The most ancient art of Eastern Europe - the Scythians. Scythian Antiquities of the North Caucasus in the Hermitage Collection

The most striking examples of the art of the Scythians, Meotians, Sarmatians were objects made in the so-called Scythian animal style.
Images of animals obeyed the form of one or another thing (vessel, armor), with a deliberate selection of individual details. Parts of the bodies of animals could also be depicted.

Highly artistic works of the Scythian animal style include items found in the Kuban in Kostroma, Kelermes and other burial mounds.
A golden deer from the Kostroma mound is considered a classic example of early animal style art. With bent legs, head stretched forward, branched horns thrown up, full of life, movement, inner strength, he became the prototype for numerous images of this most popular motif of Scythian art.
In the Kelermes mound, a large golden plaque was found, which once adorned the shield, in the form of a panther preparing to jump. The predator's almond-shaped ear is divided by triangular inserts, the eye is decorated with white and gray enamel, and the pupil is brown, the nostrils are filled with white paste. At the ends of the paws and along the tail are additional images of a curled-up predator. This panther is one of the most remarkable masterpieces of the Scythian animal style.

Among other finds from Kelermes, one can single out a rectangular gold plate - a gorita lining - and a gold bowl with images of animals.
The image of a griffin, a winged fantastic creature that combined parts of the body of a lion and a bird of prey, was also popular in the art of the Scythians. In the Kuban, he was depicted crouching on his hind legs, with his mouth open. The head of the griffin was often placed on the details of the harness, weapons. Such images were found in the Ulsky mound in Adygea. Scenes of animal struggles were also popular with Scythian masters.
Later, in the 5th century BC, new images of animals appeared in the art of the Scythian animal style, geometric and floral patterns were introduced. Curls of horns, paws, tails turn into eagle heads, the heads of an eagle, an elk, and sometimes a whole figure of an animal fit into the contours of a shoulder or hip.
In the IV-III centuries BC, the images change again, becoming flat, schematic, openwork. The art of this period is called Greco-Scythian because of the increased Greek influence. Horse harness decorations found in the Elizavetinskie mounds (near Krasnodar) are made in this style. In the manufacture of items, the craftsmen used a wide variety of techniques - casting, stamping, chasing, carving and engraving. Elements of the animal style served for decorative purposes: to decorate weapons, armor, horse harness, cult utensils, clothes, ornaments - hryvnias, earrings, pectorals, bracelets, rings. All these things emphasized the prestige and social significance of warriors - owners of decorated items.
But images of animals from ancient times were given another meaning - religious and magical. Animals personified natural
elements. Myths told about the transformations of man, animals and plants, reflecting the ideas of the Scythians about the "world tree", which unites three worlds - underground, earthly and heavenly.
Great importance was attached to the magical essence of the images, which were supposed to protect people from trouble, give them the qualities characteristic of certain animals: strength, dexterity, speed. The images were a kind of talismans-amulets.

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Introduction

Any works of art reflect the worldview, the spiritual essence of their creators, being a specific carrier of ideological information. The existence of man for many centuries was directly dependent on nature, an inseparable part of which was the animal world, therefore, in the art of almost every nation there was a period that would be characterized by the presence of elements of the "animal style". This "style" reached unprecedented prosperity and perfection in the Scythian and Hun-Sarmatian times, when throughout the entire territory of the steppe zone of Eurasia, on the basis of the pastoral economy, the formation of early nomadic societies with a complex social hierarchy took place.

The purpose of this work is to highlight the jewelry art of the Scythians, its evolution and symbolism, as well as to identify the stylistic patterns of its image on the objects of the funerary cult. From the goal set follow such tasks as tracing the general trend in the development of style, explaining the interpretation of form, considering various examples on the basis of which this work will be built.

A whole chapter of the work is devoted to the semantics of the images of the animal style of the Scythian era.

The work was based on finds obtained as a result of archaeological research on the territory of the Eurasian steppe. First of all, these are the collections of the State Hermitage (St. Petersburg), the State Historical Museum (Moscow), the State Museum of Fine Arts named after A.S. Pushkin (Moscow) and the Biysk Museum. Bianchi V.V. (Biysk).

1. Jewelry art of the Scythians

jewelry art scythian animal

A huge amount of jewelry, household items and other household utensils made of gold was found during excavations of Scythian graves. The most interesting thing is that not only the deceased noble Scythian, but also an ordinary Scythian was decorated with gold. Yes, undoubtedly, the tombs of the Scythian kings surprised archaeologists with their luxury and the number of gold items. Coins, cups, belts, bracelets and necklaces, amulets and earrings. What was not found in the graves of the Scythians. The Scythian kings were sure that all the jewels would accompany them in the afterlife, granting power and wealth there as well.

The main component of the Scythian-Siberian art is a certain stable set of pictorial elements and images of animals reproduced in traditional, canonical poses using special techniques on items of horse equipment, weapons, various decorations of clothing, belts, tools and mirrors. All zoomorphic images can be conditionally divided into four groups: birds, predators, herbivores and fantastic creatures.

The love of the Scythians for gold today is known to almost everyone. Many have heard about the mythical gold of the Scythians, which either appears or disappears again, has some magical properties.

Judging by the jewelry that has been found to date and is kept in museums, we can safely talk about jewelers with a capital letter and their unique skill in creating magnificent jewelry from gold, copper, bronze and iron. The Scythians surrounded themselves with jewelry everywhere. Even the simplest objects were turned into works of art. So, for example, mirrors, sabers, knives, the handles of which have a rich gold decor depicting animals, heroes and their victories, are not uncommon during excavations (Appendix No. 4).

Where did the Scythian animal style come from? Archeology is accustomed to such questions - after all, one of its tasks is to clarify the origin of a particular culture or its individual phenomena. It is not always easy to answer such questions, since archaeological cultures, like their individual elements, often appear suddenly, thereby confusing researchers. A similar situation exists around the Scythian culture, in particular the Scythian animal style. Indeed, this art appears unexpectedly ready-made and, as we can now judge, organized into a single system. The art of the steppe of the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age of the Pre-Scythian period knows neither the zoomorphic images themselves, nor even the style in which they are embodied. From that time, a fundamentally different art has come down to us, in which the main place was occupied by various kinds of geometric ornaments that adorned ceramics, horse equipment, etc.

