From BBC News
December 2011 Last updated at 19:47 ET
Cockerel figurine found in Cirencester Roman dig
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| A checkered cockerel |
A Roman cockerel figurine thought to
have been made to accompany a child's grave has been unearthed in
Gloucestershire.
The 1,800-year-old enamelled object was found during an archaeological dig at one of Britain's earliest-known burial sites in Cirencester.
It is thought the bronze cockerel, which is 12.5cm high, could have been a message to the gods. Archaeologist Neil Holbrook said it was a "most spectacular" find.
The elaborately-decorated cockerel is believed to be Roman, probably dating back to the 2nd Century AD. According to experts, religious significance was given to the cockerel by the Romans and the artistic subject is known to be connected with Mercury, the messenger to the gods. They said it was Mercury who was also responsible for conducting newly-deceased souls to the afterlife.
'Made in Britain'
Mr Holbrook, chief executive at Cotswold Archaeology, said the cockerel had been excavated from the grave of a young child and had been placed close to his or her head.
"Interestingly a very similar item was found in Cologne in Germany and it looks like they both could have come from the same workshop based in Britain," he added.
The object was discovered in early November and held back to allow the dig to continue uninterrupted.
It will now be cleaned, conserved, and possibly then displayed at the Corinium Museum in Cirencester.
Other finds from this grave include a small pottery tettine or feeding bottle, which was unfortunately highly fragmented. This will also undergo conservation work.
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Is there a connection between the "checkerboard" pattern on the Hermes cockerel to Toth (Jehuty), and the black and white checkered floor in the Hall of Judgment (also called the Hall of Justice)??? The Greeks equated their god, Hermes, to the ancient Egyptian god, Toth (Jehuty - spelled phonetically in an approximation of how scholars think the name may have been pronounced) and, in later times (beginning in the first century CE of the Roman era), the god Hermes Trismegistus was accepted by at least some Greeks and Romans as a form of Hermes. It is supposed that out of the teachings of the followers of Hermes Trismegistus arose the esoteric tradition known as "hermeticism," roughly paralleling the development of other lines of though such as Gnosticism. This is not an area in which I'm much read! Please feel free to add your comments. I am confident about the black and white checkered floor being associated with the Hall of Judgment (Hall of Justice) and Toth because this was told to me years ago by someone whose scholarship and credentials I trust. If any of you are familiar with depictions within older Masonic halls, the black and white checkerboard floor is often depicted in murals, paintings, and may sometimes also be reflected in flooring of the the ceremonial room (not necessarily in black and white, but the checkerboard pattern of light and dark will be there). My guess is that this reflects Toth's role as mediator between the gods, in which he had to make sure that neither "good" nor "evil" ever achieved supremacy over the other - that there was always maintained an equilibrium between the two opposing forces.
