Fig 1: Nebra Sky Disc (Wiki) Fig 2: Krishna and Arjun/ Mahabharata

A mysterious bronze disc depicting sun, moon and stars and carbon-dated to be 3600 years old, has been baffling scientists, researchers, archeologists, historians and common man alike ever since it was found by looters in Germany in 1999. To date, no one knows what is it, what does it depict and what was it used for.

A mysterious bronze disc depicting sun, moon and stars and carbon-dated to be 3600 years old, has been baffling scientists, researchers, archeologists, historians and common man alike ever since it was found by looters in Germany in 1999. To date, no one knows what is it, what does it depict and what was it used for.

Considered to be one of the most important archeological finds of the twentieth century , it's value is inestimable. It's insurance value back then in 2006 was 100 million Euros!

General guess says it is probably an astronomical device or a calendar to keep track of summer and winter solstices, or measuring the position of the sun on the horizon, or a star guide to help farmers know when to sow and harvest their crops.

But farmers who are cleaver enough to be able to create and read a cryptic sky map (that even we can't decipher) are probably cleaver enough not to need one to tell them when to sow their seeds.

There are several theories and speculations but none matches up so closely as this new theory that might connect it with Mahabharata. You are about to find out!

Mahabharata

Mahabharata is the world's oldest and longest Sanskrit epic chronicling the massively destructive war of succession between Kauravas and Pandavas. The exact date of the war is difficult to determine. Some sources give 18 February 3102 BCE, while others project 3137 BCE. New researchers propose an even earlier or even later date!

Chapter 6: The Book of Bheeshma

Fig 3 Creator: william jon

When the war begins, Sanjay, who has been given special powers to remote view the war says to the blind King Dhritrashtra:

'Your Majesty, I can see the entire army of Kauravas and Pandavas. I can see your sons, their armies, their enemies, their flags and banners, their weapons, shields, chariots and horses.'

Every royal and/or bigwig had their own unique flag and standard mounted atop a high post on their chariots which served as identification and helped everyone locate them even at great distances even in great crowds. The description, that is repeated several times during the entire war stays highly consistent.

Arjun, the chief commander of the Pandava's army had famously Hanuman on his standard. Nakul had a golden Sharabh (a strange, fictional, fierce animal), Sahdev had a silver swan with bells while Bheemsen had a golden lion with eyes made out of cat's eye gemstone. That's how we know that in the picture below it is Bhimsen's chariot right behind Arjun's. 

Fig 4: Creator: Abhi Sharma

Similarly, all Kauravas and their military commanders had flags and standards each having their own unique symbols.

And here is the interesting part that makes us sit up: Yudhhishthira was the eldest Pandav and King who had been cheated out of his kingdom by Duryodhana. This whole battle was between him and Duryodhana to reclaim his crown. What did he have on his banner?

Sanjay says:

'Your Majesty, Yudhishthira's standard has a golden moon and planets around it.'

Detailed literal translated version from Sanskrit Mahabharata:

Fig 5: Internet, Creative commons Licence

Dhritrashtra said: 

'Describe to me, O Sanjaya, the diverse kinds of standards (Banner) resplendent with great beauty, of both the Pandavas and Kauravas in the battle.

Sanjaya said: 'Hear, O king, of the diverse kinds of standards of those high-souled warriors. Listen to me as I describe their forms and names. Indeed, O king, upon the chariots of those foremost of car-warriors were seen different kinds of standards that shone like blazing flames of fire. Made of gold, or decked with gold, or adorned with strings of gold and each looking like the golden mountain (Meru), diverse kinds of standards were there that were highly beautiful. And those standards of the warriors had attached all around them excellent banners. Indeed, having banners of diverse colours, attached to them all around, those standards looked exceedingly beautiful. Those banners, again, moved by the wind, looked like fair ladies dancing in the midst of a sporting arena. Endued with the splendour of the rainbow, those banners, O bull of Bharata's race, of those car-warriors, floating in the breeze, highly adorned their chariots.