The Eurasian steppe, as we know, coexisted with cultures and civilizations that had developed pictorial traditions since ancient times. And of course, the easiest way was to borrow pictorial techniques from various surrounding traditions.

One of the largest modern experts in the art of ancient Iran, V. G. Lukonin, called the mixed style of the Sakkyz treasure “the style of quotations”.

Scythian art went through several stages of its development. D.S. Raevsky gives the following periodization of Scythian art:

1) the era of great campaigns in Asia Minor - VIII - VII centuries. BC e.;

2) the era of independent development - VI - V centuries. BC e.;

3) the era of Greek influence - from the 5th century. BC e.

The animal style of the Scythian-Saka era has specific features that distinguish it from the entire set of zoomorphic images created by artists of the Old and New Worlds in different periods. These features are closely related to the originality of the environment, the early nomadic economy, life, social structure, social psychology and worldview.

Scythian jewelry is unique in its form. They captivate with their beauty and luxury.

Already in those distant times, Scythian craftsmen made stunning coinage, unsurpassed gold openwork, were familiar with patal, mastic and enamel, decorations were not only flat, but also voluminous. Jewelry was not only minted, but also cast, forged, extruded and carved. On coinage, one can observe pictures from the life of the Scythians - heroic events, mythical creatures.

Among the found jewelry of the Scythians there are quite a lot of items with precious stones. Earrings, necklaces, necklaces were decorated with agates, pearls, garnets. The poorer tribes of the Scythians who lived in the southern regions often used shells, amber, carnelian, rock crystal in their jewelry.

The main features of the animal style of the early nomads include the following:

· Firstly, animalism reigns supreme among them - images of animals decisively prevail in all arts and crafts. This applies not only to objects made of well-preserved materials - metal, stone, bone, horn. As excavations in Altai have shown, where the preservation of archaeological finds in permafrost conditions is ideal, in soft organic materials - wood, leather, fabric, felt - mainly zoomorphic images and plots were also reproduced.

Further, zoomorphic images, as a rule, are small in size. Exceptions are petroglyphs and deer stones, but these monuments are outside the scope of the definition of “applied art”. Animalistic images were applied mainly to utilitarian items, except for the relatively few bronze tops and things that had primarily a ritual function, such as vessels made of precious metals. Researchers have repeatedly noted the close relationship between the image and the functionally defined form of the product.

· Thirdly, those artistic features of the early nomadic monuments that can be called stylistic in the narrow sense of the word have long been established. Images made in the Scythian-Siberian animal style are distinguished by their decorativeness (ornamentality), conventionality and more or less pronounced schematization of the interpretation of both the animalistic image as a whole and its individual details. Typical are the special methods of schematization: planar articulation of the body of the animal; transfer of claws, ears, eyes, details of the muzzle of animals with geometric elements; giving animal figures purely conditional turns and poses that are perceived as unnatural and deforming.

These features (and only the most striking and predominant ones are listed) are characteristic of the commonality of the works of early nomadic decorative and applied art, which is observed archaeologically in the arid-steppe, forest-steppe, and partly mountainous zone of Eurasia.

An indispensable component of this art is a certain set of motifs that carry a clearly determined semantic load, which, of course, is a zoomorphic code that conveys the developed worldview system inherent in this cultural layer.

Such a set necessarily includes several categories of animals: hoofed herbivores of different species (deer, elk, camels, antelopes, rams, goats, wild boars), predatory animals (bears, cat predators, wolves), birds of prey, as well as monsters that combine the features of different animals. Other zoomorphic motifs (waterfowl, roosters, hares, hedgehogs, fish, etc.) make up less universal categories of motifs in the animal style of the Scythian era. Images of some animals (for example, camels) appear on the territory associated with the range of a biological species that served as a prototype for the creation of zoomorphic pictorial motifs.

More than half a century ago, the remarkable Russian historian and archaeologist M. I. Rostovtsev singled out the main features of the Scythian animal style, and the accuracy of his conclusions on this matter has not been denied to this day. Scythian animals differ from others primarily in the way they model the surface of the body. Both the body of the animal as a whole and its individual parts - legs with hooves or claws, deer horns, the beak of a bird of prey, eyes, ears, mouths of animals - are composed of planes converging at an angle. These planes form large faces with sharp edges, on which a unique play of light and shadow, characteristic only of the Scythian animal style, is created.

The Scythian animal style is characterized by a strictly limited set of canonical poses (Appendix No. 3) - the legs of animals can be bent under the body and laid one on top of the other, bent at a right or obtuse angle, or lowered. Predators are also often depicted curled up in a ring, birds - with outstretched wings.

Animals made in the canons of the Scythian animal style, as a rule, are isolated from the environment, they exist on their own, without any background and rarely form plot scenes. Moreover, these animals are not only cut off from the environment, but also not connected by any action.

Undoubtedly, the famous golden panther from the Kelermes burial mounds, which adorned the gorit or the shield of a powerful leader, belongs to the best creations of Scythian art (Appendix No. 5). Characteristic is the pose of a predator following the trail, laconic light and shade modeling of body shapes, as well as zoomorphic ornamentation of the tail and paws, filled with figures of cat predators curled up in a ring. There are ten of them, and, obviously, according to the ideas of the people of that time, the magical power of the golden panther increased by the same amount. In the beast, the eye and nostril are conventionally depicted in Scythian circles. However, in the departure from the strict profile of the image characteristic of Scythian art - the panther is shown in a small foreshortening with four legs - the influence of ancient Eastern style is felt. The naturalistic interpretation of the grinning toothy mouth, as well as the use of the technique of colored cloisonné inlay to highlight the eye and ear of the panther, also goes back to the same source. The triangular cells on the predator's ear were filled with inlays of red amber.

Although alien influences somewhat violate the Scythian concept of understanding the image of a feline predator, it is these minor deviations from the classical canon that give a certain individuality to the appearance of the Kelermes panther, distinguishing it from the huge mass of other images of this purely Scythian motif.

