Around the Bloc: Turkmen Treasure Trove Opens in Berlin
Ashgabat sends rarely seen Bronze Age artifacts abroad in goodwill gesture.
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Ashgabat sends rarely seen Bronze Age artifacts abroad in goodwill gesture.
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In his Ecclesiastical history, Socrates depicts Helena as a pious, strong and independentwoman, the mother of the emperor, realizing her own ideas and acting as a tool in the hands of God– the ultimate inspiration of her actions. The emperor, her son, only supported her in her undertakings. According to Socrates, Helena travelled to Jerusalem to answer God’s call; there, she organizedthe search for the Sepulchre and the Holy Cross and found them. She was supported by Macarius, the bishop of Jerusalem, who, after God’s intervention, distinguished the True Cross from the crossesof the two villains. The empress divided the relics and sent some of them to her son to Constantinople; moreover, in the Holy Land, she built three basilicas connected with the life of Christ. Finally,Socrates mentions her piety and discusses the place of her burial. Conversely, in Sozomen’s accountof the recovery of Christ’s Sepulchre and the relics, the main role is played by emperor Constantine, who wished to repay God for his blessings; he ordered the search and the construction of the basilicaon Mount Golgotha. His mother only supported him in his plans, led by her devoutness, to whichSozomen pays more attention than his predecessor – he emphasizes Helena’s sensitivity to humanpoverty and suffering. The emperor was also involved in her generous deeds and gave her access to the imperial treasury. Thus, as indicated by Sozomen, Helena’s piety brought prosperity both to her family and to the whole Roman Empire.
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The paper aims at examining the first Slavic collection of homilies of John Chrysostom, called Zlatostruy (i.e. Chrysorrhoas or Golden Stream). The peculiarities of its content, compilation strategy and impact on the medieval Bulgarian literature, revealed in previous studies, allow us toextract features that are related to the flourishing of the 10th century Bulgarian literary tradition and the successful adoption of Byzantine models.
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The paper compares the content and the structure of the three extant South Slavonic Synodika: Boril’s Synodikon as preserved in the so-called Palauzov copy of the 14th century (НБКМ№ 289); Drinov’s Synodikon (НБКМ № 432), previously considered to be a 16th century copyof Boril’s Synodikon, and the recently published South Slavonic Synodikon from the 16th century, kept in the library of the Romanian Academy of Sciences (BAR MS. SL. 307). The comparison issupported by a table showing the rubrics and their order in the three Synodika. It demonstrates that while Boril’s Synodikon is based on a translation of Comnenian version of the Synodikon of Orthodoxy, and while the South Slavonic Synodikon from Romania must be unequivocally attributed to the later Palaeologan version of the Greek text, the so-called Drinov copy represents a compilation of Boril’s Synodikon in its 14th version and the Palaeologan Synodikon. In fact, Drinov’s Synodikon contains all of the important interpolations and insertions of Boril’s Synodikon related to specifically Bulgarian circumstances and history, ranging from anti-Bogomilist anathemas to a list of Bulgarian rulers (comprising two historical accounts as well). Its initial part, however, follows the Palaelogan text preserved in BAR MS. SL. The unknown compiler obviously targeted a Bulgarian audience; in all likelihood, he was Bulgarian himself. Some textological features common to both Drinov’s and Palaelogan Synodikon suggest that the translated part of Drinov’s Synodikon and the Romanian Synodikon must have had a common antigraph. The latter fact allows us to conclude that the translation of the Palaeologan version of the Synodikon of Orthodoxy is an integral part of the tradition of the Bulgarian Synodikon; the presumed common antigraph was written in Bulgarian Tărnovo orthography, traces of which are found in Drinov’s text. As to the location of this translation, we can only speculate that it might have been completed in a monastic centre different than Tărnovoby the end of the 14th century.
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The paper compares how Paulicians were described in different types of medieval Slavonic sources by using the approach of the linguistic and culturological conceptualization of the alterity. By means of linguistic analysis, it tries to reach some essential dogmatic issues in the Pauliciandoctrine, and to focalize on the perception models towards Paulicians with their tangible semantic codes according to the specificities of the medieval world view. The two chosen texts the analysisis based on, are the legendary Bulgarian narrative Sermon about how the Paulicians have been conceived, and the Slavonic translation of 24th title of Panoplia Dogmatica by Euthymius Zigabenus. The analysis is followed by an English translation of the Sermon (insofar known in 8 copies), and a partial edition of the Slavonic translation of Zigabenus’s work upon the unique copy from the manuscript BAR 296, Library of the Romanian Academy of Sciences in Bucharest, dated between1410–1420. The text account from the Slavonic manuscript is published for the first time, giving supplementary details about the overall Slavonic translation.
