Reconstruction shows how ancient Scythian 'Princess' discovered in Kazakhstan looked like

© arhcentr.kz

From:  Tengrinews.kz  18 August 2014

Western Kazakhstani archaeologists have finally displayed the exclusive artifacts found in the ancient burial discovered in 2012, Tengrinews reports citing Moi Gorod and West Kazakhstan Oblast Center for History and Archaeology.

The ancient burial containing remains of a noble woman was discovered in Terekty district in Western Kazakhstan Oblast two years ago and was declared the oldest "golden" burial at the territory of Kazakhstan.


Taksay-1, Mound 6, Female burial

This is one of the burials in the "golden series", meaning a mound containing golden fragments along with a skeleton. One such mound, discovered in south-eastern Kazakhstan in 1969, had warrior's equipment and assorted funerary goods that included 4,000 golden fragments and was dubbed the Golden Man.


Krym Altynbekov's recreation of the Golden Man. Photo courtesy of Krym Altynbekov
The archeological find made 2 years ago in West Kazakhstan contained the skeleton of a noble woman in the burial mound called Taksay-1. Next to the body there were all sorts of gold and silver vessels, makeup kits, remnants of richly decorated headdress and many pieces of golden jewelry. A horse bridle and household items that were believed to be necessary in the afterlife were also found.

The noble woman was covered with a blanket embroidered with golden plaques and there were more than 500 different golden fragments, which earned the woman her name - theGolden Woman or the Golden Princess.

The artifact of particular importance was a wooden comb depicting a battle scene in the war of the Saks against the Persians.

Prominent scientists and research centers of Japan, Germany and Russia were attracted to the uniqueness of the burial and studied the findings along with their Kazakhstani colleagues.

The latest breakthrough in the work allowed Murat Sdykov, head of West Kazakhstan Oblast Center for History and Archaeology, to identify the age of the burial. “The results of laboratory studies showed that the burial dates back to 4-5 centuries BC,” Sdykov said. The age of the woman was hard to identify due to heavy decomposition of bones. Nevertheless, it is clear that the burial is characteristic of Zoroastrianism. In addition, Sdykov informed that two female guards were buried along with the Golden Princess.

“The richness of the burial speaks about the status of the buried woman. It points that there were few rich people in that period and that the society was already stratified. There are two other kurgans [mounds] next to Taksay, which we will excavate next year. It is noteworthy that this mound had not been damaged or looted,” Sdykov said.

The burial mound was made around a wooden structure that sagged a long time ago. At some point tomb robbers attempted to raid the burial but, fortunately, failed to reach the burial chamber itself.

Reconstruction of the garment was entrusted to the famous restorer Krym Altynbekov. Thanks to his work, one can now see what Golden Princess might have looked like 2500 years ago. Gold plaques of four types were sewn on the upper part of the garment: differently shaped geometric pieces depicted ram griffins, rams, griffins and swastikas. Scientists call them solar, implying worship of the sun characteristic for the nomads of the time, which is also supported by the "Avesta", the core collection of sacred Zoroastrianism texts.


Full garment reconstruction made by Krym Altynbekov. Photo courtesy of Krym Altynbekov


Headdress. Photo courtesy of Krym Altynbekov


The pommel of the headdress. Photo courtesy of Krym Altynbekov



Temple pendants. Photo courtesy of Krym Altynbekov

Oval shaped plaques depicting two opposing ram-griffins. Photo courtesy of Krym Altynbekov


Square shaped plaques depicting two opposing heads of rams. Photo courtesy of Krym Altynbekov




Svastika shaped plaques depicting four griffin heads arranged in a circular composition. Photo courtesy of Krym Altynbekov


The sleeves of the garment were adorned with wolf fangs in gold rim. Photo courtesy of Krym Altynbekov


Gold beads of biconical shape. Photo courtesy of Krym Altynbekov







Golden bracelets. Photo courtesy of Krym Altynbekov

Mirror. Photo courtesy of Krym Altynbekov

Bronze cauldron. Photo courtesy of Krym Altynbekov

Brazier. Photo courtesy of Krym Altynbekov


The unique Taksay comb. Photo courtesy of Krym Altynbekov



Comb. Reconstruction of the plot by Krym Altynbekov. Photo courtesy of Krym Altynbekov
Composition depicting a battle scene between two soldiers in a chariot and their enemy, a single foot soldier, is inscribed in the rectangular space in the center of the crest/comb. The depiction is a relief, a realistic one.