The standard of Yudhishthira of great energy, bearing the device of a golden moon with planets around it, looked very beautiful. Two large and beautiful kettle-drums, called Nanda and Upananda, were tied to it. Played upon by machinery, these produced excellent music that enhanced the delight of all who heard it.''

A golden moon with planets around it would look something like the disc! But without jumping to conclusions let us analyse this step by step.

Why did Yudhishthira's banner have golden moon and planets on it?

Choosing one's flag or standard must have been individual preference and a matter of personal choice and carried personal meanings. For example, the other Pandavas and Kauravas had the following on their standard which shows what they were they thinking of:

Duryodhana- a jewel studded snake, as well as an elephant on a separate standard.

Dronacharya: a golden altar with a water pot or Kamandal and a bow (denoting his birth from a water pot and his superior Brahman race, and love/expertise/vocation of archery)

Arjun: Hanuman (because Hanuman had promised Bheemsen to help them in Mahabharata war by being present on Arjuna's Chariot)

Karna: Elephant's rope. Of all the hundreds of things that he could have rightly chosen as his emblem he chose an elephant rope which is tremendously symbolic of his psychological mindset, which is: just as a mighty elephant can be simply enslaved with just a short rope, he is chained to Duryodhana and will never break it even if he is fully capable of doing so.

Yudhishthira chose sun, moon, stars and planets to denote his deep faith in God (in heaven) and his total surrender to his destiny and fate, his belief in the fact that heavenly planets affect humans on earth, and his divine origins, and exalted status as the rightful king of the Kurus. He was the son of Yam who in turn is the son of the sun.

But wait; there's more than this on his flag. Much more!

Fig 7: of Crescent moon by John 'K' from Filcr

Yudhishthira was born in the summer month of Jyeshtha (May-June) on the day the waxing moon was of five days, between 11.00–11.48 am noontime.

The crescent moon on the Nebra disc is also a crescent moon of five days that corresponds accurately to his birth moon.

Additionally, the moon is the symbol of his Lunar Dynasty and the sun the symbol of his divine paternity and descent through God.

Not to forget: Kuru Dynasty was started by King Kuru who was son of Lunar king Samvardhana who married Sun's daughter Tapti. So lunar dynasty had solar decent too through mother's side and Yudhishtira was often referred to as Taptinandana which means son of Tapti-the daughter of the Sun. The entire Kuru clan had descended from this great king Kuru. The place where Kuru ruled came to be known as Kurjaangal. The battle ground Kurukshetra (means Land of the Kurus) also derived its name from Kuru, and all the descendants of Kuru including the Pandavas were therefore called Kaurav which means 'of Kuru' or 'belonging to Kuru'.

Sanjay described the banner to Dhritrashtra as having moon and planets and not the sun. According to Vedic Astrology sun is also considered a planet. So, technically, Yudhishthira's standard symbolises his Lunar dynasty, his solar connection and birth moon of waxing 5 days.

The sun on Yudhishthira's standard is clearly mentioned in subsequent descriptions given by others on the battle field.

On day 17th of the war, as Karna, the newly appointed commander in chief of the Kaurava Army enters the battle field with Shalya as his charioteer, Shalya says:

Shalya says to Karna:

'Made by metal-workers, these multicoloured flags which are brocaded by gold and silver wires on cloth and fixed on top of chariots and standards, and fluttering in the wind look so beautiful! Look Karna, Arjun's chariot's flag has a golden moon, sun and stars!

Same day, later, just a few hours before Karna was killed, Krishna observing the large scale scene of waste and destruction on the battle field tells Arjun how it looks like.

At one point, Krishna says:

'Look Arjun, these red, yellow, black and white flags adorned with symbols of stars and sun-moon and these white umbrellas (round metal canopy roof type thing on top of chariots to protect the rider from sun and rain/ also a royal symbol for kings) are lying scattered everywhere. Made of gold, silver brass etc metals, these various standards are being shot down. Elephants and horses (in confusion and chaos) have become scattered.

Here there is clear mention of the sun also being on the flag among stars and moon, and a 'golden moon'.

Is it that the 'stars, planets, sun and moon' was a kind of royal emblem for Yudhishthira and his army and/or all Pandavas? And because he was the king, he had it in Bronze and gold while the army had it brocaded with gold and silver wires on colourful cloth flags?

