Catalogue - Metropolitan Museum of Art

63
A hero in Persian dress holds a short
sword with which he will stab the rearing
lion. Above is an identifying sign. The
seal is probably a century earlier than the
4th-century tomb in which it was found.
It may have been made in Anatolia, a
western province of the Achaemenid
empire, rather than in Iran.
Finger ring with octagonal seal of a king
confronting a lion. Chalcedony and gold,
length of seal 2.3 cm. (7/8 in.).
Achaemenid, 5th-4th century B.C.
(Mounting, 4th century B.C.). Taman
peninsula, Great Bliznitsa kurgan, burial 4.
Excavations of A. E. Lyutsenko, 1868.
Hermitage, BB 123.
OAK 1869, p. 140, pl. I, 18.
64
The motif of Aphrodite leaning on a pillar
while Eros ties the straps of her sandals
enters Greek art in the late 5th century
B.C., but the representation of Aphrodite
with her body bared does not occur before
the 4th century. This ring is unusual in
that the decoration on the bezel is not
engraved but in low relief, indicating that
it would not have been used for sealing.
Finger ring, scarab bezel with Aphrodite and
Eros on the reverse. Gold, length of scarab
2.5 cm. (1 in.).
Greek, 4th century B.C. Taman peninsula,
Great Bliznitsa kurgan, burial 1.
Excavations of I. E. Zabelin and A. E.
Lyutsenko, 1864. Hermitage, BB 40.
Artamonov, Splendor, fig. 144, pl. 280.
65 (Color plate 9)
The dancer at the left performs the
oklasma, a Persian dance described by
Xenophon in which the arms are held
above the head with the hands clasped.
The others wear a special headdress called
a kalathos and dance on tiptoe. These
gold plaques (dating from the second and
third quarters of the 4th century B.C.)
were found in the tomb of a priestess of
Demeter, and the dances may have been
performed at a festival of Demeter.
Dancers, clothing ornament plaques. Gold,
heights 4.8, 5.1, 3.6 cm. (17/, 2, 13/ in.).
4th century B.C. Taman peninsula, Great
Bliznitsa kurgan, burial 1. Excavations
of I. E. Zabelin and A. E. Lyutsenko, 1864.
Hermitage, BB 50, 51, 52.
Artamonov, Splendor, pls. 266,267.
63
66
Cheekpiece composed of a stag's head in a
frame and a horse's foreleg. Bronze, length
13.5 cm. (514 in.).
Taman peninsula, Great Bliznitsa kurgan.
Hermitage, BB 77.
Artamonov, Splendor, fig. 151.
67 (Color plate 10)
The back-to-back calf heads on the hilt and
the palmette between them are distinctly
Iranian in style, although similar
conventions are also known from East
Greek art in Anatolia. The repetitious
hunters on horseback evoke the style of
Persepolis.
The sword was buried with the
scabbard, no. 68.
Sword hilt decorated with a scene of
horsemen hunting goats and rams, and
sculptured calves' heads. Gold and iron,
length of hilt 15 cm. (5% in.).
Iranian, 5th-4th century B.C. Ukrainian
SSR. Dnepropetrovsk region, Chertomlyk
kurgan. Excavations of I. E. Zabelin, 1863.
Hermitage, Dn 1863, 1/448.
Artamonov, Splendor, pls. 183,184.