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Registrazione presso il Tribunale di Pisa n. 12 del 21 luglio 1999Direttore responsabile: Fabrizio Serra

A BACTRIAN GOLD BUCKLE WITH THE CONTESTBETWEEN A HERO AND A CENTAUR

(HERAKLES AND NESSOS?)

Kazim A. Abdullaev

oday, archaeological objects are offered on sale on the antiquary markets of Central Asia, mostoften deprived of information on their provenance. The sellers wittingly give wrong informa-

tion about their actual place of finding, for protection against rivals. Otherwise, reference is madeto well known archaeological sites, such as Afrasiab or Erkurgan, invoked as a guarantee of au-thenticity of the object. In the latter case it is difficult to ascertain whether the object was actuallyfound on the alleged site (which is quite possible) or on a different one. Among these finds we canmention the Seleucid coins, including tetradrachms and drachms, that appeared on the antiquarymarket of Urgut, in the Samarkand region, in 2000-2001, and were partly acquired by the NationalBank for Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan.1 These coins were reported to have been found in Afrasiab.

At the same time a new hoard of Seleucid coins was found in the district of Sazagan, in theSamarkand region, and later dispersed on several antiquary markets.2 Still more impressive as tothe number of coins and the interest of its contents is a hoard from Kulyab, in Tadjikistan.3 Partof this hoard found its way to the markets of Afghanistan and Pakistan, but it can not be ruled outthat part of it was sold on the markets of Urgut and Tashkent, too. Thus the coins acquired by theNational Bank of Uzbekistan could belong to the Sazagan as well as the Kulyab hoards, as both ofthem appeared at the same time.4 The Kulyab hoard contained 800 pieces, 205 of which have beenexamined and catalogued by O. Bopearachchi.5 The earliest coins bear the name of Alexander andthe attic standard weight; the latest ones are the tetradrachms and obols of the Graeco-Bactrianking Eukratides with the same weight system.6 The example here cited is just one of the cases ofcirculation of archaeological finds on the antiquary market, as a result of illegal excavations car-ried out with the help of metal detectors. This category of finds usually remains out of the ex-perts’ sight.

Coins are the most frequent and popular item of ancient art, but on the antiquary market it iseasy to find also seals, gems, terracotta figurines, jewels etc., that usually enter a private collectionor completely disappear. The buckle presented in this paper7 (Fig. 1) is one of such rare objects ofvalue appeared on the antiquary market. Unfortunately, information about its technical features isvery scanty. We only know its weight – 34 g. – and its material, gold. Its size and details of its back,that could help to solve the problem of the interpretation and functional features of the object, arehowever unknown, although we can suggest that the object is the buckle of a belt or more likelythe ornamental plaque of a fibula. The deep hollows on its surface were originally inlaid withstones. One of them, of a dark bluish colour and set in a round frame, is still preserved on the archat the right side. This protruding arch may prove that the object is actually a buckle. It creates awide opening, linking the upper with the lower part of the scene, from the arms to the legs of thecentaur.

1 Rtveladze 2002, 161.2 Information was given to the Samarkand University and

later to the Institute of Archaeology by a university-teacherdwelling in the village of Sazagan.

3 We must remind here the discovery of a Greek inscrip-tion with a dedication to Hestia by Heliodotos, mentioningthe names of the Graeco-Bactrian kings Euthydemos andDemetrios, not far from Kulyab (Bernard, Pinault, Rouge-mont 2004, 333-356).

4 We have no exact information on the consistency of theSazagan hoard. According to the information available it contained about 40 coins, mainly tetradrachms.

5 Bopearachchi 1999-2000, 59-60.6 Ibidem, 34 and 53.7 I wish to express my gratitude to prof. E. Rtveladze for

the photo of this object.

T

«parthica» · 10 · 2008

136 Kazim A. Abdullaev

About the provenance of thebuckle, as already told, we canput forward mere hypotheses.The object is doubtless one ofthe most rare and precious spec-imens of Central Asian jew-ellery of the Hellenistic period.The composition, taken fromthe classical repertoire, adds abrand new subject and informa-tion on the religious iconogra-phy and mythology of CentralAsia in Antiquity.

The scene, representing thecontest between a naked heroand a centaur, is placed alongthe horizontal axis of the buck-le, which has an approximatelyoval shape. The main character

is placed behind the centaur, his left leg bent, his knee resting against the croup of the horse, hold-ing a short sword in his right hand and seizing the hair of the centaur with his left, thus pulling theopponent’s head backwards. The hilt of the sword has a round shape and a hole in the centre, thatwas filled with a stone or imitated an incrustation (?). The hero stretches back his right arm, readyto stab with a deathly blow from below.

The anatomy of the nude is modelled in detail, though the muscles are not tense and athletic,but quite relaxed: in fact, the breast is made round and has scant relief; the abdominal muscles arerendered as a couple of lines, and the round belly with the hollow of the navel gives the figure asomewhat heavy appearance. The head is modelled quite in detail: the young face has a round shapethough the right ear projects, the nose is straight and has a large tip. The eyes are large and widelyopen, the lips finely drawn; the slightly raised up corners of the mouth and the resolute line of thecheek give the face the impression of a faint smile. The hair is short and sleek.

