The Sorcerer (13,000 BC)
The Sorcerer is one name
for an enigmatic cave
painting found in a cavern
known as 'The Sanctuary'
at Trois-Frères, France. It
appears to depict a man
dressed as a stag (or,
alternatively, a half-human,
half-stag spirit).
Whether a drawing of a god or a priest, the Sorcerer is a
therianthrope, a symbolic blending of human and animal forms
that can be found in many cultures. Therianthropes commonly
blend the human form with animals that were directly important
to local culture, for example as food. Thus, the image is
commonly interpreted as a shaman performing a ritual to ensure
good hunting; however, this interpretation cannot be proven.
Some believe that further
animals may be discerned
within the image: the hands
have been described as bearlike, and the face that of a
bird. What is agreed on is
that the legs and arms are
human and there are parallels
with other ancient images in
which human limbs are
attached to an animal, usually
a bison, to create a bipedal
figure.
The Sorcerer bears a strong resemblance to
the Celtic God Cernunnos, who was depicted
as a man with deer horns, and similar imagery
appears elsewhere in the satyrs, and fauns of
Greek mythology, and the Hindu Lord of
Animals. The Sorcerer was created long before
the emergence of any of these cultures, and
has been interpreted as the earliest known
evidence of the "Horned God" religion.
Dancing, with mimicry, is one of the ancient accomplishments of man,
inseparably connected with religion, warfare, the getting of wives and the
getting of food. The movements of animals were imitated, costumes and
masks were devised, the cries of the young were skillfully repeated. Since
death was often associated with the idea of reincarnation in the form of some
animal, it was but natural that many primitive rituals intended to ensure
protection for the living, should imitate the movement and cries of beasts.
A further incentive to imitation and play-acting was the wide-spread belief in
sympathetic magic, which is based on the idea that the imitation of an event will bring
that event to pass. When the savage wants rain, he climbs a tree and goes through the
motions of pouring water from a bucket upon the ground. A second performer strikes
two stones together to represent thunder, while a third waves a firebrand until the
sparks fly in imitation of lightning. If a warrior wishes the death of an enemy, he makes a
clay image and sticks it full of thorns and nails. If the hunter wishes to enlist the help of
the gods he pretends to chase his prey, and when the victim is caught he goes through
the motions of killing and skinning him. Thus the image of the deed is made, and the
actuality will soon follow.
A play called The Battle of the Corn is an Indian ritual designed to win the favor of the gods
in whose hands lies the prosperity of the crop. A slight setting is arranged, the front of
which is made to represent roughly a field of maize. On the background are painted the
symbols of the tribe. The performance begins by the appearance of angry demons
representing Hail, Drought, Storm, and the like. These devils rush in, trampling down and
destroying the grain. Presently come the owners of the field, hastening to the rescue of
their crops. They attack the demons and wrestle with them, until at last the struggle
becomes a pitched battle. A wounded demon falls, yelling in pain, and the defenders spring
forward with renewed energy. A mortal falls, and the demons dance for joy. Just as the
triumph of the devils seems assured, a new champion comes into the fight on the side of
the rescuers, and the tide is turned. The weary men gather their strength for one more
onslaught, the evil forces are put to rout and the crop is saved. This play, though more
complex than many primitive scenes, can of course be performed entirely without words.
The Pyramid Texts are a collection of
Ancient Egyptian religious texts from the
time of the Old Kingdom, mostly
inscriptions on the walls of tombs in
pyramids. They depict the Egyptian view
of the afterlife, and the ascent into the
sky of the divine Pharaoh after death.
They were written in 4000 BC (approx.);
thus, they are some of the oldest known
writings in the world.
Abydos Passion Play
(19th Century BC)
The world's earliest report of a dramatic
production comes from the banks of the
Nile. It is in the form of a stone tablet
preserved in a German museum and
contains the sketchy description of one,
I-kher-nefert (1887 BC – 1849 BC), a
representative of the Egyptian king, of
the parts he played in a performance of
the world's first recorded "Passion" Play
somewhere around the year 2000 B.C.
This Egyptian Passion bears a notable
resemblance to the Passion Plays of the
twentieth century. Its purpose is
obviously the same as that of the one at
Ober-Ammergau, or the Tyrolean, or the
Persian Passion Play of Hussein . . . the
principal object, as always, being to keep
vivid in the minds of the faithful the
sufferings and triumph of a god.
In the case of the Egyptian "Passion" the
central figure was the legendary kingdivinity, Osiris. According to the historical
legend, Osiris ruled wisely. He was
treacherously murdered and his body was
cut in pieces and scattered. His wife, Isis,
and his son, avenged his murder, gathered
up the pieces of his body for pilgrimage
relics, won back his throne and established
the cult of Osiris-worship. We know that
Passion plays in his memory were
performed annually at Abydos, Busiris,
Heliopolis, and elsewhere.
The acting of those days must certainly have been quite
as realistic as that of any modern stage, for later Greek
historians tell us that many actor-warriors died of the
wounds received in the "sham" battles between the
enemies of Osiris (led by his brother, Set) and the forces
led by his son, Horus. The play closes with the
resurrection of Osiris as a god and the foreshadowing to
all the faithful of their own final resurrection.