"Scythian Baroque"

A new stage in the history of art of the Eurasian steppes opens in the 5th century BC. The art of this time is sometimes called "Scythian Baroque", referring to the extraordinary splendor and pretentiousness of his works. Indeed, in comparison with the strict, devoid of any intricacy images of animals of the era of the Scythian archaic, things of the 5th-4th centuries. BC e. amaze with external complexity, loading with numerous details.

Examples of the Scythian Baroque can be seen in Appendix No. 6 of this work.

The most characteristic feature of the animal style of this time is the intensification of ornamentation and schematization, leading to the loss of those features of conditional and generalized realism that were inherent in it in the archaic period. Along with this, a clearly expressed naturalistic direction appears, largely associated with the influence of classical Greek art. Both of the noted directions are characterized by the expansion of the range of images used.

In the IV - III centuries. BC e. in Scythia, significant changes are also observed in the set of objects decorated in the animal style and in their material. The ratio of gold and bronze changes in favor of gold, the bone disappears altogether. The number of sewn-on plaques and plates for decorating clothes and headgear increases, while the relative number of items of horse harness decreases. In addition, items of the animal style are much more common than before in the burials of noble women (Appendix No. 1). All this testifies to the fact that the ceremonial and decorative function of the animal style is increasing, and its connection with purely military life is decreasing.

The more sophisticated taste of people had to meet new trends in the late Scythian animal style, refined, sometimes even pretentious, distinguished by such elegance and harmony and the same complete absence of realistic features, on the one hand, and growing naturalism, on the other.

2. Semantics of images

The art of the Scythian-Siberian world and its basis - the "animal" style - were a historical neoplasm; were an indicator of the prevailing unity of the economy, social relations, and ideology. Art was an expression of the ideological and aesthetic foundations of the worldview of the tribes and peoples of the steppe Eurasia.

Considering the art of the Scythian-Siberian world as a whole, we can note two main territorial layers of traditions in it. One of them can be called Scythian-Tagar. It is determined by the leading image of a herbivore - a flying deer with a stylized hypertrophied fluttering horn. This tradition was spread on the territory of the steppes from Scythia to Central Asia. The art of the Sauromatian-Saka world (from the Urals in the northwest to the Altai Mountains in the southeast) is characterized by the image of a predator and scenes of its struggle with herbivores, a peculiar stylization of images of predators.

The art of the Scythian-Siberian world, although it is represented by highly artistic works, carries a certain style of depiction and certain repetitive plots, but it was not art proper in its purpose and aesthetic design. Those archaeological objects of the Scythian-Siberian societies that we are considering were polysemantic symbols of the society, expressing its spiritual essence. They expressed one or another worldview idea, in addition, they were features of the social hierarchy.

The attitude of an ancient person to the things around him is, in principle, difficult to understand for a person of modern culture with its purely utilitarian view of this issue. In ancient times, man-made things were intended not only to perform certain practical functions due to their purely material properties (although they had this purpose) - their help to man was thought of much more broadly.

With such an attitude towards purely everyday objects at first glance, each of them should be decorated accordingly. After all, placing this or that image on things, the master, in fact, supplemented, strengthened the meaning of the thing itself with the meaning of the image on it. Therefore, the combination of things with the image was taken very seriously, it simply could not be accidental.

Most researchers are inclined to think about the connection of zoomorphic images with the deities of the Scythian religious pantheon, who personified, judging by the data of Herodotus, cosmic and natural phenomena. As you know, among the Egyptians, Sumerians, Greeks and other peoples of the Ancient World, revered deities were symbolized by wild animals. The same views were characteristic of the Indo-Iranian tribes related to the Scythians. Moreover, according to their ideas, the same animal could mix different gods and, conversely, each deity had the ability to transform into different animals.

While admitting the ability for such a reincarnation of the Scythian deities, we, nevertheless, are deprived of the opportunity to confirm this assumption with the data of Scythian mythology proper.

There is also an opinion that Scythian art was called upon to reflect through zoomorphic signs, that is, in the pictorial language of its era, a holistic panorama of the universe. This hypothesis is based on the idea of the universal role of tripartite structures in the mythological picture of the Universe, created by the concrete-figurative thinking of the Indo-Iranians. The cosmos was presented to them in the form of a world tree, the main parts of which - the crown, trunk and roots - symbolized the heavenly, earthly and underground spheres. It is with them, according to the observation of researchers, that the three leading motifs of Scythian art are steadily correlated - birds, ungulates and predatory animals.

Horizontal and vertical structures and the sun occupied a central place in the representations of the Universe.

Three graphic groups of images of the sun on petroglyphs can be distinguished: 1 - separately drawn solar signs; 2 - signs of the sun, embossed directly on the figures of animals (on the croup, belly); 3 - shining solar horns.

Conclusion

The jewels of the Scythians gave a considerable impetus to the development of jewelry art in history. The use of many techniques and materials has brought diversity to the history of jewelry. No wonder the jewelry of the Scythians received the status of the most beautiful jewelry of the Ancient World.

Scythian art was a social, spiritual and aesthetic phenomenon at the same time. Satisfying the needs of the nomadic nobility in richly finished weapons, horse harness and other prestigious attributes, this arts and crafts, mythological in its content, reflected the worldview and ethical ideals of the entire society.

The main plot and stylistic features of early Scythian art are already familiar to us from a series of highly artistic bridle ornaments made of carved bone and items of military equipment made using the technique of gouging and embossing on gold. No less vivid artistic talent of the Scythians manifested itself in bronze casting with the loss of the wax model.

In the Scythian animal style, certain ideological ideas were expressed through zoomorphic images - i.e. the image of the beast acted as an element of the code - a sign with a certain meaning.

The depiction of animals in Scythian art was subject to strict rules. Canonical not only poses of animals. Even in the interpretation of details, standard stylistic devices were used: the eyes, ears, nostrils, ends of the paws and tails of predators were conditionally indicated by circles. The ears of deer were, as a rule, leaf-shaped outlines, and the lips were oval in shape. Masters consciously emphasized and even exaggerated the most typical traits inherent in a particular type of animal. The emphasis was usually on one or two distinguishing features.

In this work, a comprehensive study of the Scythian jewelry art, its evolution, symbolism, as well as the semantics of images, based on the objects of the funeral cult of mounds, has been carried out. The general trend in the development of the style is traced (from the early nomadic period to settled life).

