
thunderbolt is a globe-lightning may prove to be a solution for the queer
so-called Petrie Crown.
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© Hubert de Vries 2011-08-11
Updated 2018-07-22
[1] The picture of the grip-extension from:
Bruce-Mitford, R.: The Sutton Hoo Ship-Burial. London 1972.
[2] Gideon with the Fleece. Meuse region,
about 1160-1170. Lille, Musée de Beaux-Arts, Inv. Nr. A 54.
[3] See for the attack on Cairo in 1249: Joinville
and Villehardouin: Chronicles of the Crusades. p. 211
[4] Picture from: Rituels tibétains. Visions
secrètes du Ve Dalai Lama. Patis, 2002. (n° 87)
[5] Dower, John W The Elements of Japanese Design. A
Handbook of Familiy Crests, Heraldry and Symbolism. Weatherhill Inc. New
York/Tokyo, 1971. 170pp. ill. With over 2700 crests drawn by Kiyoshi Kawamoto.P.
40-41
[6] Versnel, H.S.: Triumphus, an inquiry into the
origin, development and meaning of the Roman Triumph. Diss. Leiden, 1970
[7] The bipennis
here is a replacement of a staff formerly kept in the right hand of a Roman
general.