scholarly journals Byzantine Healing Amulets from Southwestern Crimea

2021 ◽  
pp. 82-99
Author(s):  
Elzara Khairedinova
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Digestive Tract ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Uterine Bleeding ◽  
Burial Ground ◽  
Southwestern Crimea ◽  
Medical Treatises ◽  
The Village

Introduction. The article presents two unique items from the Southwestern Crimea – a bronze finger ring with an image of a lion-headed serpent Chnoubis, originating from a female burial of the first quarter of the 7 th century of the Gothic-Alanian burial ground near the village of Luchistoye, and a bronze medallion, which was found in the area of the village of Goncharnoye, with magic signs, formulas and an image of Chnoubis, which is tied to an altar, fighting a snake. Methods. According to some similar findings from the territory of the Eastern Roman Empire, the ring and the medallion are attributed to the group of Byzantine medical amulets. The amulets of the Early Byzantine time demonstrate continuity with pre-Christian magical practices, therefore, late ancient magical gems and texts were involved to decipher the plots and inscriptions engraved on those amulets. Analysis. The finger ring was intended to improve digestion and to treat diseases of a digestive tract. The woman who owned the item was wearing it in a chest necklace, at the level of her stomach – just as it was recommended in medical treatises to wear amulets for abdominal pain. The medallion was a complex amulet intended for women. Chnoubis in the scene of fighting the snake and the spell ÐÉÍÏ are depicted on both sides of the medallion. In one case, Chnoubis is a guardian of a stomach and a fighter against diseases of the digestive tract, whose actions are enhanced by the three times repeated spell ÐÉÍÏ, which contributes to better digestion. In the second case, Chnoubis is a defender of women’s health, and the disappearing word ÐÉÍÏ should help stop pathological uterine bleeding. The action of the amulet is enhanced by a formula against demons that cause disease, and its healing properties are confirmed by the inscription ÕÃÉÁ (health). Such an amulet should be worn suspended from the neck by a long cord, or fastened to the belt. Results. Both items belong to the group of medical magic amulets. They were brought from the Eastern Mediterranean provinces of the Empire, where in the 6th – 7th centuries there were magic amulets similar in form and repertoire of protective means. The appearance of such items among the Gothic-Alanian population of the Southwestern Crimea is not surprising. The influence of the Byzantine civilization on all aspects of the life of the local population in the Early Middle Ages can be traced both from written sources and from numerous archaeological findings.

scholarly journals LATE MEDIEVAL MONUMENTS IN THE MATSUTA GLADE OF THE DIGOR GORGE

Kavkaz-forum ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 101-119
Author(s):  
Г.Н . Вольная (Керцева)
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Burial Ground ◽  
Late Medieval ◽  
Funeral Rite ◽  
Late Middle Ages ◽  
Project Construction ◽  
History Of

Материальная культура позднего средневековья Дигорского ущелья Северной Осетии недостаточно хорошо изучена по сравнению с другими периодами. В статье впервые представлен комплекс археологических памятников, расположенных на Поляне Мацута Дигорского ущелья: памятники, их расположение, история изучения. Цель исследования – рассмотреть Поляну Мацута как погребальный и культовый комплекс, где находятся позднесредневековые полуподземные склепы, каменные ящики, менгиры, цырты, «нартовский» ныхас, поселения кобанского и аланского периодов. Это памятники являются почитаемыми у местного населения, упоминаются в нартовском эпосе. В статье использовались полевые методы исследования, метод анализа и аналогий. В статье представлен авторский материал спасательных раскопок 2020 г. «Грунтового могильника Мацута I, средневековье» XVI-XVIII вв. в зоне реализации проекта «Строительство фельдшерско-акушерского пункта в с. Мацута». Могильник представляет собой погребения в каменных ящиках. Всего было раскопано 75 ящиков, в которых покойные лежали вытянуто на спине головой на запад с широтными отклонениями. Некоторые ранние погребения сопровождаются обрядом кремации. Погребальный обряд находит аналогии в горной Балкарии. Для погребального обряда характерно отсутствие керамической посуды в погребениях. Над ранними погребениями могильника была устроена тризна с кремацией и большим количеством фрагментированной керамики, скорее всего местного производства. Погребальный инвентарь достаточно беден и характерен для горнокавказской культуры позднего средневековья. Во взрослых погребениях найдены одежда, обувь, пояса, головные уборы, пояса; в женских – украшения; в мужских – ножи, оселки. В детских погребениях (в большинстве случаев) слева от головы обнаружены только куриные яйца, либо погребальный инвентарь совсем отсутствует. Отмечается высокая детская смертность. Детские погребения составляют почти 50% от всего числа раскопанных погребений. The material culture of the late middle ages of the Digor gorge in North Ossetia is not well studied in comparison with other periods. The article presents for the first time a complex of archaeological monuments located in The Matsuta Glade of the Digor gorge: monuments, their location, and history of study. The purpose of the study is to consider the Matsuta Glade as a funerary and cult complex, where there are late medieval semi-underground crypts, stone boxes, menhirs, tsyrts, "nartovsky" Nykhas, settlements of the Koban and Alan periods. These monuments are revered by the local population, mentioned in the Nart epic. The article uses field research methods, the method of analysis and analogies. The article presents the author's material of rescue excavations in 2020 of the "Ground burial ground of Matsuta I, middle ages" of the XVI-XVIII centuries in the area of the project "Construction of a paramedic and midwifery station in the village of Matsuta". The burial ground is a burial in stone boxes. In total, 75 boxes were excavated, in which the deceased lay stretched out on their backs with their heads facing West with latitude deviations. Some early burials are accompanied by a cremation ceremony. The funeral rite finds analogies in the mountainous Balkaria. The funeral rite is characterized by the absence of ceramic dishes in the burials. A funeral feast with cremation and a large amount of fragmented pottery, most likely of local production, was built over the early burials of the burial ground. The grave goods are rather poor and typical for mountain Caucasian culture of the late middle ages. In adult burials found clothes, shoes, belts, headwear, belts; women's jewelry; the men's knives, whetstones. In most children's burials, only chicken eggs are found to the left of the head, or there is no burial equipment at all. Children's funerals account for almost 50% of the total number of excavated graves.

