Human iconography on metal vessels from Bronze Age Middle Asia

Broadening Horizons 4 A Conference of young researchers working in the Ancient Near East, Egypt and Central Asia,

University of Torino, October 2011

Edited by

Giorgio AffanniCristina Baccarin

Laura CorderaAngelo Di Michele

Katia Gavagnin

BAR International Series 26982015

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ArchaeopressPublishers of British Archaeological ReportsGordon House276 Banbury RoadOxford OX2 [email protected]

BAR S2698

Broadening Horizons 4: Conference of young researchers working in the Ancient Near East, Egypt and Central Asia, University of Torino, October 2011

© Archaeopress and the individual authors 2015

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Presentation

de Martino Stefano viii

Introduction to the Broadening Horizons 4 Conference Proceedings

Affanni Giorgio, Baccarin Cristina, Cordera Laura, Di Michele Angelo, Gavagnin Katia ix

Settlement patterns and exchange networksCopper Mining Community in Transcaucasia during Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages

Gailhard Nicolas 1

Circulating through the city: an analysis of movement and urban space of a Northern Mesopotamian city

Tomé André 9

A Comparative Analysis of the Cultural Interaction Between the Western and Central Areas of Anatolian in the Third Millennium BC

De Vincenzi Tommaso 21

The socio-economic landscape of the Early Bronze IV period in the Southern Levant: a ceramic perspective

D’Andrea Marta 31

The Transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age in Northern Palestine

Soennecken Katja 39

Transferred Religion – Can Faith be exchanged?

Gropp Andrea 47

Palmyra, City and Territory through the Epigraphic Sources

Gregoratti Leonardo 55

Looking at and beyond Late Chalcolithic Pottery of the Burdur Plain, southwest Turkey

Vandam Ralf - Poblome Jeroen 61

Architecture and Use of Space in Middle Bronze and Late Bronze Ages in Mesopotamian

Temples

Di Michele Angelo 69

Socio-economic reconstruction of ancient societies based on archaeological, historical or environmental records

Demolition and Restoration at Giza: the Egyptian Sense of History and Heritage

Gilli Barbara

79The Modelling Skulls from the Ancient Near East

Marchand Florine 85

The ‘Hammerhead Bowls’ in Syrian-Jezirah: a Case-Study from Tell Barri

Raccidi Mattia 89

Wagons and Wine in Early Bronze Age central Anatolia

Whalen Jess 97

The Early-Middle Bronze Age transition in Transcaucasia: the Bedeni pottery case

Carminati Eleonora 105

Human Iconography on Metal Vessels From Bronze Age Middle Asia

Morello Martina 117

The Oracle at Didyma, Hittite duddumar and the mercy of the gods

Walker Robert 127

Italian Excavations at Nimrud: Preliminary Studies about Shell, Glass and Stone Small Finds

Somma Lorenzo 133

Ceramics from Achaemenid and Post Achaemenid Qaleh Kali (Tappeh Servan, Jinjun), Iran: Political Reality versus Cultural Actuality

McRae Iona Kat 139

Influence of the social class division on the Sassanian burial rituals (224-650 AD)

Farjamirad Mahdokht 149

New Sealings from Old Nisa

Manassero Niccolo 155

The Islamic relief-moulded jugs from Tell Barri (Syria)

Pappalardo Raffaella 161

Investigating the origin of Early Bronze Age monumental chamber tombs in the MiddleEuphrates Valley

Baccarin Cristina 169

Application of new technologies in archaeological research

Unlocking stories from objects: Some Ancient Near Eastern case-studies based on new research at the British Museum

Simpson St John 175

Inferential analysis in archaeology: the Chi Square and its application to ceramic studies. A

case study from Middle Bronze Age and Late Bronze Age pottery of Qatna

Iamoni Marco 187

Organic Remains from Middle Bronze Age Ceramic Vessels at Tell Ahmar (North Syria)

Perini Silvia 195

Close Encounters between Archaeology and Archaeometry in Cyprus

Chelazzi Francesca - Davit Patrizia 201

Basalt Vessels Distribution in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age

Squitieri Andrea 209

Broadening the Horizons of Space and Place. A new interdisciplinary, multiscalar approach on settlement patterns

Andreou Georgia Marina 217

New technologies in archaeological research at Palmyra: the case of the Italian-Syrian Mission PAL.M.A.I.S.

