Hilarri
Encyclopedia
Stele
A stele , also stela , is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab...
s that are typical of the Basque Country.
These funerary steles present a disc-shaped head facing the rising sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
on a trapezoid
Trapezoid
In Euclidean geometry, a convex quadrilateral with one pair of parallel sides is referred to as a trapezoid in American English and as a trapezium in English outside North America. A trapezoid with vertices ABCD is denoted...
al stand. They belong to an old tradition throughout all of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
(as far as North Africa), but today they are mainly found in the Basque Country.
Typology
The disc may be decorated by:- geometric symbolSymbolA symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...
s, generally organizing the disc into four or eight circle sectors (marked or implicit), a structuring of space that recalls the coat of armsCoat of armsA coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
of NavarreNavarreNavarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...
; - a single rosetteRosette (design)A rosette is a round, stylized flower design, used extensively in sculptural objects from antiquity. Appearing in Mesopotamia and used to decorate the funeral stele in Ancient Greece...
; - a lauburuLauburuThe lauburu or Basque cross has four comma-shaped heads similar to the Japanese tomoe. It can be constructed with a compass and straightedge, beginning with the formation of a square template; each head can be drawn from a neighboring vertex of this template with two compass settings, with one...
or other figures that indicate a rotation; - more specific figures.
A smaller rosette, a Christian cross or a text may be added on the stand.
Geometric symbols
Geometric symbols are regularly distributed on the disc within 4 or 8 circle sectors. The quarters are often delimited by a cross as:- a flowered crossCrossA cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run obliquely, the design is technically termed a saltire, although the arms of a saltire need not meet...
(flory), often reinforced by tangent arcs linking arms to each other; - a kind of cross pattéeCross pattéeA cross pattée is a type of cross which has arms narrow at the centre, and broader at the perimeter. An early English example from the start of the age of heraldry proper A cross pattée (or "cross patty", known also as "cross formée/formy") is a type of cross which has arms narrow at the...
with concave ends evoking the Maltese crossMaltese crossThe Maltese cross, also known as the Amalfi cross, is identified as the symbol of an order of Christian warriors known as the Knights Hospitaller or Knights of Malta and through them came to be identified with the Mediterranean island of Malta and is one of the National symbols of Malta...
; - an Occitan crossOccitan crossThe Occitan cross — also cross of Occitania, cross of Languedoc, cross of Forcalquier and Toulouse cross — is the symbol of Occitania...
, similar to the former but with, for each arm, 2 concavities delimited by 3 tips.
They may be very simple or well worked. Sometimes, a diagonal
Diagonal
A diagonal is a line joining two nonconsecutive vertices of a polygon or polyhedron. Informally, any sloping line is called diagonal. The word "diagonal" derives from the Greek διαγώνιος , from dia- and gonia ; it was used by both Strabo and Euclid to refer to a line connecting two vertices of a...
secondary cross completes the figure.
Each sector is decorated with various small decorative symbols such as stars, moons, potent cross
Cross
A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run obliquely, the design is technically termed a saltire, although the arms of a saltire need not meet...
es or rosettes. They may be different in each sector. Sometimes, depictions of tools point out the trade of the deceased, whose name is seldom mentioned. Stylized hands open upwards may also be found.
Rosettes
Many steles are decorated by single rosetteRosette (design)
A rosette is a round, stylized flower design, used extensively in sculptural objects from antiquity. Appearing in Mesopotamia and used to decorate the funeral stele in Ancient Greece...
s. In this case the order of symmetry is often 6. The most frequent figures are:
- rosettes made up of 6 laurel leaves (with 2 in a horizontal plane);
- rosettes with 8 to 36 petals radiating from a central spot;
- stars as pentagramPentagramA pentagram is the shape of a five-pointed star drawn with five straight strokes...
, hexagram or octogram (with 5, 6 or 8 points) ; sometimes an armed-cross is superimposed, arms being inserted between points; - a square made up of 4 smaller squares;
- one circular string making up 4 or 6 loops around a central spot or circle, or 2 of them doing 8 loops; these rosettes seem static but in fact, loops have a sense of rotation that can be figured (the cord toward the right upside) or not.
