The Book of Judith: from a symbolic story to a historical mystery
Author(s): Tatiana Mikhailova / Language(s): English
/ Issue: 7/2018
Keywords: The Book of Judith; symbolic story; historical mystery
The Apocryphal tale of Judith describes the story of the encounter between the Assyrians and the Jews, who managed to overcome the enemy through the faith and strength of Judith. The Book is rich in historical and geographical details but the general historical stage is false or more likely intentionally modified. The reason of this modification may be the creation of a pseudo-historical reality with the purpose to make an impression of a timeless lesson. But with the course of time this symbolic role of this artistical device is slackening so that the process of decoding advances to the forefront.
This study deals with three rare Hellenistic coins kept by two Russian museums: the State Historical Museum and the State Museum of Oriental Art. All specimens are of a great numismatic interest, firstly, because they belong to rare or previously unknown issues.
Keywords: Parthian Weapons; Vestemin; Iran; Crypts; Graves; military equipment
The article describes a series of finds of Parthian military items in the graves and crypts of Vestemin in northern Iran. These findings are especially significant as they provide an array of discoveries of military equipment: swords, daggers, spearheads,arrowheads, armor and a possible helmet. This study obliges a revision of Winkelman’s observation that “few finds of weapons have been made inside Iran” with respect to Parthian military equipment. In an overall sense, these findings may prove to be as significant to the domain of Parthian military studies as the well-known site of Dura Europos. The excavations have also discovered a coin of Philip the Arab or his son from the earlySasanian era which has assisted the authors’ dating of the Vestemin site. The site of Vestemin is not exclusively a burial venue as the site also has defense works as well as a fortress dated the later Parthian era c. 1st century BCE to 3rd century CE).
Nation and Empire Building the Iranian Way. The Case of the Sasanian Empire in the 3rd Century
Author(s): Ilkka Syvänne / Language(s): English
/ Issue: 7/2018
The article concentrates its attention on the practical aspects of the nation and empire building so that it: 1) Analyzes what methods, means and myths the founder Ardašīr I and his
immediate successors used in the building of the Iranian nation and then the empire; 2) Provides an analysis of the importance of history and religion in the making of national myths so that
the article analyzes how the Iranian leadership rewrote the past together with its religion for the purpose of uniting under their flag all those who spoke the Iranian dialects and/or practiced
ancient Iranian religions, 3) Investigates what methods the Sasanians used to control the subjects; 4) Shows how the original set of falsified historical myths and the core set of religious beliefs were altered to meet the changing reality. 5) Asks whether the above provides any lessons for modernity.
In 359, Šāpur II (r. 309-379) led his army against Rome. This campaign became a milestone for the balance of power in Romano-Iranian borderlands. After seventy three Šāpur succeeded in breaking through the defenses and in sacking the city of Amida. According to Ammianus Marcellinus long lasting, heroic defense of Amida saved the Roman cities of Cappadocia from sacking. The author of the article believes that Amida was initial and primary target of Šāpur’s campaign of 359 and the siege was not a result of coincidence of various events, factors and intentions not, as it is suggested by Ammianus Marcellinus.
Persian Riders in the Aethiopica of Heliodorus. A reliable source?
Author(s): Patryk SKUPNIEWICZ,Katarzyna MAKSYMIUK / Language(s): English
/ Issue: 7/2018
Keywords: The Aethiopika; Heliodorus; Iran; heavy cavalry; cataphracti
The description of the Persian Riders in Aethiopica of Heliodorus is often regarded a reliable source to reconstruct the tactics and armament of Iranian heavy cavalry of the Sasanian period, sometimes even spread to its Roman equivalents. The conventional nature of entire text is somehow disregarded in this particular point which is not less conventional than all other depictions of the novel. The description uses fixed phrases designed to flatter the erudite reader, not to describe actual combat troops of Achaemenid era disguised in fourth century attire. The Heliodorus’ description must be treated with utmost carefulness and can be a tertiary source for reconstruction of the Sasanian heavy horse, at best.
Analysis, Typology, and Chronology of Stuccos in the Palace of Kuh-e Khvājeh
Author(s): Zoheir Vasegh Abbasi,Reza MEHRAFARIN,Seyyed Rasol MOSAVI HAJI / Language(s): English
/ Issue: 7/2018
Keywords: Oshida; Palace of Kuh-e Khvājeh; Typological Comparison; Stucco Art
Due to its strategic and unique location, Mount Oshida (Kuh-e Khvājeh) in the Sistān plain, has been alternatively used since a long time ago to this date. On the southern slope of this mountain, the ruins of a palace known as Qalʿa-ye Kāferān appear after the Muslims’ arrival and domination over the region. This castle was explored and excavated during the second and third decades of the twentieth century by scholars such as Stein and Herzfeld, and its decorations have been widely mentioned. However, its stuccos have not been analyzed in terms of their types, forms, and patterns up to this date. Hence, there are some disagreements about their construction date, as some scholars consider these architectural decorations to belong to the Parthian period while others connect them with the Sasanian period. In the present research, it has been attempted to study and evaluate the stuccos in the palace of Kuh-e Khvājeh in the framework of a typological comparison according to the archaeological evidence and historical documents, so that a clear understanding of the historical situation and construction date of these works can be obtained. The research method of the current study has been based upon documentary sources and archaeological evidence. Reviewing the previously performed studies and excavations, along with the comparison and typology of stuccos obtained from other sites, leads usto the conclusion that the stuccos found on this site belong to the Sasanian period in terms of shape, form and decoration.
