An Analysis of the Iconographic Rosette Motif as a Means of Non-Verbal Communication: A Case Study – The Rosette Motif and Its Association with Solar Symbolism

C h e r y l H a r t

S c h o o l o f A r c h a e o l o g y , H i s t o r y

& A n t h r o p o l o g y

U n i v e r s i t y o f W a l e s T r i n i t y

S a i n t D a v i d , L a m p e t e r , U K

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An Analysis of the Iconographic Rosette Motif as a Means of Non-Verbal

Communication: A Case Study – The Rosette Motif and its Association with

Solar Symbolism

Abstract

My PhD research, which investigates the prolific use of the rosette motif in the

Near East, Egypt and the Aegean regions during the Bronze and Early Iron

Ages, utilises a multi-disciplinary approach to the visual interpretation of the

motif, encompassing archaeology, art history, anthropology, and even studies

into human perception and cognition, in order to examine the role of this

particular motif from a broad contextual and conceptual background.

The role of art as a visual code of communication has long been examined

(Hoskins 2006:82) with symbols found on material forms being vehicles for the

non-verbal communication of complex ideas to others (Hodder 1987:1-10;

Tilley 2006:7, 2006a:61). Braithwaite (1982: 80), being primarily concerned

with non-verbal systems and their symbolic qualities, states that symbols and

symbol-systems have the capacity not only to express and communicate but,

through their political and ideological dimension, can also be used covertly to

disrupt established relations of dominance. The use of material culture as

symbols of power provides archaeologists with access to the strategic patterns

involved in the creation, maintenance and collapse of power among cultural

groups (Clarke et al 1985:4). In order to justify the interpretation of visual

images it is important to address questions of cultural meaning and power

through a ‘critical visual methodology’ which considers the visual in terms of

cultural significance, social practices and power relations in which it is

embedded (Rose 2007: xiv-xv). Material culture studies owe much to semiotic

theory which views all cultural processes as being those of communication (Eco

1977:8; Thomas 1998:97); semiotic approaches stressing how fundamental

concepts could be visibly encoded in artefacts, objects and art.

Taking the perspective, in my examination and analysis of the rosette motif, to

be that of a means of non-verbal communication, I intend to demonstrate in this

paper, through comparative data derived from the prolific visual depictions of

the rosette, both similarities and differences in its cultural and contextual use

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within the Near East, Egypt and the Aegean. Through the analysis of this

evidence I aim to further illustrate the potential transfer and transformation of

such visual imagery, and its associated contextual use, with reference to a

specific case study.

Key Words:

Rosette; Solar; Visual Interpretation; Symbolism

Introduction: Theoretical Background to Research

As stated in the abstract, my PhD research examines and analyses the

iconographic role of the rosette motif within the ancient cultures of the Aegean,

the Near East and Egypt during the Fourth to First Millennium BC, utilising a

multi-disciplinary approach to visual interpretation - including archaeology,

anthropology, art history, and even studies in human perception and cognition -

in which signs and symbols are used as a means of non-verbal communication.

Art has long been investigated as a visual code of communication; Panofsky

(1962) having proposed the term ‘iconography’ to describe that branch of the

history and study of visual images that concerns itself with the meaning of

works of art rather than their form. Tilley (1999) has further promoted the

perception of material culture and its associated iconography as a means of non-

verbal communication. Visual dimensions of material culture or art objects have

a cognitive influence due to their decorative or aesthetic immediacy; that is their

immediate effect on the ‘audience’ who view it (Jones 2007: 155). The efficacy

of this process is also determined by the manner in which it is retained in

memory; images being a means of ‘materialising remembrance’ (Jones 2007:

25, 196). In semiotic interpretations of art, the form of the image is particularly

emphasised, with ascription of meaning being based on the interpretation of

images as visual symbols (Jones 2007: 196).

The case study presented in this paper is, thus, only a small part of my research

overall but one which I believe holds particular relevance in respect to the

ultimate ‘message’ being communicated by the rosette motif.

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Case Study: The Rosette Motif and Solar Symbolism

This paper is the third and final one of a themed series relating to the rosette

motif and its association with solar symbolism; the previous papers having

examined the rosette motif, firstly, in association with its role as a direct

iconographic image of the sun,1 and secondly, from a cosmological perspective,

analysing the use of the rosette in association with mythological aspects of solar

symbolism.2 To bring my analysis of this particular contextual aspect of the

rosette motif to a close, this paper will examine the role of the motif in visual

depictions in which, rather than being itself the solar symbol, it appears in

association with a variety of other images and symbols which are claimed by

various scholars to have solar significance. Although, in these instances, the

rosette is not being used as a solar symbol itself, it may have a wider conceptual

role to play. The paper will not question the validity of previous scholarly

claims for a solar association in respect to the iconographic or mythological

imagery indicated in the discussion, but will focus simply on the incorporation

of the rosette into such depictions.

