1952

The Story of the Silver Belt. By Egerton Sykes

" In 1940 Jean Gattefosse, who was one of the initiators of the Bibliographie de l'Atlantide, and one of the best known French writers on the subject of Atlantis, wrote his novel Les Portes de Bronze, which was published in Paris in 1945. This work of fiction was largely based upon his won research and investigations, and in particular, upon a mysterious belt of silver, conjectured to be of Atlantean origin, which formed the essential link in the book between the present and the remote past."

The story goes that the artifact was acquired "by the present owner from an antique dealer in Monte Carlo, who had purchased it from an Egyptian visitor who stated that the ornament had been discovered in a tomb of one of the early Pharaohs, and that the family tradition of the Egyptian associated it with a queen of a very early date." Jean Gattefosse eventually persuaded the owner to test the ornament in a series of experiments to determine its origin, or what it was. "The laboratory tests were carried out by various experts. One was Dr. Badouin, the founder of the International Institute of Scientific Bibliography, and a former President of the French Prehistoric Society. Dr. Badouin was one of the first to apply modern technical methods to the study of prehistory and to seek to discover from bones signs of disease and indications as to the kind of food eaten by our ancestors. "Later Dr. Badouin came to the conclusion that the majority of prehistoric cults were of an astronomical nature linked with symbolism of the constellations, and that by this means it might be possible to give approximate datings. He even succeeded in working out a formula for the successive alterations in the orientations of ancient monuments". He encountered much opposition in his work, "Prehistory from the Stars," he had retired at his ancestral home at Croix en Viein where he died in 1942. It was this Dr. Badouin who noticed the moon was not mentioned in any of these prehistoric cults, and had connected the theories of Hoerbiger with this point. "The similarity of outlook between Badouin and Frobenius is very marked. The huge output of erudite works on many subjects, mainly concerned with the excavations in the western coastal areas of France is a monument to the deep knowledge of Dr. Badouin."

Here was Dr. Badouin's report (which E. Sykes summarizes) shows that analysis of the one link of he belt gave 93.35% silver, 6.29% copper, 0.24% tin, and 0.12% impurities. He felt the silver was treated in the ancient fashion. This is not an example of true bronze, but an idea much earlier. Doctor observed that a true bronze only occurs when there are than 2.5 grammes of tin to 95-99 grammes of copper. This was in reply to a query from M. A. de Mortillet. M. Henri Marcelot, a chemist of Nice, made the actual analysis of the belt on Nov. 28^th, 1924. "Badouin adduces as proofs of pre-Hallstatt epoch by giving the analysis for two Greek silver articles, which often contained copper. A vase from a Mycenean tomb (End of Copper III Period) give Silver 95.88%, Copper 3.48%, Gold 0.43% and impurities 0.21%. A basin of the same period from another site gave silver 87.6%, copper 10.40%, gold 0.40%, impurities 1.60%. From this it would appear that there existed in Greece mineral silver containing up to 10% of natural copper. To refute this hypothesis one must admit the existence of a formula for the production of an alloy of silver and copper at will in vry ancient times." "Dr. Badouin declared that while the belt might have been considered to be a large crown of the type found in the Treasure of Priam by Schliemann at Hissarlik (Troy) in 1875, the fact that it was of silver and not of gold, and that the owl headed idols had been replaced by fish, seemed to rule out that possibility. He also wondered whether the owl heads found at Troy might not have originally been fish. " "The Doctor stated that the American ornaments of a similar type but with birds, justified his assumption." "The main portion of the belt had 21 rings, one of which was destroyed for the analysis. Badouin felt that the rings might represent the stars of the Pleides each with its elements. The number of large rings was the same as their diameter, i.e., twenty-one, each weighing 1 gramme. The small rings, of which there are fourteen, weigh half a gramme, and have a diameter of 11 millimetres. The three pendants are flying fish, and not the winged phallus of the Romans, showing each ring as having six points. Nevertheless it is probably a phallic ornament, as the sacred fish of the nile swallowed the phallus of Osiris after he had been cut to pieces by Set. The Wettersfield pendant is similar in shape to these fish but much larger and more elaborate. Actually they are as much nearer to the owl heads of Ilion, which puts them in the copper age. Badouin infers that the ornament could not be of the Egyptian period, with which it has nothing in common. The Giubasco (Tessin) collar also has 21 ornaments, but these are spiral shaped. He concludes by saying that the ornament dates back to at least 2,000 to 3,500 B.C., to a time when the Pol was near Draconis. He has no hesitation in putting it at the end of Copper III, and older than Hallstadt. If the belt were found on an Egyptian mummy it would prove nothing as it is much older and of foreign origin. This completes the report of Dr. Badouin." Previous to this, during the years 1922-25, Jean Gattefosse had the belt psychometrised by various expert, to each of whom it was presented in a sealed box which could not be opened, in which container it had been placed by the owner. The reports did not correspond fully with either the report of Dr. Badouin or the ideas on Atlantis outlined in Les Portes de Bronze."

In brief they are summarized as this - The belt is a phallic ornament worn by a man with reddish skin. The tribe to which he belonged had the habit of drinking a liquid made of a green herb before indulging in sexual orgies. The trophy was awarded for the winner as an emblem of his virility. At a latter date the tribes were defeated by a group of Amazons and the holder of the belt gave it, together with other favors, to the Queen in exchange for freedom. These women were stated to wear costumes with feathered headdress's, recalling those of the North American Indians, while some of the descriptions of the monuments recalled those in Le Plongeon's book "Queen Moo". One of those pendants maybe hollow and contain a talisman. The descriptions mention destruction by fire and by flood, and the changing of the climate from a fertile land to a desert. The full details of these texts were to be put in a forthcoming book which was probably to be called, 'Bronze Gates'.