Marks of the Ancient and Early Medieval Iranian-Speaking Peoples of Iran, Eastern Europe,...

133

Marks of the Ancient and Early Medieval Iranian-Speaking Peoples of Iran, Eastern Europe, Transoxiana and South Siberia Sergey A. Yatsenko

his chapter is devoted to one aspect of the cultural heritage of an-cient Iranian peoples: their clan and family identity/property marks, or nishan-signs (in Sarmatian/Ossetian—gakk). The main body of

evidence of this heritage is associated with the Early Iron Age –the period of the Iranian World’s greatest prosperity—while the smaller part relates to the early Middle Ages, when the political and cultural status of the Iranians was shaken. The smallest of all comprises the observations of modern eth-nologists. Our analysis will be carried out on the materials of four large geo-graphic regions of the ancient Iranian World, enumerated here according to the degree of their importance: 1. Iran; 2. Transoxiana (in other words western Turkestan or the western part of Central Asia) and Afghanistan; 3. Eastern Europe and the northern Caucasus; 4. southern Siberia and Mongo-lia. Unfortunately, the use of identity marks (nishan-signs) has, in some pe-riods of antiquity, not been documented in all these regions. For example, in such culturally and politically developed regions as European Scythia in the Ukraine of the 6th-4th centuries BCE2 and Khotan in Chinese Xinjiang in the period from the 1st c. BCE to the 7th c. CE, such signs have not yet been dis-covered for reasons entirely unknown. In the 1st-4th centuries CE they are still not known for the Sarmatians in South Ossetia (see, for example, Sla-nov 1989) and only rarely attested for the Sarmatians of Hungary.3

Iran

Wide use of nishan-signs in Iran is apparent from the time when the Achaem-enids came to power (after 550 BCE). The seals of the Achaemenid Empire

2 In archaic Scythia in the end of the 7th c. BCE in Kelermes (barrow 3) on each of two gold elements of the piece of gala furniture (a throne), manufactured in Assyria or Urartu, there are two simple signs scratched on the back side (Galanina, 1997: 227; Taf. 43, Ns. 35-36). However, they are probably signs of craftsmen from the Near East, not nomads. 3 In my opinion there are only four reliably authentic Sarmatian signs found on the ter-ritory of modern day Hungary (see Istvánovits; Kulcsár, 2006, figs. 1, 2 (2, 6), 3 [2, the right picture]). In the west of Chinese Khotan I know only the sign appearing on “Sino-Kharoshti coins” of the 2nd-3rd centuries (see Qi Xiaoshan; Wang Bo, 2008: 75, fig. 6).

T

134 Traditional Marking Systems

(which more often appear not in Persida, but in western satrapies which are well-researched archaeologically, for example, Lydia) served the primary pur-poses of marking for noble clans and families; the same can be said about the coins of local satraps (usually those in Anatolia). Noble Persians were often satraps and sometimes rulers of separate cities. Sometimes we can observe the development of a particular sign on silver coins of related rulers from dif-ferent generations. For example, comparing the signs of successive vicege-rents (administrative deputies) of Xanthos in Lycia –(Spenta-Data [475-469 BC] and Cuprlle [469-435 BC])—we can see sign simplification (from a fylfot with four rays to a three-rayed one) (Shahbazi, 1975, pls. XXII-XXIII). And one sign of a ruler could have two mirrored symmetrical variants (Ibid., pls. XXIII-XXIV). The nishan-signs of local clans that often show Iranian cultural influ-ence were usually presented on seals.

Signs of ordinary builders are found on the stones of most important pub-lic constructions in large cities of the empire. On the stones of the king’s pal-aces in such royal residences of the Achaemenids as Persepolis, Pasargadae, and Susa we see clan and family signs of Lydians and Greeks, subject peoples whose representatives were sent to construction sites. Several identical sign types are attested at different sites (see Boardman, 1998, figs. 10-13). How-ever, it should be taken into account that construction was organized in ac-cordance with the demands of the Persian nobility, and the character of sign use can differ from that which might be common in the original homelands of the builders whose signs are attested; it changed and became part of Persian culture. In the Treasury of Persepolis signs on stone bases of wooden columns formed horizontally or vertically aligned groups; they were left by no less than seven groups of craftsmen, 8-15 people in each one; only five of the most active builders were among them (Nylander, 1979: 237-238). Usually one stone was marked with one sign, which was also characteristic for a later Persian tradi-tion4, but in Takht-e Soleiman in Pasargadae there are a number of cases in which one stone was marked with two different signs, the purpose or meaning of which is unclear. In the most ancient palace of the Achaemenids, of the 6th c. BCE in Pasargadae (Takht-e Soleiman) there are two different builders’ signs next to each other on some stone blocks (fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Two signs of masons on a slab from the Takht-e Soleiman Achaemenid palace in Pasargadae, South Iran, the 6th c. BCE (photo by the author, 2008).

4 Usually in the later period a Persian stonemason carved his sign on each stone shaped by him (Wulff, 1966: 128).

A Preliminary Survey 135

In the period of the Arsacid dynasty (before 225 CE) Iranian nishan-signs are found on the coins of some rulers only occasionally. Initially such a sign was presented on the headdress of Orodes I (80-77 BCE) (Sellwood 1980, p. 85, type 31, ii); later on it became traditional for early rulers of the Sassanid dy-nasty. As for two later rulers (Vologases IV, 147-191 CE; Artabanus IV, 216-225 CE), nishan-signs were depicted on rare occasions on the reverse of coins (Ibid., types 84/131; 91, ii). In the king’s sanctuary in Old Nisa a few nishan-signs appeared on bricks associated with later repair work. Only one of them is repeated many times: the sign of Vologases IV (Pilipko, 2001: 220, fig. 158).

