03-31-2013, 06:45 PM
Eduard wrote:
Hi Eduard, the Hermitage Museum which has this piece of the 2 Saka men, woman and bowcase in tree lists the caption under the photo on its website below.
Going by the caption they are not really sure how to interpret the scene on the plaque. I only had a Wikipedia quote on it being a "resurrection scene" which I didn't trust so thats why I started this thread in the hope that someone else might know.
Michael Rostovtzeff gives an explanation of the first image saying that the deceased noble lived in the local town/city most of the year but at harvest time(semi sedentary) and breeding or foaling season he and his family and armed retainers live on the land the traditional Sarmatian (Alan) way in tents and the tree with his weapons are symbolic as showing that he will defend his "patch" family and laborers against raiders and predatory neighbours. Sounds good anyway and the fact he lived in town most of the year contradicts a lot of Roman writers who describe them as savage barbarians who spend their idle time on raids etc.
Quote:The reclining figiure on the belt-piece is not dead. He has simply dismounted, hung up his belt and put his head in the lap of the woman in the tall cap, who is stroking his hair (picking the lice for all I know, you can see a reconstruction of the cap in Ospre's the Scythians).
Hi Eduard, the Hermitage Museum which has this piece of the 2 Saka men, woman and bowcase in tree lists the caption under the photo on its website below.
Quote:These double belt buckles were cast and decorated in chased relief, one the mirror image of the other. The composition consists of two male and one female figure with horses resting under a tree. It has been variously interpreted as a genre scene with the title 'Breaking the Journey' and as a scene from folklore or epic legend concerning the return to life of a dead hero. Such very careful depictions provide rich material for the study of ancient cultures. Analogies for the figures depicted and their clothes, the bow and quiver hanging in the tree, the horses with their bridles and saddles, can be seen among artifacts of Sakae culture, and buckles are very similar to objects found in the burial mounds of the High Altai.
Going by the caption they are not really sure how to interpret the scene on the plaque. I only had a Wikipedia quote on it being a "resurrection scene" which I didn't trust so thats why I started this thread in the hope that someone else might know.
Michael Rostovtzeff gives an explanation of the first image saying that the deceased noble lived in the local town/city most of the year but at harvest time(semi sedentary) and breeding or foaling season he and his family and armed retainers live on the land the traditional Sarmatian (Alan) way in tents and the tree with his weapons are symbolic as showing that he will defend his "patch" family and laborers against raiders and predatory neighbours. Sounds good anyway and the fact he lived in town most of the year contradicts a lot of Roman writers who describe them as savage barbarians who spend their idle time on raids etc.
Regards
Michael Kerr
Michael Kerr
Michael Kerr
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"