In addition to general conclusions and analysis of the Scythian animal style, a number of archaeological finds are presented and analyzed, some of which are considered masterpieces of the Scythian style (Kelermes panther).

The work was complemented by very informative tables, samples of Scythian jewelry and drawings of archaeological finds, placed in the appendix.

Bibliography

1. www.acsessuari.ru article History in jewelry. Scythian gold.

2. Galanina L.K. Scythian Antiquities of the North Caucasus in the Hermitage Collection. Kelermes barrows. - St. Petersburg: State Hermitage Publishing House, 2006. - 80 p.

3. Korenyako V.A. Art of the peoples of Central Asia and the animal style. - M.: Ed. Eastern Literature, 2002. - 327 p.

4. Korolkova E.F. Animal style of Eurasia. The art of the tribes of the Lower Volga and Southern Urals in the Scythian era. - M.: Nauka, 2006. - 272 p.

5. Melyukova A.I., Moshkova M.G. Scythian-Siberian animal style in the art of the peoples of Eurasia. - M: Nauka, 1976. - 274 p.

6. Martynov A.I. Scythian-Siberian world. Art and ideology. - Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1987. - 182 p.

7. Translator E.V. The language of animal images. Essays on the art of the Eurasian steppes of the Scythian era. - M. - 1994. - 205 p.

Annex 1

Headpiece of a Scythian woman.

Gold Scythian bracelet.

A table of postures of various animals and their eye forms.

Jewelry set of a Scythian woman.

Kelermes panther. Collection of the Hermitage.

Examples of "Scythian baroque". Images of predators from the 1st Filippovsky barrow and analogies to them.

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Where did the Scythians live?

Where did the ancient Scythians live? In fact, the answer to this question is not as clear and simple as to who these Scythians are in general. The fact is that various historians enrolled a variety of tribes and peoples to the Scythians, including our ancestors of the ancient Slavs. And in some medieval manuscripts even Kievan Rus is called Scythia. But, in the end, historians came to a consensus that the Scythians should still be called one specific people, who lived, however, on a very wide territory, from the Don to the Danube, the northern Black Sea region in the south of our country Ukraine and right up to Altai.

Other tribes related to the Scythians, for example, Savromats, Saks, Meots, should be called the peoples of the Scythian world, since they have many common features both in the structure of life and in culture, tribal way of life, rituals and worldview.

Map of archaeological finds of the Scythian mounds. As we can see, despite the wide territories where this ancient people lived, most of the Scythians lived in the Northern Black Sea region and there is reason to believe that it was here that the center of their civilization was.

Origin of the Scythians

In fact, the origin of the Scythians is mysterious, the fact is that the Scythians themselves did not have a written language, and the information about them from other peoples is very contradictory. The main source of historical information about them are the works of the historian Herodotus. According to one of the legends mentioned by the "father of history", the nomadic Scythians came from Asia to the territory of the northern Black Sea region, having driven out the local Cimmerian tribes living there. But the same Herodotus in his other work "History" mentions another legend of the Scythians, according to which they always lived in the Black Sea region.

But legends are legends, but what does Her Majesty archeology say about the origin of the Scythians? Archaeological excavations also, unfortunately, do not give an exact answer to the question and the origin of the Scythians. So most of the Scythians led a nomadic lifestyle, and could move long distances in a relatively short period of time. And it is also very difficult to distinguish their ancestors among the many tribes with a similar culture.

Still, a number of scientists believe that the Scythians came to Europe from Asia as an already formed people. Proponents of another theory argue that the Scythians, on the contrary, have lived in the steppes of the Black Sea since ancient times, and acquired some of their Asian features during their campaigns for the Caucasus Range, Mesopotamia and Asia Minor, which took place in the 7th century BC. e. Unfortunately, we don’t know how it was in reality.

History of the Scythians

The heyday of the Scythian civilization falls on the 7th century, it was at this time that the Scythians dominated not only the steppes of the Black Sea region, but also the whole of Asia Minor, where they created the Scythian state of Ishkuza, although by the beginning of the 6th century they were forced out of Asia Minor. At the same time, traces of the Scythians were found in the Caucasus.

In 512 B.C. e. all the tribes of the Scythians rallied to repel the conquest undertaken by King Darius I. An attempt to conquer the lands of the Scythians failed, the Persians were defeated. The unsuccessful campaign of Darius against the Scythians is described in detail by the same Herodotus, the Scythians used very original tactics against the conquerors - instead of giving the Persians a general battle, they lured them deep into their territory, avoiding a general battle in every possible way and constantly exhausting the Persian troops. In the end, it was no longer difficult for them to defeat the weakened Persians.

After some time, the Scythians themselves attacked neighboring Thrace (the territory of modern Bulgaria) and successfully conquered these lands. Then there was a war with the Macedonian king Philip, who inflicted a crushing defeat on the Scythians, again throwing them into the steppes of the Black Sea region.

Approximately in the III-II century BC. e. Scythian civilization begins to decline. The territory inhabited by the Scythians was also significantly reduced. In the end, the Scythians themselves were conquered and destroyed by their distant relatives - the nomadic tribes of the Sarmatians. The remains of the Scythian kingdom for some time continued to be preserved in the Crimea, but from there they were soon forced out by the tribes of the Goths.

Scythian culture

The whole culture of the Scythians, their life, their way of life is literally saturated with military affairs, obviously otherwise in those harsh conditions in which they lived, it was impossible to survive. Warriors in the Scythian society were not only all men, but also most women. It is with the harsh Scythian warriors that ancient legends about the tribe of Amazons, brave female warriors, are associated. At the head of the Scythian society was the so-called military nobility - the royal Scythians, who in turn were led by the Scythian king. However, the power of the Scythian king was not absolute, he was rather the first among equals than a sovereign with unlimited power. The functions of the king included the management of the army, he was also the supreme judge, dealt with the resolution of disputes between his subjects and performed religious rituals. But the most important matters were discussed at democratic people's meetings, known as the "Council of the Scythians." Sometimes the council of the Scythians even decided the fate of their kings.

An objectionable king could also be easily thrown off and killed, as, for example, happened with the Scythian king Anarcharsis, who, after marrying a Greek woman, became addicted to Greek culture and the Greek way of life, which the rest of the Scythians perceived as a betrayal by the king of Scythian customs and death was punishment for this king.