During the Sassanid dynasty (225-651 CE) nishan-signs were usually de-picted on headdresses of two kinds of officials (priests and civil officials), and on those of kings, on royal seals, horse harness, and on the ceramic decorative tiles of palaces. The signs of royal family members were often adorned with two spread wings. I know of only 17 royal signs and only 6 of them can be cer-tainly connected with a corresponding ruler (Ardashir I, Bahram I, Shapur II, Hormizd II, Khusrau II, Ardashir III). The most numerous clan and family nishan-signs are seen on the seals of civil and religious officials (see, first of all Bivar, 1969; Brunner, 1978; Henig, 1994; Gyselen, 2007). For a long tine they were understood (according to E. Herzfeld) as the monograms of powerful persons. Unfortunately, the dating of many seals discovered accidentally is very approximate, which interferes with forming a convincing picture of the sign development of this or that noble clan over many generations.

Fig. 2. Bishapur, South Iran. One instance from a series of identical signs of the archi-tect (?) on the wall of the Sassanid palace of the former emperor Valerianus, of the 3rd c. CE (photo by the author, 2008).

Besides this, we have a series of Persian builders’ signs on the stone walls of fortresses. A numerous and rather varied sign collection from Darband (Derbent) built by Husrau I Anuširvan (531-579 CE) on the boundary line with tribes of the North Caucasus is of special importance. Sometimes one slab contains two or even three builders’ signs, often close in pattern (see Gadžiev; Kudrjavcev, 2001, Abb. 5 (13-14, 22-23), 6 (96-97, 12 (270-271), 13 (336-337), 17 (474-475), 18 (504-505, 512-514)). The walls of the palace built in the middle of the 3rd c. CE for the emperor Valerianus, who was taken captive, offer another interesting example. Here on the stone there is only one re-


peated type of sign. It is very complicated in shape and probably bears witness to the fact that this important task was supervised by a very powerful official, rather than a common builder (fig. 2).

The dates and ethnic attribution of such signs, which today cover ancient constructions of Achaemenid and Parthian times from South Iran, are not clear. This is connected to the fact that most signs have no analogies in au-thentic samples from the ancient Iranian World. At the end of the Middle Ages the region was settled by a few Turkic nomadic tribes (Qashqai and others) and today’s ethnic picture is very mixed. After personal observation of a number of such depictions in South Iran in 2004 and 2008 I am inclined to think the signs abundantly present on the relief from Kwir (Huff, 1984: 227, Abb. 5) were made mostly by Turks.

Transoxiana

This region, rich in deserts and mountains, is today known for a number of important monuments. They include specifically formed nishan-sign accumu-lations on separate large stones, on walls and columns of sanctuaries, and large sign collections on votive ceramics in certain large sanctuaries, as well as a large series of nishan on the bricks of fortress and palace walls made by builders, and on pottery (the latter series was found mainly in Chorasmia and the lower Syrdarya—Kang-Kü/Kangui).

The largest series of single signs and paired signs on pottery and some other objects (of the 5th-early 8th centuries) appears in the pre-Islamic sanc-tuary of Mazdean type in Sidak (the middle Syrdaraya Basin, Shymkent re-gion, South Kazakhstan) (Smagulov; Yatsenko, 2006, figs. 1-4; 2008, figs. 13-15). The vast majority of the signs known today in Sidak are presented on hums (a variant of Greek pithos vessels) from the sufa (a built-in hearth/bench) adjacent to the east wall of the ritual courtyard from the 2nd-3rd building layers. Such hums were originally filled with human remains and used as ossuaries by the groups of relativies. Some signs have been dis-covered on the pottery from the upper layer of the citadel (7th-8th centuries) (this pottery belongs to the so-called “Kokmardan archaeological complex” of the Otrar oasis). Types of signs received common numbering (fig. 3). Pottery was usually marked with signs in graffiti technique (there are only three known examples of applying clay to the surface to make relief nishan). They were performed on wet clay before firing and it was done rather negligently, evidently based on requests by customers. The most typical zones of nishan-sign placement were the shoulders of vessels (on large hum/pithos; less fre-quently on humcha, flasks) or lower handles (jars, sometimes flasks); in sin-gle cases signs were placed at the base or at the mouth of the vessel.

On the whole, the complex of post-Kang-Kü signs from Sidak is rather unique, but when compared to other monuments of Central Asia it is appar-ent that a significant number of them (more than ⅓ or 21 out of 60) have exact or very close counterparts on neighboring monuments of the middle Syrdarya region including the Tashkent oasis (Ns. 3, 8-9, 13, 19-20, 24-25, 26-28, 29, 32-34, 36, 40, 44, 47, 49, 59). In addition to other facts, this last indicates signifi-cant stability in the local population before the Arab invasion. It also suggests

A Preliminary Survey 137 an active participation in the life of this cult centre by related neighboring groups. A large number of nishan-signs from adjoining territories appear in Sidak. The reason for this is, evidently, simple: it was a custom for worship-pers from different places to bring vessels with food (usually jars containing wine or grain?) to a popular sanctuary as gifts, and sometimes to bury some important men in an interregional sanctuary (nishan on the hum with human bones). The pottery marked with the clan sign of the donor was, obviously, or-dered from the local potter. For all these, there is a series of close and exact analogies with the signs of other regions in Transoxiana of that time (Yat-senko 2001, fig. 29, Ns. 59, 61, 93, 104, 115, 122, 127-128).