As indicated in the abstract to this paper, in order to justify the interpretation of

visual images it is important to address questions of cultural meaning and power

through a ‘critical visual methodology’ which considers the visual in terms of

cultural significance, social practices and power relations in which it is

embedded (Rose 2007: xiv-xv). I have shown in previous papers relating to the

rosette and solar symbolism that, although my research into the wider usage of

the rosette indicates that this is not the definitive role or function of the motif, I

believe that this solar aspect may have a significant conceptual relevance to

what I perceive as the far more complex issue surrounding the rosette motif in

its role as a vehicle for non-verbal communication. Investigation of this

particular use of the rosette, taken together with its geographic and temporal

longevity in the ancient Near East, Egypt, and the Aegean, will provide

evidence of the cross-cultural association of such a role.

The sun, as a cosmological entity, played a major role in the belief systems of

the Bronze and Early Iron Age Eastern Mediterranean peoples, generally

relating to an association between the daily transit of the sun through the

1 Proceedings of 9ICAANE, Basel 2014 (forthcoming)

2 Proceedings of Sophia Centre for Cosmology Conference, Bath 2014 (forthcoming)

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heavens and a cycle of birth, death and rebirth. It has been stated that ‘solar

symbolism carried a significant meaning which was indicated by the contexts

and associations of its appearances’ (Goodison 1989: 1). There is no doubt that

the sun was represented iconographically in various forms. Goodison, having

conducted a survey of Aegean Bronze Age depictions in order to analyse those

iconographic images which symbolised the sun, states that ‘it needs to be

ascertained…what can reasonably be taken as an intentional representation of

the sun’ (Goodison 1989: 1). Further to depictions in which the rosette motif is

used directly as a representation of the sun, there are numerous other examples

in which the rosette is used in iconographic imagery which relate to the

mythological aspect of the sun and, as stated above, visual depictions in which,

rather than being the solar symbol itself, the rosette appears in association with

a variety of other images and symbols which supposedly have solar significance

– in these instances, the use of the rosette possibly suggesting the wider

symbolic nature of the sun in ancient belief systems. Relevant examples include

boat motifs; wheels, particularly ‘turning wheels’, or ‘wheels of fire’; horse

and/or chariot depictions; various animals and marine life – both natural and

supernatural - including bulls, goats, lions, dolphins, fish, birds, and griffins;

plant life; mirrors; and miscellaneous motifs such as swastikas and ‘crossed’ or

concentric circles. This paper will focus on depictions of the rosette motif in

association with boats, wheels, and horses and chariots.

Boat Motifs

As noted above, in ancient belief systems the daily transit of the sun was

thought to have symbolic associations with the journey of the deceased into the

afterlife - the journey of the sun below the horizon being seen as analogous to

the process followed by the dead soul prior to some form of rebirth (Goodison

1989: 38). Some mythological stories parallel such a journey with that of a

journey to the underworld by boat. Boat models are commonly found as grave

goods in the ancient Egyptian mortuary sphere, often adorned with rosettes,

possibly enhancing the solar association. Goodison (1989: 39) states that ‘both

the sun and boat stood as ‘a shorthand’ for the journey ahead of the dead soul’;

or, in other words, from the theoretical perspective applied to my research, the

symbolic aspect of the rosettes in association with boats and the sun acted as a

non-verbal communicative element.

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Rosettes are also found bordering a boat scene on a fragment from a model

tambourine (Fig.1).

Such tambourines are often associated with Egyptian goddess Hathor who, as a

sky-goddess and daughter of the sun-god, is also known to travel in a solar boat.

Iconographic imagery depicting the goddess also frequently incorporates the

rosette motif, not necessarily as one of her attributes, but as a symbolic motif

commonly featured as an inherent part of such attributes, predominantly the

menat and the sistrum. Furthermore, in statuary of the goddess, rosettes

commonly are depicted on her breasts.