Palmieri Lilia - Rossi Giorgio 223

A Complete Operational Sequence of a Bone Industry Element from the Northern Near East: a Neolithic bevelled tool

Taha Buchra 229

Probable cases of leprosy in two skulls from the Koc-Oba Kurgan (Kazakhstan)

Pedrosi Maria Elena - Mariotti Valentina - Belcastro Maria Giovanna 237

Impact of human dynamics on landscape evolution

Frontiers and Fortifications in Assyria: an introduction

Morello Nathan 241

Exploitation of the natural environment and sustenance strategies

Iron Age Water Supply Systems regarding agriculture at al Madam, Sharjah (U.A.E.)

Del Cerro L. Carmen 249

The Jaghjagh river valley during the Roman period (II-IV century CE)

Palermo Rocco 257

Posters

Further Remarks about Lithic Production at Akarçay Tepe (Middle Euphrates Valley) during

the Late PPNB

Borrell Ferran 265

Parthian period storage jars from the south west building in Old Nisa

Ceccarini Giampaolo 279

The TeSS DaTabaSe for The CaTaloguing of The MoSaiCS of CreTe (greeCe)

Da Pieve Paola 287

The Defences of Hatra: a Revaluation through the Archive of the Italian Expedition

Foietta Enrico 295

A new Assessment of the End of the Oxus Civilization (Southern Central Asia, ca. 1750-1500 / 1400 BCE): Overview of the Transformations of the Society

Luneau Elise 303

Fortification Systems in Central and Lower Mesopotamia Between the Third and the First Half of the Second Millennium BC: an Overview

Zingarello Melania 309

HUMAN ICONOGRAPHY ON METAL VESSELS FROM BRONZE AGE MIDDLE ASIA

Martina MorelloUniversità degli Studi di Napoli L’Orientale

AbstractThis paper, part of my ongoing PhD research at the University of Naples L’Orientale, reviews the evidence for precious metal vessels production in Central Asia during the Middle and Late Bronze Age. It focuses on ten silver vessels decorated with human figures, where males and females, often dressed in kaunakes, are shown hunting, banqueting, ploughing and fighting. Unfortunately, none of them come from a documented archaeological context, except two from Persepolis and Astrabad which were not found by archaeologists. It is therefore difficult to determine the proper use of these precious vessels, but the richness of the material and the complexity of narra-tive scenes and technique argues in favour of their use in secular or religious ceremonies, possibly related to prestigious banquets. A secondary use could be connected with funeral practice reserved for the elite, in analogy to other precious vessels coming from Bactria and Margiana, studied in my PhD.These ten vessels share the same material, i.e. pure silver, the same cylindrical shape with flat base, which is quite uncommon in pot-tery, similar manufacture technique (repoussé) and iconography. After comparisons with other toreutic productions, I will suggest to attribute all of them, except perhaps the beaker from Astrabad, to the Oxus Civilization production.

This paper reviews the evidence for precious metal vessel production in Middle Asia1 during the Bronze Age and fo-cuses on the vases decorated with human figures.

During the third and early second millennia BC an urban civilization developed in contemporary Middle Asia. This is known either as the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC) or the Oxus Civilization which is the term preferred by the present author and by French archae-ologists. This last name comes from the Greek name of the major river, the present-day Amu-Darya, which runs through this otherwise semi-desert region. The fortified cit-ies and farm villages of the Oxus Civilization played an active role in the world-wide trade in raw materials and finished goods, which linked Mesopotamia, Indo-Iranian Plateau, Indus Valley and Persian Gulf. The extension of this vast cultural civilization is still uncertain. Between 2300 and 1700 BC2 it is supposed to have stretched from the plains of northern Afghanistan to those of southern Uz-bekistan and southern Turkmenistan along the upper flow of the Amu Darya (roughly corresponding to the area of ancient Bactria) and the Murghab Delta (known as Mar-giana), including probably western Tajikistan and eastern Iran. Russian and Turkmen excavations revealed the ex-istence of numerous sites, sometimes fortified and with a highly symmetrical plan, like Togolok,3 Gonur Depe4 and Kelleli in the endorheic basin of Murghab River in Turk-menistan; exposed the oasis sites of Dilberjin (or Dalverzin Tepe), Farukhabad and Dashly in Afghanistan; Sapalli Tepe and Djarkutan in Uzbekistan. In Afghanistan in the Sixties and Seventies and during the civil war (1992-1996), many ancient cemeteries were plundered. Bazaars, private col-lections and museums all over the world were filled with

1 The term Middle Asia includes here the five republics of the former Soviet Union (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uz-bekistan), and adjacent regions of north-eastern Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The borders of Central, Middle and Inner Asia, however, are subject to multiple definitions (Miroshnikov 1992, 474-477).2 Francfort 2005, 21; Francfort and Tremblay 2010, 51.3 Sarianidi 1986b.4 Salvatori 1993; 1995; Sarianidi 1993.

precious objects coming from the robbed graveyards, for-ever deprived of their socio-historical context.

