What did the ancient somali statues symbolize

[Midas]

It occurred to me that most humanoid statues people create are supposed to be depictions of either important figures like kings or they're supposed to be of gods/demons.
What do you guys think the somalis ones people have found are supposed to be representations of? My money is on them being some sort of deity type figure. Also I don't think the somali sculptures are descended from the greco-roman tradition since the more i look at the images the more I realize how completely different they look from even the hellenic yemeni statues

 

[wonyluvr]

Rulers or like you said deities.They were obviously important since they had statues.

 

[Midas]

Rulers or like you said deities.They were obviously important since they had statues.

Yeah i don't know why this thought never popped into my head before since it seems obvious that these statues must have been important figures.

If these do represent deities or anicent kings i wonder which ones these are and maybe there names might still be represented in somali poetry.

Also if my idea that these aren't inspired by greco roman statues is accurate. Then we'll probably find a lot more since this could have been a continous tradition for millenia. You also got it seems like different sculptural traditions like we saw in those gold animals figures and the camel carving I posted here before.

 

[wonyluvr]

Yeah i don't know why this thought never popped into my head before since it seems obvious that these statues must have been important figures.

If these do represent deities or anicent kings i wonder which ones these are and maybe there names might still be represented in somali poetry.

Also if my idea that these aren't inspired by greco roman statues is accurate. Then we'll probably find a lot more since this could have been a continous tradition for millenia. You also got it seems like different sculptural traditions like we saw in those gold animals figures and the camel carving I posted here before.

Wait Do you remember where they were found??


Like you said we will probably find a lot more.I hope there are more archaeological projects done in Somalia there’s so much we don’t know

 

[Zak12]

Were those statues confirmed to be legit to begin with?

 

[Arabsiyawi]

Were those statues confirmed to be legit to begin with?

I'm about 99.9% sure these are just the work of a forger. A lot of people have figured out how this niche world of archaeology works, and some try to make a name for themselves, or just for quick money, by fabricating nonsense.

 

[Zak12]

I'm about 99.9% sure these are just the work of a forger. A lot of people have figured out how this niche world of archaeology works, and some try to make a name for themselves, or just for quick money, by fabricating nonsense.

I'm not saying they are likely fake but I'm asking if those statues were verified by credible archeologists. We know ancient Somalia had civilization in the form of ruins, undeciphered scripts and records from foreigners so sculptures wouldn't be out of place either.

 

[therandomone]

Punt existed before Somalis didn't they

 

[Midas]

I'm about 99.9% sure these are just the work of a forger. A lot of people have figured out how this niche world of archaeology works, and some try to make a name for themselves, or just for quick money, by fabricating nonsense.

Forgery of what though ? The whole idea of forgery is based on there being already well known artifacts that people then create fakes of. People don't just randomly create some statue and say it's from a random lost civilization

 

[Midas]

I'm not saying they are likely fake but I'm asking if those statues were verified by credible archeologists. We know ancient Somalia had civilization in the form of ruins, undeciphered scripts and records from foreigners so sculptures wouldn't be out of place either.

There legit the guy who posted them on his blog took pictures of stuff that he personally saw. Plus them creating fake objects like pyramids to play into the land of punt stuff would make sense. But to create the heads of statues that look like nothing ever seen before doesn't really make sense

 

[Arabsiyawi]

Forgery isn’t *only* about replicating known artefacts and passing them off as originals, it’s inventing your own and claiming they’re authentic.
These are clea rexamples of it. The same people promoting them are also posting photos of obvious Egyptian souvenirs, claiming they were unearthed in Somaliland. lol.

 

[Midas]

Forgery isn’t *only* about replicating known artefacts and passing them off as originals, it’s inventing your own and claiming they’re authentic.
These are clea rexamples of it. The same people promoting them are also posting photos of obvious Egyptian souvenirs, claiming they were unearthed in Somaliland. lol.

Exactly that's why I used it as an example I my post above.

Plus them creating fake objects like pyramids to play into the land of punt stuff would make sense.

When you look at these objects they're clearly fake and even of an amateurish quality since it would take a huge amount of knowledge and expertise to create a serious forgery .

These statues on the other hand if they were hypothetically forgeries are way more sophisticated then the fake eygptian artifacts and they also don't have any easily attributable origin

 

[Arabsiyawi]

lol

 

[balanbalis]

Wait Do you remember where they were found??

Berbera I’m pretty sure, and allegedly 1st century BC

Plus them creating fake objects like pyramids to play into the land of punt stuff would make sense. But to create the heads of statues that look like nothing ever seen before doesn't really make sense

One of the statue heads has an Ancient Egyptian like headpiece (ureaus, a serpent crown)

And a pharaoh looking one lmao

So they could honestly either be misinterpretations of the statues, an outright forgery, or a secret third option.

EDIT: Apparently due to their level of corrosion they’re likely more REAL than fake

 

[Burqad]

They were probably built by the people who lived in the land before the Somalis did, the Harla and the Tiiriyat and the Madinle and Maatire, Matiiti ,Qolomata , Maashame, Loo Madow, Harta Diinle , Angali, Abuur, Harta Diinle

 

[balanbalis]

They were probably built by the people who lived in the land before the Somalis did, the Harla and the Tiiriyat and the Madinle and Maatire, Matiiti ,Qolomata , Maashame, Loo Madow, Harta Diinle , Angali, Abuur, Harta Diinle

I want to agree but these statues all look like their name is Faarax

 

[Midas]

Berbera I’m pretty sure, and allegedly 1st century BC

One of the statue heads has an Ancient Egyptian like headpiece (ureaus, a serpent crown)
View attachment 360636
And a pharaoh looking one lmao
View attachment 360637
So they could honestly either be misinterpretations of the statues, an outright forgery, or a secret third option.

EDIT: Apparently due to their level of corrosion they’re likely more REAL than fake

You can tell there's a clear difference between stuff like this which has that worn look and seems legit vs the first pic in the screen shot below which is so amateurish its actually kinda funny

 

[Yessirski]

They are real someone already examined it, though they aren’t a professional they say they are well trained enough to examine it.

but anyone know what these inscriptions are exactly his on about? He doesn’t really go into much detail

Mysterious sculptures from Somaliland | Politics and Art from the Edge

robertk.space

 

[balanbalis]

They are real someone already examined it, though they aren’t a professional they say they are well trained enough to examine it.

View attachment 360648

but anyone know what these inscriptions are exactly his on about? He doesn’t really go into much detail

View attachment 360649

Mysterious sculptures from Somaliland | Politics and Art from the Edge

robertk.space

Take a look at this thread, it looks a lot like the pictures on there

https://www.somalispot.com/threads/on-sumado.179151/

It could be a form of proto-writing, a series of symbols, perhaps sabean? I’m not educated enough on linguistics to be sure though.