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The region of Rama in Bosnia and Herzegovina is not very rich with historical findings such as those on the coast and inland Dalmatia, Slavonia or parts of Central Bosnia (specifically the Jajce-Vrbas region), and those which remained from the Middle Ages, ancient times were regularly abandoned, negligent, damaged by the effects of weather and natural disasters or endangered by the actions of foreign armies in transit, particularly in the period of 1942-1945., 1992-1994. Therefore, an unusual and fascinating discovery on hill Gradac near willage Ljubunci in eastern Rama, about which I wrote in the summer of 2011, is an interesting example of unusual secrets as well as the special cultural and historical riches that our country is jealously hiding. In the gallery of the historical sites in Prozor-Rama, Gradac takes a very important place.
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The Iberian language is directly attested by ca. 2250 inscriptions spanning the period from the 5th century BC to the 1st century AD, distributed between Eastern Andalusia and Languedoc. Although it must be considered a non-deciphered language, a large number of personal names have been identified in Iberian texts. The document that enabled the understanding of the basic structure of Iberian names is a Latin inscription from Italy (the Ascoli Bronze) recording the grant of Roman citizenship to Iberians who had fought for Rome during the Social War (90–88 BC). The study of this document paved the way for the identification of Iberian names in texts written in local languages, on the one hand, and in Latin and Greek epigraphic and literary sources on the other. This paper provides a state-of-the-art overview of research on Iberian onomastics, by synthesising the main recent achievements along with the remaining lines of research; it also investigates our understanding of the grammatical and syntactic structure of Iberian names, and analyses the evolution of Iberian naming patterns under Roman domination, by taking into account both Iberian and Latin documents.
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The Italic Peninsula never stood out in antiquity as a rich gold territory. The subsequent Rome's expansion outside Italy with the conquests of the gold zones of Hispania and Dacia made it possible to directly control the gold resources of these territories. The conquest of the Spanish northeast by Augustus (26–19 BC) gave rise to an authentic unprecedented 'gold rush' in Rome and can be seen by the high number of inscriptions related to the characters destined for the making and trading of golden objects in Rome. The different epigraphs reveal the dominance of certain families in the sale and preparation of objects of gold and other metals. At the same time, the inscriptions can help to understand the reality obviated in the literary sources, emphasizing the double moral of the emperor Augustus and his wife Livia. In this line, thanks to the epigraphs we can also highlight some of the commercial areas in Rome, where these gold artisans perform their work.
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The former Roman city and the legionary fort Viminacium lie under the fields of the modern villages of Stari Kostolac and Drmno, at the right Mlava bank, some 15 km to the north of Požarevac in Eastern Serbia. Viminacium was the capital of the Roman province of Upper Moesia (Moesia Superior) and also an important military stronghold at the northern border of the empire. During pre-Roman times, this area was inhabited by a mixed population, consisting of Celts and of a native Illyrian ethnic group, called by a common name of Scordisci. During the 1st century AD, the Dacians also inhabited this area. Until now, among numerous Viminacium graves (some 14,000), nineteen graves were specified as carriers of either Celtic-Scordiscian or Dacian Late Iron Age tradition. This number is surely bigger but by now, only about a thousand graves were published. “S”-profiled bowls were considered main features of graves with a Celtic-Scordiscian tradition, while Dacian pots were considered main features of graves with a Dacian Late Iron Age tradition. The paper deals with the finds themselves, but also with possible gender determinations of the deceased buried in these graves and with their social and economic status within the Roman society of Viminacium.
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The present study analyses the importance of the Băile Herculane spa resort, based on epigraphic discoveries and cartographic sources. Social mobility, along with the presence of urban elites from various towns, passing through, can shed some light on the renown enjoyed by the Băile Herculane hot springs during the Roman and Late Roman periods. The authors also attempt to research the local religious life, as well as the layout of the settlement’s sacred enclosures, an endeavour never before attempted. The results of such an analysis, in comparison with other spa resorts in Dacia, enables the possibility to understand how the town and its public edifices, dominant during the Roman period, developed, as well as the urban layout of Băile Herculane.