The chronology of the Oxus Civilization is still problemat-ic. We can, however, rely on a series of radiocarbon dates,5 on the finding at Gonur Depe of an inscribed Old Akka-dian cylinder seal and a Linear Elamite inscription on a potsherd.6 Today, scholars agree that the Oxus civilization achieved its highest growth between about 2300 and 1700 BC.7 The main problem of dating is due to the fact that the large majority of precious findings of this civilization come from illegal excavations that have being going on since the 1960s.

The first scholars who understood the independent char-acter of the Oxus civilization were V.I. Sarianidi, M. Tosi, S. Salvatori, P. Kohl, H.P. Francfort, F.T. Hiebert and K. Lamberg-Karlovsky. They demonstrated that this was a flourishing civilization with planned cities with a palatine and sacred complexes, an advanced drainage system and a highly developed standard of craftsmanship. The only major hallmark of urban civilization missing was writing, according to V.G. Childe’s criteria.

The Oxus Civilization is especially astonishing for its fine metalworking tradition. The artisans could work precious metals available in nearby mountains and rivers8 to make statuettes, vessels, pins with elaborate heads, ceremonial axes with zoomorphic shapes, miniature trumpets, com-partmented stamp seals with both geometric and figurative motifs, mirrors and jewellery.

My PhD research focuses on the precious metal vessel pro-

5 Kohl 1992; Hiebert 1994.6 Sarianidi 2002, 333-334.7 Francfort and Tremblay 2010, 51; Salvatori and Tosi 2008.8 Precious metals, like silver and gold, both widespread in Iran, Anatolia, Transcaucasia, Afghanistan and Indian Subcontinent, were probably ob-tained from various sources at different times (T.F. Potts 1993; Oriss and Bliss 2002).

KEYWORDS: Precious Metal Vessels, Oxus Civilization, Human Iconography.

Copyright material: no unauthorized reproduction in any medium

Martina Morello

duction of Middle Asia during the Middle and Late Bronze Age. This corpus of vessels can be divided into five broad groups according to subject and decoration. So far the cor-pus consists of more than ninety vases, of which at least thirty are undecorated, while fourteen show geometric pat-terns like stepped motifs, crosses, plaits and so on. One vessel from Gonur Depe has an incised plant motif, while forty vessels are decorated with animal depictions (mostly cattle and camels, but also lions, deer, birds, snakes and wild boars). The last ten vessels, on which I will focus in this paper, show human figures hunting, banqueting, ploughing and fighting.

The ten vessels under examination share the following fea-tures in common: a cylindrical shape, uncommon in pot-tery where goblets, bowls and jars prevail, a flat base, the same toreutic technique and the use of identical material, i.e. pure silver.9 Unfortunately none of them come from a documented archaeological context, except the two respec-tively from Persepolis10 and Astrabad11 (probably found at the site of Tureng Tepe), and even these do not come from scientific excavation. It is therefore difficult to determine the real and proper use of these precious vessels. But the richness of the material and the complexity of narrative scenes and technique argue in favour of their use in secu-lar or religious ceremonies, possibly related to prestigious banquets. A secondary use would be in funeral practice re-served for the elite, as suggested by the majority of other vessels studied for my PhD which were found in burials or ritual deposits at Gonur,12 Quetta,13 Astrabad, Fullol14 and in the region of Balkh.15

1. SILVER PYXIS WITH ‘RITUAL’ BANQUET(LOUVRE, AO 31881)

A recent acquisition by the Musée du Louvre is represented by a silver pyxis with a conical lid, said to come from third

or early second millennium BC Bactria (Figure 1).16 On the body of the vase, decorated in repoussé technique, there is a complex ritual scene, where seated female figures pre-dominate.

