Labrys

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Golden Minoan Labrys (original piece of jewelry; Archaeological Museum in Heraklion , Crete)

The Labrys ( λάβρυς , unknown, probably Aegean or Anatolian origin), also known as a double ax or, rarely, an Amazon ax , refers to an ax with two opposing rounded edges , which began around 2000 BC. It was used as a cult object or status symbol in the early Bronze Age , but occasionally also earlier. For example, the Persian double ax was used as a weapon . The name Labrys is only passed down from Plutarch and is derived from the Lydian : "The Lydians call the double ax (Pelekys) Labrys". The Pelekys ( Greek πέλεκυς ) was the actual double ax of the Greeks.  

The Labrys was particularly widespread in Minoan Crete (possibly related to the root word of labyrinth ), as well as among the Balkan Thracians and the Near Eastern Carians . In the Greek mythology of Homeric times , mainly non-Greek opponents fought with the Labrys, in later myths the Amazons carried an "Amazon ax" as a weapon. From the Geometric period onwards it was a religious symbol of holiness for Theseus , Heracles and Hephaestus . In the religion of the African Yoruba people , the god Shango carries a double ax.

In modern times it was used as a symbol by the French Vichy regime and Greek fascism . Today the Labrys is a symbol of lesbians , feminists and neo-paganism , mostly understood as the embodiment of femininity (compare Labia ).

Minoan culture

Cretomino votive double ax (golden pendant)
Goddess with three poppy seed capsules and a double labrys on a gold ring (found in the Greek Mycenae in the northeast of the Peloponnese; marking)

The Labrys was a cult device during the Minoan culture in the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC. In use on the Mediterranean island of Crete . Some of the axes found were taller than a man and were probably used for sacrificing bulls , which played an important role in the Minoan culture (see also bulls in mythology ). During archaeological excavations in the Palace of Knossos , the symbol of the Labrys was discovered frequently. According to the finds, the double ax was a ceremonial weapon of the priestesses, a symbol of fertility and one of the most sacred symbols of the Minoans (compare also the ceremonial ax on the Indonesian island of Bali ). The Minoan meaning of the double ax differs from other cultures in the Middle East , in which weapons usually represent male deities : in Crete it is depicted exclusively in the hands of women - priestesses or goddesses.

A use of the Labrys as a weapon in Crete has not been proven. As a tool, the double ax can be used, for example, for cutting firewood or for field crops, or as a chopping knife . However, this use is opposed to the mostly too soft material of the found objects. Signs of use are mostly not recognizable, which indicates a symbolic, decorative or cultic meaning.

interpretation

There are different interpretations of the symbolism of the Minoan double ax with its two rounded edges. The British writer and mythologist Robert Graves saw them as a symbol for the waxing and waning crescent moon of the great goddesses , the sun-moon movements and the rising and falling of the moon on both sides of the full moon in the sky; for him the Labrys was even the "symbol of Cretan rule".

The Lithuanian- American anthropologist Marija Gimbutas saw the double ax as a symbol of the butterfly and the mother goddess ; Many post-feminists also follow this interpretation .

Outside of Crete

Double ax from Sweden ( late Neolithic, around 2500 BC; drawing from 1912)
Greek silver coin with Zeus / Hera and a Labrys (100-70 BC, Mysian island Tenedos, today Bozcaada )

The double ax is one of the leading forms of the Neolithic funnel cup culture and is divided into different types within the framework of the culture area. For example, double axes made of stone were found in Wommelshausen and in the Meppen district .

In the southern Caucasus , especially in Azerbaijan , but also in Armenia and Georgia , double axes ("Amazon axes") were discovered in many graves from the late Bronze and early Iron Ages, some of which were mapped by the AA Iessen in 1935. More recent finds of molds show that these are not imports, but that the double axes were produced locally. According to the archaeologist Ateshi-Gadirova, these “Amazon axes” were mainly found in women who, in addition to shucks and other grave goods, sometimes also contained weapons.

There was a male god who carried the Labrys as a weapon in his hand and in his nickname: Zeus Labraundos , the main god of the Carians . In the pre-Christian centuries they lived in Caria on the southwest coast of today's Turkey , around the ancient cities of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum ) and Mylasa (now Milas ). According to legend, the Labrys of Carian Zeus was the Amazon ax of the Amazon queen Hippolyte , which was built around the middle of the 7th century BC at the time of the legendary King Gyges . Was brought into the country; this double ax symbolized the (warlike) fighting power of the god - and the Carians, who also worked as paid soldiers ( mercenaries ). The large and spacious main sanctuary of the god stood in Labraunda on a mountainside below a rock wall split by an earlier lightning strike , 14 kilometers from Mylasa and clearly visible from there.

The double ax is also a symbolic attribute of the Cilician god Sandan , who was especially worshiped in the (now Turkish) Tarsus ; his double ax produced a storm , comparable to the hammer of the Germanic god Thor .

In coats of arms ( Heraldry ) and on coins the double ax over the centuries happens again and again, well known are the coins of Asia Minor and the Roman Empire : On them is often an Amazon to see which is likely to Smyrna, founder of the city of the same (now İzmir ), who was portrayed together with a Labrys.

Modern use

Flag of the head of state in the French Vichy regime (1940–1945)
The double ax as a symbol

The double ax, ostensibly the weapon of the Gallic-Celtic prince Vercingetorix , was the symbol of Philippe Pétain's party in Vichy France 1940–1945. It was minted as a symbol on coins issued by the Pétain regime between 1941 and 1944. It was also used as a symbol of fascism in Greece by the youth organization Ethniki Organosis Neoleas (EON) from 1936 to 1941.

In the Brazilian Candomblé religion, the god Shango carries a double ax. It is also found as a symbol in new religious Wicca cults and in Hellenistic neo-paganism .