The centaur is shown in a complicated pose: he is fallen down onto his forelegs, the right one bentso that the hoof rests against the arch of the buckle. The hooves with their tufts of hair are treatedin a rather realistic and anatomically correct manner. A deep round hollow, intended to be an inlaysocket, opens on the bent wrist. The left foreleg is bent on itself; the slight relief of the hooves andarticulations may be seen, while the shoulder takes the shape of a comma, and two sickle-shapedhollows with projecting edges correspond to the abdominal muscles and the ribs. The left hinder legis stretched far back, while the right one, bent on the knee, turns forward. Both are carefully mod-elled, the lower articulation and the hoof with tufts of long hair have a strong relief. The central section of the hip is also decorated with a scroll of commas. The tail of the centaur is treated in anunusual way: it has the shape of a band curved downwards, hidden by the left hoof then lifting abovethe foot of the hero, twisting upwards and being concluded by another comma-shaped motive.

The human torso of the centaur, vigorously thrown back, is strong and athletic, with breast andabdominal muscles emphasized. The centaur desperately strives to free himself, seizing the enemyby the hair with his left hand and by the biceps with his right hand. The head of the centaur, thrownback, is larger in comparison to that of the hero. The features of his face are massive and well pro-portioned, the mouth and the eyes widely open, the right helix clearly rendered.

The artist skilfully presented the culminant moment of the dramatic fight of the two characters.The desperate and hopeless pose of the centaur striving in vain to free himself from the mortal gripof the enemy, who is pressing both the hinder legs of the former beneath his legs and is raising thesword over him, clearly foretell the mortal outcome for the centaur and the approaching victory ofthe naked hero.

Fig. 1. Gold buckle with Heracles fighting Nessos, 34 g.Provenance unknown (Bactria; ii-i bc).

A Bactrian gold buckle with the contest between a hero and a centaur (Herakles and Nessos?) 137It can be surmised that the scene depicts the fight of Her-

akles and Nessos: I will name them so, though I am awarethat this identification is rather conventional. In the artisticrepertoire of Central Asia this subject is very rare, not to sayunique at present: though Herakles is a widespread pres-ence in the religious iconography of Bactria and Sogdianaand in the culture of the neighbouring regions, we can saythat this representation of this worldwide famous herofighting the centaur Nessos is exceptional.

A remarkable peculiarity of the design and technique ofexecution of the buckle is the use of an ornamental patternrecalling the ‘point’ and ‘comma’. These motives, which areshown in different parts of the body, e.g. wrist, hip, shoulder,tail tip, clearly recall those of the so called animal style. Infact, in spite of the clearly Greek nature of the subject andthe plastic modelling typical of Hellenistic art, the treat-ment leaves space to patterns of Nomadic origin too.

Mention of similar features in several objects from the no-madic world of Middle and Central Asia will not be neededhere. However, artefacts showing foreign patterns in repre-sentations of purely Greek type deserve more attention inthis regard. First of all, we may mention examples amongthe Tillya tepa finds, dated to the 1st century bc-1st century ad: the most relevant is the image ofDionysus and his bride Ariadne riding a fantastic feline, namely a gryphon: inlays in shape of‘points’ and ‘commas’ are set on the body articulations of the animal;8 the same technique is usedin the representation of a divine warrior in Greek armour, namely Ares.9

Before discussing the iconography of the buckle, it is worth noting some peculiarities of its struc-ture, which find analogues with other Central Asian materials, in order to establish approximatechronological reference points for its manufacture. As already noted, the main classificatory pat-tern of the buckle is the arch on its right side with a projection in the centre, that creates a hole be-tween the arch of the buckle and the torso of the centaur. Evidently, the belt passed preciselythrough this hole and was fastened to the button projecting on the arch.10 A similar detail occurson a number of analogous finds from the nomadic burials of Bactria: in particular, three types ofbuckles are attested in the Tulkhar necropolis, in Tadjikistan.11

The first type is a thin buckle with a rectangular (or close to rectangular) hole on one side, to letthe belt pass through, and a protruding pin to fasten it on the other side.12 The second type has asimpler structure, basically a metal ring with or without mobile tongue.13 The third type of buck-les has a round shape with a rectangular or trapezoidal extension on one side.14 One of these buck-les bears a decoration of two symmetrically facing gryphons (Fig. 2).15 The structure of our buck-le is particularly close to this third type because its forepart is shaped as a ring with an elongatedhole for the passing belt and a protruding button. The button is placed on the arch and turned out-wards so to firmly fasten the belt, on which perforations were probably made. In the similar objects

8 Sarianidi 1985, figs. 77-79.9 Ibidem, figs. 81-84.10 The interpretation as a waist belt cannot be definitely

assured, as it has not been possible to examine the back.Among the Tillya tepa finds there are clasps serving as fas-teners of the edges of a dress, having as a rule an eyelet witha round section (Sarianidi 1985, 77-79, 81-84, 87).

11 In our paper we consider three main shapes, while A.M. Mandel’štam in his report (Mandel’štam 1966) providesan elaborate typology with a number of variants. I deem

however important to consider that a large number of thebuckles found in situ were lying near the hip: this confirmstheir use as waist belt buckles. In other contexts they werefound near the heel: in these cases they must be shoe-clasps:cf. ibidem, 111-115.

12 Ibidem, pls. xli:15-17, xlii:1-8.13 Ibidem, pls. xlii:9-12, xliii:1-18, xliv:1-4, 7.14 Ibidem, pls. xliv:8-9, xlv:8-10.15 Ibidem, pls. xlv:8-10.

Fig. 2. Buckles from the Bactria,Tulkhar Necropolis (ii-i bc;after Mandel’štam 1966).