Circular symbols, usually rayed, appear frequently in the field accompanying

boats on Aegean Geometric vases, with possible sun-symbols being closely

associated with boats as far back as the Early Bronze Age (Goodison 1989:

147), various rosette types often seen incorporated into such designs. A

fragment of a Dipylon krater (Louvre A517) depicts a boat in association with

various other solar symbols – such as the birds (Fig.2); the boat prominently

displaying a rosette motif integrated into the prow with further rosette types in

the area around the boat.

Fig. 1: Model Tambourine

MMA, New York Inv. 17.194.2399

Image: http://www.metmuseum.org/

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Other similar vases are known with further iconographic depictions of the motif

as a recurring constructional element of boats. Although it could be argued that

the rosettes may be simply filling motifs, their frequent occurrence and

prominent positioning makes this questionable, and, furthermore, although I do

not accept them to be ‘simply filling motifs’, even if they were used as such, it

should be questioned why this particular motif was so commonly chosen, given

the vast motival repertoire available.

Goodison (1989: Fig. 296) refers to a fragmentary scene from a krater in the

Louvre Museum which appears to represent the journey of the dead by boat

(Fig. 3); Ahlberg (1971a: 37) stating that the horizontal figures are ‘certainly

corpses’. Several dot rosettes are clearly depicted above the boat.

Fig.2: Fragment of Dipylon Krater

Louvre Inv.A517

Photo © Cheryl Hart

Fig. 3: Line Drawing of Fragmentary Krater (Louvre).

Image: After Goodison 1989: Fig. 296

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The interpretation of this scene as representing the final journey of the deceased

is one which would be consistent with scenes of departure by boat which were

associated with funerary contexts in the Bronze Age (Goodison 1989: 147). A

similar scene of departure is also depicted on a Geometric oinochoe in

University Museum, Hobart, in which dot-rosettes prominently appear between

the heads of onlookers or mourners on the shore.

A parallel between Egyptian funerary boats and Charon, the Greek ferryman of

the dead, has been drawn by Vermeule (1979: 71-72); however, the Egyptian

mythology of such beliefs can be traced much further back, into the Bronze Age

(Goodison 1989: 149). Furthermore, textual evidence for an association

between boats and the journey of the deceased to the afterlife, and its potential

solar aspect can be seen in the works of Homer which expressed the belief that

the bodies of the deceased, in their journey to the underworld, were carried by

the sea (Goodison 1989: 150). The Iliad (VIII, 561-562; XVIII, 276-277) refers

to the sun sinking into Ocean, whilst the Odyssey associates the sea with ideas

about the journey of the dead (for example, Odyssey XX, 61-65; XI, 10-15).

‘Turning Wheels’ / ‘Wheels of Fire’

Various scholars (for example, Hall 2005: 56-57; Davidson 1969: 174-175;

Stevens 2001: 185; Goff 1963: 160; Goodison 1989: Fig. 127b) have claimed

the wheel to be a ubiquitous symbol with solar associations in the iconography

of the Near East, Egypt and the Aegean; the radial arrangements of spokes

further emphasising the wheel’s solar symbolism (Stevens 2001: 185).

Furthermore, although I don’t particularly agree with such a defined

designation, it has been claimed that the number of spokes supposedly vary by

geographical location of the imagery, with regions of the Near East said to

depict such imagery with 12 spokes – possibly associating them with zodiac

signs; or sometimes 8-spoked examples, which it has been suggested are

possibly linked to 8 petals of lotus flower (Stevens 2001: 185), with Aegean

examples often depicting six spokes. However, the simplest form of solar wheel

had four spokes – possibly linking it to the cardinal points (Stevens 2001: 186)

– quartered or crossed circles themselves also having solar significance,

sometimes being referred to as ‘sun-crosses’ (Hall 2005: 56-57; Kristiansen &

Larsson 2005a: Fig. 132). My wider research indicates that such crossed or

quartered circles are a defined rosette type. They are frequently found in

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symbolic aspects of ancient cultures, and appear to have been particularly

significant in Bronze and Iron Age belief systems (Hall 2005: 56-57), where

they were thought to have solar associations. A stone column from the fill under

Room 13 of Middle Bronze Age fortress at Tell el-Burak, indicated a cross

motif incised on is upper surface. This motif is commonly found in

Mesopotamia where it is believed to represent the sun-god. It remained in use

until the First Millennium BC in Phoenicia where it was attested on funerary

stela (Sadar & Kamlah 2010: Fig. 17). Such motifs were also identified as ‘sun-

symbols’ by Forsdyke (1925: 194) following his interpretation of iconographic

depictions found on various vessels in the British Museum. Further to these

examples, although moving beyond the geographic and temporal limits of my

own research, mention should perhaps also be made of ‘Quartered Circles’ on

North American Ramey pots (11th

& 12th

Century AD) which are believed to

have had solar associations and further symbolised the ‘order of the cosmos’ via

the cardinal points (Pauketat & Emerson 1991: 927).