In connection with female life forms and sexuality, the double ax is a symbol for the lesbian way of life and is worn , for example, as a tattoo or piece of jewelry. It is supposed to symbolize the dispute of the Amazons and the liberation of women. In the feminist context, the double ax stands for a matriarchal society or for belief in a mother goddess .

literature

  • Hans-Günter Buchholz : To the origin of the Cretan double ax. History and Foreign Relations of a Minoan Cult Symbol. Kiefhaber Elbl, Munich 1959 (doctoral thesis from 1949).

Web links

Commons : Labrys  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Plutarch, moralia 302 a: Λυδοὶ γάρ 'λάβρυν' τὸν πέλεκυν ὀνομάζουσι .
  2. ↑ Martin Persson Nilsson: History of the Greek Religion. Volume 1: The religion of Greece up to the Greek world domination. Beck, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-406-01370-8 , p. 276 (new edition of the 3rd, reviewed and supplemented edition from 1976; side view in the Google book search): “That the double ax is a cult device, perhaps a cult object of outstanding quality Meaning is certain. "
  3. ↑ Jeremy B. Rutter: Lesson 15: Minoan Religion - Double Ax. In: Aegean Prehistoric Archeology. Dartmouth College, 1999, accessed January 22, 2014 .
  4. ^ Robert Graves : Greek Mythology. Volume 1, Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1955, p. 269 (new edition 2003 in one volume: ISBN 3-499-55404-6 ).
  5. ↑ Marija Gimbutas , Mirijam Robbins Dexter: The Living Goddesses. University of California Press, Berkeley et al. a. 1999, ISBN 0-520-22915-0 , pp. 131–150: The Minoan Religion in Crete (English; new edition 2001: page views in the Google book search). Marija Gimbutas: The language of the goddess. The buried symbol system of western civilization. Zweiausendeins, Frankfurt 1995 (American: 1989), ISBN 3-86150-120-1 , p. 273: Chapter 24.6: The Minoan butterfly , especially Figure 427: “The double-ax-shaped butterfly in an egg symbolizes new life [...] ( Palace of Phaistos, Crete; around 1700 BC). ”Ibid: p. 275: Figure 432 (2): Typology of butterfly motifs .
  6. ↑ Norbert Gebauer: The fragment of a double ax of the north German funnel cup culture near Bad Endbach-Wommelshausen. In: Hinterland history sheets. Biedenkopf, No. 1, March 1991, p. 58 and 59, history supplement of the Hinterländer Anzeiger; Uta von Freeden, Siegmar von Schnurbein (ed.): Traces of the millennia, archeology and history in Germany. Theiss, Stuttgart, 2002, ISBN 3-8062-1337-2 , page 149, fig. 256.
  7. ↑ On the “Amazon axes” in the southern Caucasus region: Nourida Ateshi Gadirova: To identify armed women in the graves of the 2nd to 1st millennium BC. In Azerbaijan based on the archaeological finds. In: Archäologische Informations 37, 2014, pp. 245–247.
  8. ↑ Illustration of the distribution map at Nourida Ateshi Gadirova: To identify armed women in the graves of the 2nd to 1st millennium BC In Azerbaijan based on the archaeological finds. In: Archäologische Informations 37, 2014, p. 245, Fig. 5.
  9. ^ Image database: Temple of Zeus - Labraunda (Labranda), Ortaköy. In: Arachne . German Archaeological Institute, Berlin, 2014, accessed on January 22, 2014 .
  10. ↑ Angelos Chaniotis : Everyday Sketches from Aphrodisias. In: Ruperto Carola. Book 1, University of Heidelberg 2002 ( online ): "The Labrys (double ax) was the symbol of the Carian Zeus in Aphrodisias."
  11. ↑ Plutarch , quaestiones Graecae 45 (= Moralia 301F-302A; English translation ).
  12. ^ Gertrude Rachel Levy: The Oriental Origin of Herakles. In: Journal of Hellenic Studies. Volume 54, No. 1, 1934, p. 47 (English).
  13. ↑ Dietrich OA Klose : The coinage of Smyrna in the Roman Empire. de Gruyter, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-11-010620-5 , p. 27 ( snippet view in the Google book search).
  14. ↑ Michael Dietler: A Tale of Three Sites. The Monumentalization of Celtic Oppida and the Politics of Collective Memory and Identity. In: World Archeology. Volume 31, No. 1, 1998, pp. 72-89 (English).
  15. ↑ Richard S. Yeoman: A Catalog of Modern World Coins 1850-1964. Western Publishing, Racine 1978, ISBN 0-307-90538-1 (English).
  16. ↑ Entry: Xangô. In: Terra Brasileira. Rio de Janeiro, 2000, archived from the original on December 18, 2009 ; Retrieved January 22, 2014 (Portuguese, info page about Brazilian folklore).
  17. ^ Edain McCoy: Celtic Women's Spirituality. Llewellyn, St. Paul 1998, ISBN 1-56718-672-6 , pp. 170 f. (English; page views in the Google book search): "... the feminist Pagan path known as the Dianic Tradition has adopted the labrys as its symbol."
  18. ↑ Entry: Symbols: Doppelaxt / Labrys. In: Lesweb.de - The portal for the lesbian woman. Delango, 2004, archived from the original on April 17, 2009 ; accessed on January 22, 2014 : "Today it is used as a mark of identification of politically active lesbians."
  19. ↑ Entry: Symbols. In: Bonnie Zimmerman, George E. Haggerty (Eds.): Lesbian Histories and Cultures. Volume 1, Garland, New York 2000, ISBN 0-8153-1920-7 , p. 747 (English; e-book: side view in the Google book search).