138 Kazim A. Abdullaev

mentioned above, however, there is a sup-plementary elongated trapezoidal or rec-tangular hole on the extension of the buck-le ring. An end of the belt was fixed here,while the other one was passed through theelongated hole and fastened to the button.

Therefore, it can be concluded that thebuckle under examination has its closestanalogues among early nomadic artifacts asregards its structure and technical devices.Most buckles of this type fall between thesecond half of the 2nd century bc and the 1stcentury ad. The buckles from the Tulkharnecropolis stand out among them, and arespread on a wide area from the Ural regionto the Altai and Siberia.16

A special mention must be made of inthis connection the golden plate fromDalverzin tepa, which was found under thefloor of a dwelling house (Dt-5), in a layer

dated to the 1st century bc-1st century ad.17 The plaque has a round shape and the rim, decoratedby pearls and a row of heart-shaped motives, frames the representation of a coiled monster (Fig.3). The ornaments of the buckle also include ‘point’ and ‘comma’ patterns. The presence of a trape-zoidal loop clearly proves that the buckle was intended for a belt. A buckle from Saksanokhur18 al-so belongs to this same group: a scene representing a rider hunting a boar is represented in an al-most square frame (5.4 × 5.3 cm) (Fig. 4). In spite of the nomadic appearance of the rider, given bythe type of his dress and the harness of his horse, the artistic treatment of the figures may revealthe experienced hand of a Hellenized master. The use of the egg-and-dart pattern in the orna-mental setting of the buckle, in particular, is a typical feature of artifacts of the Hellenistic world.

It must be noted that the site where the buckle was found has produced clear evidence of Greekculture. Capitals, bases and drums of columns and pillars, as well as architectural decorative ele-ments typical of the Hellenistic period, were found during investigation at Saxanokhur.19 Thechronology of the site from the 2nd century bc till the 4th century ad presupposes a continuity ofpre-Kushan cultural traditions into the Kushan period.20

A similar mixture of Greek and nomadic stylistic elements defines our buckle, too, and suggeststhat it was created by a Greek or Hellenized artist aware of the traditions of Hellenistic art. If wecompare the buckle from Saksanokhur with that with the fight of Herakles and Nessos, we can observe the interaction of heterogeneous ornamental patterns, namely the use of the ‘comma’ and‘point’ pattern in a Greek subject, and the use of the egg-and-dart motif to frame an Oriental subject.

In order to find out the figurative milieu in which the Herakles and Nessos composition was con-ceived, it is necessary to discuss the iconography of the two characters separately. The image ofHerakles was one of the most popular ones in Central Asia in antiquity.21 The iconography of Bac-trian and Sogdian coins shows Herakles in several variants. His earliest type is that on the coinsminted in the name of Alexander, with the head of Herakles (Alexander-Herakles) on the obverse.

16 Moškova 1992.17 Pugacenkova 1978, fig. 80.18 Drevnosti Tadjikistana 1985, 117, nos. 324; Oxus, 38, nos. 24.19 Litvinskij, Muikhiddinov 1969.20 Drevnosti Tadjikistana, 115.21 We are not concerned here with all the representations

of this subject in the art of Central Asia, for this requires aspecial investigation. We limit ourselves to reminding at leastthe inscriptions with the name of Herakles (in Iran, Caraftoand Behistun) and the reliefs representing the Greek Hero (inthe Parthian period, Shimbar and the Elymaean reliefs; inSasanian times, Naqsh-i Rajab III).

Fig. 3. Gold buckle from Dalverzintepa,diam. 4.7 cm (i bc-i ad).

A Bactrian gold buckle with the contest between a hero and a centaur (Herakles and Nessos?) 139This type of obverse prevails in thecoins of Seleukos Nikator, and to alesser extent in the coinage of Anti-ochos and Seleukos II. These coinswere not minted in Bactria,22 butcirculated in Bactria and Sogdia.23

Herakles is even more popularon the coins of the Graeco-Bactriankings: his most common iconogra-phy is that on the coins by Euthy-demos,24 Agathokles and Antima-chos.25 Another well-known type,depicted on the coins of Demetriosand Euthydemos II, is the athleticfigure of Herakles standing andcrowning himself: on the coins ofDemetrios, Herakles touches hishead with the right hand,26 whileon those of Euthydemos II the handholding the wreath is bent and putaside at the level of his waist.27

In Hellenistic Bactria Herakles isrepresented in a stone sculpturefrom Ai Khanum,28 and a bronzestatuette from this site showing himwith the club in his left hand, whilehis right hand is in the crowninggesture as on the coins of Demetrius. His popularity is also witnessed by a dedication found in thegymnasium of Ai Khanum, in which the names of Herakles and Hermes are invoked: TÚÈ‚·ÏÏe˜

ηd ™ÙÚ¿ÙˆÓ ™ÙÚ¿ÙˆÓÔ˜ ^EÚÌÉÈ, ^HÚ·ÎÏÂÖ. According to Louis Robert, both «Hermes and Herak-les were worshipped in every gymnasium».29

On the reverse of Euthydemos’ coins Herakles is portrayed as a nude bearded figure seated on arock and leaning on the club with his right hand, while the copper coins of the same king show thebearded head of the hero in right profile.30 Later, after the fall of Greek power, the iconography ofHerakles seated on a rock is again found on the imitations of Euthydemos’ tetradrachms with Sog-dian inscription, minted mainly in Sogdia.31 Another group of coins, coming mainly from Sogdia,the so-called type of Alexander, with the head of Alexander-Herakles on the obverse, and the im-age of Zeus seated on the reverse,32 very likely continues the iconography of the Seleucid coinswith the portrait of Alexander-Herakles.