What do scientists and researchers say about Nebra disc design?

The disc has in total 32 stars (some link it to ancient Babylonian astronomical calendrical system) rather randomly placed that appear to show Pleiades on top and may or may not show Ursa Major. One might say Mercury, Venus and Mars are also present on the disc (see picture 10 above) between the sun and the crescent moon but there's no certainty.

But, it is clear, whoever was inlaying these golden stars wasn't aiming on being specific about Asterisms on purpose, or he could have done that had he chosen. Showing Pleiades but not the other better known asterisms would prove that.

Or, there may be a very specific reason for putting the Pleiades there and/but not the others. Save this point. We'll discuss this later

This is what the scientists say about the two golden side arcs:

Image 9, Fig 10: Wiki 

Scientists: The side arcs probably mean east-west orientation and were added later after completing the sun, moon and stars' job.

But, doesn't it seem odd that there's no way to stand the disc in an upright position? Being round it would just roll down and topple over. It can only lay down flat. Should it then always be handheld by the side arcs? Then how are you supposed to read the sun's solstice? Probably it was not meant to be hand held at all…

The holes all around?

And then, there are equidistance holes all around the disc's rim. Researchers feel the disc may have been sewn, or nailed on or attached to something else with the help of these holes.

Originally, the bronze background of the disc where the stars, moon etc are inlaid, was treated chemically to produce a realistic black-blue sky.

The reconstruction of the disc shows how magnificent it would have looked!

The chemist and restorer Christian-Heinrich Wunderlich suspects that the Bronze Age blacksmiths treated the bronze. Tests show that a bronze with a low tin content such as the sky disc, received a black-blue to black-violet artificial patina after-treatment with a solution of urine and copper compounds. If the disk is polished beforehand, the patina has a good shine. The inlaid gold applications remain unchanged by the treatment and form a good contrast.

The bronz's natural shiny copper colour would have frustratingly camouflaged the golden sun, moon and stars and would not even be correctly visible due to the harsh metallic glare of the actual sunlight on the battle field. So it makes perfect sense that the bronze background was especially treated to look more like bluish-blackish-brownish dark sky.

If it was just a calendar or astronomical device it wouldn't be so urgent to go to such lengths to give it the desired sky colour or avoid camouflage.

Note: In the second image the sun appears to have fine hairy lines in its outline that appear to glow due to reflecting light. I am not sure if these fine lines are actually present or just a trick of light. No one has ever mentioned that anywhere.

The weird arc at the bottom:

Fig 13: Close up of the arc at the bottom showing fine hairy lines like oars of a boat

The curved arc at the bottom is by far the weirdest and most mysterious feature on the entire disc. It not only looks like an after thought, it was actually added as an after thought, in the last after having inlaid all the sun, moon, stars and side arcs. But why? What is this arc? What is it doing on a simple scene of sun, moon and stars?

This theory might answer all the questions

Until now researchers conclude it might be a sun boat ferrying souls from earth to heaven, or a rainbow. The fine feathery lines on both sides of the arc would then be like oars rowing the boat. Or may be it is a sickle moon or a sickle.

But neither does the arc look like a sickle nor sickle moon has lines on it. Frankly speaking, it looks least like a boat, and rainbows surely don't occur between sun and moon or moon and moon. When one thinks of celestial bodies, rainbows, unfortunately don't qualify to the list.

Let's also not forget: For someone comfortably having the knowledge and skill to be able to produce Pleiades but not having any how to show a boat that looks like a boat or a rainbow for that matter, doesn't make sense.

This answer too is hidden in Mahabharata

Fig 14: The Great Comet of 1577, seen over Prague on November 12. Engraving made by Jiri Daschitzky. Wiki

Hale-Bopp or Halley's comet, among others that we don't know about yet, are also strong contenders. Comets were in those days strongly associated with huge dynastic upheavals, massive catastrophes and royal deaths or impossible victories. Halley's visit in 1066 was believed to bring about the bloody Battle of Hastings and victory of William the conqueror. Some people have speculated there was a comet during Tojan war present that brought about huge destruction and end to a long dynasty of Priam, and another during the Justinian Plague and later the Black Death in Europe in 13th Century.

