Artic Home of the Aryans by Lokamanya Bal ... - Mandhata Global

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principal or the most important in the يig-Veda (X, 62, 6), But
whichever view we adopt, the existence of a year of seven, eight,
nine, ten or eleven months of sunshine follows as a matter of course,
if the ancient Aryan home was within the Arctic circle. Prof. Max
Müller, in his passage quoted above, points out that the old Greek
year probably consisted of 350 days, the 350 oxen of Helios
representing the days, and 350 sheep representing the nights. He
also notices that in German mythology 700 gold rings of Wieland, the
smith, are spoken of, and comparing the number with 720 sons of
Agni mentioned in I, 164, 11, he draws from it the conclusion that a
year of 350 days is also represented in the German mythology. This
year is shorter by ten days than the civil year of 360 days, or falls
short of the full solar year by 15 days. It is, therefore, clear that if a
year of 350 days existed before the Aryan separation, it must have
been followed by a continuous night of ten days; while where the year
was of 300 days, the long night extended over 60 days of 24 hours
each. We shall thus have different kinds of long nights; and it is
necessary to see if we can collect evidence to indicate the longest
duration of the night known before the Aryan separation. Speaking of
the cows or oxen of Helios, as stated in the passage quoted above,
Prof. Max Müller goes on to observe: —
“The cows or oxen of Hêlios thus receive their background from
the Veda, but what is told of them by Homer is by no means clear.
When it is said that the companions of Odysseus consumed the oxen
of Helios, and that they thus forfeited their return home, we can
hardly take this in the modern sense of consuming or wasting their
days, thought it may be difficult to assign any other definite meaning
to it. Equally puzzling is the fable alluded to in the Homeric hymn that
Hermes stole the oxen of Apollon and killed two of them. The number
of Apollon’s oxen is given as fifty (others give the number as 100
cows, twelve oxen and one bull), Which looks like the number of
weeks in the lunar year, but why Hermes should be represented as
carrying off the whole herd