Calatagan Ritual Pot
Calatagan Ritual Pot
The Calatagan Ritual Pot is a National Cultural Treasure dated back to the 14th and 16th centuries.
It was discovered by diggers in an archaeological site in Calatagan, Batangas in 1958, and subsequently donated to the National Museum in 1961. [1]
Measuring 12 cm.
high and 20.2 cm.
at its widest and weighing 872 grams, this pot is considered as the country’s oldest cultural artifact with pre-Hispanic writing.
It is distinct because of the mysterious ancient symbols inscribed on its shoulder.
Several attempts were made to decipher the inscription on the pot.
In the 1960s, famed sculptor Guillermo Tolentino allegedly tried to communicate with the spirits of the dead to come up with a translation.
His output–which suggests that the pot was an offering of a son or daughter to a dead mother–was dismissed by the scientific community.
Other previous attempts also failed, mostly because of the three major obstacles in translating the inscription: (1) The equivalents of many symbols are unknown; (2) Language is also unknown; and (3) The start and end of words, as well as the consonants of some words, are hard to determine.
Fortunately in 2008, Dr. Rolando O. Borrinaga of U.P.
Manila finally came up with a reliable translation.
He concluded that the inscription was written in the old Bisayan language, and the pot was used as a “native incense burner for the pag-ulî (return) rite to retrieve the soul of a moribund person during the pre-Hispanic era.” [1]
He also added that the inscription “provides the outline of a three-stage monologue, presumably elaborated by a babaylan (native priestess) in a trance during the pag-ulî ritual.”
The following is Borrinaga’s translation: [1]
Is it open now for sure? [the gateway to the spirit underworld]/
Take it as a gain already, dakit [Tag., balete] tree/
That [the soul] confused you for a mango tree/
[It] just crossed out of fear [to your domain] alone, is that so?/
Leave the dakit tree now, will you?/
Shame/Bring [back] the soul that you [were told to] encounter, okay?
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