• Source: Staff God

In "Southern Andean Iconographic Series" the Staff God pose is a religious icon and a standardized pose reminiscent in its way of the standardized poses in Byzantine art. The pose shows a front-facing human or human-like figure with vertical attributes, one in each hand. There is no uniform representation of a "Staff God". Dozens of variations of "Staff Gods" exist. Some scholars think that some of these personages are possible depictions of Viracocha or Thunupa (the Aymara weather god). However, there is little evidence to support the idea that these front-facing figures do represent deities. Some researchers point to their attributes and spatial organization which seem to indicate that they are ritual practitioners. Some attributes in their hands were identified as Qirus (Andean ritual cups), Snuff trays (used in ceremonial contexts) and Spear-throwers. The "rays" radiating or sprouting out of the faces of Tiwanaku front-facing figures appear to have approximately the value of an aureole. They may represent flows and distribution of energy. At the Wari site of Conchopata a vessel was found which shows a Staff God in which the "rays" can be interpreted as a Anadenanthera colubrina tree sprouting from its head whereas the circular elements do represent its seed pods.
The oldest known depiction of a Staff God was found in 2003 on some broken gourd fragments in a burial site in the Pativilca River Valley (Norte Chico region) and carbon dated to 2250 BCE. This makes it the oldest religious icon to be found in the Americas.
There are scholars who maintain that the Wari-Tiwanaku Staff God is the forerunner of the Incan principal gods, Sun, Moon, and Thunder. It served as the primary religious icon of the entire Peruvian Andes, particularly during the Early Horizon (900-200 BC) and beyond. The worship of Staff Gods spread to the Central Andes during the Middle Horizon (600-1000 CE) This is supported by excavated Middle Horizon artifacts that resembled the Staff-God.




Representations and iconography


The staff god was a basic iconography shared by the cultures of pre-Columbian Peru, particularly those occupying the northern coast and the southern highlands. This is seen in the stylistic uniformity of the icons and representations, which suggested widespread adherence.
There were varying depictions of the Staff-God among these Andean cultures. However, it was often portrayed as a deity in apotheosis, with hands always holding instruments of power. For instance, an artifact found at Chavin de Huantar showed the deity holding a Spondylus and Strombus shells, which were female and male symbols, respectively. This representation indicated how the Staff-God wielded authority to maintain social harmony and the Andean ideal of gender complementarity. Another Early Horizon sculpted stone, the Raimondi Stele, is perhaps the most popular representation and depicted the Staff-God as a sky or lightning god plunging down to earth.
Representations of the southern highland staff god did not only carry motifs but were also presented with accompanying consorts in the form of deities painted on textiles used to decorate temple walls or ceramic vessels.
The Staff God has one of the most important iconographical elements in central Andean archaeology and this is prominent in both portable and fixed art using different media such as stone, textile, and ceramic. A form of the staff god, for example, takes a central role in the Sun Gate of the Tiwanaku culture, a single-stone monolith. Tunics and ceramics from both the Tiwanaku and Wari cultures of the Middle Horizon period showcase a similar god. Another example is the giant offering jars found at Qunchupata. They were painted with the Staff-God's image, one that bears resemblance to the god's depiction at the back of the Tiwanaku's Ponce Monolith.




Gallery



Staff God motif




























See also


Norte Chico civilization
Wiracocha




Notes






External links


New Scientist article on the find in Patavilca
Archaeology magazine article, with photo and illustration of the Staff God
• Source: Staff god

Staff gods (or atua rakau) are sacred objects within the cultural and spiritual practices of the Cook Islands Māori, particularly prominent on the island of Rarotonga. These objects were crafted from wood and adorned with intricate carvings and symbolic designs, combining images of gods with their human descendants. The staffs range in length between 28 inches (71 cm) and 18 feet (5.5 m) and were carried and displayed horizontally.
At one end there, staff gods might have a schematized blade-shaped head and arms of the progenitive god with a succession of little figures rising from his body, alternatively full-face and in profile with penis erect. The staff itself terminated in a phallus. But this elaborately carved sexual imagery had less importance for the Rarotongans than the feathers and pieces of shell representing the soul of the god and enclosed in yards of bark cloth (tapa) wound around the center of the staff.




History


During the 19th century, the arrival of the missionaries from Europe to the Cook Islands saw the burning of staff gods to make way for Christianity. Some missionaries reported seeing a staff god as large as 6 metres long.
British Museum has the only surviving staff god with full bark cloth (tapa) intact that predates the arrival of European missionaries. The central wooden staff consists of a large Tangaroa and smaller male and female figures on one side, and on the other side, a naturalistic penis, is missing.
Staff gods without the bark cloth wrappings can be found all over the world. Such as Metropolitan Museum of Art, Israel Museum, and Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
In 2014, one Rarotongan staff god was auctioned for 1.2 million euros in Paris.




Present


Nina Oberg Humphries is a contemporary New Zealand and Cook Islands artist who recreates contemporary versions of ancient Rarotongan staff gods to tell stories of the Cook Islands diasporas in New Zealand.




References

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• God Hand
• The God of High School
• Delusi akan Tuhan
• Tower of God
• Australia
• Amerika Serikat
• Sathya Sai Baba
• Yair Netanyahu
• Daftar karakter One Piece
• Pandangan dunia
• Staff God
• Staff god
• Staff of Moses
• Cook Islands art
• Crozier
• Wari culture
• Caduceus
• Mercury (mythology)
• Raimondi Stele
• Viracocha