THE MAN OF BACKA(Brastad, Bohuslän, Sweden, c.1900 BC)

Dr. R.M. de Jonge ©, drsrmdejonge@hotmail.comOktober, 2013

SummaryThe Man of Backa is a well-known rock carving near Brastad in Bohuslän. The petroglyph shows a Man with a complicated map above him. He tells about a secret sailing route via the Faroes, Iceland and Greenland to the Labrador Coast and Newfoundland, Canada. He also tells the story of the Egyptian discovery of America via the Bering Sea by king Menkaure of the Fourth Dynasty (c.2570 BC). The four Atlantic crossings were subsequently discovered by three kings of the Fifth Dynasty. It appears the glyph dates from the Twelfth Dynasty (Ear-ly Bronze Age, c.1900 BC).

IntroductionBohuslän is a province at the west coast of South Sweden, just north of the city of Göteborg. It is famous for its petroglyphs of the Bronze Age. Brastad is a little, coastal town in this re-gion, at 58.4°N, having 2,000 residents. It is located at a distance of only 2 km from the Bro-fjorden, a sea arm joint to the Skagerrak (North Sea).

Brastad is located 50 km due west of the town of Vänersborg, at the south-west end of Lake Vänern, having a length of 150 km. Because of this large lake it had a strategic position for transport and trade. The little town of Kungshamn (“Kingsport”, 3,000 residents) is located on the local promontory, 15 km due west of Brastad.

Fig.1 The Man of Backa (Brastad, Bohuslän, Sweden) (Courtesy: Ref.1)

BackaThe Man of Backa is the name of a rock carving 1 km north of Brastad (Fig.1). It has a height of about 40 cm. It consists of two parts: a man with raised arms, and above him a complicated figure carved with a thinner line. It is clear the Man has a message, and wants to tell a story about this figure. However, what is this story?

The upper figure also consists of two parts. The right side of it resembles the character ‘s’, and the left side has the shape of the character ‘n’. Finally, at the upper left side half a circle is shown, maybe the “Sun”, with what appears to be “four rays”, pointing downwards. – Howe-ver, close investigation leads to the conclusion the whole figure is a Map! (Refs.1,2)

The ‘S’ figureThe left finger of the hand at the right side of the Man points all the way upwards. It appears the story starts here, above the head of the Man. (Look at a map!)

The vertical, first part of the character ‘s’ appears to symbolize mainland Denmark. The hori-zontal, second part, just above the hand, represents the north coast of Germany and Poland, respectively. The third, vertical part at the right side, represents the west coast of Lituania, Latvia, and Estonia, respectively.

The fourth, horizontal part of the character ‘s’ is special, because here the Baltic Sea is cros-sed below the 60th latitude line. Note, that latitudes were already known c.4800 BC, as shown by the monument of Barnénez, Brittany, France. So, half of this section is sea instead of land! - The small “finger”, pointing downwards, represents South Sweden below this latitude line. The petroglyph Site is situated at the left side above, at 58.4°N.

The fifth, remaining part of the figure ‘s’ represents Norway, North Sweden, and Finland, res-pectively. It surrounds the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland, respectively. The lower part of the ‘s’ surrounds the Baltic, Kattegat, and Skagerrak, respectively. It appears the whole s-figure represents a wide area of what may be called “Great Scandinavia”. - Note, that the body of the Man points to the north.

The Rays of the SunThe start of the s-figure coincides with the northern tip of mainland Denmark. When the car-ved line is followed to the west, we are sailing along the west coast of the Netherlands and the east coast of the UK via the Faroes and the east coast of Iceland to what appears to be the holy Arctic Circle, at 67°N (look at a map!).

It is the northernmost line the Sun still shines at midwinter day (Sun religion). For this reason this line is represented by half a circle, which symbolizes the Sun. – Note, that another half-circle is at the right side above, which might symbolize the Moon. It is also the 70th latitude line, which runs through the northern tip of Scandinavia.

The ‘N’ figureThe westernmost ray of the Sun in the carving coincides with the east coast of Greenland. It finishes at Cape Farvel, its south cape, at 60°N. So, the horizontal, upper line of the n-figure represents the 60th latitude line (which was mentioned previously in the explanation of the s-figure!). So, the meaning of the n-figure now becomes clear.

The east side of the n-figure represents the British Isles. The upper part is special, because it represents the Ocean just below the 60th latitude line. So, this whole section is sea instead of land! - The west side represents the coast of Labrador, Canada, until the island of Newfound-land. Finally, the horizontal line at the bottom represents the 50th latitude line, which runs from Cornwall, England, across the Ocean to the northern tip of Newfoundland. (Refs.3-6)

Discovery of AmericaKing MenkaureThe s-figure may also have a different meaning. The start of it coincides with the northern tip of mainland Denmark. The first, vertical part may symbolize the sailing route along the West Coast of Europe to the Strait of Gibraltar. The second, horizontal part may represent the sai-ling route from Gibraltar via the Med and the Red Sea all the way to Singapore. The third, vertical part may represent the sailing route along the East Coast of Asia to the Bering Sea.

The two, big, upper fingers appear to refer to the two crossings of this Sea. The total number of four big fingers encode the Fourth Dynasty, when these crossings were discovered. – The hand at the left side points to the n-figure, which might illustrate this situation. The two lower, big fingers show America was discovered via the southern Aleutian islands, at the south side of the Bering Sea, at c.50°N.