Fig. 3. Types of nishan-signs by group for signs of the 5th – early 8th centuries, from the Sidak Mazdean sanctuary in the Shymkent region, middle Syrdarya Basin, South Ka-zakhstan (after Smagulov; Yatsenko, 2006, fig. 1).

Signs of royal families of the southern neighboring states are of special interest. There is a royal sign known on contemporary Tarnavach coins from Chach (the Tashkent oasis) (No 9). A royal sign of a further type was made on wet clay on the shoulder of a hum in a complex of the 5th-6th centuries (No 49). The sign is unusually large. It has an analogy in a coin series from Bukhara, a part of Sogdia in the 5th-7th centuries. The coins show a ruler’s head in profile on the obverse. The coin type featuring this sign appeared in the first half of the 5th c. on the Bukharan coins of king Asbar. A sign similar to one from the Otrar oasis coins is attested on a hum vessel, but with an additional line (No 34). It was, evidently, used by one of the ruler’s relatives. And what does the appearance of the vessel with the ruler’s family or personal sign in this temple complex indicate? It may be a gift from the king in the form of vessels with food donated to the Sidak temple in the course of an official representative or a foreign ruler’s pilgrimage. Later on, emptied hums bearing such signs could have been used in a number of cases for the temporary burying of dead people’s bones. All of such vessels have a nishan-sign. Among them a big nishan known on coins of group 4 from Chach (which is located to the south) was scratched on the shoulder of one such hum; the minting of such coins started at about the beginning of the 7th c. (Shagalov; Kuznetsov, 2006: 141-142).


There are precedents for paired signs on some vessels (hum, humcha) (Ns. 65-66). This has analogies in Transoxiana only in some places and in single cases. Such a pair is usually placed on the vessel shoulder horizon-tally in a line. In such groups one of the signs (the left one) is much larger and the right one presents a widespread type for Transoxiana since the 1st-2nd centuries CE (Smagulov; Yatsenko, 2006: 253-254). In all probability paired nishan marked some significant joint action (sacrifice, peacemaking, treaty?). Representatives of two clans took part in it and one of the clans might have played the leading role. In one case the first sign was made be-fore baking, the other, next to it, after baking (probably to nullify the magi-cal value of the earlier sign). On one vessel fragment there is an accumula-tion of not less than three signs (No. 64). To understand the meaning of paired signs on vessels and dice (Ns. 62-66) adequately it should be men-tioned that one of them is usually documented in other settlements of the region (Ns. 27, 40, 47, 59), the other, probably, indicates the specific region of Sidak. One pair of signs appearing on ceramic (No. 65) is of special inter-est: both signs are connected with the previous period (the 1st-3rd centuries). Dice (astragaloi, Tadjik: bujul) made from the ankle bones of sheep or goats, were probably used for games in special “cult sites” in the ritual courtyard. Clan nishan-signs are present on dice; not single ones at that, but in composi-tions of two or three placed in a horizontal line (Ns. 61-63). Signs were usually incised with a thin needle (?), sometimes in a very regular and distinct fash-ion. One astragalos (No. 61) is of special interest: there is a line of three signs on it, the first and the last ones being twin objects; this astragalos is com-pletely ornamented. In the same field season another astragalos was found, with rather negligently depicted signs and the left showing evidence of having been re-patterned (No. 62). The dice from Sidak with paired signs (or groups of three signs having two identical signs) are still unique5. An astragalos with a pair of such signs, evidently, reflected some joint ritual (God’s will indicated as a result of dice throwing, etc.) undertaken by two clans (one of them could be represented by two people instead of one). Not long ago Tadjiks used such bujul in traditional “men’s houses”, where the participants threw the dice one by one round the circle, and throwing “knucklebones” that landed on end was considered to bring luck (Rakhimov, 1990: 47).

On the whole, in the Sidak ritual centre there is an unprecedented diver-sity of forms in one settlement (60 forms attested thus far) for ancient and medieval Central Asia. In our opinion it is connected with the ritual status and interregional importance of the place, combined with the abundance of donations from people located at a significant distance from the site. The only analogy to such an abundance of nishan forms in Transoxiana is the Choras-mian Koy-Krylgan-kala complex (an earlier, and also cultic complex) (Yat-senko, 2001, fig. 27, Ns. 27, 61, 81, 95-109, 114, 117-126, 126b; 30, Ns. 1-76).

5 For example, on analogous dice of the Sarmatians in the 1st century CE there was depicted only one gakk-sign (the ancient fortress of Lyubimovskoe, lower Dnieper Ba-sin: Bylkova 2007:100; fig. 87, 2; the Artezian Bosporus fortress in the Eastern Cri-mea: Vinokurov, 2007: 196, fig. 2, No ko-16).


The largest accumulation of signs in the Asian part of the Iranian world which is of great interest was discovered in 1997-1998 by V.S. Olkhovsky near the eastern coastline of the Caspian Sea (in the Mangystau region of Kazakh-stan), at the north-west precipice (chink) of the deserted Ustyurt plateau in the Sarmatian or Massagetian nomadic Bayte III sanctuary (of the 3rd BCE-1st centuries CE). Due to the researcher’s unexpected death, evidence from the complex has not yet been published in a complete form, but I have access to the material. In the ancient period there was a stone temple here. It had mas-sive walls and was round (19 metres in diameter and 7 metres high). The building had two floors, was poorly lit through an opening in the dome, and did not have access at ground level (it was possible to get inside only through the dome opening using a ladder). There was a small Maltese cross-shaped courtyard (its ends—three or four metres wide—were used to hold donations from believers). There was a small stone altar (also cross-shaped) with a sa-cred fire in the courtyard centre. It was possible to descend to the altar using a narrow staircase from the south (Olkhovsky, 2001: 219-221, fig. 1/1-2). There were figures of horsemen, two people at the sides of a maze, carts, hoofed animals, fish, snakes and decorative stripes made by believers on the exterior surface of the temple (Genito; Olkhovsky; Samashev; Frankfort, 2000: 18, fig. 8; Samashev; Kusherbaev; Amanshaev; Astafiev, 2007: 199, 204-207).