A good example of such spoked wheels from the Aegean repertoire can be seen

on a Geometric Dipylon krater (NAM, Athens Inv. 990) from the Kerameikos

Cemetery in Athens (Fig.4). The four-spoked wheels are closely linked to dot

rosettes.

Fig.4: Detail from Dipylon

Krater

NAM, Athens Inv.990

Photo © Cheryl Hart

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A further example can be seen in a detailed vignette from the coffin of

Amenemipet, a Priest of the sun-god Amun (British Museum EA22941) which

depicts the deceased being transported to the tomb on a wheeled catafalque

(Fig. 5) –the wheels being shown in the form of rosettes.

The scene suggests a symbolic affinity between the rosette motif and the wheel

as an element in the journey of the deceased which is possibly reinforced by the

potential solar aspect –wheels in particular having solar connotations. As

mentioned, this coffin is that of a priest of a major Egyptian sun-god – an aspect

which may be further emphasised by the funerary context in which the scene is

depicted – the daily transit of the sun through the heavens being associated with

a cycle of birth, death and rebirth in Egyptian belief systems. Furthermore,

looking in detail at the front of the catafalque, it can be seen that the tow-rope

used to drag the vehicle is actually tied to the prow of a boat which is being

transported on it; thus linking back to the boat symbolism discussed above. A

similar scene is also depicted on the coffin of Djedmonthuiufankh in

Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden; the wheels of the catafalque transporting

the funerary boat again being in the form of rosettes (Fig.6).

Fig.5: Detail from Coffin of Amenemipet, a Priest of

the sun-god Amun

British Museum Inv. EA22941

Photo © Cheryl Hart

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In some ancient cultures the wheel had a greater cosmological significance with

the hub being perceived as the centre of the cosmic sphere and the place where

celestial power was concentrated (Stevens 2001: 186). On a relief from the

Palace of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh (Louvre Inv. AO19904) the hub of the wheel

can be seen to be in the form of a rosette (Fig.7).

Fig.6: Detail from Coffin of Djedmonthuiufankh in

Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden.

Photograph © Cheryl Hart.

Fig.7: Detail from Wall Relief from the

Palace of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh

Louvre Inv. AO19904

Photo © Cheryl Hart

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The transitory courses of the sun through the heavens are said to be symbolised

by turning wheels of fire, with evidence from visual imagery suggesting that the

passage of the sun across the heavens in a chariot, a point which will be

discussed further below, was a universal theme or pattern amongst early

cultures, including those of the Mediterranean (Davidson 1969: 174); Goodison

(1989: 89) suggesting that ritual use of fire may have paralleled solar

symbolism in the Aegean. The wheel of fire supposedly came into its own at the

times of the solstices – even today, events take place with wheels of fire in some

areas, such rituals supposedly being carried out to ensure that the sun will return

(Stevens 2001: 186-187).

Davidson states that, in his view, the turning wheel became a ‘kind of shorthand

sign’- again the idea of ‘shorthand’ as I mentioned earlier reinforcing the

theoretical perspective relating to non-verbal communication which underpins

my research. Contextual evidence surrounding symbolic aspects of the turning

wheel - a symbol which can be traced through millennia - suggests an

association with both life and death. Such symbolism was later incorporated

into that of the Christian church, still associated with creative power and light,

and can be seen in early churches in the Mediterranean area (Davidson 1969:

174-176).

Horse and/or Chariot Depictions

Following on from the association of boats and wheels with solar symbolism,

evidence from visual imagery suggests that the passage of the sun across the

heavens in a chariot was a universal theme in many ancient cultures (Davidson

1969: 174-175). It is interesting that, in a painting by19th

Century artist Walter

Crane, he has used a rosette motif as the hub of the chariot wheel – a symbolic

aspect which I referred to earlier. The introduction of spoked chariot wheels in

the Middle Bronze Age appears to have been associated with prestige; possibly

replacing the earlier concept of a solar boat with the more ‘modern’ and

technologically advanced solar chariot (Hall 2005: 56-57). Goodison (1989:

151) suggested that in the Late Bronze Age Aegean the horse and chariot

partially replaced the boat as the vehicle or form in which the sun was thought

to travel - note also being made of the association of horse and chariot with

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funerary practices and ideas. Substantial evidence from the early Iron Age

suggests a continuation of these associations.