Speaking of the Greeks, the Scythians for centuries conducted intensive trade with them, especially with the Greek colony cities in the Black Sea region: Olbia, Chersonese. The Scythians were frequent guests there, and, of course, some cultural influence of the Greeks did affect the Scythians, Greek ceramics, Greek coins, Greek women's jewelry, even various works of art by Greek masters were very often found in their burials. Some especially enlightened Scythians, like the Scythian king Anarcharsis already mentioned by us, were imbued with the ideas of Greek philosophers, tried to bring the light of knowledge of Antiquity to their fellow tribesmen, but alas, the sad fate of Anarcharsis says that this was not always successful.

Scythian customs

In the writings of Herodotus, one can find many references to harsh, like the Scythians themselves, Scythian customs. So, when killing the first enemy, the Scythian was supposed to drink his blood. The Scythians also, like the American Indians, had a bad habit of scalping defeated enemies, from which they then sewed their own cloaks. To get their share in the booty, the Scythian had to present the severed head of the enemy, and bowls were made from the heads of especially fierce enemies. Also, every year the Scythian nobility organized feasts, in which only a Scythian who had killed an enemy could participate.

Divination was popular in the Scythian society, special soothsayers divined with the help of bundles of twigs or with the help of linden bast. The Scythians secured friendly ties with a special ritual - the blood of both friends was poured into a bowl of wine, then after the oaths were pronounced, this wine with blood was drunk by both friends.

The most interesting works of art discovered by archaeologists in the Scythian mounds are objects decorated in animal style. These are arrow quivers, sword hilts, women's necklaces, mirror handles, buckles, bracelets, hryvnias, etc.

In addition to images of animal figures, there are often scenes of the struggle of different animals. These images were made using forging, chasing, casting, embossing and carving, most often from gold, silver, bronze or iron.

All these art objects were indeed created by Scythian masters, a sign of their belonging to the Scythians is a special way of depicting animals, the so-called Scythian animal style. Animals are always depicted in motion and from the side, but at the same time they have their heads turned towards the viewer. For the Scythians themselves, they served as the personification of animal totem ancestors, various spirits, and played the role of magical amulets. It is also believed that various animals depicted on the hilt of a sword or a quiver with arrows were meant to symbolize the strength, dexterity and courage of the Scythian warrior.

Warfare of the Scythians

All Scythian warriors were excellent riders and often used cavalry in battle. They were also the first to successfully use the strategic retreat against the Persians, greatly exhausting the Persian forces. Subsequently, the military art of the Scythians became significantly outdated, and they began to suffer military defeats, whether from a close-knit Macedonian phalanx, or mounted Parthian archers.

Religion of the Scythians

The religious life of the Scythians was dominated by the cult of fire and the Sun. An important rite was the veneration of the royal hearth. Religious rites were performed by the kings, and the Scythian king was also at the same time the religious head of the community. But besides him, various magicians and soothsayers also played an important role, whose main task was to search for the enemy of the king, to prevent the magical intrigues of enemies. The disease, both of the king and of any other Scythian, was explained precisely by the magical intrigues of some enemy, and the task of the soothsayers was to find these enemies and eliminate their intrigues in the form of an illness. (Such a kind of ancient Scythian medicine)

The Scythians did not build temples, but had special sacred places where they performed their religious rites of worship of the Sun and fire. In exceptional cases, the Scythians even resorted to human sacrifice.

Scythians, video

And in conclusion, we offer you to watch an interesting documentary about the Scythians.

…should be studied in the Hermitage.

The Hermitage collection of Scythian antiquities of the 7th-4th centuries BC is world famous. e., which was based on finds obtained as a result of excavations of the barrows of the Kuban, Dnieper, Crimea, carried out from the 18th to the 20th century.

A plaque in the form of a figurine of a cat predator (panther)
7th century BC.
Northwestern Caucasus, Trans-Kuban
First Kelermes barrow
gold, hematite, amber, glass paste
embossing, soldering, forging, punching, inlay

A feature of the Scythian collection is the abundance of monuments of decorative and applied art belonging to different artistic styles and trends. These are works of the original Scythian so-called "animal" style, and things created for the nomadic nobility by Greek craftsmen from the northern Black Sea cities neighboring the Scythians, and the rarest imported products of ancient Eastern craftsmanship. Particularly artistically and historically valuable section of the collection is jewelry made of precious metals - "Scythian" gold - monuments made in a mixed Greek-Scythian manner, in particular, masterpieces of ancient art with plots on Scythian themes from the steppe "royal" mounds V– 4th century BC e. Among them are a golden comb from the Solokha barrow, and precious vessels from the Kul-Oba and Chastye barrows, and a silver amphora from the Chertomlyk barrow with relief images depicting in the manner of "ethnographic realism" scenes from the life and mythology of the Scythians, their appearance, weapons, clothes. From the burial tombs of the Scythian leaders (with whom their wives, servants, squires, grooms and horses were often buried) come a variety of weapons, horse attire, household items, ceremonial dishes and jewelry.

From the forest-steppe Scythia, where the agricultural tribes subject to nomads lived, in particular, from mounds and settlements, clay molded vessels, agricultural tools, household utensils, items associated with handicraft production, primarily with the processing of iron, bronze and bone, offensive and defensive weapons of local and antique production.

A. Yu. Alekseev, otshu

The nomadic tribes of the Scythians lived in the Northern Black Sea region. In the 7th-6th centuries BC. e. Greek cities and settlements appeared on the shores of the Black Sea (Ponta Aksinsky) and the Kerch Strait (Cimmerian Bosporus). The Greek colonization of the Northern Black Sea region played a huge role in the history of ancient Greece and the Black Sea peoples who inhabited this coast in ancient times. Colonization brought this region into the orbit of ancient civilization.

The Greek colonial cities became artistic centers, from the workshops of which many unsurpassed works of art came out. The constant contacts of the Greeks with the Scythians gave rise to an amazing cultural phenomenon - the Hellenic-Scythian art. Hellenic-Scythian art includes products, undoubtedly, made by the Greeks (as evidenced by the high level of technical performance and artistic skill). Greek masters created them specifically for the barbarian Scythian nobility.

