Nuragic Culture of Sardinia

I've wanted to write about nuraghi and the Nuragic culture for a long time, as I visited several of these towers and archaeological sites in Sardinia. I've made this trip about four and a half years ago. Initially, I wrote a few blog posts about Sardinia and put the nuraghi aside because I wanted to acquire more background knowledge. Then other trips and reports came up. But now, surprisingly, I've read about the nuraghi again in a book about "The Last Mysteries of Science" [1]. That prompted me to write this blog post now.

During the transition from the Copper Age to the Early Bronze Age (2200–1600 BC) [2], the Bonnanaro culture was identified in Sardinia based on ceramic finds [3]. It transitioned seamlessly into the Nuragic Age [4]. This is dated to approximately 1600–400 BC (or between 1900 and 730 BC). The Nuraghe period is named after the nuraghi, of which 7,000 have been found, but it is believed that there were originally 10,000. The nuraghi [5] are megalithic tower structures.

The term nuraghe was coined by the Romans from the mid-3rd century BC onwards. According to one hypothesis, the root of the word (“nur”) correlates with the terms “nul” and “nor,” which are found in other parts of the western Mediterranean. The meanings are given as heap, cave or hollow tree, and fire. Another hypothesis suggests the word is of Punic origin. Phoenician-Punic is a Semitic language about which, considering its historical significance, far too little is known [6]. The Arabic nur (light, fire) has been rejected. It seems, that modern Sardinian has retained some old toponyms like nurra, nurri, nurru, which migh be related to nuraghen [7].

There are different types of nuraghi, and the settlements also vary. I will not delve into this further here. Tholosnuraghi are located centrally within a settlement and almost always feature an inner courtyard with a well. The ascent to the top auf the tower is spiral-shaped. The settlements were probably only established around the nuraghi in the last centuries of this culture.

There is no consensus on the function of the nuraghi. Astronomical observation points, religious temples, rulers' residences, military strongholds, meeting halls, and watchtowers have all been suggested. One hypothesis identifies the structures as sites for sacrifices during solar or lunar eclipses. Megalithic complexes are often thought to have an astromal-astrological basis. One of the determined orientations of the entrances to several hundred nuraghi likely points to Alpha Centauri. Watchtowers are rather unlikely, as this would have decentralized the warriors. Perhaps the functions changed as needed. Or several functions were used simultaneously.

In any case, these structures are interesting and well worth a visit.

Links and Annotations:
[1] The book is titled "Die letzten Rätsel der Wissenschaft [The Last Mysteries of Science]" [1a] and is by Felix R. Paturi [1b]. I only noticed while reading that the author has a penchant for esotericism. That's not really my thing. But all the better, perhaps with my current level of knowledge I wouldn't have read it at all.
[1a] Felix R. Paturi: The Last Mysteries of Science. Piper, 2007. ISBN: 9783492247788. pp. 142-147.
[1b] Felix R. Paturi (born 1940) is the pseudonym of Heinz Mindt. He is a German non-fiction author, freelance journalist, and television editor.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_R._Paturi
[2] The data varies considerably depending on the article, so they should all be considered approximate.
[3] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnanaro-Kultur and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnanaro_culture
[4] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuraghenkultur and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuragic_civilization
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuraghe and
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuraghe
[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punic_language Interesting: the punic alonim to the hebrew elohim ( אֱלֹהִים); and https://web.archive.org/web/20180722191602/http://www.unet.univie.ac.at/~a8201399/phoenikisch-punisch-homepage.htm 
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sardinian_language 


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The Rajajel Columns, Saudi Arabia

The Rajajel Columns (الرجاجيل) are located south of the town of Sakākā, often spelled Sakakah (سَكَاكَا). The name Rajajel [1] denotes the fact that, from a distance, the columns look as if people are standing there. The columns are made of sandstone and are scattered across six hectares of land in 54 groups of two to ten columns. They are thought to have been erected there about 6,000 years ago. They have been compared to Stonehenge, but I consider this just as nonsensical as drawing a connection between seal inscriptions from the Indus Valley [2] and the Kohau Rongorongo [3]. Recent research has revealed evidence of hearths and other human activity, suggesting that the site must have been even more extensive in the past, but later agriculture has altered these areas.

The columns are up to three meters high and 60 centimeters thick. Some have fallen over and are lying on the ground. A cultic significance is assumed, but no further details are available. On the other hand, finds indicate simple agriculture and animal husbandry, such as sheep, goats, and cattle, for the period. One hypothesis suggests a temple complex or religious center, where the groups of columns might each have been associated with a specific tribe. This is the most plausible explanation for me, as it would have provided space for camps between the individual tribes. An astronomical connection is often assumed for such stone formations, but then why these widely separated groups? Excavations carried out 50 years ago unearthed various stone tools and pottery.