A terracotta figurine from Erkurgan proves how deeply this image enters the artistic repertoireof Southern Sogdiana in the Hellenistic and post-Hellenistic periods. It was executed in a mixedtechnique: the body was hand-modelled in a rather rough manner, while the head with the lionskin was moulded by a matrix.33 The excavations of the Temple of the Oxos (Takht-i Sangin)produced another image of Herakles, fighting against Acheloos, carved on the ivory handle of aGreek sword.34 As the terracotta plastic art proves, this subject was widely known to Bactrian

22 Newell 1978.23 Abdullaev, Franceschini, Raimkulov 2004.24 Bopearachchi 1991, pl. 2:1-12.25 Ibidem, pls. 8:H, I and 10:F, G, H.26 Ibidem, pl. 4:1-10. 27 Ibidem, pls. 56:1-6, 6:7-9.28 Bernard 1974, 5, p. 110. 29 Robert 1968, 417.30 For a more detailed study, see Abdullaev 1988.

31 Mitchiner 1975, vol. 4, 284-294.32 Biryukov 2001, 96-97; Omel’chenko 2001, 14-16.33 Abdullaev 2002, 97-101, fig. 1.34 Actually, the Takht-i Sangin handle provides at once a

head of Herakles (Herakles-Alexander) with the lion skin(Litvinski 2001, pl. 71) in a scene of fight with Acheloos(Pichikyan 1991, 29).

Fig. 4. Gold buckle from Saxonohur (Tajikistan)with scene of hunting. 5.3-5.4 cm (after «Drevnosti Tadjikistana»

Catalogue of Exibition, 1985).

140 Kazim A. Abdullaev

artists, who represented it for a long period of time, changing its details and probably its mean-ing too.35

The subject of our buckle, however, deals with a different episode in the life of the Greek hero.If we compare the literary sources and the mythological iconography of Greek art, some diver-gences can be pointed out. Two mythological episodes concern the contest of Herakles with a cen-taur (or centaurs). The first one is associated with the cave of Pholos: Nessos is here fighting withhis fellow-tribesmen against Herakles. This myth is linked with the fourth labour of the hero, whenEurystheus ordered him to capture the wild boar of the Erymanthos. While in the Pholos’ coun-try, Herakles was received by the centaur Pholos, the son of the Nymph Melia and Silenos, and dur-ing a banquet he asked Pholos to open the barrel of wine that was the property of all centaurs.When Pholos afraid refused to do that, Herakles opened it on his own. The smell of wine attract-ed all centaurs who came running from everywhere, and a battle between Herakles and centaursarose. Herakles drove out the centaurs throwing burning torches and shooting arrows. The cen-taurs pursued by Herakles arrived to Maleya, where Chiron was hidden, having been banished fromthe mount Pelion by the Lapythes. Attacking the centaurs, Herakles shot an arrow that pierced theshoulder of Elatos and sticked into the knee of Chiron. Herakles ran up to him in pain and appliedon the wound the remedy that he once received from Chiron himself. Suffering from the incurablewound the centaur withdrew into the cave, to die there. But he could not die because he was im-mortal: then Prometheus offered himself in change to Zeus, who made the latter immortal and letthe former die (Apollodorus, ii, 5, 4).

The second myth relates Herakles’ contest with Nessos at the river crossing by Deianira. Afterthe accidental murder of Eunomos, son of Architelos, during the banquet of Oineos, father ofDeianira, Herakles decided to banish himself spontaneously going by Keikos, the king of Trachin.He arrived together with Deianira to the bank of the river Evenos, where the centaur Nessos sat,waiting to take travellers across the river against money. Herakles crossed alone and entrustedDeianira to Nessos for crossing to the other bank against money. Nessos however tried to rapeDeianira while carrying her. Herakles heard her crying and shot with his arch at Nessos when thelatter was coming out from water, striking him in the heart. While dying, Nessos drew near toDeianira and revealed her the remedy to preserve the love of Herakles, mixing the sperm he waspouring down to the soil with the blood from the wound made by Herakles arrow. Deianira fol-lowed Nessos advice and kept the remedy secret (Apollodorus, ii, 7, 6).

It must be noted that Apollodoros narrates the episode of the contest between Herakles and Nes-sos in a totally different way from that represented on the gold buckle. In the myth Herakles shootsNessos with the arch, and the same version is adopted by Sophokles in the tragedy The Trachinians(Soph., Tr., 576-583): «…When I was first accompanying Herakles as his bride, after my father hadsent me off, while I was in mid-stream he laid lustful hands upon me, and I called out. At once theson of Zeus turned and let fly a feathered arrow, and it went whizzing through his chest into hislungs…».

Other sources confirm the death of Nessos by arch and arrow, e.g. Hyginus (Hyg., Fab., 34) andDiodorus (Diod., 4, 36:3-5). Thus many ancient authors tell that Nessos was attacked by Herakleswith arch and arrow at distance. Perhaps the only source that tells of Herakles armed with his clubis the Berlin papyrus 16140 (Bacchil., fg. 64.26). If Nessos was struck by an arrow, he had enoughtime to give to Deianira the remedy produced by mixing his own sperm with the poison of theLernean Hydra left on Herakles’ arrow head, while a club or a close combat weapon held by Her-akles would not be reasonable.