The works of Greek jewelers presented at the exhibition are world famous. They come from one of the most famous Scythian tombs of the second half of the 4th century BC. - Kurgan Kul-Oba.

Discovered in 1830 on the Kerch Peninsula, near the city of Kerch, untouched by robbers, the “royal” mound Kul-Oba was a treasury of ancient Hellenic works of art. In the stone crypt of the Kul-Oba burial mound, interesting gold items were found, including a golden vessel with the image of the Scythians presented at the exhibition, a torc with tips in the form of Scythian horsemen and a phial.

A vessel with images of the Scythians is one of the outstanding finds. The frieze is decorated with four scenes from the life of the Scythians. Most archaeologists tend to view these scenes as illustrations of Scythian myths or heroic epic. According to the legend about the origin of the Scythians, the younger son of Hercules, Scyth, who managed to pull the bowstring, received power over Scythia. The Greek master, with striking sophistication and ethnographic accuracy, conveyed the features of the appearance of the Scythians, details of clothing, horse harness, and weapons. Such a realistic reproduction of details leaves no doubt that the artist was well acquainted with the life of the local barbarian population. The object is clearly of cult purpose, as well as clay and metal vessels similar in shape, known from finds in Scythian burials and from images on other monuments.

A hryvnia with tips in the form of Scythian horsemen - an ornament not typical for the Greek world, was widespread among the barbarians. Among the Scythian neck ornaments, the hryvnia looks unusual due to the sculptural tips made in the form of miniature figures of horsemen. Such products were iconic and served as symbols of power. Obviously, the Greek jeweler who made the hryvnia was guided by the future owner, who was one of the Scythian leaders.

The phiale, decorated with skillful embossed ornaments, was traditionally used in cult practice in Greek culture. Among the Scythians, these things were probably symbols of power. According to the references of Herodotus, the fiala was associated with the royal life.

The unique works of toreutics were probably political gifts and served as an important element of the entire system of Greek-barbarian relations, relations between the Bosporus and Scythia.

The gold items presented at the exhibition are rightfully considered masterpieces of the Hellenic-Scythian art. (from the same place, from the Hermitage website).

OK. Galanina. Scythian antiquities of the North Caucasus in the Hermitage collection:

Scythian art is, of course, the brightest and in many ways still mysterious artistic phenomenon of the Ancient World. Already in the early Scythian period, the animal style was an organic fusion of an original pictorial tradition and individual foreign influences, mainly ancient Eastern ones. The number of subjects in Scythian art is small. These are figures of standing or curled up cat predators, lying deer, mountain goats, flying birds and mysterious griffins. The heads of panthers, goats, rams, vulture-rams, horses, horse hooves, animal ears, bird claws and beaks also served as a motive for the image (ill. 93, 94).

The main plot and stylistic features of early Scythian art are already familiar to us from a series of highly artistic bridle decorations made of carved bone (ill. 68--73) and items of military equipment made using the technique of punching and embossing on gold (ill. 95, 96).

No less vivid artistic talent of the Scythians manifested itself in bronze casting with the loss of the wax model.

A group of bronze tops typical of the Scythian culture demonstrates the richest variety of plastics and harmony of compositional solutions. They were mounted on poles and served ritual purposes. Bronze balls placed inside the slotted body made a ringing, which, according to the Scythians, drove away evil spirits. Sometimes the head of a young hornless deer or a mule with sharp protruding ears served as a pommel, as if alert, frozen in a state of expectation (ill. 33). In other cases, the openwork body was crowned with the head of a long-beaked bird, a fantastic Greek-Eastern griffin, or a fantastic beast with a blunt muzzle and a protruding tongue, like those of Hittite lions, generated by its own myth-making (ill. 98).

Remarkable compositional skill is manifested in the design of cast Scythian cauldrons with stylized figurines of goats on the rim, which served as handles and at the same time as apotropaea (ill. 97).

The design of the bronze round mirror is also dictated by the classical concept of Scythian art, according to which the object or its most significant parts were transformed into the figure of an animal, and not just covered with images. The handle in the center of the mirror is adorned with a figure of a feline predator curled up in a ball, which is one of the plot and composition schemes that were invariably used to decorate rounded surfaces (ill. 99, 100).
(67/68)
Il. 93, 94.

Images of animals in Scythian art were subject to strict rules. Canonical not only poses of animals. Even in the interpretation of details, standard stylistic devices were used: the eyes, ears, nostrils, ends of the paws and tails of predators were conditionally indicated by circles. The ears of deer were, as a rule, leaf-shaped outlines, and the lips were oval in shape.

It is impossible not to pay tribute to the sharpness of the gaze of the ancient artists, who were able, without copying nature, to correctly convey the essence of each beast. The complete disregard for small anatomical details is striking, the extremely simplified modeling of body shapes by large, sharp planes - a technique that apparently originated in the technique of wood and bone carving, which was then transferred to metal products. The masters consciously emphasized and even exaggerated the most typical features characteristic of a particular type of animal. The emphasis was usually on one or two distinguishing features.

In the outline of bird heads, a large round eye and a predatory beak bent downwards stood out, and in deer, an exaggeratedly long branched horn, which was interpreted purely ornamentally, creeping along the back (ill. 58).

The laconicism and clarity of the drawing, the compactness of the compositions, the generalized plastic interpretation of forms, the conditional stylization of details with the moderate use of ornamental elements, and at the same time the lifelike authenticity of the images are a feature of the artistic method of the early Scythian animal style. All this is especially vividly embodied in the famous golden deer from the Kostroma mound in the Kuban, deservedly considered a masterpiece of Scythian art (ill. 101). The Hermitage collection also contains a no less striking example of the art of this era - a figurine of a deer from the Kelermes mound (ill. 102).

Obviously, the images of animals were pictorial equivalents of such important concepts and qualities for the military environment as strength, courage, speed of movement, vigilance of the eye. It was in these categories that the Scythian idea of beauty was embodied. An equally important role was played by the belief in the protective function of zoomorphic images, endowed with the magical properties of protecting a person from the action of hostile forces.
(68/69)
Il. 95. Ill. 96.