Shakespeare famously wrote: "When beggars die, there are no comets seen; the heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes."

Fig 15: The Great Comet of 1680 over Rotterdam as painted by Lieve Verschuier, wiki, wiki; Fig 16: The Great Comet of 1680 over Nuremberg;

Fig 18: Hally's Comet, An 1835 watercolour painting depicting observation of the 1835 apparition

Fig 19: By Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. https://www.cngcoins.com, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56490795

The above picture is of a Commemorative medal depicting the comet, in Hamburg, 1681 by Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. It is inscribed in German with:

'Der Stern droht böse Sachen. Trau nur! Gott wirds wohl machen.' which means: 'The comet is threatening bad things. Trust! God will make things good.'

Note: the curved parallel lines look similar to ones on Nebra's bottom arc.

Fig 20: Comet Kohoutek 1973 24KT Gold on Sterling Silver The Franklin Mint EE815 from Ebay. The comet looks strikingly like the one on Nebra disc

The comet Kohoutek in 1973 on the gold coin looks strikingly like the one on Nebra disc. Especially its hairy lines.

Nebra sky disc belongs to those old times when people believed in these things more strongly which means the curved arc at the bottom of the disc is actually a comet. The fine feathery lines may be trying to depict the glow of the comet, and the furrowed two lines the comet's tail.

In fact, if we look closely at the arc it is actually thinner in the left end and slightly thicker in the right. That might mean the maker of the disk was trying to depict a long glowing comet.

Close up shot of the third arc at the bottom on the Nebra Sky Disc

Fig 21: Von Holger Tamm — Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=121157303

Interestingly, comets are called Dhoomketu or Ketu in Sanskrit and both Ketu and Rahu are regarded as shadow planets. Means Sanjay's description of 'Moon, star and planets' and Krishna's description of 'Sun, moon and stars' would still be correct.

Not only there are clear 'you can't miss' mentions of comets, Rahu and/Ketu during MB war, the presence of a comet or Rahu and/or Ketu on the disc makes more sense than a boat, a sickle or a rainbow, as all these objects can be grouped together to form celestial bodies, and can be described as 'Sun, Moon, stars and planets', or 'Moon, stars and planets.'

So what is Nebra Sky Disc after all?

The Nebra Disc is clearly marked with symbols that tally cloesely with birth signs, dynastic signs and the disc corroborates with date and time according to carbon dating.

The equidistance holes all around the rim of the disc, as well as the size (30 cms diameter) and weight (2.2 Kg) seem to match closely with the requirements of a royal war standard or vexilloid of a mighty Bronze age king.

It explains how the disc could have been attached to a metal pole either by being hung, nailed or fastened from the middle or through an L or a T shaped rod. That's probably why the disc has side arcs for better and stronger support.

It explains how the two small or lage Kettle-drums mentioned in the Mahabharata text could have been suspended from the pole that could have self played the drums due to free-dangling from the rod.

This explains the presence of golden ropes, threads, decorative musical bells, lace, trappings, gold and silver brocaded cloth and other golden decorations mentioned in the Mahabharata text that would be otherwise difficult to account for.

Nearly all the images from 1–3 given above (above) give a very clear idea of how the disc may have been used.

The oldest flag or Vexilloid in the world, that of Ancient bronze flag found at Shahdad, is also strikingly similar to the disc and the Mahabharata description

Fig 26: Private image. Note the metallic rim all around the square flag. 

Fig 27: Ancient bronze flag found at Shahdad, c. 2400 BC. This flag is one of the oldest in human history.

This ancient flag is the oldest of its kind in the world and is entirely made of Bronze in square shape, and is attached by a metal pole with a flying bird on top. The metal rim all around the square standard looks very similar to the Nebra Disc.