From left to right, one can observe four seated women with a sort of kaunakes, similar to the Bactrian composite stone statuettes in the seated posture and the tufted woollen gar-ments. The last woman is holding a baby in her arms. In front of her stands a naked boy scooping some liquid from

9 A metallographic analysis is available only for four metal vessels ex-posed at the Miho Museum, whose elemental composition, determined by Energy-Dispersive XRF, shows a high purity of the metal, being either silver (as in vessels no. 5 and 6), gold (no.7) or electrum (no. 8) (Mayers 1995, 173-176).10 Hinz 1969, 11-44.11 De Bode 1844; Rostovtzeff 1920; Bellelli 2002, 123. 12 Sarianidi 2007.13 Jarrige 1987, 3-9; Jarrige 2007, 25.14 Tosi and Wardak 1972.15 Ligabue and Salvatori 1988, fig. 77.16 Amiet 2005, 29-36 (H. 4,9 cm; dia. 20 cm; lid: H. 7,5 cm; dia. 21. Acquisition 2002). In this article by P. Amiet the museum number (AO 31917) differs from that of the webpage of the Louvre (AO 31881).

a large jar. A seated woman with an elaborate headdress is surrounded by three conical vases. These goblets and the jar show some parallels with the pottery and metal ves-sels from Gonur.17 Another figure, badly damaged, has a strange hair style, composed of at least three pigtails hang-ing over the shoulder, and is sitting in front of another seat-ed person. The scene proceeds with two standing figures: one with a short skirt and plumes or flowers on his head-dress and carrying a caprid; the second is wearing a long skirt and holds a beaker in his left hand. Note that his skirt is similar to the knee-length skirt worn by some Sumerian figures.18 In front of them there is a low table, probably an altar. On it there are a vessel, possibly a plate, containing a caprid represented by his forelegs, and a standing large vase. Two figures represented one over the other face this altar: a seated naked youth offering a bunch of grape and a figure, badly damaged, with kaunakes seated perhaps on a throne. The presence of the throne is highly speculative. However a rather vertical line, visible on a broken edge, allows us to suggest that the figure wearing kaunakes is seated on a throne. A possible comparison is represented by a silver finial of a pin found at Gonur, in the shape of a woman in kaunakes sitting on a throne.19 Behind them an-other woman is seated, holding a wide bottomed vessel and a mirror or palette. The scene is set in a glade represented by four conical trees, probably conifers, which lay on the same perspective ground of the figures. The trees divide the people in four groups, giving rhythm to the scene.

This scene could be a ritual banquet or the offering of a lamb or a kid to a high ranking woman or a divinity, repre-sented by the figure on the throne. The standing male hold-ing a beaker could be a sort of priest.

2. SILVER VESSEL WITH BANQUET SCENEAND HARPIST (LONDON, PRIVATE COLLEC-TION)

Another banqueting scene is carved on a silver cylindrical vessel, which is today part of a private collection in Lon-don (Figure 2).20

The small precious artefact shows from left to right two seated bearded males holding a cylindrical beaker. The second figure is pouring some liquid from a jar, in my opin-ion, partly interred. In front of him stands another bearded male with a short skirt, drinking from a beaker in the shape of a truncated cone. He is rotating his torso towards the two figures on his left. A second group of males is represented by a bearded harpist facing right toward a bearded man with well defined muscles, holding a cylindrical beaker, similar to the one on the ground near the harpist. He is

17 I refer to metal goblets from the so-called ‘royal necropolis’ (Sarianidi 2008, fig. 88, 97) and the Necropolis I (Rossi Osmida 2002, 121-131). For the pottery see Udemuradov 2002: type no. 4, 5, 6, jar no. 11.18 For example an attendant holding the skirt of the priest-king on the Warka vessel wears a similar skirt.19 Sarianidi 2002, 231.20 Francfort 2003, 43-44; Francfort 2005, 36-37, fig. 6a, c. (H. 6,3 cm; rim dia: 7,6 cm; base dia. 5,4 cm).



dressed in a tufted skirt. Between them there is a low table with hoof-shaped legs, on which we see a dagger and some etched objects, possibly fruits. The horizontal angular harp with six strings is similar to the harp shown on a terracotta plaque from Tell Asmar.21

3. SILVER VESSEL: BANQUETING, PLOUGH-ING AND SOWING (MIHO, SF 3.055)

The Miho Museum, near Kyoto, exhibits several Bactrian vessels, one of which is a cylindrical silver beaker with a dropped base (Figure 3). The scene represented on the vessel is divided into two registers.22 On the upper regis-ter, eight bearded males are seated discussing and drinking. The scene, possibly, can be divided into four couples. The most important person seems the last on the right, towards whom all the figures except one are facing. Some people are raising their hand to each other in a gesture of saluta-tion. In front of the main character there is a basket with fruit or eggs and two elongated baskets. The man seems to be holding a different kind of beaker than the others, and indeed judging from its shape, it could be interpreted as a trumpet.23

In the lower register there is an agricultural scene with peo-ple and oxen involved in ploughing. The scene is highly symmetrical and in the middle there is an enigmatic im-plement with a strange profile. Although difficult to inter-pret, some scholars indicate it as a landscape viewed from above.24 I suggest that it could be a vessel with high stem seen in profile, or a trough for animals, similar to the one represented on Indus Valley unicorn seals. Two naked per-sons with a whip are spurring on the oxen: they could be youths or people of humble origin, because of their low-er stature and nudity. A walking man is probably sowing some seeds from a square basket.

