Byzantine Belt Ornaments of the 7th and 8th Centuries in Avar Contexts (original) (raw)
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'BUCKLE UP AND FASTEN THAT BELT!' METAL BELTS IN THE EARLY AND MIDDLE BRONZE AGE
Ägypten und Levante 29, 2019
Among the many finds recovered from Tell el-Dabʿa are five decorated metal sheets, or belts, that were most probably originally sewn onto a piece of leather or textile. Such metal belts are a very special feature attested for the first time in Early Bronze Age Mesopotamia. Their occurrence in the archaeological record is limited to tombs that featured several significant finds, including weapons, in their inventory. The grave goods highlight the importance, status and wealth of the interred deceased. The design of metal belts within the distribution area in the Middle Bronze Age is very similar; the decoration, if any, is composed of differing arrangements of concentric circles of varying sizes. According to some Northern Levantine and Anatolian metal figurines, the belts were worn around the waist and buckled at the front. Metal belts were still worn in the Late Bronze and Iron Ages, as attested by statues and actual finds. 1 The following article adds to a number of publications on metal belts, 2 collecting all known attestations dating up to the end of the Middle Bronze Age. The aim of this paper is to determine their distribution range and elucidate their contexts to mirror networks of people sharing a similar cultural background and ancient trade connections. In addition to the elongated metal belts known from Tell el-Dabʿa, possible parts of belts, such as discs and belt fasteners, are also presented in the scope of this article.
ArhIn, 2016
In Romania, the presence of belts in graves dating back to the Middle Ages is currently a less debated subject within the field literature. With the exception of a few comments on the belt items discovered in treasuries and several other found in graves, there are no published studies for the chronologic interval of the 12th–15th centuries. There are only a few paragraphs, as part of larger articles, however referring especially to the previous period, namely 10th–11th centuries. For the period, we are dealing with, the topic of this dress accessory has been approached in some studies published in Southeastern Europe, especially in Hungary, Bulgaria and Serbia. The existence of belts in the graves is generally evidenced by the presence of the simple buckles (comprising a quite varied range of forms), the belt appliqués, the plate buckles and the belt flaps. These were used by various populations without representing a certain specific for any of them. Compared to the previous period when the number of graves containing belts with appliqués was slightly higher, one is able to observe their increasing rarity starting with the 12th century. Their discovery, especially in treasuries, associated with the fact that they were also represented in the iconography of the time, as for example in the mural painting in Crișcior church (depicting knez Bâlea), is proof that these belts began being used especially by the nobility or the boyars and the members of the ruling families. Due to their rarity and decoration by means of appliqués, we are able to demonstrate on one hand a more pronounced social stratification, and on the other hand a refinement in the taste of the elites and their financial means, high enough to acquire such items. While in the previous period, the burial containing belts decorated with appliqués was not unusual during the ritual practices, especially for the nomadic steppe populations, this custom almost disappeared starting with the 12th century and was only revived periodically as a consequence of the penetration of new waves or groups of nomadic populations arrived from the north of the Black Sea, especially the Cumans. The fact that the belts were only rarely deposited inside the graves can mean two things. Firstly, that their price was extremely high to be lost or left in a grave, and secondly, they were also a transferable rank insignia. The medieval documents contain specific information regarding, for example, the case of such a belt along with a tiara being the object of a litigation between two noblemen (namely Peter, son of Pavel de Remetea and Grigore de Chernech) from Caraș county. The litigation was presided by Nicolae Kont, the palatine of Hungary and judge of the Cumans, in 1364. The monetary values mentioned in the document for the tiara demonstrate the value of such an item and indirectly explain why they were not deposited inside the graves, but made the object of hoarding. Overall, we can say that the burial custom with belts with appliqués has at least two directions of penetration, the first from the North-Pontic space carried by the nomadic populations and the second from Central Europe. In both cases, however, their usage within funerary practices was gradually abandoned. So far, their presence inside the graves is observable by means of a few aspects. Firstly, they can be found in almost any type of cemetery, whether they are in the rural or the urban environment, with or without church, or in monastery cemeteries. Secondly, they were found both in children and adult graves. To these aspects, we must also add the fact that valuable items were found deposited inside the graves only in an exceptional manner, while the gold or silver items were generally hoarded.
Ars Orientalis , 2018
Around 1300, horizontal bands began to appear on cloths-of-gold produced in Central Asia and the Mediterranean. Embellishments to the silk panels, they are woven in from selvage to selvage, where they either interrupt or superimpose the pattern repeat. As cloths-of-gold were highly valuable, treasured trade objects, most found their way to Europe, where they functioned as liturgical vestments, grave furnishings, or in reliquaries. Following this object transfer, knowledge of the intended function of these bands was lost. Using the two horizontal bands on silks Ia and Ib, part of the dalmatic and tunicella of the so-called vestments of Henry II (d. 1024), this article seeks to determine where and during which interval these horizontal bands appeared on a cloth-of-gold, and to identify— by comparing silks Ia and Ib to other silks with horizontal bands and to depictions of horizontal bands in other media, as well as by discussing the Arabic inscriptions— these bands' intended function in an Īlḫānid dress.