The pair of Turul discs from Rakamaz 10th C. CE
Turul...The Great Vulture? I made a recording (my first one) below but decided to leave the typed up portion incase people prefer to read, I know some people will probably need to translate from English:
The so-called Turul discs from Rakamaz. Dated to the 10th C. CE. In the medieval Hungarian writings Turul is referred to as a falcon by both Anonymus [in the Gesta Hungarorum] and Mark of Kalt [in the Chronicon Pictum]. I want to say that I am not knowledgeable about birds, this definitely isn't my area. Also, as a legendary figure Turul can be an amalgamation of mythical things and doesn't need to be a literal bird species. However, these discs appear to depict vultures. With their long necks and thin, long heads. Eagles, hawks, and falcons don't have this type of elongated neck. It has to be asked whether Turul was originally a vulture or if these discs don't depict Turul at all.
The fact that there are three birds per disc, six birds in total, for this pair of discs that were found together in the grave of a Hungarian noble woman also makes me wonder if this is Turul or not. From the Hungarian stories there was only one Turul. Some Hungarian women, possibly only upper class women, wore a pair of discs that hung down onto their chest/shoulder area and were connected to their hair. Are the two large birds the same bird replicated for symmetrical aesthetic purposes or is one a male and another a female? And what should we make of the two to four baby birds?
Another curiosity is the double plume on the back of the bird's head. This is probably a just a floral accent since we see similar stylings on other Hungarian animal discs from the same period where their feet, tails, or ears are transformed in a similar fashion to floral artwork.
It might be a little bit out there, and I doubt this is what is depicted here, but I couldn't help but notice how similar the head's plume resembles the secretary bird. The secretary bird angle is unlikely given that its a bird native to Africa and is known for its long legs. But we do know that exotic animals were transported around the world since ancient times [and still are today]. The Romans transported lions, rhinos, crocodiles, hippos, cheetahs, monkeys, elephants, bears, tigers, leopards, panthers, zebras, and ostriches to Rome for blood sport games in the colosseum. Giraffes and many other animals were transported from Africa to China in the Middle Ages, with the Chinese believing the giraffe to be the legendary qilin. It wouldn't be unusual for a smaller animal with a unique appearance to become a part of the exotic animal trade, end up in the hands of wealthy rulers, and be given an important story to go with it. Again, this is just an idea I felt like throwing out there, it's not based on any substantial evidence.
Personally I think the birds depicted here are vultures. Vultures often have a negative appearance in modern culture as cowardly scavengers and nothing more. However, historically this wasn't always the outlook. The Ancient Egyptians regarded the vulture as a symbol of female purity, the Goddess Nekhbet, and even the creation of the world: "Nekhbet was the patron of Upper Egypt. She was often called “Hedjet” (White Crown) in reference to the crown of Upper Egypt. References in the Pyramid Texts (from the Fifth Dynasty) confirm that Nekhbet was also considered to be a creator Goddess with the epithet “Father of Fathers, Mother of Mothers, who has existed from the beginning, and is Creator of this World”. She was represented on the king’s Nemes headdress as a vulture or a snake. Thutmose IV confirms that his protector is “Nekbet, the White, of Nekheb." (AncientEgyptOnline). The letter A in the Ancient Egyptian alphabet was a picture of a vulture, I don't know if A was the first letter of the Ancient Egyptian alphabet but clearly this animal held prominence.
The Celts also had a similar reverence for the vulture: ‘those who laid down their lives in war they regard as noble, heroic and full of valor, And them cast to the vultures believing this bird to be sacred’ (Claudius Aelianus. De Natur. Anim. X. 22) and 'they consider it a crime to bury the body of such a warrior; For they believe that the soul goes up to the Gods in heaven, If the body is exposed on the field to be devoured by the birds of prey’ (Silius Italicus (2nd c. AD) Punica 3 340-343).
Also from Aelian: "Vultures even follow in the wake of armies in foreign parts, knowing by prophetic instinct that they are marching to war and that every battle provides corpses, as they have discovered." (Aelian: On the Nature of Animals - Book 2)
Vultures are known for scavenging but this doesn't make them necessarily weak or cowardly birds as can be seen in this video of a cinerous vulture literally wiping the floor with a golden eagle.
Despite the fact that the Hungarians didn't overlap with Ancient Egypt in any way, I've found it easy to compare these discs of what is possibly Turul to Nekhbet in several respects.
One of the symbols associated with the Vulture Goddess, Nekhbet, was the lotus which can be seen in this ancient Egyptian stone portrait. Turul appears to be holding a similarly styled lotus in its mouth.
It hadn't occurred to me until making this comparison with Nekhbet, but maybe the stem flanked by two feathers or lotus symbols is the crown itself. Later artworks of Turul depict a Western style crown decorated with Christian symbolism, but the early Hungarians would not have used such a depiction since Turul was abandoned by the Hungarian rulers with the coming of Christianity under Géza according to Simon.
This could also mean that the object carried in Turul's mouth is a symbolic crown, possibly a crown to link a ruler with its divine patronage. The last ruler to receive this symbolic crown may have been Prince Taksony who was Géza's father and the last Pagan ruler before Hungary became Christianized. Though it can be speculated that the de facto rulers, Koppany and Vata, may have also utilized such symbolism in their revolts against the Christian rulers Stephen and Peter.
These discs decorated a female's attire and depict a family setting. Are they associated with Turul, are they just animal art, or do they depict some other aspect of the Hungarian mythos? Maybe, but unfortunately their backstory is probably lost to time.
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| The pair of Turul discs from Rakamaz 10th C. CE. Jósa András Museum in Nyíregyháza, Hungary. Gilt silver hair decoration disk with motive of mythic Turul bird. These would have hung from the hair braid of a noble Hungarian woman. |
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