However, ancient artists preferred to represent Herakles either with his club or armed with asword. We can hardly assume that the artists representing the mythological episode were wrong inportraying the scene. The reason of their choice is likely artistic, as the representation of Heraklesin close combat with a club or a sword would be more dynamic and expressive. In this case the artistwas free to give the centaur various defeat postures, either fallen down on his forelegs or rearing,

35 Abdullaev 2002a, 53-55, fig. 1.

A Bactrian gold buckle with the contest between a hero and a centaur (Herakles and Nessos?) 141while Herakles could assume anexpressive pose, trampling uponthe adversary with his foot andthrowing back the centaur’shead with his right arm raised.

The pose of the hero tram-pling upon the adversary, rest-ing on his croup with the kneeand throwing back his head wasa favoured one by ancient artistsin different regions of the Hell-enized Orient. The representa-tion of a fighting hero preciselyin this attitude was even accept-ed in the iconographical reper-toire of other religions, and it’ssignificant to find a nude herofighting the monster makara de-picted in this precise manner onthe architrave of the torana ofstupa no. 3 in Sanchi, dated tothe 1st century bc.36 Among thescenes that decorate the architraves of the parade gates, this episode somehow completes the maincomposition of the Heaven of Indra (Fig. 5). The naked hero rests on the monster’s body with hisbent knee, striving to rip its mouth with his hands.

It should be stressed that the contest of Herakles with Nessos was a very popular myth in theGreek world and was a favourite subject of artists for a long time.37 Ancient art knows three mainvariants in the representation of the myth of Herakles, his wife Deianira and the centaur Nessos.

There is a peculiar detail in this story: neither literal sources nor works of art do mention any ac-tive resistance by Nessos against his mortal enemy, as if he surrendered to inescapable defeat. Thiscan be explained by the fact that the myth as originally reflected in the oral and literary traditiondescribes Herakles shooting an arrow against his adversary from a considerable distance. In thiscase the unarmed Nessos could not oppose any resistance and have any influence upon the courseof the events. He could just think out a vengeance counting on the female weakness of the simple-minded Deianira. This concept of non-resistance persisted in the transposition of the subject intofigurative art, too, as the artists, following their professional goals, modified the mythological nar-rative and brought the adversaries nearer.

A number of artifacts representing the contest of Herakles and Nessos, in which Herakles fightswith his club, can be mentioned. A chalcedony intaglio (42×33 mm) with the representation of theyoung Herakles and the rearing centaur is very well-known.38 The gem, formerly held in a privatecollection and said to come from Alexandria, bears the inscription ™áÛȘ \EÔÖÂÈ (Sosis made), in aductus typical of the 3rd century bc. The figures are treated in a plastic manner with a strong mus-culature. The nude Herakles, the lion skin on his left shoulder, is shown standing with the club inhis right hand raised behind his head, while his left hand seizes the head of the centaur, who rearson the hinderlegs and whose bearded face expresses doom. The gem is very finely engraved, and isconsidered with good reason one of the best products of Hellenistic glyptic art.

Another Hellenistic intaglio, dated to the 3rd-2nd centuries bc, shows the same scene, though ina quite different composition.39 The centaur is fallen down, his forelegs bent under his body; Her-

36 Albanese 2000, fig. at p. 142.37 Baur 1912, Schwarz 1974, Vollkömmer 1988, Dugas

1960, Fittschen 1970.

38 Furtwängler 1964-1965, ii, pl. lxv, iii:448; Lippold1922, pl. 36:8; Richter 1968, no. 529.

39 Richter 1968, no. 530.

Fig. 5. Architrave of the Gates (Torana)of the Stupa N 3 in Sanchi. i bc.

142 Kazim A. Abdullaev

akles stands behind him, the right arm withthe club raised over his head, the left graspingand stretching back the hair of the opponent.Herakles rests with his foot on the back ofNessos, who raises up his right hand in a ges-ture expressing beg for mercy (Fig. 6).40

Another sample with the same subject can atlast be mentioned here, a glass gem in the Han-nover Museum dated to the 1st century ad.41The figures are turned left, the hands of thecentaur are bent excessively back and his rightforward leg is raised up. Herakles, the ends ofthe lion skin fluttering back, rests with his rightknee on the croup of the centaur, grasping thehair of the adversary with his left hand andraising the right one over Nessos head ready tostrike him.

All the representations mentioned share adetail: Herakles grasps the hair of Nessos, usu-ally with his left hand, so to throw back hishead, the right hand with the club raised forstriking. It must be noted that such a pose is al-so maintained in the scene where Herakles us-es another arm, the sword. The compositionwith the sword is often found in vase paint-ing.42 A black-figure amphora from Athensdated to the 7th century bc, bearing the repre-

sentation of Herakles and Nessos in right profile on the neck, is significant to this point (Fig. 7).Herakles grasps the hair of Nessos with his left hand, a sword in the right one, ready to stab frombelow, the left foot resting on the back of the centaur. An inscription above the characters recordstheir names, £EPAK§E™ and NETO™, the letters written from right to left.4

This subject became very popular in Greek vase painting in the late archaic and early classic pe-riods (amphoras from Tyrinth, Attic black-figure vases, Corinthian vases). Most of them are datedto the 6th century bc.44

Greek plastic art also offers analogues to the composition on the buckle. The relief that decoratesthe helmet of Menelaos in the well known sculptural group represening Menelaos protecting thedead body of Patroklos, reconstructed by Bernhardt Schweitzer, calls for remarkable.45 The Ger-man scholar tried to identify the artist who sculpted the group precisely on the basis of the reliefdecorating the helmet of Menelaos, which depicts the contest between Herakles and the centaur.The other side shows a leopard seizing a bird resembling an eagle, but with a tail in shape of a snake:the leopard symbolizes Libya and the fantastic bird represents Ethiopia. These are the remotestcountries reached by Menelaos in his wanderings. Schweitzer identified the author of the sculptureas Antigonos Karstos from Euboea, who worked for Attalos of Pergamon, and attached the deco-ration of the helmet to the Pergamene school of sculpture.46 Margaret Bieber considers this identi-fication attractive but not sufficiently proved,47 being in particular not ascertained whetherAntigonos is mentioned among the artists working for the Attalids (Plin., Nat. Hist., xxxiv:84).