Reconstruction of the comb by Krym Altynbekov. Photo courtesy of Krym Altynbekov

Golden Woman is one of the most astonishing archeological findings of the recent years. It sheds some light on the wealth and power of the ancient Scythians [Saks]. The Saka were a group of nomadic warrior tribes of Iranian origin, who inhabited the steppes of modern-day Kazakhstan in 1 thousand BC to first centuries AD.

By Dinara Urazova

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• Ural'skiye arkheologi rasskazali o zakhoronenii Zolotoi zhenschiny - "Moi Gorod", 15.08.2014

Ancient instrument found in Turkic warrior burial in Kazakhstan

Tengrinews.kz   10 August 2014

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At the site ©Press service of the Turkic Academy

At the site ©Press service of the Turkic Academy

At the site ©Press service of the Turkic Academy

For a video about this subject, click HERE

In a string of archeological discoveries, Kazakhstani scientists have now found what looks like an ancient musical instrument.

The discovery was made in Altai in East Kazakhstan Oblast, Tengrinews reports citing the press service of the Turkic Academy.

“The Kazakhstani scientists under the supervision of archaeologist Zeinolly Samashev, PhD in History, have found a burial of a Turkic warrior in Altai. The archaeologist suggests that the warrior lived in the 7th century AD. The scientists found weapons belonging to this epoch next to the warrior: a helmet, a quiver, an arrow, a sword, sabers, as well as a horse with a golden harness and a bridle. The most important discovery of the excavation was a musical instrument, similar to (Kazakh) kobyz,” the press service said.

The kobyz is an ancient Kazakh instrument that has two strings made of horsehair. It was believed to be a sacred instruments that could drive away evil spirits. It was often used by spiritual medics and shamans.

The human and horse bones are well preserved. Samashev believes the man held a high position. First examination led to the conclusion that the warrior was about 40 years old.

The exact age of the archaeological find will be determined later by the Turkic Academy. This burial was excavated under the auspices of the project “Statehood system of Western Turkic Khaganate”. Two types of musical instruments have been found in the area over the past year.

This year, another important Turkic warrior burial was discovered in Akmola Oblast in the end July. It belongs to around the same historical era.

And an even older site was excavated in South Kazakhstan Oblast this year. It contained remains of a noble woman and precious artefacts originating from the mysterious nation of Kangju.

By Dinara Urazova

For more information see:http://en.tengrinews.kz/science/Ancient-instrument-found-in-Turkic-warrior-burial-in-Kazakhstan-255242/
Use of the Tengrinews English materials must be accompanied by a hyperlink to en.Tengrinews.kz

China and Beyond in the Mediaeval Period: Cultural Crossings and Inter-Regional Connections

China and Beyond in the Mediaeval Period: Cultural Crossings and Inter-Regional Connections

by 

Dorothy C. Wong 

and Gustav Heldt

DescriptionContentsReviewsDetailed infoAuthor bio

Description

*This book is in the Cambria World Sinophone Series
(General editor: Victor H. Mair)

*Oversized and includes 157 images, many of which are in color.

This volume examines China’s contacts with neighboring cultures in Central, South, Southeast, and Northeast Asia, as well as contacts among those cultures from the beginning of the Common Era to the tenth century and beyond. During this period, transregional and crosscultural exchanges were fostered by both peaceful and aggressive activities and movements of peoples across Eurasia along land and maritime routes. Such movements played an important role in world history in the medieval period, and yet many aspects of cultural exchanges across Eurasia remain understudied. The lack of knowledge is particularly evident in treatments of Chinese history between the Han and Tang empires. Examining relations with neighboring cultures during this period calls into question notions of China as a monolithic cultural entity.

During the period covered in this volume, cultural contacts and exchanges were fostered by both peaceful and aggressive activities and movements of peoples along land and maritime routes of the so-called Silk Road. From the earliest recorded times, the Silk Road was a channel for the transmission of ideas, technologies, and artistic forms and styles across Eurasia, with far-reaching impact from the Pacific to the Atlantic.