4. SILVER CYLINDRICAL VESSEL FROMPERSEPOLIS AREA (NATIONAL MUSEUM, TEHRAN).

This precious silver vessel was discovered by chance in 196625 during work on a water channel, 1.5 km northwest of the terrace of Darius at Persepolis. It was found in a jar containing a treasure made up, according to P. Gotch Director of the British Council in Shiraz, of a bronze bowl, eight long pins and the vessel itself (Figure 4).26 This tall beaker, with a ring base, is decorated with two female fig-ures in high relief and a double row of scales around the

21 Lawergren 2001, 885, fig.4f; Francfort, Tremblay 2010, 151-153, fig. 24. 22 Amiet 1983, 24-26, pls. VI-VII. Aruz, Wallenfels 2003, 365-366 (H. 12,2-12,6 cm; dia. 12 cm). 23 Miniature trumpets are a typical Oxus product studied in detail by B. Lawergren (Lawergren 2003).24 Amiet 1983, 2; Aruz and Wallenfels 2003, 366.25 Coincidentally, this was discovered in the same year as the ‘Fullol Treasure’ was found in Afghanistan (Tosi and Wardak 1972).26 Gotch, Simpson and Taylor forthcoming.

base and rim.27

Due to the uniqueness and the high naturalism of its ico-nography, some western scholars have expressed doubts about the authenticity of the vessel.28 On the contrary, W. Hinz firmly rejected the hypothesis that the beaker could be a fake for two reasons: its discovery said to be close to the Persepolis platform and the accuracy of the Linear Elamite inscription under the rim.29 The standing female figure was compared by W. Hinz with a statue of the goddess Narunde from Susa while the seated female was identified as her priestess ‘Kuri-Nahiti’ by means of iconographic comparisons. It seems more correct to com-pare the seated figure with composite Bactrian statuettes30 and especially with the finial of a silver pin discovered at Gonur already mentioned.31 The standing woman is hold-ing two rectangular sticks in her hands: they could either be musical instruments made of wood or ivory stick dices, like those found at Gonur Depe, Altyn Depe and Harappan culture sites. Their dimension of ca. 13cm would fit the scale of this representation. A similar stick can be seen in the hand of a seated man represented on the silver vase at the Miho Museum, but in this case the stick is decorated by some hatching.

Following the 1970s, when many Bactrian works of art came to light, the authenticity of this vessel was acknowl-edged. D. Potts has remarked on the striking similarities between this beaker and another larger vessel decorated with a frieze of camels, found in the ‘Royal Necropolis’ of Gonur (burial 3220), and compared specifically the shape, technique, geometric pattern and rendering of the camel’s hair and kaunakes tufts. In his paper Potts argues that the vessel is of Bactrian origin and that the inscription in Lin-ear Elamite was performed after the vessel had arrived in Fars, as booty, tribute, royal gift or through trade.32

5. VESSEL FROM ASTERABAD TREASURE

The first known treasure in the Middle Asian archaeol-ogy, of unknown origin and unproven authenticity, was discovered in 1841 during the construction of the summer residence for Asterabad’s governor, in modern-day city of Gorgan (North-Eastern Iran). This set of objects, known as the Asterabad Treasure, was thought to belong to the grave goods of a chamber tomb found on the northern slopes of Tureng Tepe. Unfortunately, the composition of the entire deposit is unknown, because the whole treasure was dis-

27 Hinz 1969, 11-28, abb. 1, pls 2, 4-6; Amiet 1986, 157, 198, fig. 110; Pottier 1984, n. 250; Bellelli 2002, 116, no. 158 (H. 19,3 cm; rim dia. 9 cm; base dia. 10,5 cm).28 Hinz 1969, 11: ‘europäische Archäologen die Echtheit der Vase anz-weifelten’.29 The Linear Elamite writing system is attested in less then 30 inscrip-tions found at Persepolis, Shahdad, Jiroft and Susa during the reign of Puzur-Inshushinak, contemporaneous to the Sumerian king Ur-Nammak (2047-2030 BC). Notwithstanding numerous attempts of decipherment through bilingual texts and onomastics, it remains undeciphered (Salvini 1998). 30 For a study in detail of composite stone statuettes see Benoit 2010.31 Aruz and Wallenfels 2003, 367, pin no. 258, vessel fig. 92.32 Potts 2008, 11.