However, the question arises, what explains the strictly limited set of motifs in Scythian art? Why, along with animals of exclusively wild species, strange fantastic creatures also appear in it? But to reveal the essence of zoomorphic signs-symbols is not so easy. The reason lies in the lack of information about the Scythian folklore, and in the specifics of the Scythian artistic method, the creators of which, as a rule, reproduced one character, and not scenes of a narrative nature.

Most researchers are inclined to think about the connection of zoomorphic images with the deities of the Scythian religious pantheon, who personified, according to Herodotus, cosmic and natural phenomena. As you know, among the Egyptians, Sumerians, Greeks and other peoples of the Ancient World, revered deities were symbolized by wild animals. The same views were characteristic of the Indo-Iranian tribes related to the Scythians. Moreover, according to their ideas, the same animal could replace different gods and, conversely, each deity had the ability to transform into different animals. So, for example, in the "Vedas" - collections of Indo-Aryan religious hymns - the solar god Surya takes the form of either a bird soaring in the sky, or a horse. The ancient Iranian god of thunder and victory, Veretragna, was subject to especially numerous metamorphoses, easily turning from a white horse, bull or ram into a goat, wild boar, camel and bird of prey.

While admitting the ability for such a reincarnation of the Scythian deities, we, nevertheless, are deprived of the opportunity to confirm this assumption with the data of Scythian mythology proper.

There is also an opinion that Scythian art was called upon to reflect through zoomorphic signs, i.e. in the pictorial language of his era, a holistic panorama of the universe. This hypothesis is based on the idea of the universal role of tripartite structures in the mythological picture of the Universe, created by the concrete-figurative thinking of the Indo-Iranians. The cosmos was presented to them in the form of a world tree, the main parts of which - the crown, trunk and roots - symbolized the heavenly, earthly and underground spheres. It is with them, according to researchers, that the three leading motifs of Scythian art are steadily correlated - birds, ungulates and predatory animals.

Scientists, of course, still have to work to reveal the content of this peculiar art. The question of the origin of the Scythian animal style, which has no roots in the local cultures of the previous time and appears as if suddenly, is also solved in different ways. (69/70) Il. 97. Ill. 98.

Some researchers believe that Scythian art developed on the basis of the Assyrian, Urartian and Northern Iranian pictorial traditions during the stay of Eurasian nomads in the Middle East. However, this point of view is refuted by the monuments of the animal style, created on the territory of Eurasia in the 8th - early 7th century BC, i.e. before the beginning of the Scythian expansion into Transcaucasia and Western Asia. Therefore, there is no doubt that the Scythians appeared in this region with an already developed artistic culture, which, however, finally took shape and was enriched under the influence of the Near Asian art.

Of particular interest in this regard are the Kelermes antiquities, which shed light on the artistic environment and atmosphere in which the development of Scythian art took place on the soil of Western Asia.

The circumstance that the artistic design of most toreutics items, including items of the Western Asian type, is oriented towards the tastes of Iranian-speaking nomads speaks volumes. Moreover, the Scythian nobility equally willingly used the services of not only their fellow tribesmen, but also the Assyrians, Urartians, Ionian Greeks and other most skilled toreuts of the Middle Eastern world. It is most likely that both the Scythians and specially invited or captured foreign artisans worked together in the same workshop, located at the royal headquarters of the Scythians in the area of Lake Urmia. In the conditions of close communication, there was an exchange of creative experience among multilingual toreuts, new searches and experiments were undertaken to fulfill the common tasks facing them. Of course, the abilities of the masters were different, so some of them preferred to do things
eclectic style, others more skillfully combined oriental and Scythian forms, others strove to strictly follow the Scythian canons. But there were also those who, without changing their artistic method, limited themselves only to the selection of plots that met the needs and tastes of their customers. (70/71)
Il. 99, 100.

The Kelermes antiquities reveal to us not only the processes that stimulated the final formation of the Scythian animal style of the archaic period. They acquaint us with the diverse manifestations and the highest achievements of the early Scythian art, which was distinguished by its vivid expressiveness and noble simplicity of animal images.

This amazing art, which originated in the expanses of the Eurasian steppes, also penetrated to the settled tribes with whom the Scythians were in contact. The inhabitants of the Dnieper forest-steppe and Meotians of the Kuban, since ancient times famous for their various crafts, made a significant contribution to the development of the Scythian material and artistic culture.

With the advent of the Scythians in the basin of the Kuban River, the activity of the Meotian masters associated with the processing of iron and bronze flourished. Experienced artisans forged swords and spears of the Scythian type from steel, cast all kinds of nomadic items from bronze - from miniature arrowheads to huge cauldrons and openwork tops with zoomorphic images.

At the turn of the 7th-6th centuries BC, apparently, the general political situation in the North-Western Caucasus changed, which led to the resettlement or disintegration of the Meoto-Scythian union that existed in the area of the current village of Kelermesskaya. The ancient burial ground was abandoned, and only today several graves have appeared on one of the ancient burial mounds. Probably, part of the nomads who settled on the Kuban lands after the completion of the Near Asian campaigns went to the North Pontic steppes, where the Scythian kingdom subsequently arose, which existed until the beginning of the 3rd century BC. The remaining Scythians gradually more and more assimilated and eventually dissolved in the Meotian environment. But they left a very noticeable mark in the culture and art of the Meotian tribes, who created a peculiar version of the Scythian animal style. (71/72)
Il. 101. Ill. 102. Ill. 103. Ill. 104. Ill. 105.
(72/73)

The tendency towards the ornamental and decorative interpretation of the details of animal images, which was laid down at the very foundation of this art, gradually intensified (ill. 103-105). Ornamentalism developed especially brightly in the works of the second half of the 6th and, mainly, the 5th century BC, called the age of the Scythian baroque. Since that time, the animal style of the Northern Black Sea region and the Kuban region began to experience the influence of Greek culture, which came from the North Pontic ancient colonies adjacent to the Scythians and Meotians.

Greek art, as well as Western Asian art in its time, undoubtedly enriched the artistic creativity of the Scythians with new plots and compositional solutions, but it did not change its nature, its main criteria.