There were three gakk accumulations (about 130 signs of 90 types) scratched on the three parts of the cross-shaped courtyard walls. I designated them accumulations A, B and C or 1, 2 and 3 (see segment A-fig. 4). The pre-liminary conclusions were published (Olkhovsky; Yatsenko, 2000; Yatsenko, 2001: 70-73, 88, figs. 16-17; Yatsenko, 2005). Three stones, each bearing some signs, fell out of the walls earlier and the results of the research regarding these was published separately (Olkhovsky; Yatsenko, 2000, figs. 2-4; Samashev; Kusherbaev; Amanshaev; Astafiev, 2007: 202, 205). Additionally, 3-4 different gakk-signs were also depicted on the breasts of three statues of noble warriors (supposed to be ancestors of clans) standing near the temple6. When ancient nomads inscribed several different signs on one graveyard statue simultaneously, it could mean that all clans burying their members in this necropolis were taking part in the burial ritual. Even much later (in the 18th-19th centuries), in the same region, the burying of representatives of 5 nomadic clans of Kazakhs in one necropolis is attested (Azhigali, 2002: 466). Two similar gakk-signs on the breast of such a statue (at the Konai necropolis in the same region) evidently meant that two powerful members of one and the same clan took part in the burial ritual (see figure on Samashev; Kusher-baev; Amanshaev; Astafiev, 2007: 214).

The overwhelming majority of signs on the temple walls have analogies in European Sarmatia. However, they are dated to a later period: the 1st- early 2nd centuries CE, i.e. to the period of devastation in the northeastern Caspian region. The fact is that Sarmatian clans that soon migrated from western Kazakhstan to Southeastern Europe, and took part in creating the 6 Statue 1: Yatsenko 2001, fig. 16, II; Statue 2: Olkhovsky; Yatsenko, 2000: 302, fig. 5, II b(v); Statue 3: Samashev; Kusherbaev; Amanshaev; Astaf’ev, 2007: 254-255.


outstanding Middle Sarmatian culture (the beginning of the 1st c. CE), left such gakk-signs in Bayte III at the end of the temple’s period of function. Later on aristocrats of these clans roamed mainly in the lower Don Basin—the political center of the Early Alans—and also around the Azov Sea. An-other (smaller) group of signs is evidently connected with the period when the temple started becoming a ruin (ca. 130-200 CE). This group of signs is associated with the political union of the Late Sarmatian culture-bearers in the South Ural region, known in Chinese sources as the nomadic country Yang, and according to one of the al-Khwarezmi sources as “the center of Alanian land” (Kalinina, 1988: 95). Gakk-signs having analogies in neighbor-ing Chorasmia/Khwarezm completely correspond to the period of the active functioning of the sanctuary (the numeration of the signs types is given below according to my book, 2001: Fig./No.). The two royal signs of one type placed next to each other in the lower part of largest accumulation (A) are, for the most part, significant: they were already present on the earliest Chorasmian coins (28/15). In this group there are sign types corresponding to some let-ters of the Aramaic and Chorasmian alphabets (27/158; 28/62-63).

Fig. 4. Sarmatian/Massagetian signs of the 3rd c. BCE-2nd c. CE (section A) in the courtyard of the nomad temple in the Bayte III sanctuary, Ustyurt plateau, Western Kazakhstan (after photo from the V.S. Olkhovsky archive and after Samashev; Ku-sherbaev; Amanshaev; Astafiev, 2007: 206).

Judging from their size, the tools used to inscribe them, and the charac-ter of their placement a vast majority of gakk-signs (those ones which are inscribed in lines) were made during a short period of time and quite proba-bly each sign accumulation should be associated with the period of some short-term collective action (a collective prayer at the moment of treaty-making or concluding a contract, accompanied by a feast?). For all this, signs symbolizing the most important collective action in the central part of

A Preliminary Survey 141 the accumulation are sometimes carved with a thicker blade. Gakk-signs never cover each other. This suggests a short term or simultaneous period of sign inscription. They were usually carved in horizontal lines on long, nar-row stone blocks that formed the walls; one line could include up to 11 or 12 signs. Larger signs were often cut on the periphery of the composition. Some of the gakk-signs in group A were depicted with a leftward slant. In the main accumulations (A and B) signs are apparently placed in 8 horizontal lines of different length (the longest lines of gakk-signs are in the center where it was most likely more convenient to cut them, according to the height of the ceremony participants, at breast or eye-level).

In Ossetian traditions, arising from Sarmato-Alanian antecedents, the number 8 had a special significance, which manifested itself in different situations. Sign application in long lines is not typical for Sarmatian steppe sanctuaries in Western Europe, but it is known from construction blocks and single objects in neighboring Greek cities (Olbia and its surroundings) (Solominik, 1959, Ns. 59-61; Yatsenko, 2001, fig. 25/b, d). An original local gakk-sign (type 32/209) appears in accumulation А three times, each iteration being oriented differently (turned at an angle of 90 or 180 degrees relative to the other signs), which suggests that the relative angle of a clan sign depiction might not have been of primary importance. There is one more interesting pe-culiarity of sign depiction here: the existence of 6 types (including the royal one from Chorasmia, which was mentioned above) carved in pairs close to each other in one horizontal line. The latter could commemorate the presence of two representatives of one noble clan at a gathering or ritual. In the case of nishan-signs of the Chorasmian kings these could have been their official au-thorized representatives (see Yatsenko, 2001: 80). Accumulation A, where 8 types of sign appear twice (types 5/47, 5/62, 27/159, 28/15, 35/199), and even three (4/12, 32/209) or four (5/60) times, is a notable one in this respect.