(Fig 28) Reconstructed Derafsh-e Kaviani in a 2,500-year celebration of the Persian Empire, 

(Fig 29) Coin of Bagadates I, Frataraka of Persis during the Seleucid period, with the Derafsh Kaviani,

(Fig 30) Coin of Vādfradād I, Frataraka of Persis during the Seleucid period, with the Derafsh Kaviani; 3rd century BC, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derafsh_Kaviani

Another example is Derafsh Kaviani, the legendary royal standard Derafsh (in Latin: vexilloid) of Iran (Persia) used since ancient times until the fall of the Sasanian Empire. This is how the Nebra disc would have looked like suspended from a sturdy pole and harness.

It is well known that Vedic culture in India in Bronze age was very close in contact with Iran, Persia and there was tremendous cultural, lingual, intellectual and trade exchange between the two countries/cultures. Of course, during Vedic age, Persia was part of Vedic culture and new researches point to Vedic Aryans as coming from Iran.

(What I find really really remarkable is that the Bagadates 1 in picture 2 has a beautiful metal earring. All the Mahabharata kings and princes, even Krishna are always described wearing elaborate heavy and solid earrings called 'Kundal' almost identical to those of Bagadates 1. If earrings can closely match, there's a high possibility that the vexilloid can't be much different.)

So what is Nebra Sky Disc again? New Interpretation and New Theory

It fits the description of Yudhishthira's war standard given by Sanjay, Krishna and Shalya, in Mahabharata of having 'gold moon, stars and planets (sun including)'. Researchers have also speculated that this disc appears to belong to some princely person of high importance.

'The Nebra Sky Disk is an object that can only be associated with a prince in several respects. The origin of the materials (copper from the Alps, tin and gold from Cornwall) also indicate a very influential client or manufacturer with far-reaching trade relations.' (Wiki)

The disc has holes that suggest it was attached or nailed to another metal or cloth to hang from a metal staff; Researchers have speculated the same. (Along with the disc there were two kettle drums attached with the disc or the standard's pole that played on the own but they were extra attachments alongside with the disc.)

It was polished with chemicals to make the sky more realistic and to eliminate the metallic camouflage and glare of background so Yudhishthira's standard would be clearly visible to all even in blazing sunshine. In fact, if the background was really dark the sun, moon and stars would shine beautifully against the dark background.

War standards were almost sacred objects of high social and personal importance and had special ritualistic value in much the same way as we have our national flags and emblems today. The researchers have also concluded the same.

But, the comet is the most important object on the disc

Fig 31: Halley's Comet seen from London on 6 May 1066 as simulated by Stellarium. The Moon, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are also visible.By Morn — Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=90573563

In accordance with the atmospheric, astronomical, cosmic and geological descriptions given in Mahabharata there was a comet, most likely Halley's Comet, Hale Bopp or according to literal descriptions in Mahabharata very likely the type of Shoemaker Levy 9 (that broke apart in July 1992 and collided with Jupiter) that wreaked some serious havoc and disturbance that normally comets don't.

The Tunguska event of 1908 may have been caused by the impact of a cometary body and has also been postulated by Czechoslovakian astronomer Ľubor Kresák as possibly caused by a fragment of Comet Encke.

The question is: why was a comet chosen to be present on the Vexilloid when the sun, moon and stars, Pleiades or otherwise, would have perfectly sufficed? Especially, since we know that comets aren't exactly welcome as an auspicious sign for royal dynasties, what other motive could there have been to depict the comet?

Was Yudhishthira consciously or unconsciously, recording an important event on his royal standard?

Comets in past ages, were viewed as harbinger of bad luck, deaths, destruction, dynastic upheavels and huge problems for kings. But sometimes, they were also seen as a 'sign of God', 'heavenly guidence', 'divine intervention' and 'favourable luck' for one party while deadly calamity for the other depending on other star signs etc. (Don't know how they predicted that) 

Since Yudhishthira won the war and regained his usurped kingdom after 13 years of unjust exile, we can safely say that the comet signalled a good and auspicious sign for him (just like Halley's comet did for William, the Conqueror in 1066 AD) which is why Yudhishthira consciously chose it as a symbol of luck and divine assistance to be present on his war standard and that of his army, along with his birth moon.  

And here is where the Pleiades come in. 