The stonework and the incised images were added later, not by the original builders of the columns. I used the camera's impressive mode in some of the photos to make the contours more visible. In the monochrome photograph, the columns appear to point in different directions, but this is an artifact. Imagine the columns as a low wall in their original state.

Links and Annotations:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columns_of_Rajajil and
https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A3%D8%B9%D9%85%D8%AF%D8%A9_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%AC%D9%8A%D9%84 and
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/rajajil-columns-employing-multimethod-geophysical-survey-to-investigate-monument-construction-and-use/EC1527E047A897BDC4B68ADCA57AAF62
[2] Harappan script / Indus Valley script
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_script
[3] The Easter Island script, or Kohau Rongorongo, is translated as "singer's reed".

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The Mosque of Umar ibn al-Khattab in Dumat al-Jandal (Saudi Arabia)

 

The Mosque of Umar ibn al-Khattab (مسجد عمر بن الخطاب) [1] is located in the historic town of Dumat al-Jandal (دُومَة ٱلْجَنْدَل,) [2]. The mosque, with its minaret, and the surrounding historical site rdiate age and history. I immediately fell in love with this complex, and then there's Qasr Marid, which I'll describe separately. It is one of the oldest mosques in the world; it was built between 634 and 644. “The importance of the mosque lies in its design because it represents the continuity of the design pattern of the first mosques. It is reminiscent of the design of the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina in its early stages.” [3]

It was assumed that Umar ibn al-Khattab had the mosque built while on his way to Jerusalem, hence its name, but the architecture does not support this. King [4] describes the minaret as completely different from any minarets he had encountered in Saudi Arabia. He suggests that this type of minaret dates back to a much earlier period than the third century CE. Charloux [5] points out that Dumat al-Jandal was already mentioned in Assyrian annals. There are pre-Islamic necropolises as well as proto-Islamic ones. He emphasizes that urgent cataloging work is needed, as thefts have already occurred.

Let's go down into the mosque. The north wall—and since that sounds like mountaineering—the qibla wall overlooks Qasr Marid Castle. Like all the buildings in the city, the mosque is made of drystone. There is a main prayer hall with the qibla and niches for the Qur'an; there is also a separate prayer room for women. Access to the mosque is through a door near the minaret. The prayer hall is formed by three rows of stone pillars [6].

A very important destination on a trip through Saudi Arabia!

Links and Annotations:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umar_ibn_al-Khattab_Mosque
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumat_al-Jandal
[3] https://madainproject.com/omar_ibn_alkhattab_mosque
[4] King, Geoffrey. “A Mosque Attributed to ‘Umar B. al-Khaṭṭāb in Dūmat al-Jandal in al-Jawf, Saudi Arabia.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, no. 2, 1978, pp. 109–23. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25210953. Accessed 1 Dec. 2025. Contains lots of old pictures.
[5] Charloux, Guillaume. “Known and Unknown Archaeological Monuments in the Dūmat Al-Jandal Oasis in Saudi Arabia: A Review.” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, vol. 42, 2012, pp. 41–55. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41623627. Accessed 1 Dec. 2025.
[6] https://www.archnet.org/sites/3796

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Mongolia – Some Petroglyphs in the Orkhon Valley

 

The guidebooks are not well geared towards petroglyphs. The Lonely Planet gives a few places and describes a place near the Russian border under the name Tsagaan Sala / Baga Oigar [1], it is the UNESCO World Heritage Monument Baga Oigar / Tsagaan Salaa (Бага ойгор-Цагаан салаагийн). This is really located far from possible travel routes - unless you come from Russia, which is currently not very likely. And the travel guidebook in German doesn't mention any petroglyphs at all [2].

Across the fence of the ger camp

That's why I recommend a spot in the Orkhon Valley (Орхоны хөндий), which is visited on the usual travel routes. The site is easy to find, it is located 150 meters south of a Ger camp. So, now comes my problem, because I haven't recorded the name of the Ger Camp, but I could easily identify it on Google Maps. There is no further information about the camp. I'll give the coordinates here [3]. Anyone who wants will find it; especially since most travelers have rented a furgon with a driver or are traveling in a group. The best way to get there is from Bat-Ölzii (Бат-Өлзий) or from Xujirt (Хужирт), also spelled Khujirt.

I've researched Mongolian sources, but you can only find a few things about them. Petroglyphs on the Russian border and nothing else at all about these petroglyphs in the Orkhon Valley. I then continued searching in German. Finally, I discovered an interesting dissertation from the University of Bonn [4]. This dissertation (Ph.D. thesis) is about archaeological finds in the Orkhon Valley. All the places that have been compiled so excellently, where a lot of details about graves can be found and petroglyphs also have been described, are all about 30 km northeast of the point I was looking for. It would have been too nice, but this dissertation is still an important source for me.

