It is known that the sword is a symbol of the fire god Agni in the Scythian and Sarmatian beliefs. Let us consider shapes of some Sarmatian daggers and swords.
In my opinion, circular tips of a dagger and swords (1) are symbols of the sun (the fire). These are designations of the fire god.
A sword (2) has the tip in the form of the Scythian/Sarmatian sign 59 ta, cf. Old Indian ta 'warrior', Scythian te associated with the senses 'fire; heat; intense heat; brightness; to smelt; to thaw'.
A dagger and swords (3) have the tips in the form of the Scythian/Sarmatian sign 12 so 'bright; look; eye; heat; shine; to shine'.
So the tips of several Sarmatian daggers and swords represent the name or epithets of the fire god.
2. See Simonenko 1984: figure 2.
3. See Simonenko 1984: figures 4 and 5.
Lyakhov, S.V. and V.I. Mordvintseva, 2000. Rannesarmatskoe pogrebenie u poselka Piterka Saratovskoy oblasti. Rossiyskaya arkheologiya, 3: 102-9.
Simonenko, A.V., 1984. Sarmatskie mechi i kinzhaly na territorii Severnogo Prichernomor'ya. In: E.V. Chernenko (ed.) Vooruzhenie skifov i sarmatov. Kiev: Naukova dumka, pp. 129-47.
Copyright © 2001 by Sergei V. Rjabchikov. All Rights Reserved.
Published 3 August 2001.
Sergei V. Rjabchikov, Krasnodar, RUSSIA.
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