40 For similar subjects see Furtwängler 1964-1965, pl.lxx:10; Lippold 1922, pl. 36, fig. 8; Beazley 1920, 87; Wal-ters 1926, pl. x:565.

41 Schluter, Platz-Horster, Zazoff 1975, pl. 47:310 E.42 limc, vi:i, 554, nos. 113-119; vi:2, figs. 113, 117, 120, 121.43 Boardman 1997, fig. 5, 5:1.

44 limc, vi:i, 839-840.45 Schweitzer 1936 and 1938; Brunn, Bruckmann 1898-

1947, pls. 346-347; Lugli 1929-1930, fig. 1.46 Schweitzer 1936, 17 ff, 104 ff.47 Bieber 1961, 79.

Fig. 6. Gem-Intaglio with the scene of fighting ofHeracles, British Museum (after Richter 1968).

A Bactrian gold buckle with the contest between a hero and a centaur (Herakles and Nessos?) 143However, the relief is particu-

larly appealing to us because ofits inherent meaning (Fig. 8).The subject was very popular inantiquity, as we have seen; how-ever placed on the helmet ofMenelaos it receives a specialpsychological nuance. The fateof this hero resembles that ofHerakles as regards certainepisodes, and the abduction ofDeianira recalls that of Helen:in both cases the anger and justpunishment arouses sympathyfor the heroes. It seems thatHerakles killing Nessos claimsvengeance for Menelaos too:the death of Patroklos was infact just an episode in the longand bloody war betweenGreeks and Troyans. However,Herakles especially arousessympathy in the scene whereNessos is justly executed. Andthe guilt of the centaur, who at-tempted to draw shame and dis-grace onto the family of thepopular Greek hero, is empha-sized by the passive attitude ofthe defeated, as if resigned to in-escapable death.

Another Greek mythologicalsubject displaying almost thesame characters, i.e. the fight be-tween centaurs and lapythes,has slightly different psychologi-cal nuances, as some samples ofancient art may prove. For instance, metope no. 1 of thesouthern side of Parthenon, onthe South-Western corner,shows the cruel fight between alapyth and a centaur.48 The lat-ter fences the head of the formerwith his left bent arm, ready tostrike with his right arm raised

48 Picard 1947-1954, vol. ii, 409-417, fig. 170; a similar sub-ject on other metopas from the same Parthenon displays a pe-culiar move of the lapythes, namely throwing back the cen-taur’s head and pressing the croup beneath a knee: cf.Brommer 1967, 71-96, 110-129; taf. 155-201, 211-239. From thispoint of view, it’s worth considering other artifacts bearing

the same scene of a battle between lapyths and centaurs, forinstance a 5th century bc crater in Wien Museum (Corpus Va-sorum Antiquorum 1974: Wien, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Bd.3, no. 1026) and a metope from the Temple of Olympic Zeus.See for example Ashmole, Yalouris 1967, 17-22, and limc,viii, no. 211, p. 689.

Fig. 7. Neck of an Amphora with Heracles and Nessos.Athens (after Bordman 1998).

Fig. 8. Fragment of sculptural composition with Menelausin helmet decorated with scene of Heracles’ fighting Nessos.

Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence.

144 Kazim A. Abdullaev

upon the shoulder. We may alsomention the metope no. 31 fromthe same southern side of theParthenon, where a centaurseizes the throat of a lapyth, going to beat him with his righthand (Fig. 9). This cruel fightdefinitely contrasts with thescene of Herakles and Nessos,and the example here men-tioned is just one among manyshowing the different psycho-logical involvements of the twosubjects, though similar in com-position. In some of them wedeal with a single combat of acentaur and a lapyth, while inother cases a battle with a num-ber of characters is shown: how-ever in the struggle of centaursand lapyths none of them isoverwhelmed by the other as tobravery and boldness, whileNessos is clearly inferior to hisadversary as to moral virtue, ifnot for physical strength.

It is worth considering to thispoint a silver vase on high foot,

preserved in Vienna Museum, showing the same subject treated with expressive strength and psy-chological tension. On the neck of the vase, a vegetal scroll with leaves resembling ivy runs, on whosebranch small round fruits are shown in slight relief. On the body of the vase, a hero is shown on thebackground of a leafy tree: he is pressing his left leg against the croup of the centaur, while his rightarm is raised above the head preparing for striking. The left arm of the centaur is raised high in a ges-ture of submission and beg for mercy. The scholar who published this vase interpreted the subject asthe fight of a centaur with a lapyth,49 but the psychological nuances of the scene most likely recallthose mentioned above. In this scene the gestures of the defeated differ from those portrayed in thecruel battles of lapythes and centaurs, where both sides face each other with equal force; on the con-trary, they most clearly express the guilt and the beg for mercy, typical of the images of Nessos.