Despite the centrality of exchange and hybridization to the history of medieval East Asia, many aspects of its connections beyond China cultures and history remain understudied. Similar, there is a lack of comprehensive knowledge of the period between the Han and Tang empires in Chinese history. In examining China’s relations with neighboring cultures during this period in particular, this book does not begin with the usual monolithic and stereotypical notion of China being an enduring and coherent cultural entity. Rather, through the close analysis presented in each chapter, this study expands the scope of inquiry to examine the mechanisms and contents of cultural exchanges, and the fertile byproducts of these exchanges.

Perhaps one of the most notable mediaeval phenomena that created shared cultural spheres across linguistic and political boundaries was the transmission of such religious faiths as Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Zoroastrianism, Manichaenism and Nestorianism. Buddhism’s spread eastward from India to finally become a religion adopted in all of Asia had an especially significant impact on many countries. In this sense, the Eurasian interactions can be considered common to a medieval world interwoven by religion.

The twenty-one chapters reveal transmissions, transgressions, syntheses, accommodations, and transformations that occurred when peoples and cultures came into contact with one another. They explore the motivations for the movements of peoples and goods—trade, war, diplomacy, acquisition of culture and knowledge (and sometimes of talent), and evangelical Buddhism. They also analyze the impacts of these exchanges through study of the artefacts, concepts, technologies, and practices associated with these interactions from a multidisciplinary perspective.

The focused study of the individual authors, each from her or his disciplinary training (art history, cultural studies, history, literary studies, religious studies, history of science, etc.), sheds light on the crossing of boundaries of geographic, cultural, linguistic, and sometimes temporal distance. Whether it is Tang China, Yamato Japan, Viking Sweden, or Zoroastrian Central Asia, however, each chapter highlights the prominent place of cultural crossings as both inter-regional movements and the fertile products they produced.

Given that the expertise from a breadth of disciplines, this unique interdisciplinary book will enjoy an equally broad readership of students, teachers, and researchers engaged comparative approaches to the history and culture of Medieaval Eurasia at large.

Buddha and the Book

Some of the world’s oldest Sanskrit and Buddhist manuscripts – and a gift from the 13th Dalai Lama – go on display from today at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (MAA).

A lot of these artefacts have never been seen on display before.

Mark Elliott

Buddha’s Word: The Life of Books in Tibet and Beyond puts on display for the first time the museum's astonishing Buddhist artefacts and brings together collections and research from MAA, the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, and the Fitzwilliam Museum – as well as the University Library, the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, and Emmanuel and Pembroke Colleges.

Historians, anthropologists, linguists, art historians, chemists and material scientists have all contributed to this unique view into the complex world of the book in Buddhism. Exhibits of particular note include some of the oldest illuminated Buddhist manuscripts from the first decades of the eleventh century, specimens of skilfully illuminated wooden covers and a quartet of scroll paintings brought back from the controversial Younghusband Expedition.

Dr Hildegard Diemberger, Co-Curator, describes the exhibition as “telling the story of the incredible journeys that the words of the Buddha have taken – crossing mountains and oceans and taking different material forms in different places.”

This story is told through the curation of three distinct spaces within the Li Ka Shing gallery at the museum. First to greet visitors will be a Himalayan Buddhist Altar which demonstrates an exploration of the text as sacred object, as a relic of the Buddha.

Secondly, the Laboratory shows how Tibetan books are made and analysed, investigating the long history of printing in Tibet and the recent discoveries made by Cambridge scientists and scholars about the pigments used in illuminations. The final section, the Library, traces the journeys taken by Buddha’s word from India, across Asia, to places as far apart as Sri Lanka and Japan, Mongolia and Taiwan. 

“It’s a real first,” said Dr Mark Elliott, Senior Curator in Anthropology at MAA. “A lot of these artefacts have never been seen on display before, and certainly not together. But we’re also looking at Tibetan books, and Tibetan Buddhist art, in a completely new way. There have been some real surprises during the development of the exhibition and we’re looking forward to sharing some of those with visitors.”