The Geometric Krater (NAM, Athens Inv. 990), referred to above, from the

Kerameikos in Athens, clearly shows representations of horses and chariots in

association with funeral processions or scenes of mourning. As mentioned

above the depiction of such a scene incorporates rosette motifs alongside both

the horse and chariot in the funerary procession and the mourners (Fig. 8).

Benson (1970: 22) suggests, on a basic level, that the association between the

horse and death was a sign of status, such animals representing honour for the

deceased. While many of those buried with vessels depicting such processions

may have lacked the resources to finance such a lavish display at their funeral,

the illustrated vessels could well have intentionally acted to confer nobility

upon the deceased (Goodison 1989: 152). However, Benson (1970: 24-25) also

recognises that there is a possibility that the horse had a role as transporter of

the dead to the afterlife. He points out that the type of chariot used in the Late

Bronze Age reappears on the Dipylon vases, suggesting that the knowledge of

the funerary associations of the horse in the Bronze Age had not vanished from

the Greek world. This is further exemplified by the vast numbers of vessels

found in funerary contexts, many again from the Kerameikos, which incorporate

horse figurines and also prominently feature rosette motifs (for example,

Kerameikos Museum, Athens from Burial TVDAK-1 and T89-V). It may be

Fig.8: Details from Dipylon Krater

NAM, Athens Inv.990

Photo © Cheryl Hart

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interesting to note that female burial TVDAK-1 contained quite a number of

these types of vessels with horse and rosette imagery (Fig.9).

Furthermore, the suggestion that the horse was thought appropriate for transport

in the afterlife also receives some validation from the practice of burying horses

with the dead; a practice which was known in the Late Bronze Age in several of

the Eastern Mediterranean cultures (Goodison 1989: 152). A horse burial from

the Royal Tombs at Salamis still bore evidence of the trappings with which the

horse had been adorned, prominently featuring large rosette motifs. It is

important here that the rosettes from the horse trappings should not be confused

with semi-circular decorative elements from the chariot fittings found at the site.

Goodison (1989: 110) states that in the Geometric Period the sun was visualised

as a male charioteer. A kantharos – again found in a grave at the Kerameikos

(T28-V) – depicts a groomsman or possible charioteer in association with

rosette motifs of dot-type (Fig. 10), the potential solar significance of such a

depiction being further emphasised by the addition of the swastika motifs which

are also claimed to be familiar solar symbols in the Aegean, and frequently

depicted in association with rosettes (Goodison 1989: Fig. 306; Richer 1994:

xxxiii).

Fig.9: Pyxis from Female Burial TVDAK-1,

Kerameikos Cemetery, Athens

Kerameikos Museum, Athens

Photo © Cheryl Hart

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In conclusion, I have indicated in this paper the widespread use of the rosette

motif in association with solar symbols in the cultures of the Near East, Egypt

and the Aegean during the Bronze and Iron Ages. Clear evidence of

interconnections between the Eastern Mediterranean cultures, taken together

with the close similarities in iconographic motival type and contextual usage,

strongly suggest, in my opinion, that the rosette motif was transferred between,

and assimilated into, these cultures; receptivity for such transference being

accepted due to the role played by the sun, as a cosmological entity, in the belief

systems of the Eastern Mediterranean peoples.

Marinatos (2010: 139) states that these cultures were interconnected on a

semiotic level, and that, in respect to the rosette motif as a solar symbol ‘there

can be little doubt that we have here a symbolic visual language common to

Crete, Egypt and the Syro-Levantine area (Marinatos 2010: 134). However, as I

have indicated throughout this paper (and others) my research into the wider

usage of the rosette indicates that solar symbolism is not the definitive role or

function of the motif, but rather that it may have a significant conceptual

relevance to what I perceive as the far more complex issue surrounding the

rosette motif in its role as a vehicle for non-verbal communication; that is, in

respect to the ultimate ‘message’ being communicated by the rosette motif.

Fig.10: Kantharos from Burial T28-V

Kerameikos Cemetery, Athens

Kerameikos Museum, Athens

Photo © Cheryl Hart

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the Organising Committee of ‘Crossroads II, or There and

Back Again’ for the opportunity to present this paper at the conference in

Prague.

Cheryl Hart

School of Archaeology, History and Anthropology

University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Lampeter, Ceredigion, Wales, UK

C.Hart@uwtsd.ac.uk

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