Martina Morello

persed during the 1930s. The treasure was made up of two gold vases of which one has a spout and a bird frieze, two miniature trumpets,33 two stone vessels, several weapons and two female figurines.34 Today we can only rely on ap-proximate drawings of the finds made by C.A. de Bode, who suggested that these were of Scythian production.35 Later the treasure was reinterpreted by M. Rostovtzeff as a local production with Elamite, Sumerian and trans-Cauca-sian influences.36

The gold beaker, taken here under account, shows a trun-cated cone profile and a ring base (Figure 5). The decora-tion executed in repoussé technique includes two human figures each surrounded by two felines and by conical trees. Under the rim runs a geometric motif composed of oblique crossing lines. A female or male figure stands in a frontal position, with arms outstretched and bent; the head and the feet are facing right. This person is wearing a long skirt with strands of wool. On the other side of the beaker there is another figure wearing only a short skirt and hold-ing in his right hand a weapon or a standard. Above both figures there are four rosettes or stylized bees.

The iconography of this beaker is slightly different from other vessels, being cruder and more similar to Kerman artistic production, but this could be due to the inaccuracy of the drawing by C.A. de Bode.

6. SILVER VESSEL WITH CART AND WAGON(LOUVRE, AO 28518)

On this cylindrical vase (Figure 6), acquired by the Mu-sée du Louvre in 1985,37 we can see from left to right: two bearded men on a wagon following a cart driven by a standing figure with a short skirt. Both the wagon and the cart have disk wheels and are pulled by a couple of running oxen.38 Oxen wear a strange striped object on their upward curved horns, possibly a piece of cloth to recognize the cat-tle. Beneath the wagon and cart’s scene, four naked people are running. The first and the third beardless males hold a circular object in their hand, while the other two males have their arms folded on the chest. A taller bearded male with ankle boots follows. He is holding a bow and an ox hide, as revealed by the tail.The vase possibly shows different kinds of athletic com-petitions: a contest between a cart and a wagon, a race be-tween two naked athletes and the putting of shots. Similar finds in alabaster or other stone are mostly found in burials, but they show different handles.39 Otherwise the scene of the first three running males can be interpreted as a fore-

33 Lawergren 2003.34 De Bode 1844, 248-250, pl. XVI; Rostovzeff 1920, 6-7.35 De Bode 1844, 248-255.36 Rostovtzeff 1920, 23.37 Louvre Acc. Nr. AO 28518; h. 13 cm; Amiet 1986, 326-327, fig. 201; Francfort 2003, fig. 1. 38 In three burials of the Royal Necropolis at Gonur Depe similar oxen drawn carts were found, with preserved U-shaped segmented tires (Ka-niuth 2010, 10).39 See for example Pottier 1984, no. 290-294.

runner of tennis, so that the two external figures could be holding rackets.40

A different interpretation is given by P. Kohl, who, com-paring this subject with the agricultural scene on the Miho vessel, suggests that it is a representation of a caravan of herders searching for fresh pastures.41

7. SILVER GOBLET WITH BATTLE SCENE(LONDON, PRIVATE COLLECTION)

This intriguing square sectioned vessel on a large stand comes from a private collection in London (Figure 7).42 Two of the four sides feature a battle between four archers: two for each side. An archer has been injured by an arrow in the stomach and is spitting blood from the mouth. The four warriors are wearing the same kind of garment and have an identical composite recurved bow.43 However the decoration of their skirts and quivers differs. On another side of the vase there is a herd of two he-goats with beards and long upraised horns and five spotted sheep. They are arranged, in a perspective representation, one behind the other, slightly overlapping. The last side of the goblet, bearing a complex scene, is divided into two registers. In the upper one a man is lying in an unnatural posture in an etched square, from the top of which tongue-shaped lines come out. The extremities of his corpse are not visible. This could be a representation of a fire pyre within which there is a corpse, possibly that of the arched injured during the battle. Moreover, as suggested by H. P. Francfort, it could be the representation of a grave of an ancestor related to the archers. Under this scene a naked beardless crouched figure, of indeterminate gender, is holding a bearded man using a rope. This figure, spitting blood, is struck to death by an arrow.

8. VESSELS WITH HUNTING SCENES

A silver beaker with a deer hunting scene is exhibited in Tokyo, at the Ancient Orient Museum (Figure 8a).44 Two bearded figures, one holding a bow and arrow, the other a whip, are hunting some deer with the help of muscular hounds, while a wolf and a dog are attacking a yearling. Careful attention is paid to represent the natural setting of the hunt.