You can find Tamghas (Tamgas), these are clan signs of the last millennium. Incidentally, such signs can also be seen in the Ger Camp restaurant. Some characters could be assigned to the time of the Old Turks or even the Xiongnu (匈奴) - this is the Chinese name for the equestrian nomads who lived between the 3rd century BC and the late 1st century AD [5]. The pickled or punched rock paintings are mostly depictions of animals. The site in the Orkhon Valley does not have as many  animal species as I already knew from visits to Kazakhstan or Kyrgyzstan [6]. Goats can usually be seen in the Orkhon Valley. Rams, dogs or deer are also possible. These probably come from the late Bronze Age. The timing is problematic; B. Ahrens: “However, this requires sufficient comparison options in both spatial and chronological terms, which are currently only available to a limited extent or not at all for the Orkhon Valley or surrounding areas.” [7] The images available are mostly distorted to make the petroglyphs better visible.

I wouldn't want to bet on the age of these characters.

 Could even be an Altai wapiti (Aлтайский вапити),
also called Maral (Марал)

You can also see recent rock paintings, such as “Om mani padme hum” (ཨོཾ་མ་ཎི་པ་དྨེ་ཧཱུྃ).

Faint, but recognizable - ཨོཾ་མ་ཎི་པ་དྨེ་ཧཱུྃ

Links and Annotations:
[1] Michael Kohn: Mongolia. Lonely Planet Publications Ltd, 2008. ISBN: 101741045789. P. 222/223.
[2] Michael Walther and Peter Woeste: Mongolia. DuMont travel manual. Dumont Reiseverlag, Ostfildern 2019. ISBN: 3770181417. (Kann ja in die nächste Ausgabe hinein.)
[3] 46°54'00.6"N 102°24'44.7"E Ger Camp
[4] Birte Ahrens: Landscape archaeological investigations in the Upper Orkhon Valley, Central Mongolia. - Bonn, 2020. - Dissertation, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn.
Online edition in bonndoc: https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hbz:5-58667
[5] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiongnu “The Xiongnu Empire was the earliest and longest-lived steppe empire.”
[6] Petroglyphs at Tamgaly https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2014/10/petroglyphs-at-tamgaly.html and... I thought I had already reported on the petroglyphs of Cholpon-Ata, but I haven't yet.
[7] Ahrens op. cit. p. 126

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The Grail and the Mosaic of Madaba

 

I started reading the book “Der Gral” by Konrad Burdach [1], which I already had mentioned in a German text [2]. I like the literary style of the late Burdach, which consists of high standard German, Latin and Old Greek (which I can't read, I have to admit).

Burdach tells us about the mosaic at Madaba [3]. He describes a bulbous, double-handled cup which, without the handle, would be more like a vase, but which would correspond to sixth-century depictions of the eucharistic chalice. As I hadn't seen such a chalice on the mosaic at St. George's Church in Madaba [4], I decided to do some research.

Burdach quoted a notice of three pages in the “Nuovo bullettino di archeologia cristiana” from 1897 by Orazio Marucchi [5]. Marucchi writes: “Finalmente fra le due iscrizioni, e sempre nel pavimento della nave stessa, è rappresentato pure in musaico un vaso ansato in forma di calice dipinto di colore azzurro imitante il vetro, il cui interno è colorito in rosso, per indicare che conteneva del vino.” [6] and: “Il calice rappresentato a musaico nel pavimento della basilica di Madaba sarebbe senza dubbio un calice ministeriale, cioè destinato alla comunione dei fedeli; ...“ [7] The second half of Burdach's footnote referred to a book by August Heisenberg, which did not yield any additional information to the topic [8]. Marucchi's notice included a painting of the chalice, which looked quite like “The new Lod mosaic with doves” as mentioned by Bowersock [9]. So the chalice on the mosaic could be a eucharistic chalice or a hint at the grail, but still -: why didn't I see it?

I remembered that portions of the Madaba Map had been destroyed when the new church had been built on the remnants of the olf Byzantine church. The homework of a student in Greifswald has been very helpful [10]. Rest of the old foundation had been destructed after the decision to rebuild the church in 1886. The old floor with more mosaics had been almost complete destroyed. “Only Kleophas Koikylides [11], a librarian of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem, recognized the importance of what he saw while inspecting the construction site, but it was already too late for about 2/3 of the so-called Madaba map. Around 800,000 of the approximately two million mosaic stones are still preserved today.” Marucchi didn't have a photograph of the mosaic or of the chalice and I doubt that he had access to first photograph of the Madaba Map by Germer Durand (1897), which shows better, what has been destroyed, than recent pictures [12]. So we have to be contended with the drawing of a part of the lost mosaic in Madaba.

Chalice, vase or amphora - at Gerasa

Chalice, vase or amphora - at Petra

Now I can calmly go back to my reading about the Grail. Let's see if this leads me back into the Holy Land.