The Kizil Caves as an terminus post quem of the Central and Western Asiatic pear-shape spangenhelm type helmets. The David Collection helmet and its place in the evolution of multisegmented dome helmets
Author(s): Adam Kubik / Language(s): English
/ Issue: 7/2018
Current paper consists of two main parts. In the first part the author discusses arms and armor presented in the Kizil Caves depictions, suggesting a datation of the two well-knowncaves, namely so-called Maya Cave and Cave of the Painter. In the second part of this paper the author discusses a helmet found in Iran and currently held in the David Collection,Copenhagen. On the basis of a detailed comparative analysis, the author puts forward a thesis of correlation between the lamellar and spangen pear-shape helmets dating the objects tolate 6th-beginning of the 7th century CE. Specifically, it is suggested that the David Collection helmet is a later evolution of such forms that was known in the late-Sasanian period.
Author(s): Karl Chandler Randall IV / Language(s): English
/ Issue: 7/2018
Keywords: Paper; Armor; Shield; Military; Scale; Lamellar; History; Asia
This paper investigates the history and construction of paper armor, tracing its roots from Tang dynasty China, across Asia and India and into Western Europe. Source material is examined in detail to provide clues as to paper's first use in armor, how its construction style evolved, its migration, and effectiveness against period weapons from its point of origin through nineteenth century. While paper armor was by no means invulnerable, provided an inexpensive defense against swords, arrows, spears and even muskets for over a thousandyears.
Piotr Skarga – “Swordsmen of the Counter-Reformation” towards other confessions
Author(s): Teresa Chynczewska-Hennel / Language(s): English
/ Issue: 7/2018
Keywords: Piotr Skarga; Jesuit; the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealt; Reformation
Piotr Skarga was a Jesuit theologian, preacher, hagiographer, Catholic polemicist, one of the greatest prose writers of the Polish Renaissance, the author of, among others, famous the Kazania sejmowe. Thanks to the historical and literary legend created during the partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and surviving to modern times, he became a symbol of a great priest – a patriot. There is a black legend of Piotr Skarga, in which he appears as a huge nietolerant and almost eager for blood of dissidents. There is no lack of objective studies on the other hand, along with a critical analysis of the works of Piotr Skarga.
Reformation as an Inspiration for Reforms of the Eastern Churches in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Author(s): Dorota WEREDA / Language(s): English
/ Issue: 7/2018
Keywords: the Uniate Church; the Orthodox Church; Hipacy Pociej; Józef Welamin Rutski; Reformation
The Reformation was a phenomenon influencing transformations of the Orthodox Church and the Uniate Church in the multi-denominational Polish-Lithuanian state. In response to a particularly severe lack of education compounded by the influence of the Reformation in the Easter Churches, certain educational initiatives were undertaken, translation of the Bibleand liturgical texts into the Old Orthodox Church Slavonic language, acquainting people with new forms and ways of religious apologetics. Ideas initiated by the Reformation weredeveloped in the 16th century by Piotr Mohyła. Under the influence of the Reformation a new quality of relationships and social bonds was created in the Orthodox Church society of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The activities of laymen and Orthodox Church fraternities became more intensified. The ideas of the Reformation on soteriological subjects became an inspiration for part of Orthodox Church elites to enter into union with the Papacy.
In the current paper the author discusses headgear represented on Kušān medallions showing the bust of King Huviška. Most likely those medallions are depicting pre-Islamic lamellar helmets, well known from for example on the Sasanian, Bīsetūn capital currently held in Ṭāq-e Bostān Museum, Iran. The author will try to compare the presented lamellar constructions with known finds of such helmets of the pre-Islamic era.
Albania, an ancient country in the Caucasus, was turned into a Sasanian province by Šāpūr I (c. 253). The Albanians became increasingly integrated into the battle order of the Iranian army (especially cavalry). All along the Caspian coast the Sasanians built powerful defense works, designed to bar the way to invaders from the north. The most celebrated of these fortifications are those of Darband in Caucasian Albania. Albania remained an integral part of the Sasanian Empire until the Arab conquest of Iran.
Author(s): Ilkka Syvänne / Language(s): English
/ Issue: 8/2019
Keywords: Roman military; Byzantine military; Muslim military; Muslim Conquests tactics; Battle of Yarmuk; Battle of Fihl; Battle of Ajdanayn; Jerusalem; Heraclius; Khalid b. Walid; Abu Bakr; Umar
The aim of this article is to show that there is an alternative way to reconstruct the Muslim conquest of Roman Levant, which is actually militarily more plausible than the current consensus view among historians.