The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Nicholson
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Near East ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
The West ◽  
Persian Empire ◽  
Significant Period ◽  
Oxford Dictionary

Over 5,000 entriesThe first comprehensive, multi-disciplinary reference work covering every aspect of history, culture, religion, and life in Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Near East (including the Persian Empire and Central Asia) between c. AD 250 to 750, the era now generally known as Late Antiquity. This period saw the re-establishment of the Roman Empire, its conversion to Christianity and its replacement in the West by Germanic kingdoms, the continuing Roman Empire in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Persian Sassanian Empire, and the rise of Islam.Consisting of more than 1.5 million words, drawing on the latest scholarship, and written by more than 400 contributors, it bridges a significant period of history between those covered by the acclaimed Oxford Classical Dictionary and The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages, and aims to establish itself as the essential reference companion to this period.

RIVETED IRON BOILER FROM THE BASION OF THE ANUJ RIVER UPSTREAM IN ALTAI

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 363-371
Author(s):  
KIREEV S. ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Altai Republic ◽  
Late Middle Ages ◽  
Metal Plates ◽  
Gorny Altai ◽  
The Village

An iron cauldron was found by residents of the village Verkh-Beloanuy of the Altai Republic in stone deposits near the foot of the mountain. The boiler has a straight body tapering towards the bottom and a rounded bottom. The vessel is made of several forged metal plates of various sizes and configurations, joined together with metal rivets. The boiler belongs to the suspended type, although its handle has not survived. Iron riveted cauldrons of various shapes and sizes were used in Altai from the ancient Turkic to the ethnographic time. Although they are quite a rare find. The cauldron from Verkh-Beloanuy dates back to the 17th-18th centuries. According to the local population, the cauldron was a helmet and could belong to the mythical Altai hero Sartakpay. In the legends of the Altaians, Sartakpay was the builder of bridges, roads, gave them agriculture and literacy. He possessed immense growth and gigantic strength. Legends about Sartakpay survive in Altai to the present day. Keywords: Gorny Altai, late Middle Ages, Altai ethnography, iron boiler, modern mythology of the Altai

Numismatic Material of the 15th—16th Centuries from Burials near the Village of Kovashi, Leningrad Oblast

2021 ◽  
pp. 147-167
Author(s):  
Konstantin Gorlov ◽  
◽  
Andrey Gorodilov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Leningrad Region ◽  
Burial Ground ◽  
Leningrad Oblast ◽  
Russian Academy Of Sciences ◽  
History Of ◽  
Burial Rites ◽  
Academy Of Sciences ◽  
The Village

In the fall of 2019, the archaeological expedition of the Institute of History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences carried out excavations in the Lomonosov district of the Leningrad region, in the village of Kovashi. During the course of the excavations, a previously unknown burial ground of the 15th—16th centuries was investigated, including at least 97 burials. Among the burial items, the most significant ones are 33 coins of Novgorod and Pskov Republics’ emission, of Principality of All Rus during the reigns of Ivan III, Vasily III and Ivan IV. The composition of the numismatic collection from the burials of the Kovashi burial ground reflected the most important changes that took place in the financial sphere of the Novgorod Republic during the period of its independence ceding to Moscow. Coins found in the tombs have become the leading chronological indicator, allowing us to refine both the dating of individual graves containing money and the functioning of all of the burial ground by following the process of its development. Fixation of the “obol of the dead” among the population of the Vodskaya Pyatina supplements the available data on the burial rites of the local population and their idea of the afterlife.

scholarly journals Excavation at the Visyachiy Kamen-2 burial ground

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 169-174
Author(s):  
P. I. Shulga ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Burial Ground ◽  
Rare Type ◽  
Funeral Rite ◽  
Burial Mounds ◽  
The Village