Links and Annotations:
[1] Konrad Burdach: Der Gral. Forschungen über seinen Ursprung und seinen Zusammenhang mit der Longinuslegende. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft Darmstadt, 1974. ISBN: 3534068084. Enriched reprint from the original of 1938. Konrad Burdach lived from 1859 until 1936; so he didn't see his research in print.
[2] Translation of my German text: I held the book "Der Gral" [The Grail] by Konrad Burdach, a late medievalist, in my hands and leafed through it, because you should think twice about whether you want to commit yourself to 550 pages, got stuck on p. 72 and read: "But if we walk in the light as he is in the light...". Just two weeks ago I read these verses with surprise. But I think that Isidore of Pelusium, or to learn more about his role in the legend of the Grail, were the decisive factors in reading the book. https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2022/01/sammelsurium-205-15012022.html
[3] Burdach, loc. cit. p. 117
[4] For more on the Madaba Map: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madaba_Map
[5] Orazio Marucchi: Nuove scoperte a Madaba (Palestina). In: Nuovo bullettino di archeologia cristiana: ufficiale per i resoconti della Commissione di Archeologia Sacra sugli Scavi e su le Scoperte nelle Catacombe Romane. Vol. 3, Rom 1897; p. 147-149. https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/nbacr1897
[6] Marucchi, loc. cit. p. 148, Translation: “Finally between the two inscriptions, and always in the floor of the ship itself, a panted vase is also represented in mosaic in the form of a chalice painted blue imitating glass, whose interior is colored red, to indicate that it contained del wine.”
[7] Marucchi, loc. cit. p. 149, Translation: “The chalice represented as a mosaic on the floor of the basilica of Madaba would undoubtedly be a ministerial chalice, that is, intended for the communion of the faithful; ...”
[8] August Heisenberg: Grabeskirche und Apostelkirche. Leipzig 1908.
https://archive.org/details/grabeskircheund00heisgoog/page/n153/mode/2up
[9] Glen W. Bowersock: Religion in Early Fourth Century Roman Palestine: The Kfar ʿOthnay Mosaics. P. 65-72; Fig. 4. https://doi.org/10.4000/syria.6289
https://journals.openedition.org/syria/6289?lang=en; photograph by:  https://journals.openedition.org/syria/docannexe/image/6289/img-4.jpg
[10] Jana Vogt: Architekturmosaiken am Beispiel der drei jordanischen Städte Madaba, Umm al-Rasas und Gerasa. Hausarbeit (Hauptseminar) [Homework (advanced seminar)] Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald, Greifswald 2004. https://www.grin.com/document/59736
[11] Héron de Villefosse Antoine. Un mosaïque géographique découverte à Madeba par le R. P. Cléophas. In: Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 41ᵉ année, N. 2, 1897. pp. 140-143; doi : https://doi.org/10.3406/crai.1897.70936
https://www.persee.fr/doc/crai_0065-0536_1897_num_41_2_70936 Also includes a map on millimeter paper, drawn by P. Kleophas Koikylides; text in French.
[12] Yiannis Meimaris: The Discovery of the Madaba Mosaic Map. Mythology and Reality.  https://web.archive.org/web/20131106065242/http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mad/articles/MeimarisMap.html
 
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Nora, Archeology near Pula in the South of Sardinia

 

The name of the city, Nora, comes from the ancient Greek Νῶρα (Nuras in the mediaeval Sardinian language) [1]. The city was build on a peninsula and today this still is a romantic place to go. The beach at Nora is enclosed by cliffs and the promontory and is sheltered from the wind. The church of Sant'Efisio can be seen there, but it had been closed [2]. 

The first settlement … it's hard to say, who had been there first as newer findings indicate settlements on Sardinia already during the old stone age (paleolithicum), in Sardinia case abour 120-140,000 years ago. There have been Nuragic settlements and then about 1000-800 BC the phoenician had built a trading outpost, then a settlement and town, which fell to the Romans after victory in the First Punic War (264-241 BC), making it shortly after the war in 238 BC. The Romans obliterated most of what had been built by Carthage. Nora declined after the Vandal conquest of Sardinia in 456 AD. The city, later only a simple fort had been abandoned in the 8th century.

As the south of Sardinia is sinking into the sea, some part of the old town are already under water, but most remains are still to be seen. Interestingly part of the Temple of Tanit, a Carthaginian goddess, survived. One can walk on old stones look at mosaic, columns, the amphitheatre and more. I was fascinated by amphorae, which served as resonance bodies in the theatre.   

There still is much work for archeologists, which could be seen at work.

Links and Annotations:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nora,_Italy
[2] You might say: a distraction less from the main topic. There is a procession for the saint during the Festa di Sant'Efisio in May each year. https://www.sardegnaturismo.it/en/explore/nora

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