Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, and the mythology of the ancient Greeks are all considered separate religions, largely based on the differences between them. But if you analyze them closely, you will see that one symbol connects them all. It's about the halo.
The halo around the head of a holy figure expresses their glory or divinity and can be seen in art all over the world. There are many variants of it, including the ray halo (as on the Statue of Liberty) and the flame halo (which appears in some Islamic art – Ottoman, Mughal and Persian). But the most distinct and widespread is the circular halo.
Why was this symbol invented?
It is assumed that it was originally a type of crown ornament. It may have been symbolic of a divine aura emanating from the mind of the deity. Perhaps it was mere decorative embellishment. An interesting thought is that it came from the protective plates fixed on the statues of the gods to protect their heads from bird droppings.
Research into the function of the original circular halo in religious art takes us back to the 1st century BC. It does not appear in any earlier religion, but within a few centuries it becomes an integral part of religious iconography throughout Eurasia.
It likely evolved from earlier art traditions. In ancient Egypt, the Sun god Ra was usually depicted with a circular disk representing the sun (although it was above his head rather than behind). Meanwhile, some artifacts from the city of Mohenjo-daro (in the Indus Valley), created in the 2000s BC, exhibit what appear to be radiant auras. However, they are carved on the bodies of the holy figures instead of their heads. Likewise, in the art of ancient Greece there are occasional representations of radiant crowns surrounding the heads of mythological heroes to indicate their divine powers. But the distinctive circular halo is a later invention and apparently the result of unique religious ideas.
The earliest examples of a circular halo come from the 300s BC. in the religious art of ancient Iran. It seems to have been conceived as a distinctive feature of Mithra, the deity of light in the Zoroastrian religion. It has been said that the concept of divine glory (known as 'Khvarenah') in Zoroastrianism is closely related to the radiance of the sun, and that the halo was the illustrative means of associating this quality with Mitra, as it had been for Rana.
In terms of art history, the rapidity with which the disk halo was carried across cultures makes it particularly important as a piece of religious iconography. By the 100s B.C. – hundreds of years after its creation – could be seen in places as far away as the Tunisian city of El Jame, the Turkish city of Samosata and the Pakistani city of Sahri-Bahlol. By the 400s, halos were part of Christian art in Rome and Buddhist art in China. Within a few centuries it became a universal divine religious symbol in Eurasia.
But how did the influence of the halo spread throughout the world and among religions?
The initial movement of this piece of religious iconography to the East and West begins from its birthplace in Iran, through some of the most powerful empires of the past.
In the first century, the Indo-Scythians (nomads from Iran) and the Kushans (from Bactria to Afghanistan) conquered the regions to the southeast – the territories now covered by present-day Pakistan, Afghanistan and northern India. Both empires, which were steeped in ancient Iranian cultural history, produced coins depicting Mithras with a halo. This youthful and attractive god, with his divine radiance, had a growing influence on the people around the Hindu Kush. So influential was it that iconography of the Buddha—even from the earliest visual representations of him, such as the Bimaran relic (which may date from the late first century)—appears with Mithraic halos.
Meanwhile, Mithras was also winning the hearts of the conquering Roman Empire in the West, to the extent that Mithraism evolved into the main Roman religion. Mitra later influenced the iconography of another Roman deity – Sol Invictus (“Unconquered Sun”). Both gods combined masculine physiques with divine powers, associated with solar splendor and authority, and were thus worshiped by the most powerful members of society, especially the Roman emperors. Constantine (emperor 306-337) recognized the iconographic power of the halo, so he and his successors appropriated it and used it in their artistic representations.
Then, with the acceptance and growth of Christianity in the Roman Empire, artists began to depict Christ with a halo - now considered the highest symbol of divine authority. This innovation in Christian iconography occurred around the 300s, more than two centuries after it had appeared in Buddhism. It signaled the metamorphosis of Christianity from a marginalized religion to an official power structure in the West.
The halo has remained in Christian art ever since, though it has undergone adaptations over the years. Father God can sometimes be seen with a triangular halo, Christ with a cross-shaped halo, and the saints with square halos.
Buddhism, Jainism, and Hinduism coexisted peacefully in India in the first millennium, and the three religions exchanged ideas and artistic iconography, including the halo. The earliest sculptured depictions of halos in Indian religious art come from two major art centers, Gandara (on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan) and Matura (90 miles south of Delhi).
In late antiquity and the Middle Ages, Gandara was the center of a large network of trade routes that stretched from China in the east to the Mediterranean in the west. Buddhist monasteries sprang up along major trade route junctions, to serve as religious versions of caravanserai. They provided a place for traders to rest, pray and heal, while they became springboards from which Buddhism spread to China, where artists replicated that religious iconography. By the 500s, halos appeared in art in Korea and Japan, testifying to the arrival of Buddhism in these regions as well.
The same spread occurred with Hinduism that made its way to Asia via trade, land, and sea routes, influencing religious approaches and artistic styles in Indonesia, Malaysia, and other Southeast Asian territories.
These trade arteries that connected East and West in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages are often called the "Silk Roads" - after the luxury goods they carried. But along with exotic goods, these routes also carried religion, knowledge and iconography.
The circular halo is the icon of this dynamic exchange of ideas that existed in the distant past. It began life as a Zoroastrian symbol of the solar deity, but was spread throughout Eurasia by ancient empires and by the trade networks that connected the ends of the then-known world. In the 21st century, it is also a powerful reminder of the common cultural heritage of all humanity
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