The development of the Scythian animal style in the Northern Black Sea region and in the Kuban was interrupted at the beginning of the 3rd century BC. the invasion of Sarmatian nomadic tribes related to the Scythians in language, who advanced into these areas from the Zadonsk steppes. From now on, the possessions of the Scythians began to be limited only to the steppe Crimea. Gradually, the former nomads are moving to a settled way of life, and their culture takes on the character of an urban civilization. In this period

sculptural tombstones are becoming widespread, architectural monuments, wall frescoes are being created, in which, along with the clearly tangible influence of Greek art, elements of the most ancient Scythian tradition can be traced.

Over the centuries, individual motifs and pictorial techniques of the Scythian animal style were revived in ways unknown to us in the artistic work of various tribes and peoples.

We find them in the Sarmatian animal style of the first centuries of our era, in the Permian and even Scandinavian zoomorphic art of the early Middle Ages. It is no less surprising that the Scythian eagle-headed griffins, feline predators, goats with their heads turned back, and even the Snake-footed goddess - the progenitor of the Scythians - found a kind of embodiment in Russian embroideries, enamels, architectural decoration and other forms of art of pre-Mongol Rus'.

Truly, it is not military achievements, but creative creative activity that perpetuates the name of any nation.

Not included:

093-094. Bone cheek-pieces depicting ears

102. Golden figurine of a deer from the Kelermes kurgan

In contact with

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The Scythians lived in the Black Sea region, between the Danube and the Don. Of the modern languages, the Ossetian language is closest to Scythian. In their appearance, as well as in the numerous definitions of skulls from excavated burials, the Scythians were undoubted Caucasians.

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Nomadic tribes, close to the Scythians in language and culture, occupied a much larger territory - the entire belt of steppes from the Don to the Baikal region. The Black Sea Scythians were several tribes that had their own names mentioned by Herodotus (Meots, Gelons, Kallipids, Scythians-plowmen, etc. .). Thracians and Dacians lived on the territory of modern Bulgaria and Romania.

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Since the Scythians led a nomadic or semi-nomadic way of life, the main knowledge about their material culture was formed from the results of excavations of burial mounds, which are conditionally called "royal", since it was in them that the most luxurious, precious things were found. In each large Scythian mound, servants and concubines of the deceased were buried, as well as up to several dozen bridled and saddled horses. In one of the large burial mounds, about 400 horse skeletons, a whole herd, were found.

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Among the numerous finds in the burial mounds of European Scythia, along with objects bearing elements of the Greek and ancient Eastern artistic traditions, one can also see a "purely" Scythian style, the same in its stylistic features as in the images found in Central Asia and South Siberia. .

Slide 7

A characteristic distinguishing feature of the art of the Scythians is the so-called "animal style". Many gold decorations of the Scythians were made in the form of some animals - a deer, a panther, a leopard. These figurines are full of dynamism and expression. The technique of their execution is distinguished by a high level of stylization, characteristic of true art. The masterpieces of the Scythian "animal" style include emblems that were attached to shields. These items were found in the Kuban mounds, the burials in which date back to the 7th century. BC e.

Protective plaque in the form of a panther (7th century BC)
Gold, inlay. Length 32.6 cm. Kelermes barrow I.

A brilliant example of the Scythian animal style. The power and aggressiveness of the predator is conveyed, the sharpness of its hearing, sight and smell is emphasized. To enhance the magical power of the image, 10 more small, curled up predators are placed on the paws and tail - a typical motif of Scythian art.

Slide 8

The "animal" style was characteristic not only for the art of the Scythians. Works of this kind are also characteristic of the Sarmatian and other nomadic tribes that inhabited the Great Steppe in the first half - the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. Some art historians believe that Scythian art with its "animal" motifs developed during the Scythian campaigns in Asia Minor. Others tend to think that Scythian art developed in the depths of the steppes of Eurasia.

Protective plaque in the form of a deer (7th century BC)

Found in a barrow near the village of Kostromsky (Kuban region). The place of the find gave the second name to the monument - "Kostroma deer". One of the masterpieces of Scythian art. The aptly captured silhouette, laconicism and generalization of forms give the figure an amazing dynamism, a feeling of inner energy and strength.

Slide 9

Sword in a sheath from the Kelermes burial mound (7th century BC)

Presumably, it was made on the territory of the Scythian state in Western Asia. The motifs typical of the Scythian animal style are combined with the Middle Asian techniques and compositions.

Detail of scabbard lining.

Slide 10

Ax (battle ax). 7th century BC.

Found in Kelermes mound I. It was used in the sacrificial ritual. Shows a mixture of Western Asian motifs ("tree of life") with Scythian proper (stylized animals with bent legs - Scythian animal style).

slide 11

A plaque depicting a goat (6th century BC)

Plate in the form of a lying goat with a head turned back, topped with long horns with relief stripes dividing the surface of the horns into separate planes.

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Bridle plaque in the form of a figure of a lying deer (Mid. 5th century BC) Bronze. 4.7x4.7 cm. Krasnodar Territory, Semibratsky barrow.

Bronze bridle plaque in the form of a figure of a lying deer with huge stylized antlers.

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The history of the Scythian people has always been shrouded in mystery, fascinated, delighted and inspired.

Vasnetsov "battle of the Scythians with the Slavs"

Slide 14

Come up with and draw a sketch of a plaque - the decoration of a Scythian warrior. Further work is carried out in the technique of metal-plastic. It is necessary to transfer the image onto a thin sheet of metal (a cut and pre-flattened can of aluminum). To do this, a newspaper is placed under the sheet of metal in several layers, white gouache mixed with PVA is applied to the working surface of the metal, the sketch is transferred to the metal using an ordinary ballpoint pen, then from the main lines of the image recede by about 3-5 mm and repeat the lines with the intended offset, this will give the necessary thickness, then the back (blunt) side of the handle “pulls out the volume.” The finished work should be covered with bronze.

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Cover sheet

The presentation is intended for students of the 5th grade of art schools. The time to complete the task is 90 minutes.

Purpose of the presentation:

1. introduce students to the art of the Scythians, aesthetic development, increase in general erudition.
2. The presentation contains an interesting task designed to teach children the basics of metal-plastics.

Completed by a 3rd year student of KhGF, MSGU
Nerezenko Lidia Andreevna
Supervisor: Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor
Svetlana Ivanovna Gudilina
Moscow 2009

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