This exhibition is one outcome of a series of Cambridge-based, linked projects carried out over the past decade. These projects include Tibetan and Mongolian Rare Books and Manuscripts; Transforming Technology and Buddhist Book Culture: The Introduction of Printing and Digital Text Reproduction in Tibetan Societies; and the Sanskrit Manuscript Project, all funded by the British Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), and Tibetan Books Evolution and Technology (TiBET), supported by the Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship.

Thanks to exchange schemes run by the Mongolia & Inner Asia Studies Unit, Tibetan scholars have been able to engage with these materials providing new insights and understandings of their cultural significance.

Professor Nicholas Thomas, Director of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, said: “This is a truly collaborative project that exemplifies the research strengths of the University of Cambridge and the extraordinary potential of the Arts Council-funded Connecting Collections programme, that brings together the collections and expertise of all the University of Cambridge Museums. This particular project has also been generously supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

"From the Buddhist Altar, to the Library, to the Laboratory, this exhibition promises to be an inspiration for scholars, Buddhists and curious people of all ages and backgrounds. It is the story of the transformation of Buddha’s words, from palm leaves, to paper, to digital dharma."

Source: Cambridge university News

Buddha’s Word: The Life of Books in Tibet and Beyond

28 May 2014 – 17 January 2015
Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology- Cambridge                 Li Ka Shing Gallery

Buddha’s Word is the first museum exhibition of Tibetan material in Cambridge. It is also the first time in the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology’s history that its Buddhist collections will be showcased in an exhibition.

Developed in partnership with the Mongolia and Inner Asia Research Unit and with support from the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Frederick Williamson Memorial Fund, Buddha’s Word brings together collections and research from three of the University of Cambridge Museums – the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences and the Fitzwilliam Museum – as well as the University Library and Emmanuel and Pembroke Colleges.

Many of the artefacts, prints and manuscripts in the exhibition have never been on public display before. Exhibits include some of the oldest illuminated Buddhist manuscripts from the first decades of the eleventh century as well as specimens of skilfully illuminated wooden covers; a quartet of scroll paintings brought back from the infamous Younghusband Expedition; and a gift from the 13th Dalai Lama.

The exhibition charts some of the incredible journeys that the words of the Buddha have taken: crossing mountains and oceans and taking different material forms in different places. This is the story of the transformation of Buddha’s words, from palmleaf, to paper, to digital dharma. It focuses on books, not just as objects of learning and study, but as relics of the Buddha, and sacred objects in their own right.

You will never look at a book in the same way again.

Series of workshops Silk Road Studies at Georgetown university this fall

Critical Silk Road Studies organizes a series of workshops to be held at Georgetown University in 2014-2015. 
Funded by the John E. Sawyer Seminars on the Comparative Study of Cultures program of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Georgetown faculty organizers are James A. Millward (Department of History, School of Foreign Service) and Michelle C. Wang (Department of Art and Art History).




From Excavation to Explication: New Approaches to the Silk Road 
September 11, 2014 

Presenters:
Valerie Hansen
Professor, Department of History, Yale University
“Whose Silk Road: When and Where Exactly?”

 Eugene Y. Wang
Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Professor of Asian Art, Department of History of Art and Architecture, Harvard University
"How Would Marco Polo Have Been Painted in Yuan China?"

 Discussant:
James Millward
Professor, Department of History, Georgetown University


Ancient Eurasian Steppe Networks
October 9, 2014

Presenters:
Michael Frachetti
Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Washington University in St. Louis
“Complexity, Interaction, and Social Participation along Prehistoric 'Silk Roads' (2500-250 BC)”

Sören Stark
Assistant Professor, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University “Nomads, Traders, and a Veiled Prophet: Recent Archaeological Research on the Long Wall of Bukhara”

Discussant:
Chris Thornton
Lead Program Officer, Research, Conservation and Exploration, National Geographic Society


The Iranian Connection
October 30, 2014

Presenters:
Matteo Compareti
Ca' Foscari, University of Venice
“Fantastic Creatures on the Sino-Sogdian Funerary Monuments: On Teratological Syncretism along the Silk Road”

Albert E. Dien
Professor Emeritus, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Stanford University
“The Sogdian Diaspora along the Silk Road: A Review and Reflections”

Discussant:
Michelle C. Wang
Assistant Professor, Department of Art and Art History, Georgetown University


