FIGURE 3(c)
Gerzen Vase
c. 3500BC
The Gerzean Connection
The Gerzeans were a civilization of pre-Dynastic Egypt during the Nagada II Period
(3,500-3,000BC). The Gerzeans were probably Semitic, probably of proto-Phoenician stock,
to judge from their symbols and their white, bearded figures. The Gerzeans invaded and
conquered Upper Egypt, where they became established down to the start of dynastic
period, when they were apparently expelled by King Menes, the unifier of ancient Egypt.
Gerzean vase decorations are rather unique for their epoch. As can be seen in Fig.3(c),
these decorations center on galley ships of up to 200 rowers each, which are amazing large
for the epoch in question. These decorations also include a dancing naked goddess, the
ithyphallic twins, palm-trees, twin pylons, peaked volcanic mountains, standards and
streamers.
Other vases (not shown) display a hilly foreign country (Punt?), flamingos and tiger or leopard
skins. As we explain elsewhere in detail, these strange decorations are all typical Atlantean
motifs. Atlantis — and its many aliases such as Punt, Ophir, "Tyre", "Phoenicia", Phaeacia,
etc. — is often symbolized by a huge ship that sunk to the bottom of the seas, as described
in Part I of the present article. This ship is the same as the Holy Barque of the Egyptian
temples. It is also the Celestial Ship, the Argonavis constellation, as well as the Ark of Sal-
vation, the Argos ship, and so on, as we adduced further above.
Likewise, the twin cabins shown at midships of the vase decoration of Fig.3(c) are visibly
the archetypes of the sacred pylons of the Egyptian temples. So, they too represent the
twin Pillars of Hercules, the Gates of Paradise, that is, of Atlantis, as we already said. The
fact that they represent the twin mountains of Punt (Paradise) is directly indicated by the
hieroglyph of the twin mountain on top the two cabins and on the standard of the ship.
Again, the ithyphallic twins represent Atlas and Hercules and, more exactly, Seth and Osiris,
their Egyptian counterpart. If this interpretation is correct, we see here the antecedents
of these important Egyptian gods, as well as that of the Tale of the Two Brothers, famous
in both Egyptian and Phoenician mythologies.
The Dancing Goddess is another important, universal motif. She is Hathor, the Great Mother,
as well as the Shulamite of the Song of Songs, dancing before the two armies ready for
battle (the Battle of Atlantis = Armaggedon). She is Dawn or Aurora (Ushas, Eos), and
represents Lemurian Atlantis (Eden), the Great Virgin Mother of both gods and men. Her
"dance" is the fatal dance which allegorizes the earthquake that razed Atlantis, sending
it to the bottom.
In reality, the Goddess personifies the Cosmic Yoni, the Submarine Fiery Mare of Hindu
myths, the gaping abyss opened by the cataclysm, and which is no other than the giant
volcanic caldera of the volcano that destroyed Atlantis. The ithyphallic Twins are, again,
the other two peaks of the holy Triple Mountain of Paradise, with the "sun" at the center
representing the third, collapsed peak, the Vadava-mukha. The Triple Mountain was the
site of Paradise (Lanka or Atala) in Hindu traditions, and its central peak was deemed
"the Pillar of Heaven", just like Mt. Atlas.
The palm trees are again connected with Atlantis. They represent the Primordial Phoenicia,
a name signifying "Land of the Palm Trees" in Greek. This name is a translation of the Hindu
name of Atala, which means the same thing in Sanskrit. The streamers and standards again
identify Punt with Atlantis and, more exactly, with the Indonesian sunken continent. They
are the glyph of Punt, as well as the symbol of the Pillars of Hercules in Phoenician traditions.
In reality, the streamers visually translate the ancient local name of the Malay Peninsula,
Setubandha (called Punt in Dravida), which means "Connecting Band" or "Connecting Bridge"
in Sanskrit.