Another silver cup in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York represents an ibex hunt (Figure 8b).45 In this

40 Tosi and La Cecla 1998, 31.41 Kohl 2002, 173, fig. 10a-b; 2007, 212.42 Francfort 2003, 45-48, n. 13, 49 (H. with stem 18 cm, vessel H. 12,6 cm, stem dia. 4,6 cm, rim dia. 4,8 x 4,8 cm).43 For an exhaustive description of the bow in Ancient Near East see: Zut-terman 2003. P. Kohl designates this type of bow as ‘composite bent bow’ (Kohl 2007, 210).44 Hori and Ishida 1986, IV, 1; Francfort 2005, fig. 18 (drawing by P. Amiet). Dimensions missing.45 Pittman 1990, 43-44, n. 30; drawing by E. Simpson (H. 10,1 cm; dia. 8,5 cm ca). H. Pittman assigns the vessel to a production of the 1st half of the 2nd millennium BC in highland Iran or northern Afghanistan.



scene we see a certain hierarchical rendering of the figures: the ‘master of the hunt’ stands on one side, adorned with pendants and highly ornate ankle-boots, with a double cir-cle motif. He is holding a whip to set the dogs on the prey. Behind him there is a very small kneeling person, with spare parts for the whip. Two kneeling archers ambush the ibex on the opposite side.

A third vessel is from a private collection, published by P. Amiet (Figure 8c).46 Although badly corroded, it possibly shows the return from the hunt. We can note a degree of hierarchy among the figures: the ‘master of the hunt’ stands in front of the pack of dogs, holding a whip; behind him stands a naked man with the prey on his shoulders and a shorter naked helper holding spare parts for the whip.

All the archers represented on these vessels wear a bracer to protect the inside of their arm while shooting. They hold the same composite recurved bow and similar arrowheads, probably made of flint.

9. ICONOGRAPHY AND STYLE

The main subject of these vessels is the representation of the elite, who is shown in a variety of activities like ban-quets, hunting, sport competitions and battles. The scene is frozen in the highlight of action, which normally flows to the right. The strong dynamism of the narration and the rendering of chiaroscuro are accomplished by Bactrian artisans with a skilful combination of carving and relief techniques. The figures were first hammered in high relief from the inside and then chased on the exterior, in order to render the details.With regard to spatial representation, we can note that the majority of the scenes are two-dimensional, but sometimes the background is represented either above the foreground or slightly overlapping behind, in a sort of perspective. Some vessels, like the one with the banquet and agricultur-al scene from the Louvre, show a high degree of symmetry in the composition.In human iconography a strong schematization and styliza-tion is evident, especially in the cubic form which charac-terizes seated figures and in the rendering of the torso as a cone. In some cases, as in the vessel with hunting scene exposed in Tokyo, the waist of the characters is extremely narrow. The schematization and adherence to aesthetic conventions is stronger in the rendering of human figures than in animal’s illustration, which is more free and natu-ralistic. The animals represented on these ten vessels are mostly domestic (dogs, oxen, goats and sheep), although in three vessels the subject is a deer and an ibex hunt; in the beaker from Asterabad two wild felines, possibly lions, are depicted.The side view of legs, arms, torso and face, as opposed to the eyes and shoulders rendered frontally, recalls the tradi-tion of Near Eastern art. People are shown seated with one knee folded back underneath, while the other knee is bent at 45 degrees.

46 Amiet 1983, 23-24, pl. V (H. 12.8 cm; dia. 10,7 cm).

Despite the general isocefalia, a certain degree of hierarchy among the figures is evident, especially in the vessels with the hunting subject.With regard to the style of garment and hair, the majority of men and women wears a dress made of fleet or fleet-like fabric, heavily tufted, probably a sort of kaunakes. The female dress is invariably ankle-length, sometimes embellished with longer tufts along the collar, while males wear dresses of different length and fabric, which mostly leave the torso naked or sometimes cover just one shoul-der. Some males also wear ankle boots. Some of them have fillets and leaf-shaped diadems in their hair, which is ar-ranged in chignons, plaits and pigtails. Bracelets and neck-laces with elliptically shaped beads find a direct compari-son with stone and gold ornaments from excavated sites of the Oxus Civilization.47