Specific nishan-sign accumulations on stone slabs of different sizes have recently been found in the Middle Syrdarya region including the Tashkent oasis (ancient Kang-Kü). One of the slabs originated in Minguryuk (an an-cient fortress which is now located in the city of Tashkent) (Bogomolov, 2003, figs. 1-2) (see my other chapter in this volume, fig. 5). In another case we see the complex of three neighboring slabs discovered not far from Taraz (Jambul) city in the Merke district, and not yet published (see the main slab, fig. 5). Due to a number of analogies with complex signs both groups can be tentatively dated to the 1st-4th centuries CE. In both cases there is at least one schematic anthropomorphic image, and some of the signs are out-lined with an arc or a curved line forming an irregular oval.

In the Chach region (near modern Tashkent) the earliest series (group 1) of copper coins was minted by Iranian rulers, probably beginning from the end of the 3rd c. up to the end of the 5th c. CE, initially by king Wanwan, and after that by his anonymous successors. We know 12 variants of nishan-signs be-longing to this dynasty. These signs have an additional 1-3 dots (Shagalov; Kuznetsov, 2006: 22, 25) (fig. 6). It should be mentioned that we can see two sign variants on the dynasty founder’s coins.

A single sign is sometimes found depicted on human figures. For exam-ple, a clay jar with the shape of a male figure was discovered at the Kidarite


fortress of Jandavlyatepa (of the 4th-5th centuries) in ancient Southern Tok-haristan, near the Uzbekistan-Afghanistan border. Depictions of a tattoo on the cheeks and a nishan-sign on the back of the head are pricked (Abdul-laev; Stancho, 2006: 8, fig. 2).

Fig. 5. Accumulation of nishan-signs near Merke, Taraz ragion (Jambul), Southern Ka-zakhstan (courtesy of E.A. Smagulov, Almaty).

Fig. 6. Signs of the Royal dynasty of Chach (Taskent oasis, Uzbekistan) on the coins of the first group (the 3rd-5th centuries CE) (after Shagalov; Kuznetsov, 2006: 22).

Eastern Europe and the North Caucasus

The population of this region began to use gakk-signs actively later than groups in more eastern regions, beginning from the second half of the 2nd c. BCE. As has been recently established, the earliest, and the only complex ones are known today in Moldova, in the barrow necropolis of Glinoe near the Dniester River in two graves of the second half of the 3rd-the beginning of the 2nd centuries BCE (fig. 7)7. The barrow is thought to have belonged to successors of the Scythians, but the use of such signs on their own articles is not typical for them. The costume of those interred in the necropolis differs from that characteristic of Scythians, and some of the remains exhibit mon-goloid features. It is interesting to see that the signs appear on individual ob-jects, which is not typical for Scythian culture.

Superficially, it seems strange that the majority of Sarmatian-type signs in the Black and Azov Sea regions have been discovered not in graves of steppe nomads but on the boundary lines between their territory and Greek colonies and in Greek cities. But on closer consideration, it is not strange at all, as Sarmatian nobility dumped their goods in Greek cities, came there to solve political problems, received “gifts” from local authorities, and there

7 The gakk-signs were found on the bronze part of a noble warrior’s spear (barrow 63/1) and on the bottom of a clay bowl associated with the remains of a girl (barrow 81/3) ac-cording to unpublished artifacts and information provided by A.I. Chetverikov (Tiraspol), January 2003. This material was analyzed in my paper “New Complexes with Sarmatian Tamga-Signs from Bosporus and Neighboring Territories”, VI International Conference “The Bosporan Phenomenon”, St.- Petersburg, Museum of the History of Religions.

A Preliminary Survey 143 were probably special places where groups of nomads made peace (as a re-sult of peace-making, sign accumulations on stone slabs appeared). The greatest concentration of Sarmatian sign accumulations of the 1st-3rd centuries CE was discovered in the most barbarized city of the Bosporan Kingdom, Tanais (25 stone slabs), and in the capital, Panticapaeon. Indeed, these cities were the largest centers of trade between Greeks and Sarma-tians (Strabo. Geogr. 7.4.5). Usually gakk accumulations were applied in cit-ies on stone slabs which were inserted into the walls of public buildings at a relatively low height. Our analysis showed that sometimes signs were being applied to such objects for four successive centuries, but the basis of the composition was always formed by the record of some short-term action. Small sign accumulations in the steppes, on nomadic territory, were usually applied to small artifacts (e.g. ceremonial swords and their components; whet-stones, which warriors wore on their belts; musical instruments, etc.). They were also depicted on the walls of sacred caves and grottoes and on stone slabs at crossroads. The latter ones (judging from the Alanic-Ossetic “Nart” epic poems) were devoted to the God of roads or the more powerful patron of warriors and travelers, an oath keeper analogous to the Persian Mithra. Every passerby left his small gift on such slabs (for example, an arrowhead) (see for the South Ossetians: Narts, 1957: 16, 67-68, 397). In Sarmatia and Transoxiana separate groups of signs sometimes can be dated based on well-known signs of Bosporan or Chorasmian kings (applied, of course, not by them personally, but by their official representatives).

Fig. 7. The earlest Sarmatian gakk-signs in Eastern Europe: Glinoe barrow necropolis, unrecognized Dniester Moldavian Republic, Moldova (1 - bronze part of a spear, barrow 63/1; 2 - the bottom of a clay bowl, barrow 81/3) (courtesy, A.I. Chetverikov, Tiraspol).

