Kariong, New South Wales
| Kariong Central Coast, New South Wales | |
|---|---|
| Population | 6,285 (2006 census) |
| Postcode(s) | 2250 |
| Location | 7 km (4 mi) WSW of Gosford |
| LGA(s) | City of Gosford |
| Parish | Patonga |
| State electorate(s) | Gosford |
| Federal division(s) | Robertson |
Kariong is a locality of the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia west of Gosford along the Central Coast Highway. It is part of the City of Gosford local government area.
Referring to the coastal area and the Blue Mountains between Newcastle and Wollongong, the Frenchman Jean Clottes, one of the world's foremost authorities on rock art, stated "this area has the greatest diversity for rock art in the world". Unfortunately many of the sites are not recorded in the official National Parks & Wildlife register, which is maintained by AHIMS.
History
Early resident Basil Topple had been an officer on the training ship Sobraon in Sydney Harbour, which was where all the boys came from after the Sobraon was condemned. The village was not first known as Kariong. At first it was called Kendall Heights, then Penang Mountain, and only in about 1947 was the name Kariong assigned to it. The name is listed, though with a different spelling, in F.D. McCarthy's Aboriginal place names book of 1946, which states the meaning as "place of the cold east winds" (from local information, chiefly someone whose grandfather went to Kariong in 1938 and mother in 1939).
Etymology
Kariong was once believed to mean meeting place in the local Original language. However, records in the NSW Mitchell Library show that the name Kariong was a typographical error from old script reading 'Karrong', the second 'r' was mistaken for an 'i'. However 'Karrong' may mean 'meeting place'. When the village of Kariong was first settled, after 1901, it for a time consisted of only about fifteen families, and people were told that the name Kariong meant "place of the cold winds". Kariong was first settled in 1901 by W.H. Parry who was probably the only permanent settler for a time. It then grew after 1911 with the opening of the Mount Penang Training School for boys, most of the first inhabitants working at that school.
Geography
Kariong's boundaries include a considerable section of the Brisbane Water National Park to the south, and the Mount Penang Parklands, with its native gardens, which is also the location of the annual Australian Springtime Flora Festival. Kariong is considered the entry point to the Central Coast as it borders the Sydney Newcastle Freeway. A visitor information centre for the Central Coast is located just off the Central Coast Highway, near the entry to the Mount Penang Parklands.
A "Save Sacred Kariong" anti-development protest, lead by Steve Cassar, was established to protect the biome of the endangered plant species Darwinia glaucophylla which occurs nowhere else naturally in the world. Although not solely found at Kariong it is endemnic to the Gosford area.[1]
Egyptian glyphs
The Gosford glyphs are a group of approximately 300 alleged Egyptian hieroglyphs near Woy Woy, in an area known for its aboriginal petroglyphs. Being 15 metres long, the walls depict boats, chickens, dogs, owls and stick men. At the end of the chamber is a carving of the ancient Egyptian god Anubis. The glyphs have been claimed to be proto-Dynastic script carved by ancient Egyptians about 5000 years ago. They are carved into two sandstone walls and were first reported in 1975 by Alan Dash, a local surveyor who had been visiting the area for seven years.[2][3]
The carvings mark the burial site of Lord Nefer-ti-ru, the Son of Khufu, who was the King of Upper and Lower Egypt. The hieroglyphs tell the story of early Egyptian explorers, injured and stranded in Australia. Nefer-ti-ru, a member of the Egyptian royal family, died in the area whilst on a journey with his brother Nefer-Djeseb, along Australia’s east coast.[4] The glyphs are of pre-dynastic (4,500 years ago). They are a primitive prototype of Old Egyptian and Middle Egyptian glyphs and tell their meaning by their illustration alone. The glyphs translate as:[5]
"(In the) mountains, (we) buried (them in the) Side or half chamber (on a) day (when the) sun (was shining). (We prepared their) house (of Eternity). (You get) in (through the) door. (They are) at the back of the chamber."
Public opinion
The site had people debating whether the glyphs are historic or a hoax. Professor Nageeb Kanawati of Macquarie University and rock art conservation specialist David Lambert, the National Parks and Wildlife Service believe that ‘‘the hieroglyphs are not genuine and were constructed in the early 1980s’’.[6][7]
Central Coast environmentalist Jake Cassar was enthusiastic about the site's historicity, saying, ‘‘I’ve got an open mind to it. I’m not saying they are not the real deal but the more stories that come out trying to debunk the site’s authenticity, the more fascinating it gets.’’[8] Dr von Senff, a graduated from the University of Newcastle with a PhD in 2006 states that, ‘‘the reason no one has found it (the chamber) is because no one has been looking for it.’’ He then went on to say that, ‘‘Australia was discovered in the Third Dynasty (about 5000 years ago). The Egyptians landed at Cape York Peninsula and moved south’’.[9]
Geologists have stated that the sandstone in which the hieroglyphs are carved erodes quickly and nearby 250 year old Aborigine petroglyphs show considerably more erosion.[7] In 1983, David Lamber, then a rock art conservator for the National Park Wildlife Service, found some clean cut hieroglyphs which he estimated to be less than twelve months old.[10][11]
References
- ^ Collins, Terry (16 April 2010). "Kariong development protest steps up a gear". Central Coast Express Advocate. News Community Media. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
- ^ “Egypt lost and found” Thames and Hudson, London G.B. 1998
- ^ ‘Australia’s unwritten history’, Walkabout, August 1967, pp. 19-23.
- ^ Sacred Sites of Ancient Egypt” An illustrated Guide to the Temples and Tombs of the Pharaohs.Hermes House, Imprint of Annes Publishing Ldt. London, G.B. 2010
- ^ How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs”. British Museum Press, London 1998.
- ^ “The Tutankhamen Exhibit - Other Items”, Tour Egypt
- ^ a b Kenneth L. Feder, Encyclopedia of Dubious Archaeology: From Atlantis To The Walam Olum, page 120-121(Greenwood, 2010). ISBN 978-0-313-37919-2
- ^ “The Dead Sea Scrolls uncovered”, Element, Shaftesbury Dorset, Rockport Massachuset, Brisbane Queensland, 1992
- ^ “Eternal Egypt” Masterpieces of ancient Art from the British Museum. British Museum Press, 2002
- ^ Coltheart, David (2003). "Debunking The Gosford Glyphs". Archaeological Diggins. 10 (5).
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ "The Timeline History of Ancient Egypt" Thunder Bay Press,San Diego, California,USA . 2007