The Pleiades are a star cluster that are called Kritika in Vedic astrology and correspond to the month of Kartik which according to Hindu calendar, begins on 18 October and lasts until 15 November. (This is why this month is called Kartik after the Kritikas i.e. the Pleides) Interestingly, this coincides perfectly with the presumed 'start date' of Mahabharata war. Does this mean that the Nebra Sky Disc is not just the war standard of King Yudhishthira but is also the date stamp of the start of the Mahabharata war?

An expert astronomer and astrologer might be able to investigate this point further.

But if indeed the Nebra Sky Disc is Vedic Artefact from Kurukshetra, what was it doing in Germany? 

Let's investigate the circumstances in which Nebra Disc was found and researched.

Fig 32: By Christian Reinboth — Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=95755609

This is where and how Nebra Sky Disc was found

On Mittelberg in Wangen near Nebra (which is why the disc is called Nebra), two looters found the disc with their metal detector.

Fig 33: Panoramic view of the south part of Mittelberg. By Raymondlafourchette — Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15759303

Fig 34: By PantheraLeo1359531 — Own work, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=116792137

That shiny round spot in the above picture is exactly where the disc was discovered.

Fig 35: By Manfred Schröter, Berga — Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=43752178

Buried under 3–5 cms of dirt in Mittleberg, in a standing position the disc was found together with two copper swords, two sets of remains of copper axes, a copper chisel and fragments of gold spiral armband from the same time period. In the above picture the darkish/blackish round soil spot is where the looters dug for the disc after detecting signals on their metal detector, then filled up the spot with soil again, leaving the nearby soil layers undisturbed.

During the illegal digging the disc was damaged. A star and a side arc fell off and the round sun got roughly torn. We don't know if the looters took that damaged gold themselves.

The looters then sold the disc and other objects on the black market and the disc changed several hands in the next two years. Finally the disc and the hoard were retrieved by State Archeology Department and Police in a secret sting operation in 2002.

Fig 36: The Nebra Hoard: Bronze age swords Image Source: Wiki Image:

Fig 38: A Bronze age chisel, Axe heads and gold spiral armbands

Research Analysis conclusions after detailed study:

There's a lot of hot debate and lack of consensus as to what Nebra sky disc actually is, who could it have belonged to, if it is really as old as they say, and if it is authentic.

But Mahabharata Theory is the only one so far that answers all the questions.

It appears to be a treasure hoard and is also called as such: 'Nebra Treasure Hoard'

It seems rather an unusual object for ancient Bronze age cultures living in that region:

Nothing concerning with astronomy, or star reading has ever been found in Germany. So Nebra sky disc feels hugely off, like it doesn't belong there.

The other artefacts are common for the area and culture, but the disc isn't:

Credit: Sspatra on DeviantArt Copyright: Sspatra

According to written records in Mahabharata, Yudhishthira had a royal bronze and gold Vexilloid and several exact replicas of it. (All of them had) While the royal vexilloid was reserved for his chariot alone as his royal emblem, there also appears to have existed a second variety for his army and others, in which the image on the vexilloid was the same consisting of sun, moon, stars and planets but they were woven or embroidered with gold and silver wires on cloth apparantly to reduce its weight so soldiers could carry it. The disc together with kettledrum and the poles would have weighed a lot and could have only be carried on a chariot.

During the war on the battlefield, his Vexilloid is documented to have been shot down at least three times and replaced by a new (identical) one:

Fig 40 Creator: william jon

All in all, this new theory linking the Nebra Sky Disc with Mahabharata is strikingly fitting and compelling one. Except that there is one major flaw. Just one.

Mahabharata is not regarded by scholars and historians as real History. Like the Trojan War, there's no proof if the Mahabharata war ever took place. 

Like Achilles or Heracles, Paris or Helen there's no proof of Arjun or Krishna, Duryodhana or Yudhishthira ever having existed. Mahabharata is considered just a myth… Just a tall, over exaggerated, imaginary tale. Nothing more. And, that's all….

But that's just my theory. Thanks for reading!

This Theory is published as a Paper on Acedemia.edu 

https://www.academia.edu/121606135/The_connection_between_Nebra_Sky_Disc_and_Mahabharata