Figures indicating a rotation
Some figures are designed to give an idea of rotation, generally clockwise, a sense which is often analyzed as positive. The most popular figures are :- the lauburuLauburuThe lauburu or Basque cross has four comma-shaped heads similar to the Japanese tomoe. It can be constructed with a compass and straightedge, beginning with the formation of a square template; each head can be drawn from a neighboring vertex of this template with two compass settings, with one...
; - solar rosettes (of approximately 16 to 36 wings evoking a camera shutter).
One Navarrese hilarri presents a kind of lauburu made of four walking legs. This motive cannot be considered as usual in the Basque Country.
Other symbols
Some more specific figures can be encountered as:- a figure that looks like a $ symbol, made up of 3 vertical lines, crossing 3 horizontal segmentLine segmentIn geometry, a line segment is a part of a line that is bounded by two end points, and contains every point on the line between its end points. Examples of line segments include the sides of a triangle or square. More generally, when the end points are both vertices of a polygon, the line segment...
s, linked to each other as a wide SSS is the nineteenth letter in the ISO basic Latin alphabet.-History: Semitic Šîn represented a voiceless postalveolar fricative . Greek did not have this sound, so the Greek sigma came to represent...
; it could be a symbolic representation of weaving; - ChristogramChristogramA Christogram is a monogram or combination of letters that forms an abbreviation for the name of Jesus Christ, traditionally used as a Christian symbol. Different types of Christograms are associated with the various traditions of Christianity, e.g...
s (IHSIHSIHS may refer to:* A common Christogram based on the first three letters of "Jesus" in Greek .* Abbreviation for the In hoc signo vinces legend.* IBM HTTP Server...
+ cross); - some rare human representations can also be noticed; pentagramPentagramA pentagram is the shape of a five-pointed star drawn with five straight strokes...
s could have been a stylization of human body.
They are all identified with Christ as the sun rising after Resurrection
Resurrection of Jesus
The Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus states that Jesus returned to bodily life on the third day following his death by crucifixion. It is a key element of Christian faith and theology and part of the Nicene Creed: "On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures"...
, evident also in Basque church symbols and the imagery of Loyola
Ignatius of Loyola
Ignatius of Loyola was a Spanish knight from a Basque noble family, hermit, priest since 1537, and theologian, who founded the Society of Jesus and was its first Superior General. Ignatius emerged as a religious leader during the Counter-Reformation...
's Jesuit Order.
Surrounding
The surrounding of the disc is often decorated, giving an impression of a shining sun.Modern hilarris
Many innovative ornamentations can be observed in modern hilarris. As an example, in Zuberoa, the traditional song “Orhiko txoria” (the bird of Orhy) has led to many representations of a bird flying towards this emblematic mountain. Others have seen connections to a prehistoric solar cult arriving with the MauriMoors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
or Jentillak and related to the Egyptian Horus
Horus
Horus is one of the oldest and most significant deities in the Ancient Egyptian religion, who was worshipped from at least the late Predynastic period through to Greco-Roman times. Different forms of Horus are recorded in history and these are treated as distinct gods by Egyptologists...
, consort or manifestation of the Ishtar
Ishtar
Ishtar is the Assyrian and Babylonian goddess of fertility, love, war, and sex. She is the counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna and to the cognate north-west Semitic goddess Astarte.-Characteristics:...
(the star) of Fertility among the desert and Sea People.
See also
- AtalburuAtalburuthumb|250px|Saubat de Arraidou et Maria de Hiriart 1743Atalburu in [[Lower Navarre]] with a [[lauburu]] and founders' namesthumb|250px|Iesus Maria Ioseph hilçiaz orhoitg-ziten Ionnes de Urtiaga, Martin d'Errecalde et Maria d'Errecalde, 1727...
- High crossHigh crossA high cross or standing cross is a free-standing Christian cross made of stone and often richly decorated. There was a unique Early Medieval tradition in Ireland and Britain of raising large sculpted stone crosses, usually outdoors...
- KhachkarKhachkarA khachkar or khatchkar is a carved, cross-bearing, memorial stele covered with rosettes and other botanical motifs. Khachkars are characteristic of Medieval Christian Armenian art found in Armenia.-Description:...
- Celtic crossCeltic crossA Celtic cross is a symbol that combines a cross with a ring surrounding the intersection. In the Celtic Christian world it was combined with the Christian cross and this design was often used for high crosses – a free-standing cross made of stone and often richly decorated...