Parthian Aspects of Objects from Grave IV, Tillya Tepe (original) (raw)
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Archaeological Discoveries at Tillya–tepe and Parthia's Relations with Bactria
Abstract A number of studies have been published on a variety of aspects of the Tillya-tepe necroplis, its cultural associations and ethnic interpretations. However, the determination both of its date and origin, as well as of the ethnicity of the nomads who established the necroplis has proved an extremely controversial issue. A closer examination is needed of the coins and the attributes of power discovered in the furnishings of the Tillya-tepe graves. The necropolis should be seen in the context of Parthian history in the 40s and 50s A.D., when during the reigns of Vardanes, Gotarzes II and Vologases I the clans of Bactria engaged in the Parthian domestic conflict. Taking the historical developments into account, it seems reasonable to reduce the time interval for the death of the prince of Tillya-tepe to ca. A.D. 41-53, when the Sakas and other peoples of the north-eastern marches of Parthia were taking an active part in the battle of the Parthian giants. Keywords: Tillya-tepe, Parthia, Arsacids, Bactria, Afghanistan, Indo-Parthians, attributes of power, numismatic evidence. DOI: 10.19272/201603501001 PARTHICA 18, 2016, Pagine: 9-29 (21)
Graves, Crypts and Parthian Weapons excavated from the Gravesites of Vestemin
Historia i Świat
The article describes a series of finds of Parthian military items in the graves and crypts of Vestemin in northern Iran. These findings are especially significant as they provide an array of discoveries of military equipment: swords, daggers, spearheads, arrowheads, armor and a possible helmet. This study obliges a revision of Winkelman’s observation that “few finds of weapons have been made inside Iran” with respect to Parthian military equipment. In an overall sense, these findings may prove to be as significant to the domain of Parthian military studies as the well-known site of Dura Europos. The excavations have also discovered a coin of Philip the Arab or his son from the early Sasanian era which has assisted the authors’ dating of the Vestemin site. The site of Vestemin is not exclusively a burial venue as the site also has defense works as well as a fortress dated the later Parthian era c. 1st century BCE to 3rd century CE).
A study of the gold folding crown from Tillya-tepe as an indicator of cultural exchange and status
Abstract An elaborate, collapsible crown was found in the grave of a woman at Tillya-tepe, an important burial site in modern Afghanistan, in the borderlands of Bactria and the Parthian world and at a nodal point on major communication routes through Central Asia to China. The crown was among thousands of objects excavated from six richly provisioned, elite burials dating to the 1st century CE. Both its form and ornament reflect Tillya-tepe’s pivotal position between different cultures. This gold crown comprises a diadem decorated with an ensemble of five trees with birds in their upper branches and spiny beasts at their bases. This configuration of motifs relates it to headdresses from the Altai region, the Southern Urals, and the Pontic-Caspian area. However, it is uniquely covered with six-petalled rosettes, identifiable as narcissus flowers, which are more usually found in Graeco-Roman and Parthian contexts. The paper to be presented entails an analysis of the crown’s structure and associated imagery and will consider the transmission from different sources of both its form and motifs. It may be demonstrated that these diverse iconographies converge to provide strong clues towards the status and worldview of the crown’s owner. This evaluation is measured against the backdrop of the Central Asian nomadic heritage of the Tillya-tepe folk.
Prince in Tillya Tepe Necropolis Accompanied by Celtic Bear Goddess and Five Bridal Burials
Synopsis The discovery of opulent graves in Tillya Tepe the Gold Mound in northern Afghanistan led to the unearthing of unusual burial customs contemporary to the equally enigmatic funerary cults in Central Asia and 'Buddhist' South Asia. The internment of a prince in the cusp of the fortified wall with a sacrificial horse buried immediately in front indicates the equid's importance in the funerary rituals, which is implied by ceremonial horse reliefs on Buddhist funerary monuments. A fire temple near the single entryway and five bridal burials located in and outside a symmetrical fortified plan aligned along a northwest-southeast axis help to reconstruct the intrinsic factors surrounding the deified dead. Tillya Tepe's orientation is related to a princely tomb in (Kazakhstan) (S. Lepetz. 'Horse sacrifice in a Pazyryk culture kurgan: the princely tomb of Berel' (Kazakhstan) – Selection criteria and slaughter procedures' in Anthropozoologica 48 (2) 2013: 309-321. http://dx.doi.org/10.5252/az2013n2a9). The well preserved grave goods in Tillya Tepe are datable to early first century. The stunning turquoise-encrusted arms and embossed gold ornaments in inter cultural style show the precise methods by which the dead may be truly identified and placed in their historic context. Only a little distance away in Begram (Kapisa) a significant cache of Phoenician style ivories, Roman glass, Alexandrian bronze and Hellenistic plaster medallions were found in two sealed chambers of Kushana kings of Scythian origin. The gold vessels from the Tepe Fullol hoard and the amazing votive objects from the Aï Khanum necropolis with Persian type of niche temple demonstrates the significance of Afghanistan in the crossroads of a peculiar funerary cult burgeoning along the Silk Road. The unique burial goods of a prince in tomb IV from Tillya Tepe necropolis known as the Golden Mound is part of the narrative in my forthcoming book Jewellery in Buddhist Reliquary Cult: Magic Symbols (2017-18). The astonishing resurrection of Christ amplified the quest for immortality. While postmortem healing and heavenly afterlife became a desirable reality, the New Age elixir was stirred by the combined power and prestige of erudite Egyptian priests, Scythian shamans and Celtic druids. From Rome to Han China and from Siberia to South Asia the phenomenon of grave culture and hero worship was connected by the Silk Road. Tillya Tepe necropolis 80 miles west of Mazar-i Sharif is located between Amu Darya and the Hindu Kush mountains in northern Afghanistan. The kurghans of Eurasian steppe warriors in the crossroads of Central Asia correspond to the stupa monuments mushrooming in South Asia. The burgeoning funerary cult culminates in the opulent tomb of a prince, which is inclusive of a ring of five bridal burials wearing splendid jewellery and clad in textiles embroidered in gold. A horse too was sacrificed and buried alongside the prince. The tombs are numbered according to their order of discovery during the