Due to the military power of the nomadic Sarmatians, and due to their ac-tive political and economic contacts, their signs turned out to be prestigious and useful for their agricultural neighbors, notwithstanding the level of their development; this was the case for northern Pontic Greeks of the Bosporan Kingdom and Olbia, for “Late Scythians” of the Crimea, for Maeotes of the Kuban region, and for Dacians of the Lower Danube (Yatsenko, 2001: 22) and for some tribes of the Forest Zone (Voronyatov, 2008).


Even Jewish migrants who reached the Northwest Caucasus in the re-gion of the mouth of the Kuban at the turning of the 1st-2nd centuries CE also started to use Sarmatian gakk-signs on their tombstones. A series of such finds was discovered in 2002 at the Byshesteblievskaya-11 site (see brief information: Kashaev, Kashovskaya 2006:58, photo on p. 59). Signs on the back side of the first three of such stone slabs belong to Sarmatian aristocratic clans of the end of the 1st c. BCE-the middle of the 2nd c. CE in the neighboring Middle Kuban region8. On tombstones 1 and 2 this sign belongs to one and the same type (Yatsenko, 2001, fig. 5. No. 50). Considering the ethno-political situation in the region we can suppose these signs were applied in the first half of the 2nd c. CE. Stone slab No. 3 is damaged and only the right half of the sign depicted on it is preserved. However, in the context of other Sarmato-Alanian evidence its shape can be easily and accurately restored (Yatsenko, 2001: 29, fig. 4, No. 17). Representatives of Jewish communities, finding themselves in a complicated situation in this new location, probably had re-course to the protection of noble clans of powerful neighboring nomads.

Sarmatian gakk on the heads of Germanic gala spears are a good illustra-tion of the the possibility of extracting information from such signs (Yatsenko; Dobrzańska; Pivovarov, 2009). There is only a small series of 13 such spears known today; the material of my report on them is currently being prepared for publication9. These spear heads have been found mostly in the territory of Po-land, while other examples were fround in the Western Ukraine, in Northern Germany, and in Southern Norway (see, for example, Kaczanowski, 1995) (fig. 8). They reflect the second period of Germanic contacts with Sarmato-Alans now dated to the second half of the 2nd c. through the first half of the 3rd c. CE (Dobrzańska, 2001, c. 111) (figs. 9-10). Most spears have sockets bearing geo-metric ornaments composed of parallel horizontal lines, while zigzags or rhom-buses appear less frequently. As they have been classified today (according to chronological period and region) the signs of Sarmatia itself were used first of all in the previous period (from the beginning of the 1st c. to the middle of the 2nd c. CE) (fig. 11). Only five gakk of 26 (Ns. 8, 12, 17, 21) were verifiably in use at the time these spears were in use. As for their territorial distribution, Sarmatian clans (the masters of these spears) were connected, foremost, with two regions: the Western Ukraine (Ns. 14, 17, 23) and the basin of the Lower Don (Ns. 2, 11) where, in the second half of the 1st c. - the beginning of the 2nd c. CE, the most powerful political unions of nomads were located (Alania and “Great Aorsia” of the kings Pharzoios and Inismeios). Some clearly identified signs from our collection belong to aristocratic nomadic clans of Sarmato-

8 Unpublished material was provided by S.V. Kashaev in January-March 2003. 9 The paper “German Gala Spears of the 2nd-3rd cc. CE with Sarmatian Gakk-Signs” was read in 16.10.2002 during the 4th International Conference “The Bosporan Phenome-non”, St.-Petersburg, the State Museum of the History of Religions. The 12th spear from Ukraine in a private collection is unpublished: it had only one sign (fig. 11, No 24). The 13th spear is in Musov (Moravia). There are two signs of Sarmatian type: one of them is typical of the Northern Caucasus (Yatsenko, 2001: fig. 5, No.131); the close analogy for another one was used after the middle of the 2nd c. CE in the neighboring Lower Don ba-sin (see the previous chapter, fig. 4, No. 39).

A Preliminary Survey 145 Alans—the most politically active ones—whose signs are regularly found in ritual accumulations in different regions (Ns. 2, 8, 12, 17, 21). But by the time these signs were being made on the spears in Poland, the clans associated with these marks in Sarmatia itself had mostly disappeared under pressure of new migrants from the east, the bearers of an early variant of Late Sarmatian cul-ture. Furthermore, these signs were placed on items that did not traditionally bear gakk among the Sarmatians: ritual spears. The situation can be easily ex-plained. Germans could “according to their right”—“legally”—use the gakk of friendly aristocratic Sarmatian clans (cf. Yakhtanigov 1993:70) including those that had already been physically terminated (cf. Lavrov, 1978: 105) in the course of the constant cruel wars, so typical of nomads.

Today, there is every reason to consider the signs of the Bosporan kings not as monograms, but as nishan or gakk. We know 15 different types of them from the beginning of the 1st to the middle of the 4th centuries CE. They usually appear on stone slabs showing scenes of construction or military victo-ries during the period of the reign associated with the rulers indicated by these marks (Solomonik, 1959, Ns. 1-5, 11, 13-16); they also appear on special honor belts for officers in the middle of the 2nd-the middle of the 3rd centuries (Teister, 2000; Yatsenko, 2001: 46, 51), and sometimes on coins, horse har-ness, mirrors etc. Among many others, the finds of royal signs on slabs in sanctuaries from the Bosporan Kingdom and other Greek centers of the northern Black Sea littoral are of special importance. But in these cases they usually do not occupy a central position in the composition.