10. COMPARISONS

The art of the Oxus civilization was inspired and influ-enced in turn the art and iconography of nearby cultures of Mesopotamia, eastern Iran, the Eurasian steppes, Balu-chistan and the Indus Valley Civilization.We can note some similarities with the iconography of lapis lazuli48 and chlorite artefacts from the region of Kerman in the third millennium BC.49 As in the Jiroft iconography, the human body is shown full-frontal as are the eyes, while the head is in profile. The men are beardless with long curly hair and a prominent aquiline nose. They are mostly de-picted fighting and subduing dangerous animals. Human figures are standing squatting on their heels, wearing a short kilt tied by a belt. Wild beasts, monstrous figures and hybrid characters (like scorpion-men and two-headed ea-gles) predominate and are often arranged in heraldic and highly symmetrical poses that cover the entire space of the vessel. In general, we can note a more cursory execution and less interest in naturalistic poses than in Oxus iconog-raphy. These stone vessels might be skeuomorphs of metal vessels, trying to imitate their metal shine and their shape.

Fourteen silver vessels from Fars, edited by H. Mahboubian,50 show similar figures executed in repoussé, although they mostly represent animals in heraldic pos-tures. They share the same hourglass-shape and are often inscribed with Linear Elamite signs. Thanks to the inscrip-tions, they can be attributed to the last centuries of the third millennium BC. The only human being represented has been interpreted as an Elamite ruler. He is seated in the same posture as the Bactrian figures, but with raised arms in an act of adoration and wearing a hat with a decorated band, similar to the hats worn by rulers of the Third Dy-nasty of Ur.

Seated male statuettes from the Indus Valley Civilization

47 See, for example, Sarianidi 2005, fig. 108 and Ligabue and Salvatori 1988, fig. 72. 48 See for example a lapis lazuli token with a ‘love scene’ (Louvre, AO 26073), an example of trans-Elamite art. 49 Perrot and Majidzadeh 2005.50 Mahboubian 2004.


Martina Morello

are the most appropriate comparison with these Bactrian figures. Known as ‘priest-kings’ and made of low fired steatite or limestone,51 they share with the Oxus figures an analogous seated posture, kneeling just on one knee and with a hand resting on the bent knee. Moreover they are wearing similar clothes which leave one shoulder and the chest bare, and have fillets on their head and a thick beard. Note that a similar statuette in steatite was found at Gonur Depe, in the ‘royal sanctuary’.52

11. CONCLUSION

Precious metal vessels represent a coherent corpus that share common features such as their material, a mostly cylindrical shape, the same iconography and the use of re-poussé technique.What surprises most is the lack of specific individuals (as those found for example in contemporary Akkadian art) and also the lack of deities, supernatural forces and mytho-logical creatures,53 which are present on Bactrian glyptic, sculpture and ceremonial weapons.

In H.-P. Francfort’s opinion54 the figures represented on the vessels can be divided into three classes, according to their age and role: naked and beardless youths shorter than adults, with an assistant function; active adults with a beard and a short kilt, always represented standing, and bearded adults wearing kaunakes, pendants and fillets, mostly shown seated and inactive, in a clearly dominant position. In this classification he does not consider any fe-male character and the fact that all standing male figures are wearing a short skirt (except in the case of the ‘priest’ on the Louvre pyxis) while, when seated, the skirt is al-ways represented as covering the legs and feet. I would rather distinguish high ranking persons, from their position in the scene and the ornaments they wear.

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Figure 3 - Drawings of silver vessel with banquet scenes: Miho Museum, SF 3.055 (Tosi and La Cecla 2000, fig. 19).

Figure 4 - Silver vessel with two females. Tehran, National Museum (Hinz 1969, 15-16). To the right: detail of a silver pin from Gonur Depe (Sarianidi 2002, 231).

Figure 5 - Drawing of a gold beaker from the ‘Astrabad treasure’ (Bellelli 2002, fig. 155).

Figure 1 - Drawings of silver vessel with banquet scenes: Louvre pyxis, AO 31881 (new drawing exposed at the Louvre).

Figure 2 - Drawings of silver vessel with banquet scenes: London, private collection (Francfort 2003, 44, fig. 1).



Figure 6 - Drawing of a silver beaker with wagon and cart. Louvre Museum, AO 28518 (Tosi and La Cecla 2000, fig. 18).

Figure 7 - Drawing of a silver vessel with battle scene. London, private collection (Francfort 2003, 49).

Figure 8 - Drawings of three silver vessels with hunting scenes: a. Tokyo, Ancient Orient Museum (Hori- Ishida 1986, IV, 3-4).b. Metropolitan Museum (Von Bothmer 1990, 44).c. Private collection (Amiet 1983, tav. V).


Human iconography on metal vessels from Bronze Age Middle Asia

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