The 50th latitude line, which runs from Cornwall, England, across the Ocean to the northern tip of Newfoundland has a length of 50° of longitude. It shows the discovery was accomplish-ed by the 5th King Menkaure (Mycerinos, c.2580-2562 BC) of this dynasty. The n-figure shows he returned via the crossing of the Bering Strait in the north.

The Sun has four rays, which show the size of the Atlantic Ocean was already known in the Fourth Dynasty. (Refs.7-11)

Crossings of the AtlanticKing SahureThe 50th latitude line, which runs from Cornwall, England, to the northern tip of Newfound-land also encodes the Fifth Dynasty, when the Atlantic crossings were discovered. The fourth part of the s-figure includes a small “finger”, pointing downwards. It shows the southern cros-sings of the Ocean were discovered first.

The two legs of the Man point to the south, which show the Southern Crossing, with the wind and the current between West Africa and South America, was discovered by the 2nd king Sa-hure (c.2510-2498 BC). He also discovered the shortest Return Route from Newfoundland, with the wind and the current, to the Azores. So, this 2nd king discovered the two southern crossings of the Ocean. Both beautiful s- and n-figures form together two units, confirming it.

King NeferirkareThe two raised arms and the head of the Man show the Northern Crossing, from the Shetland Islands, via the south cape of Greenland, to Cape Chidley, Canada, was discovered by the 3rd king Neferirkare (c.2498-2478 BC). The remaining part of the s-figure points to the north, confirming it. So, the third crossing of the Ocean was discovered by the 3rd king. The Sun with the rays is the third figure of the map, confirming it, too. (Refs.12-15)

King Unas

The phallus points to the three island groups of the Azores: the East, Central and West Azo-res. It encodes Abaco Island, Northern Bahama’s, 3° below the Nile and Mississippi Delta’s, at 30-3= 27°N. It is the start of the last discovered crossing of the Ocean via the island of Ber-muda, at the complementary latitude of Backa, Sweden, at 90-58= 32°N. In antiquity, the use of complementary latitudes was very common. The end of the s-figure points to the south, confirming it.

Bermuda is located 32-23= 9° above the holy Tropic of Cancer (Sun religion). So, the sailing route via Bermuda to the nine islands of the Azores was discovered by the 9th and last king Unas (c.2403-2370 BC). The four rays of the Sun and the single ray of the Moon (from the Sun) form together 4+1= 5 units, which confirm it happened in the Fifth Dynasty.

The Moon with the single ray consists of three units. It is the fourth and last figure of the map. It confirms this fourth and last Egyptian king discovered the long sailing route from Bermuda to the three island groups of the Azores, having a length of 3 Egyptian Moiras, or 30°.

The Man of Backa has two legs, two arms, a head and a phallus, which form together 2+2+ 1+1= 6 units. It confirms the discoveries of the six important crossings to and from America during the six dynasties of the Old Kingdom. (Refs.16,17)

Fig.2 The Man of Backa (Brastad, Bohuslän, Sweden) (Courtesy: Ref.1)

Sun religionIn the Egyptian Sun religion the highest God is the SunGod Ra. He is shown at the left side above in the map (Fig.2). In the hierarchy below him are two other, similar gods, the sungod Horus and the moongod Osiris. Horus is shown by the eastern s-figure, a representation of the map of Great Scandinavia. Osiris is shown by the western n-figure, a representation of the map from NW Europe across the Ocean to America.

The SunGod Ra has said: “The Realm of the Dead is in the West, at the other side of the Wa-ters (the Ocean), in the Land where the Sun sets (America). There you will be reunited with your family, your friends and your aquaintances.” Horus was the god of the Land of the Li-ving (here Great Scandinavia), and Osiris was the god of the Realm of the Dead (here Ameri-ca). The kings and pharaohs of Egypt were the substitutes of Horus and Osiris.

Another important god was Maat, the Egyptian goddess of law and order in the universe. She is also represented by the eastern s-figure. Sometimes she is almost invisible, but here she is symbolized by a Snake (at the right side of the map).

In the time period the carving was made, she decided the people of mainland Europe at the opposite side of the Baltic, Kattegat, and Skagerrak (the southern portion of the s-figure) will live under the sungod Horus. The people of Sweden, Norway and Finland (the northern porti-on) will live under the moongod Osiris. For that reason the Moon, symbol of this god, touches the northern tip of Scandinavia (Fig.2). (Refs.18-33)

It is possible and even probable the map can also be explained in terms of the Scandinavian religion, the pantheon of the Northern World. However, I am less familiar with this believe system, which was important during the Bronze Age.

DateThe main features of the Man of Backa refer to the six dynasties of the Old Kingdom (see above). However, he also has four big fingers at the eastern arm, and two big fingers at the western arm, totalling to 6+4+2= 12 units. These appear to encode the date of the petroglyph in the Twelfth Dynasty (Middle Kingdom, c.1900 BC).

The petroglyph is located at 58°N. Its position is 70-58= 12° below the 70th latitude line, shown by the half-circle of the Moon, at the upper right side of the map. It appears to confirm this date (Early Bronze Age). (Refs.34-41)

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