In three main rural re-gions of the Bosporan King-dom, in villages and small fortresses, we see the very interesting use of specifically Sarmatian-type signs. In the eastern Crimean region (“European Bosporus”) these signs were usually used in the period 1-150 CE (they were used by migrants from some neighboring regions); later (in 150-250 CE) the signs of central Crimean “Late Scythia (Scythia Mi- Fig. 8. German gala spears of the 2nd-3rd centuries CE with Sarmatian/Alanian gakk-signs: 1. Valle; 2. Medow; 3. Münche-berg-Dahmsdorf; 4. Września; 5. Jankowo; 6. Zadowice; 7. Bozda-nowo; 8. Strycowice; 9. Rozwadów; 10. Suzyczno; 11. Nedoboevitsy; 12. Unknown point; 13. Mushov.


nor)” were used exclusively. At the mouth of the Kuban (“Asiatic Bosporus”), in the period 1-150 CE, we have now identified the signs of Sarmatian and Maeo-tian migrants from the neighboring Middle Kuban Basin; later, in 150-250 CE, we see gakk-signs from various but more distant regions of nomadic Sarmatia. And in the most ‘barbarized’ region of the mouth of the Don, near the city of Tanais in the same period, all such signs are unique and suggest use by women as they appear on bronze mirrors and cauldrons. The common Sarmatian women who used these objects were the wives of sedentary peasants—Meotians. In these regions the majority of signs date from the period 1-150 CE, the time of the greatest political activity and wealth among Sarmatian no-madic tribal groups (Yatsenko, 2009).

Fig. 9. German gala spears of the 2nd-3rd centuries CE with Sarma-tian/Alanian gakk-signs from Po-land and Germany: 1. Rozwadów; 2. Zadowice; 3. Strycowice; 4. Jankowo; 5. Września; 6. Münche-berg-Dahmsdorf; 7. Medow.

Fig. 10. German gala spears of the 2nd-3rd cen-turies CE with Sarmatian/Alanian gakk-signs from Western Ukraine (1. Suszyczno; 4. Nedo-boevitsy; 5. Private collection), Moravia (6. Mushov) and spears with the sign of the Sar-matian (Aorsian) king Pharzoios (49-70) (2. Valle; 3. Bozdanowo).

The most numerous sign accumulation of a Sarmatian type appears on a

stone slab found in Kertch (former Panticapaeon), in Eastern Crimea, in 1871 (fig. 12, a-b). There are about 480 gakk-signs, those that have been identified date to the period from the 1st c. BCE to the middle of the 4th c. CE (Yatsenko, 2001: 66, fig. 9) (fig. 13). The majority of nomadic clans whose signs are present on this slab inhabited neighboring regions and were active in the 1st-the beginning of the 2nd centuries CE, in the period of pros-perity in the Sarmatian world. Kings and queens of the Bosporan Kingdom from Dynamis (8 BCE-11/14 CE) to Radamsades (308-322) left their gakk-signs here (through their representatives).


Fig. 11. Types of Sarmatian/Alanian gakk-signs on German gala spears, 150-250 CE.

Among relatively late sign accumulations of European Iranians there should be mentioned, first of all, two recently published doors from the end of the 18th-the middle of the 19th centuries; these were earlier used in special rooms for male guests in Midkhau castle of the Bituev family, in the Digor Gorge in Ossetia (bearing approximately 70 signs), and; in the Tagaur Gorge in the village of Kani, (bearing approximately 100 signs) (see the last fig. 15). Most honorable guests carved their signs (gakk, tamga) on these doors in large size and vertical orientation with short inscriptions in Russian and Arabic; other guests applied smaller signs in the remaining available space. About 90% of the signs belong to local Ossetians, others indicate powerful clans of the neighboring Kabardin nation and, to a lesser degree, Turkic Balkars. On the door from Kani, a sign that is supposed to be that of the family of the owner (Ailarov) is not carved like the others but was apparently burned into the door using a hot branding iron of the type used for cattle or horses (the sign appears four times). Many clans are represented here, with some individual family signs close in shape (Mamiev; Slanov, 2004: 7-8; figs. 4-5). Unfortunately, such doors bearing sign accumulations in the North Caucasus attracted the atten-tion of researchers only infrequently (regarding the Karbardin peoples, see: Pozhidaev, 1925:55; regarding the Balkars: Medvedeva, 1971).

South Siberia and Mongolia

In this region some single nishan-signs appearing as petroglyphs have been dated as far back as the Bronze Age, though it is not always possible to es-tablish that such signs are contemporaneous with surrounding representations of animals and people. Iranian populations lived here long before the time when the “nomadic empire” of the Hsiung-nu extended its rule over the region in the 2nd c. BCE and caused migrations of Turkic and other peoples. The first trustworthy example of sign use by nomadic aristoc-racy is an M-shaped sign of a king from Arzhan-2 barrow in Tuva, the Up-per Yenisey (dating from the end of the 7th c. BCE). It is depicted on a luxu-rious gold torque and on an item of horse harness.


On arrowheads made of bone from barrow necropoleis of the Pazyryk cul-ture in the Altai Mountains (the 5th-3rd centuries BCE) in some sites we see identical signs (Kyzyk-Telan), in others signs that are similar (Kaindu, Kyrlyk); the Borotal necropolis, the most documented one in this respect, contains signs on 12 arrowheads which are not repeated (Kubarev; Shulga, 2007, fig. 70) (fig. 15). Single signs on wooden imitations of horse harness from the Pazyryk cul-ture in the Pazyryk (barrows 3, 4, 5), Bashadar and Shibe necropoleis (Poltorat-skaya 1962) are of utmost interest. In the two latter necropolises during the burial ceremony the deceased was “gifted” with horses. They were slaughtered for him and had brands in the form of nishan of 8 or11 different clans. In the richer Pazyryk necropolis only two clans are represented in each barrow (proba-bly the clans of the deceased’s mother and father). In barrow 4 both participat-ing clans also took part in burial rituals, and in the construction of barrow No. 2 (No. 2 in Bashadar and No. 2 in Tuekta) (Yatsenko, 2001: 103-104).

