A lion with the head of an eagle.
He first appeared somewhere in the Middle East about five thousand years ago. There is speculation that humans and dinosaurs "crossed paths" at some point in history, and griffin
- is the embodiment of the "collective memory" of mankind's oldest flying reptiles.
The ubiquitous monster
Even before the griffin appeared in written sources, its image was repeatedly depicted on stone and ivory, silver and gold, silk and bronze. His image can be found on the walls of the palace and mosaic floors of the Persian kings in Persepolis. With the caravans of merchants, armies of conquerors and nomadic tribes, the vicious and mind-boggling monster spread throughout the ancient world.
The most ancient image of him was found on the territory of modern Iran on a seal made about 3,000 years before our era. Many images of him have been found by archaeologists during excavations on the island of Crete, on the walls of the throne room of the palace in Knossos, the capital of the Minoan Empire, on tombstones and in sanctuaries. They have also been found in the burial mounds of Altai.
The image of the griffin runs through the millennia and can be found in different cultures. Its Assyrian name is k'rub, meaning "fantastic winged creature", and it often appears in the history of this cruel and tyrannical ancient power. The gryphon seems to have combined several types of animals. According to one description, it is a mammal with four legs and wings, vicious and strong. His body resembles a lion, but his wings and head resemble an eagle.
According to others - a griffon - a four-legged bird with plumage of different colors and a snake tail, often with ears and a number of spikes on the neck. It is equal in size and strength to eight lions, stronger and larger than a hundred eagles. It is a much more powerful animal than all the animals living on Earth. Gryphon was perceived as a mysterious, mysterious and powerful creature, and people believed in its real existence.
Traces in History
On the pages of ancient manuscripts of different cultures, the details of the image, the appearance of the griffin and its manners are markedly different.
The ancient Greeks have left us with the myth that on the very edge of the oikumene, the real inhabited world for them, live the terrible griffins. Aristeas of Prokonnese travelled through Central Asia in the seventh century BC in search of the Hyperboreans and the sanctuary of Apollo, and reached the tribe of the Immedonians. They told him that to the north of their lands there was a mountain range, where cold winds were constantly blowing, there were gold-bearing rivers, and one-eyed people - arimaspas lived. They steal gold from the fast and vicious monsters that guard it. It is unknown what the Immedonians themselves called them, but Aristeas called them griffins.
Two centuries later, Herodotus repeated the story of Aristeas, who, according to modern scholars, had visited the foothills of the Altai. In myths the ferocious griffin became the indispensable companion of Nemesis, the goddess of vengeance. On a chariot of four griffins, the god Apollo flew to Hyperborea for a rest. According to the legends, Alexander the Great once tried to take them up into heaven, but God did not let him in.
The gryphon was well suited for the role of heraldic animal. He appeared on the arms of many knights and rulers, on coins and royal seals as a symbol of power and fierceness. His image was widely disseminated in poetry, art and jewelry. Numerous illuminated manuscripts depict griffins as birds, griffins as lions, and griffins as snakes with bodies covered with reptilian scales.
The existence of monsters was considered a proven fact, and various parts of his body were ascribed miraculous powers. It was claimed that the blind could see by waving a gryphon feather in front of their eyes, etc.
A griffin was usually a personification of demonic evil forces, and his actions brought death to people and whole nations. His temperament in accordance with the fierce appearance. In Christianity he was associated with Satan. Unbelievable, but the undoubted influence of the griffins in the lives of people say the historical facts in the fate of peoples and individuals who used their images as a symbol or coat of arms.
A pernicious symbol
The mighty Assyrian civilization was destroyed and swallowed up by time. Scientists have not yet been able to discover the cause of the destruction of the Cretan nation and the palace of Knossos. Alexander the Great crushed the Persian empire and burned down its capital, Persepolis. A griffin supported the armorial shield of Anne Boleyn, the wife of King Henry VIII of England, who was executed. In Russia the image of the griffin appeared during the reign of Paul I (1796-1801). The tsar was brutally murdered by conspirators right in his bedroom.
During the reign of Alexander II, was officially adopted coat of arms of the House of Romanov, based on the griffin. Having reached the pinnacles of power, it soon ruined the dynasty. In 1881 Alexander II was assassinated, and in 1894 Alexander III died a mysterious death. In 1918 - Nicholas II was shot together with all his family and the bloody Civil War began.
After excavations in the XX century in the Altai large Pazyryk barrows dozens of images of griffins appeared in scientific publications and reports of journalists. Archaeologists discovered that the dynasty of nomadic noble chiefs in Pazyryk ceased to exist in the V-IV centuries BC. The symbol of their power - a gryphon with ram's horns - did its black work. In the kurgans were also found images of "torn off lion heads", as in the coat of arms of the Romanov dynasty. For nomads, the griffin is the lord of the world of the dead, and his image is found only in the burials of the nobility and leaders.
Among tens of thousands of rock carvings of various animals in the Altai, you will not find it. People's admiration for products in the Scythian-Siberian animal style breathed new "life forces" into the griffins as well. Started their "materialization" and ascent to the level of power in the region, and followed a strange accident.
In 1993 the coat of arms of the Republic of Altai was officially approved, and the prototype of it was the image of a griffin from the Pazyryk barrows. The deputies adopted the coat of arms, apparently as a symbol of the link between the past and the present, without thinking about its essence. In 1997, V. Chaptynov, the first head of the republic, under whom the coat of arms was adopted, died suddenly. In 2005, the governor of the region M. Evdokimov.
Earthquakes, other abnormal phenomena and troubles began to occur in Altai: severe frost and unprecedented snow, various disasters. The shadow of the bloodthirsty ancient ruler of the world of the dead hangs over the region, and people need more and more strength to survive. All this reeks of mysticism, but the facts speak for themselves, and it is difficult to give any other explanation. We must be very careful with the choice of images used as symbols and emblems.
Valery PAK