The subject of Herakles fighting Nessos was treated by ancient painters too: among the mostrepresentative samples, a wall painting from Herculanum50 shows the naked Herakles holding asword in his right hand stabbing from below, and grasping the hair of the centaur Nessos with hisleft hand. To the right, the half-naked Deianira holds in her left hand the edge of a mantle wrap-ping her legs under the knees.

The examples mentioned above, showing the fight of Herakles and Nessos, witness that Greekartists sometimes freely treated certain details of the myth in order to obtain an appealing per-spective, an expressive composition, or just adapting it to features and demands of the artistic gen-der they were dealing with.

As to the actual subject of this paper, it is worth considering the informations given by ancientauthors about the procession to the East of the two popular gods, Herakles and Dionysos, that tookplace long before the journey of Alexander into Asia. How the Greeks conceived the presence of

49 Sieveking 1925, pl. 8. 50 National Museum of Naples, no. 9560: cf. limc, viii:2, no. 406.

Fig. 9. Metope no. 31 from southern side of Parthenon with sceneof fighting of Centaur and Lapith.

A Bactrian gold buckle with the contest between a hero and a centaur (Herakles and Nessos?) 145Dionysos in the lands of inner Asia is more or less clear, considering that some natural elementsand especially certain plants are associated with the god’s image and stand for him. First of all, sev-eral ethnographic and archaeological signs witness vine-growing and wine-making and the relatedcults. The cult of Dionysos may be confirmed by several works of figurative art.51

However, whilst the Greeks took the vine or the ivy-scroll as signs of Dionysos, which ones weretypical of Herakles? Which symbol indicated his presence in Asia? Herakles in the myths of Ori-ental peoples very likely melted with the epic hero favourite of the local ethnic tales. A very inter-esting information is given by Arrian in the Anabasis, where he says that

at Tyre there is the most ancient temple of Herakles of which there is any human recollection, not the Ar-give Herakles, son of Alcmene, for a Herakles was honoured at Tyre many generations before Cadmus sailedfrom Phoenicia, occupied Thebes, and had a daughter Semele, mother of Dionysus son of Zeus. For Dyon-isus would appear to be in the third generation from Cadmus, along with Labdacus son of Polydorus, sonof Cadmus; while the Argive Herakles was probably a contemporary of Oedipus son of Laius. The Egyp-tians too worship another Herakles, different from the Herakles of Tyre and the Herakles of Greece;Herodotus says that the Egyptians reckon him one of the Twelve Deities, just as the Athenians worship adifferent Dionysus, son of Zeus and Kore. It is to him, not the Theban Dionysus, that the mystic chant “Iac-chus” is sung. I think that the Herakles honoured by the Iberians at Tartessus, where certain pillars have al-so been named after him, is the Tyrian Herakles, since Tartessus is a Phoenician foundation and it is in thePhoenician style that the temple of Herakles there has been built and that the sacrifices are offered.

(Arr., An., ii:16,1-4)

In the mythology of Iranian speaking peoples, Herakles is often associated with Verethragna. Abronze statue from Mesene, bearing a bilingual inscription in Greek and Parthian languages equat-ing Herakles and Verethragna,52 is significant to this point. In the iconography of Kushan coins, es-pecially of the early gold and bronze coins of Kudjula Kadphizes and Khuvishka, that follow theGreek iconographic scheme, the name of the god HRAKILO bears witness of a variant of theGreek name of the popular mythological hero. The image of Herakles is also clearly moulded onsome terracotta figurines from Payonkurgan53 and Dil’berjin.54

The contest scene of Herakles against Acheloos is depicted on some terracotta plates, where thecomposition has been remarkably modified. For instance, in the early medieval and medieval peri-od the image of Herakles has something to share with Rustam, the popular hero of the Iranianspeaking peoples. A. S. Melikian-Chirvani55 called attention onto the connection of these mytho-logical heroes. We should add that, beside the mythological context, their affinity can be observedin some iconographic details of Rustam’s features, e.g. his head-dress in the shape of a leopard skin.This important detail of Rustam’s appearance is fixed by the Persian miniatures depicting Fir-dowsi’s Shakhnameh.56 A peculiar feature of the characters distinguish them, namely the fact thatHerakles wears a lion skin while Rustam wears a leopard skin, though both the feline predatorssymbolize strength and value. It is quite probable that the iconography of Herakles had a substan-tial influence on the development of that of Rustam, who wears the helmet in the same manner ashis Greek fellow.

Although the image of the centaur is quite rare in the Hellenistic art of Central Asia, it was however known to ancient artists of Parthia and Bactria who depicted it on a number of artifacts,in two iconographic variants. The first one, more popular in Greek art, is that seen on the goldbuckle. The second one may be recognized for instance on a gem published by Solomon Reinach.57

51 Abdullaev 2005. 52 Pennacchietti 1987.53 Abdullaev 2004, 32-33, fig. 12.54 Kruglikova, Pugacenkova 1977, 101.55 Melikian-Chirvani 1998.56 For instance, on a 16th century miniature showing the

duel of Rustam with the White Elephant (Curtis 1993, fig. onp. 40) his leopard skin head-dress is adorned by a plume. In the17th century illustration to Shahnameh showing the death ofSukhrob by the hand of his father, the arms of Rustam arethrown forward in despair as he recognizes his own son in the

wounded warrior. Between the arms one can also see thehead-dress constituted by the leopard skin adorned by aplume, that is typical of a sultan. On a 19th century miniature(ibidem, fig. on p. 45) in the scene of duel of Rustam againstthe Black Devil, Rustam’s head is again clad in leopard skin.These samples, dated to different moments of Medieval age,are just some of the iconographic analogues to the head-dressdescribed above, but they clearly prove the firmly establishediconography of Rustam.