In 2008 near the village of Novofirsovo (Kurinsky District, Altai Territory), two burial mounds (No 2, No 3) were accidentally excavated. Kurgan No. 2 was robbed in antiquity; the inventory was absent. However, the features of the funeral rite indicate that it was made near 7th-6th cent. BC. «Long» mound No 3 (15 m long and 47 m wide), was formed during the confluence of small mounds (made of stone and soil), and contained seven graves. Kurgan belongs to a rare type of Middle Ages burial structures, possibly of the Turkic time.

scholarly journals THE BURIAL 82 FROM THE EARTH BURIAL GROUND NEAR THE VILLAGE ZALOMI IN KIROVOHRAD REGION

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 330-334
Author(s):  
K. I. Panchenko
Keyword(s):  
Common Ground ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Forest Steppe ◽  
Burial Ground ◽  
State Pedagogical ◽  
Pedagogical Institute ◽  
State Pedagogical Institute ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Village

Burial ground near Zalomy Znamensky district of the Kirovograd region was discovered in 1985. The place is located in the area between the rivers Irkley and Tsybulnik, belonging to the basin of Tiasmin — in the borderland of the Right-bank forest-steppe and steppe. In 1986, along with burial ground the simultaneous Scythian settlement was discovered. During 1986—1989, burial excavations were conducted by archaeological expedition of then Kirovograd State Pedagogical Institute. There were 98 excavated burials from the necropolis. The investigated Scythian burial belong to the VI—IV century BC. Thus, a burial ground and settlement constitutes the integral archaeological complex. Unfortunately, most of the Scythian burials were robbed in antiquity, and therefore — the burial inventory of the necropolis is not numerous. Burial No. 82 was carried out in a common ground pit and was not plundered. Among the discovered things of farewell inventory of special interest is a rare set of decorations from corals. Next to them were also found gold amphor-shaped pendants and bronze clasps. Most likely in ancient times, decorations were part of one necklace. In addition, in the burial were found beads, amber and glass beads, miniature molded vessel. The materials of the burial allow one to date his IV century BC. It should be assumed that the person buried here had a special social status among the local population in Scythian times.

A Process of Glocalisation? Roman Marble Imports and the Rise of Blocked-Out Capitals in Local Stone

2020 ◽  
pp. 33-45
Author(s):  
Matthias Grawehr
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
High Quality ◽  
White Marble ◽  
Aesthetic Preference ◽  
Local Responses ◽  
Global Trend ◽  
Short Period ◽  
New Type ◽  
Local Materials

In the Augustan Age, a new aesthetic preference was propagated in the Roman Empire – the surface of white marble was valued as it symbolised the strength and superiority of the ‘new age’. Soon, an immense trade in high quality marble over land and sea developed to meet the emergent demand. While the development and scale of this trade is well studied, the repercussions that the new aesthetic preference had on the local architectural traditions in areas where no marble was close at hand is not commonly considered. In this contribution, two developments are traced, taking the Corinthian capital as the leitmotif. First, in the short period between c. 40 and 10 BC, patrons would choose imitation of marble in plaster to meet up with the demands of the new standard and to demonstrate their adherence to the Empire. In the second line of development, a different path was taken – a conscious use of local materials which went hand in hand with the development of a new type of capital, the so-called ‘Nabataean blocked-out’ capital. This combination turned into a new vernacular tradition across large parts of the eastern Mediterranean. Both developments were local responses to a new ‘global’ trend and can therefore be viewed as a phenomenon of glocalisation in the Roman Period.

Coinage and the Tributary Mode of Production

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo Manzano Moreno
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Social Role ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Early Middle Ages ◽  
The Social ◽  
Simple Question ◽  
Mode Of Production

This chapter addresses a very simple question: is it possible to frame coinage in the Early Middle Ages? The answer will be certainly yes, but will also acknowledge that we lack considerable amounts of relevant data potentially available through state-of-the-art methodologies. One problem is, though, that many times we do not really know the relevant questions we can pose on coins; another is that we still have not figured out the social role of coinage in the aftermath of the Roman Empire. This chapter shows a number of things that could only be known thanks to the analysis of coins. And as its title suggests it will also include some reflections on greed and generosity.

Lordship and Administration

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duncan Hardy
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Holy Roman Empire ◽  
Late Medieval ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Urban Elites ◽  
Interconnected Networks ◽  
Territorial States

The Holy Roman Empire, and especially Upper Germany, was notoriously politically fragmented in the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries. A common way to interpret this fragmentation has been to view late medieval lordships, particularly those ruled by princes, as incipient ‘territories’, or even ‘territorial states’. However, this over-simplifies and reifies structures of lordship and administration in this period, which consisted of shifting agglomerations of assets, revenues, and jurisdictions that were dispersed among and governed by interconnected networks of political actors. Seigneurial properties and rights had become separable, commoditized, and highly mobile by the later middle ages, and these included not only fiefs (Lehen) but also loan-based pledges (Pfandschaften) and offices, all of which could be sold, transferred, or even ruled or exercised by multiple parties at once, whether these were princes, nobles, or urban elites. This fostered intensive interaction between formally autonomous political actors, generating frictions and disputes.

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