Recently published silver plate from al-Sabah Collection, of unknown provenance, has been firmly attributed as Sasanian. In fact, technically, it is related to the Sasanian silverwork however aesthetic examination allows to raise the doubts whether it is genuine. The plate must be compared not only with central-Sasanian artworks but all ancient ‘Oriental silver’, including pieces attributed as Hephtalite or Sogdian. The design of the plate does not have any relation with any of the known examples of late antique oriental toreutics. Central scene of heroic combat with powerful beast or beasts has never been surrounded with the ring containing other hunting scenes is unknown as well. The disbalanced decorum is even more clear when we remind that the central scene shows hunting on foot and the marginal ones – mounted. The details of fixed aesthetic elements – position of personages, beasts, weapons do not belong to Sasanian canon. The unique nature of the plate might result from many factors but the combination of unknown provenance and lack of relation to legitimate Sasanian canon require utmost cautiousness towards the object.
The site of Shaym Qalʿa, Marw oasis: reconsidering the chain of information
Author(s): Costanza FRANCAVILLA / Language(s): English
/ Issue: 8/2019
Keywords: Shaym Qalʿa; Marw; Early Islamic; misr;sources;
The ancient city of Marw, Turkmenistan, represents a unique case study for having been the object of many archaeological expeditions, from the pioneering mission of R. Pumpelly (1903-1904) to the most recent aerial-topographic studies of T. Williams “The Ancient Merv Project” (2001-2003). Nevertheless, the settlement dynamics during the transition from Late Sasanian to Early Islamic period (7th-8th cs. A.D.) are not well understood. This contribution focuses on some observations on the site of Shaym Qal.a, a quadrangular area close to the modern tepe of Gyaur Qal.a. The latter one represents the hellenistic Antiochia Margiana later determined to be an important shahrestan of the Sasanian’s northeastern territories. At first, it was hypothesized that Shaym Qal.a was a Seljuks military camp (11th-12th cs.), however recent archaeological studies have uncovered elements which could backdate the site to the 8th century. These data go along with Yakubovskii and Bosworth (1991) statements about the ancient Marw; so, the actual hypothesis is that Shaym Qal.a is an Early Islamic military camp, that is a mi.r. This paper illustrates this latter hypothesis including the favorable points challenges. In addition, this paper verifies two ancient authors, al-.abari and al-Muqaddasi. Through the readings of the Islamic historians the identification of Shaym Qal.a can be reconsidered.
Author(s): Mamuka Tsurtsumia / Language(s): English
/ Issue: 8/2019
Keywords: Latin Church; Byzantine Church; Georgian Church; Church Law; Warrior Bishops
In Western Europe the Church as an institution was integrated into the military system and was obliged to serve the monarchy. Apart from performing vassal duties, the Latin clergy frequently participated in military actions. Although the Church laws forbade clergymen to shed blood, there were many examples of the violation of this rule. The attitude of the Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire concerning the possible participation of the clergy in war differed significantly from that of Latin Europe. The Byzantine priesthood did not become involved in military actions. The Greek Church possessed neither military units nor vassal commitment to the Empire. Despite a very close relationship with the Byzantine Church the attitude of the Georgian Church to the issue differs from that of Byzantium and is closer to the Western practice. The feudal organization of Georgia conditioned the social structure of the Georgian Church and its obligations before the monarchy. Despite the fact that the Georgian Church enjoyed many advantages, it had to take part in military campaigns. The upper circles of Georgian Church dignitaries were accustomed to both conducting military campaigns or taking part in the combat. In regard to military activities of clergy, Georgian law was much more lenient than Byzantine, and in the case of necessity, it even modified Greek legal norms. The conflict with the Christian canons was decided in favor of military necessity, and it was reflected in the legislation.
Handover of the buildings and equipment remaining after the dissolution of the Pauline monastery in Leśna Podlaska in 1864 to the Eastern Orthodox Church and its further history
Author(s): Dorota WEREDA / Language(s): English
/ Issue: 8/2019
Keywords: Pauline monks; Pauline monastery in Leśna Podlaska; dissolution; image of Our Lady of Leśna; Eastern Orthodox Church; library; Russification policy
In Leśna Podlaska, the image of Mother of God has been an object of worship since 1683. In 1727, the Leśna parish was taken over by monks from the Pauline Order. In 1875, on the basis of Tsar Alexander II's decree, the church in Leśna Podlaska, together with the venerated image, the great altar, and votive offerings, were handed over to the Eastern Orthodox Church. The remaining furnishings were transferred to 18 parish churches of the liquidated dioceses of Podlasie and Lublin. The organ was transferred to All Saints Church in Warsaw. The book collection of the Pauline monks from Leśna was donated to the library of the seminary in Lublin. In the years 1879–1881, the exterior of the church was changed, giving the building an appearance characteristic of Orthodox Church temples. Leśna Podlaska became an important centre of Russification policy carried out by Russia.
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