Fig. 12, a-b. Stone slab from Kertch (Panticapaeon), Eastern Crimea, found in 1871, with Sarmatian gakk-signs of the 2nd/1st centuries BCE-mid. of the 4th c. CE (after Drachuk, 1975, pls. XXXII, XXXV).

Fig. 13. Specific regional signs of Sarmatia from the Stone slab from Kertch (Pantica-paeon), found in 1871: 1. signs of the 2nd-1st cc. BCE; 2. signs of the 1st - mid. 2nd cc. CE; 3. signs of 150-250 CE; 4. signs of 250-375 CE; 5. royal signs (after Yatsenko, 2001, fig. 9).


An important accumulation of signs is preserved on one long vertical side of stone No14 of the Great Salbyk Barrow of the nomadic Tagar culture (the 5th c. BCE), which is situated 65 km away from Abakan, the capital of Khakasia, in the Sayan-Altai mountain region (Marsadolov; Yatsenko, 2004) (fig. 16). Among these older signs we also see a series of tamga-signs of different local Turkic-speaking Khakasian clans from the 19th - the begin-ing of the 20th centuries (fig. 17) (Kyzlasov; Leontiev, 1980: 22-28; figs. 8; 12; 14-15; pls. 13; 47) (see: Ibid., fig. 5, 3, Ns. 74-76). Some simple types of signs are known for both ancient Iranians and “ethnic” Khakasians (Ns. 19, 22, 24, 27, 28, 30, 33, 37, 39, 51, 72). Nevertheless, their placement among au-thentically ancient signs (which are not typical of attested Khakasian signs) makes it possible to date them back to an earlier period.

Fig. 14. Door from Ossetian tradi-tional guestroom (the boundary of the 18th-19th centuries) from Kani vil-lage (Nothern Ossetia, N. Caucasus) (after Mamiev; Slanov, 2004, fig. 4).

Fig. 15. Bone arrowheads from the necropoleis of the Pazyryk culture (the 5th-3rd centuries BCE, Altai mountains, South Siberia) with nishan-signs: 1-3. Kyrlyk; 4-5, 12-21. Borotal; 6-7. Kaindu; 8-9. Kyzyk-Telan; 10-11. Yustyd (after Kubarev; Shulga, 2007, fig. 70).

However, most signs are ancient examples, contemporaneous with the pe-riod of the barrow’s construction and the burial rituals associated with it. Their forms have exact or close analogues in vast collections of clan nishan of the Achaemenid-Scythian epoch including the regions of Mongolia situated to the south and south-east and the Altai region situated to the west (Pazyryk cul-ture) (wooden horse harness and petroglyphs), and Khorasmia and the lower Syrdarya. Khorasmian ceramics and Mongolian petroglyphs have been better researched in recent times and provide further analogues. There are identical forms in Mongolia, identified for 13 signs. We can also find a number of ana-logues in petroglyphs and ritual wooden articles of Pazyryk horse harness from a neighboring district of the mountainous Altai. They are usually identical samples of 4 simple forms. Another group of analogues is located to the west –in the lower reaches of the Amudarya and the Syrdarya. We can find many identical samples on different local earthenware in the well-researched region


of Chorasmia/Khwarezm (17 types). The nishan-signs at Salbyk offer evidence of tribes of the Tagar culture being included in the Iranian World, and shows genetic connections with southern and western neighbors. 21 types are unique and they reflect specific local signs. The similarity of these signs in this case indicates only their initial relation and proximity to the primordial nishan complex of the earliest Iranians, and the sequence of their marriage contacts and political connections (sworn brotherhood). It is important to say that signs repeatedly seen on the surface of the stone (when the clan was active enough and was represented by many participants) have analogues, mainly to the south, in Mongolia (Ns. 2, 21, 22, 35, 69, 70) and, to a lesser degree, to the west, in the Altai (Ns. 30, 47). It may reflect the actual participation of guests of dif-ferent ethnic origin at the king’s funeral meal.

Fig. 16. Great Salbyk king barrow of Tagar culture, the 5th c. BC, Minusinsk valley, Khakasia, South Siberia. Stone slab of wall No. 14 bearing Tagar nishan-signs and the signs of Khakasians of the 19th-20th centuries (after Marsadolov; Yatsenko, 2004, fig. 4).

Fig. 17. Specific regional signs of Scythian time from some Central Asian regions (Khakasia, Mongolia and Altai) and the signs of Turkic Khakasians of the 19th-early 20th cc. from the stone slab of fence No. 14 of the Great Salbyk king barrow of the Tagar cul-ture, 5th c. BCE, Khakasia, South Siberia (after Marsadolov; Yatsenko, 2004, fig. 5/3).


The participation of some related clans’ representatives in funeral repasts is well illustrated by images on some stone slabs from another barrow wall of the Tagar culture in Khakasia (of the 8th-2nd centuries BCE) near Nizhnyaya Vaza village (Kim Jang Be; Jang So He; Bokovenko; Kilunovskaya, 2007: 261, No. 168). There are only three similar signs of related clans represented here (they have a semicircle in the basis of their composition). Signs of the Tagar culture on such objects have been systematized in a special mono-graph (Semenov et al., 2003). References

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