Experts have studied a fragment of the sensational find
The statue of a Buddhist deity called the Iron Man has caused a stir among art experts. Its analysis, carried out at the Planet Institute of Vienna and the University of Stuttgart, showed that the sculpture was made from a single piece of a meteorite. Moreover, very rare - iron.
According to one of the versions, the heavenly messenger, later called Ching, flew to Earth 15 thousand years ago. And broke into three parts in the border regions of Mongolia and Siberia. In 1912, two large fragments were found by gold miners. And it turns out that a god with dimensions of 23x13x10 cm and weighing more than 10 kg was carved from the third. But who the author is is unknown. Researchers are still sure that the age of the find is a thousand years and its homeland is not China, not India or Tibet.
But it was there - in Tibet - that the Nazis found "Iron Man" in 1938. The secret expedition of the Ahnenerbe (German Society for the Study of Ancient Germanic History and Ancestral Heritage) to Lhasa was then organized by SS Reichsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler. The SS men, apparently, were impressed by the swastika on the stomach of the god - a symbol of esoteric Buddhism. Or maybe - an object that the deity was clutching in his left hand. It looks like either a lemon or a money bag, from which German scientists could conclude that in front of them is the image of Vaishravan - the god of health or war. And concurrently - the guardian of the north.
God was taken to Germany. And there it disappears in private collections until 2007 - then it was put up for auction. Two years later, the owner of the idol agreed to give a fragment of the sculpture for research - a plate cut from the inside. And only today, experts presented the results of her chemical analysis in the latest issue of the journal Meteoritics and Planetary Science.
- The fragment is ataxite in composition, that is, an iron meteorite of a rare type with a high nickel content, explained Dr. Elmar Buchner of the University of Stuttgart. - Until now, archaeologists have found items made from meteorite matter - knives, iron rings. It is also assumed that even the Muslim shrine - the Kaab in Mecca - is also a meteorite. But the statue of God is the only find so far. And therefore priceless.
The only pity is that no one will see the god. The owner of the treasure - an anonymous collector from Austria - hides it from prying eyes.
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Is the Kaaba shrine of Muslims also a meteorite?
In a small valley of Saudi Arabia among the mountains is the holy of holies of Islam - the city of Mecca and the Mesjed al-Haram mosque. Inside the mosque, a strange structure, the Kaaba ("House of God"), is erected, covered with a black silk veil. It is already 1400 years old and five times a day the gaze of Muslims around the globe, praying, turn to him. The Quran says that the Kaaba is the main building in the world for worshiping Allah.
Kaaba in Mecca
It is a cubic structure with a height of 15 meters and a base of 10 by 12 meters. The most interesting thing about the cube is a stone embedded in the eastern facet with a silver setting at a height of 1.5 meters. It marks on the wall the place from which to begin the ritual circumambulation around the Kaaba. And according to some scientists, this stone is a piece of a meteorite. The hypothesis is also confirmed by ancient legends.
The most interesting thing about the cube is a stone embedded in the eastern facet in a silver setting at a height of 1.5 meters
One by one, an angel allegedly brought the stone to the builders. According to the other, it is the angel himself, turned into stone. But anyway it turns out that he fell from the sky. And according to eyewitnesses, at first it was dazzling white, but then quickly turned black from millions of touches, of course, by sinners. And from the kisses, its visible surface became shiny and smooth like glass.
Svetlana KUZINA