57 Reinach 1895, pls. 57, 39:1.

146 Kazim A. Abdullaev

The rarity of the latter iconog-raphy lies in the structure of thecentaur’s body: his forelegs are treated as human ones, whilethe hinder part is that of ahorse. The pose of the centaur,his left hand raised to seize Her-akles’ head, while the right onegrasps that of the enemy, recallsthe composition of our buckle.Under the legs are the main at-tributes of Herakles, i.e. the hel-met, the shield and the club.

The image of the centaur ispreserved on some of the fa-mous ivory rhytons from Nisa(Turkmenistan). The centaursof Nisa, according the earliesteditors, «are sometimes repre-sented alone, sometimes with awoman on their left shoul-

der».58 «Some of the centaurs shown alone, which are badly preserved to present time, once prob-ably carried a female figure, as it may be inferred from the similar posture, the excessively wide leftshoulder with marks of falling folds of drapery».59 The interpretation of the subject was not asso-ciated by the authors either with the abduction of Deianira or with the lapithess Hippodamia: theysuggest that one of the Maenads of the Dionysiac procession is depicted.60 The main argumentagainst the identification of the subject with the Greek one is that «the woman is seated quietly andoffers no resistance». Such argument is debatable in our opinion, as everything in this subject de-pends on which moment was actually depicted: if the scene refers to the moment before the at-tempt to Deianira, her calm posture is definitely justified. However, there’s no resolutory argumentto deny that this scene may be linked with the mythological subject we treated above. The Hel-lenistic art of Central Asia knows quite complex iconographical schemes of the centaur’s image:beside the rythons, an archer-centaur and a golden plate with a centaur armed with spear and shieldcome from New Nisa.61

The centaur’s image originates from the Ancient Eastern cultures, as proved by Mesopotamiancylinder seals dated to ii millennium bc.62 In Hellenistic times, the centaur’s image is widespreadas far as the Sampula cemetery in Xinjiang (Uygur Aut. Republic, China), where a carpet made ofwoven wool (52×45 cm), dated to 2nd century bc-2nd century ad, depicts a warrior and a centaurrunning with a horn in his hands (Fig. 10).63

Taken separately, images of Herakles and the centaur have a long historical course in ancient art,and they should require a specific paper. If the interpretation of the composition on our buckle asthe fight of Herakles and Nessos is correct, it relates a myth concerning the life of one of the mostpopular heroes of Ancient Greece. Though in the Greek poleis, as well as in the colonies whereGreek culture prevailed, this topic was one among the most usual ones, the fact that Greek mythssurvived in the art of remote areas of Asia is remarkable.

The interpretation of this subject is to a certain degree hypothetical, and the author is aware ofits difficulties, namely the absence of Herakles’ attributes, the club and the lion skin. The argu-ments in support of this hypothesis are of an indirect type; however, until new finds may confirm

58 Masson, Pugacenkova 1959, 222-225.59 Ibidem, 384. 60 Ibidem, 223.61 Invernizzi 1999, 51-61, tav. G:a; tav. 8:a, tav. 9.

62 Ibidem, figs. 17, 18.63 Cf. Debaine-Francfort, Idris 2001, 197; James et alii

(eds.) 2005, 101.

Fig. 10. Figure of Centaur on fragment of textile from Simpula(China). ii bc-ii ad. (after J. Watt, 2005).

A Bactrian gold buckle with the contest between a hero and a centaur (Herakles and Nessos?) 147or disprove it, this reading can be held as well as the other possible ones, e.g. Theseus fighting a cen-taur, a Lapyth fighting a centaur and so on.

Hellenistic culture in Central Asia however reveals itself not only through material culture: thisis most remarkably confirmed by the Greek inscription discovered in the area of Kulyab, in Tad-jikistan, dedicated by Heliodotus, recording the names of the Graeco-Bactrian rulers Euthydemusand Demetrius as well as the sacred wood of Zeus and Hestia.64 Greek myth, one among the bright-est institutions of Greek culture, found expression in the works of Bactrian artists too.

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SOMMARIO

Antonio Invernizzi, On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the discovery of the Nisa rhytons 9Vadim M. Masson, The discovery of the Parthian rhytons in the Royal Treasury at Old Nisa 19Edward Dabrowa, The political propaganda of the first Arsacids and its targets (from Arsaces I to

Mithradates II) 25Victor N. Pilipko, The Central Ensemble of the fortress Mihrdatkirt. Layout and chronology 33Carlo Lippolis, Vito Messina, Preliminary report on the 2007 Italian excavations in Parthian

Nisa 53Eleonora Pappalardo, The rhyton no. 52 from Old Nisa. An interpretative proposal 63Niccolò Manassero, The têtes coupées on the cornices of the Nisa rhyta. Nothing to do with

Dionysus? 81Vasif A. Gaibov, Gennadij A. Košelenko, A horseman charging a foot-soldier: a new subject

in Parthian glyptic art 99Gabriele Puschnigg, Hellenistic echoes in Parthian Merv: transformation and adaptation in the

ceramic repertoire 109Barbara Kaim, The Parthian settlements in the Serakhs oasis 129Kazim A. Abdullaev, A Bactrian gold buckle with the contest between a hero and a centaur (Hera-

kles and Nessos?) 135

Gli autori di questo numero 151

Tavole 153