Case Study of an Oasis City: Dunhuang
November 13, 2014

Presenters:
Paul Copp
Associate Professor, Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago
“Ritual Handbooks and Vernacular Buddhism at Dunhuang”

Stephen F. Teiser
D. T. Suzuki Professor in Buddhist Studies and Professor of Religion, Department of Religion, Princeton University
“Institutions of Literacy and the Dunhuang Corpus”

Discussant:
Francisca Cho
Associate Professor, Department of Theology, Georgetown University


Silk Road Manuscripts and Antiquities: Collecting and Transmission 
 December 11, 2014

Presenters:
Tamara Chin
Associate Professor, department of Comparative Literature, Brown University
“On Silk Road ‘Re-Discovery’: Constructing the Antiquarian Silk Road, 1900-1980”

Sam van Schaik
Project Manager, International Dunhuang Project, British Library
 “The Silk Road and the Transmission of Buddhism: Evidence from Sanskrit Manuscripts”

Discussant:
Robert DeCaroli
Associate Professor, Department of History and Art History, George Mason University


Please visit the main Schedule of Events page for information regarding the time and location of each seminar.

Silk Road Vice Versa research project

Six students of archaeology and history at Leiden University and the University of Amsterdam especially interested in the Silk Road, made a trip for the special Silk Road Vice Versa research project. This project is an initiative of the Hermitage Amsterdam in close cooperation with KLM and Leiden University, within the framework of the Expedition Silk Road exhibition, still running at the Hermitage Amsterdam until 5 September 2014. This blog presents the students’ experiences in that region, focusing on the ancient Silk Road and on the colour blue of the KLM logo ;) We hope it inspires you to visit these fantastic countries!

Almaty, Kazakhstan

Almaty features tall modern buildings contrasted by green parks. You can see White Mountains in the background. We visited the Central State Museum, full of significant Silk Road objects.

In the Central Bazaar, we gravitated towards the food stalls full of Kazakh delicacies. Try horse milk and kumis, or nibble on a horse cheese ball!

Train ride to Chymkent, Kazakhstan

The railroad follows an old Silk Road track through vast grassy slopes with mountains towering in the background. The locals must be the luckiest people on Earth, having such beautiful views at their doorstep!

Chymkent

In Chymkent we found ourselves in a very cool open-air restaurant, lined with large couches around tables. We shared a bowl of kumis, sipping in turns. Stretching our legs, enjoying the soft breeze on our feet, we felt this place was magic.

Chymkent Bazaar

Our best bazaar experience was trying on various regional costumes in Chymkent. We tried on vests, kaftans and fur hats imagining how we would look at an important function or had we lived here in the past.

Kafir-Kala, Uzbekistan

Kafir-Kala, near Samarkand, is still being excavated. It consists of a city, a necropolis and a citadel. It was, amongst other things, a Sogdian and an Arab city. During the Silk Road period Kafir-Kala most likely served as an administrative centre as evidenced by the many seals found.

Samarkand, Uzbekistan

In the narrow dusty streets of Samarkand, people come out of their homes to wave to you. There are numerous spectacular monuments with large turquoise domes. The walls are decorated with small mosaic tiles, mostly blue, showing abstract patterns, symbols, Arabic inscriptions and animals.

Afrasiyab, Samarkand

Afrasiyab is the site of ancient Samarkand. A museum boasts famous Silk Road frescoes with wonderful pigments. The paintings were found in caves; the pigments preserved in the cold air.

Bukhara, Uzbekistan

Bukhara, located at an oasis, was a thriving Silk Road city. However, most of it was destroyed by Genghis Khan. The famous Kalyan Minaret was preserved, famously because his helmet fell down here. He picked it up and from then on revered the monument.

Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan

We were surprised at the vastness of the great Lake Issyk-Kul, surrounded by mountains in a great range of colours. A horse ride to a yurt in the middle of the valley was like a fairy tale. We were also lucky to see an eagle hunter.

A night in a yurt

A trip to Kyrgyzstan must include a night in a yurt, a round hut covered with felt, cool during the day and warm during the cold nights. It has a small hole at the top, through which you can watch the stars at night.

Interested in finding out more about the Silk Road Vice Versa project? Check out the Facebook page, the website or the video below.

Credit blog: Nadia Hamid
Credit photos: Mike de Booij