Ancient statues:
Did they hold something secret in their hands?
Many statues all over the world seem to have held something in their hands. Something that has often been chopped away. Could it be that they held the mysterious Shamir that King Solomon used when he built the temple in Jerusalem?

In the picture to the right you see one of the statues on Easter Island (Rapa Nui). There are almost thousand of them on the island, and most of them hold their hands on their stomachs. Not on the navel - no further down. Well, "on the stomach" is not correct either. The upper arms of the statues run along the body - there are no elbows sticking out. If you carve a stone statue, it should not be very difficult to get protruding elbows, but to get forearms that stick directly out in front of the body is probably not that easy. So if you make a stone statue that hold something in the hands, the hands and the object most certainly will end up in the area under the navel.
     The big question is what they held in their hands - and why this so often has been chopped away. Archaeologists do not seem to have noticed this phenomenon. Nor did Thor Heyerdahl who was on Easter Island in 1955-56. And again in 1986.

Click the pictures for more info!
Not on the stomach!
Six fingers!
Long noses, red hair!
Ship on Easter Island statue
Statue in San Augustin
Coffin of Pacal
Tiki in Tahiti
Tangaroa and A'a
Shamir
Thor Heyerdahl and Liv
Terje in Coco Loco

Not Polynesian
Nor did they pay attention to the strange phenomenon that several of the statues had six fingers! Well, now it was not always so easy to see the fingers and what they held since the area often sees to have been cut away. Whether this was done when the statues were made or later is also hard to say. Yes, there are many mysteries when it comes to the statues on Easter Island.     Mainstream archaeologists say that the statues represent the ancestors of the islanders living there today, but you do not have to be an archaeologist or anthropologist to see that the statues do not depict Polynesians. They do not have large jaws and noses. Yes, Polynesians like to jokingly call white men "long-nose"!
    It could also be that the statues had blue eyes. This is very positive for blond visitors from Scandinavia, because local people often believe that a white man with blue eyes is descended from the gods - and therefore must be treated well. The gods who once visited the island and the legends say that the statues represent!
    One of the statues has an engraving of a three-masted reed boat with at least twenty people on board - so they have clearly had visits from strangers! And a long time ago, because the engraving is below the earth's surface and only became visible when Heyerdahl dug it out!
Worldwide
It is not only on Easter Island (now called Rapa Nui) that you can find old statues that hold, or have held, something in their hands. You will find the same phenomenon on many of the islands in the Pacific Ocean, in fact all over the world! And everywhere it is the same story: The legends tell that they represent the gods who once visited the islands / land. Light-skinned and tall gods who looked like humans, but who had a far more advanced technology. They taught the people how to cultivate, they taught them to keep livestock and they taught them the art of writing. Not infrequently they had children with the local women, and the descendants of the so-called gods very often became chiefs/kings.
South America
Before looking at the other islands in the Pacific we first have to take a trip to South America. With the Kon-Tiki voyage Thor Heyerdahl wanted toshow that the bearded, white gods who visited Easter Island could have come from South America. Well, Heyerdahl had seen pictures of stone statues in San Augustin in Colombia. Most of them hold something in their hands. The problem is that it is not so easy to say what they are holding - not even ta say who the statues represent or how old they are! Many believe that the coffin of King Pacal in Palenque in southwestern Mexico is depicting a person holding the controls in a spacecraft.
     There were many hundred gods in South- and Central America - gods who lived among the peoples and helped them. The royal families so often tried to look like the gods by dressing like them. Often the gods hold something in their hands. This is often explained as a cup or a vegetable - sometimes this might be true, but in many cases not.
Afraid to touch
Back to the South Seas. In Polynesia's legends, the first man in the world was Tiki, and he was the son of the god Tane. The statues of the ancient gods are often called "tiki". The tiki outside the museum in Tahiti is probably the most famous, but it is not known what it held in it's hands. The statue was brought to Tahiti from the island of Raivavae in 1965 - and the three Polynesians who carried the statue died of mysterious causes within a few weeks. Local people are still afraid to touch it.
    Thor Heyerdahl was fascinated to see stone statues on the Maquesas Islands in Polynesia when he was there on a combined honeymoon and study trip in 1937. The statues on Hiva Oa seem to have held something in their hands, which has since been carved away. No one knows how old they are or what they have held in their hands. The largest statue is 2.67 meters high and is supposed to represent Takaii, who was a very strong warlord related to the gods.
Important gods
In a museum in New Zealand you will find a statue of Tangaloa. He also holds something in his hands - without us having an explanation of what it was. Tangaloa was one of the most important gods on the islands of Polynesia, and in the family of other gods. His brother Maui should have given humans the fire, and he is said to have traveled to Hawaii and back.
    The statue of the god A'a from the island of Rurutu in the Australian Islands also holds his hands on the stomach area, on a small human figure that is upside down. These figures are found all over his body, in all thirty of them. Inside the body were twenty-four little god figures. The statue is made of a type of wood that is not found on the island. A'a was considered an important god - he was also one of the ancestors of mankind.
Across the sea
Very often the statues are said to represent the gods who once came across the sea. They built statues and other structures of stone, had children with the local women and traveled on. White-skinned, tall and bearded gods - often with red / blond hair and blue eyes. Well, even if the Vikings sailed far, the Pacific Islands are probably a little too far away, and the timeline does not fit - it is too early.
    The Christian church often claims that ancient statues in the Pacific and the rest of the world fold their hands in prayer or hold a Bible. Well, as illustrated in this article: They held their hands out in front, so a prayer was not. Nor could they have held a Bible, because the statues were made long before the missionaries arrived on the islands. Papyrus rolls, spears, swords, sticks, cups, jars, bags, or anything else that is suggested also do not fit well. And whatever it was, why has it been chopped away so often? Was it something they considered secret?
Magic Shamir
Could it have been the mysterious and magical Shamir that the statues held? The Shamir is said have been a kind of worm or material that could cut and dissolve stones. Moses, who is said to have lived in the thirteenth century BC, is said to have used Shamir to cut the jewels for the priests' sacred breastplate "Hoshen". After that, the Shamir disappeared.
    King Solomon, who lived in the middle of the first century BC, is said to have found the Shamir and used it to build the first temple in Israel.
    Some believe that Shamir was a kind of radioactive tool, since it had to be stored in a box of lead. Others believe that Shamir was a kind of mirror that could concentrate the sun's rays to a small point that melted everything. Shamir was often associated with evil forces.
Strong skepticism
The people of the South Sea islands today are Christians. So if you ask why the statues hold their hands on their stomachs, you will of course get the answer that they are praying to God. Yes, talk about the ancient gods and the ancient customs is not very popular.
    Thor Heyerdahl was met with strong skepticism when he showed such great interest in stone statues and old skeletons when he was on Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas Islands. Yes, it was not unlikely that he was believed being a ghost! He and Liv had to flee before things went very bad for them!
    It's not so bad today, but myself I was taken to be a ghost when I rowed ashore from my sailboat Coco Loco on an island in Micronesia: They thought nobody could not sail alone across the sea because there were so many ghosts in the ocean!
So I made sure I did not ask about old customs when I visited isolated islands, but always gave a gift to the chief - as is the tradition for visitors. And when they finally understood that I was not a ghost, we could sometimes even compare the old Norwegian gods with the old ones on the islands. Yes, I have even been adopted into the chieftain family in a few countries - and can claim land and the title of chief if I return!

By Terje Dahl

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