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The detailed investigation of dwelling no. 14 (Precucuteni II phase) from the Isaiia site brings interesting and, in some instances, novel data concerning the building system and the internal architecture of the Early Chalcolithic housing. Also, the artefacts from inside the dwelling and from the surrounding features bear witness about prehistoric crafts like pottery manufacture, stone knapping and polishing, animal hard tissue working, about the relations with neighbouring cultural areas, and, last but not least, about the ritual behaviour of the Precucuteni communities.
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Interdisciplinary investigations of the human osteological remains help us to understand the genetic diversity, the mobility or the paleodiet of the past communities and offer us insights on the diagenetic processes. The present study aims to assess the results of chemical, mineralogical and microscopic analyses performed on different human osteological remains selected from archaeological sites situated in Eastern Romania in order to understand the diagenetic transformations involved in the site formation processes and to estimate their influence on the historical interpretation.
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The author presents the epigraphic record of the countryside in the region Sacidava–Axiopolis (Lower Moesia). The population is not attested as living in organized structure like uici. However, the presence of military forces indicates a civilian population living in the proximity of military camps. The mention of Thracians recruited in the Roman army demonstrates that there was an indigenous organization before the Roman conquest. The veterans are also installed in the region, like Roman citizens inhabitants of Durostorum and Tomis, who had bought rural properties. Axiopolis was a harbour, and the existence of an association of nautae implies a quite cosmopolite population in the rural milieu of this town.
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OLIVER JENS SCHMITT (ed.): The Ottoman Conquest of the Balkans. Interpretations and Research Debates. Wien, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2016 (Sitzungsberichte der Philosophisch-Historischen Klasse, 872) 289 pp. ISBN 978-3-7001-7890-3. RICHARD A. FAZZINI – JACOBUS VAN DIJK (eds): The First Pylon of the Mut Temple, South Karnak: Architecture, Decoration, Inscriptions, The Brooklyn Museum Expedition to the Precinct of Mut at South Karnak, OLA 236. Leuven– Paris– Bristol/CT, 2015. VII – XIII, 146 pp., 66 Plates. ISBN 978-90-429-3055-1.
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Along with archaeological finds discovered during systematic excavations, accidental finds are not uncommon in Srebrenica municipality. The objects presented here are such finds: a bronze figurine of the god Pan, a bronze anchor fibula, and silver coins. According to available reference works, the figurine of Pan is a rare find in Bosnia and Herzegovina, dating from the 2nd and 3rd centuries. The silver coins probably date from the 2nd century. The bronze fibula is a typical specimen of an anchor fibula, ranging in date from the 1st to the 3rd century.
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Në ambientet reprezentative të Muzeut Arkeologjik të Zagrebit, më 29. qershor 2017, në orën 19, në prezencën e një numri të madh të ftuarish, mysafirësh e adhuruesish të arkeologjisë, u hap ekspozita me titullin “Japodi-zaboravljeni gorštaci” (Japodët-malësorët e harruar). Ekspozita është fryt i bashkëpunimit të Muzeut Arkeologjik të Zagrebit dhe Muzeut të Vendit të Bosnjë e Hercegovinës në Sarajevë, ndërsa kuratore të ekspozitës janë dr. Lidija Bakariq nga Zagrebit dhe dr. Adriana Providur nga Sarajeva. Hapja e kësaj ekspozite koincidon me 130- vjetorin e fillimit të gërmimeve sistematike në nekropolet dhe lokalitetet e tjera të kulturës japode dhe me 180-vjetorin e themelimit të Muzeut Arkeologjik të Zagrebit. Ekspozitën e hapën Ivan Radman Livaja dhe Dr. Lidija Bakariq
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According to the previous theories, the second war between Dacians and Romans ended in 106 AD. That the things were not like that is proved by all the scientific errors which resulted from the use of a wrong hypothesis. Regarding 106 AD we have no certainty about the foundation of the Dacian province but as far as this second war is concerned, the official data does not confirm its ending in this year. According to the Ranovac military diploma, the only certainty is the foundation of the province before the end of the second Dacian War. The governor Iulius Sabinus mentioned by this diploma certifies the existence of the province while the fact that the soldiers receive the Roman citizenship in 106 AD but remain in military active service confirms the continuation of the war after this year. Because all these problems are related, one cannot speak about another conflict but about a stage continuation of the one begun in 105 AD.
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Among the inscribed jewellery discovered in Roman Dacia count also the rings decorated with the phrase VTERE FELIX, most identified in military or army related contexts, at Resculum – Bologa (1), Potaissa – Turda (3) and Aquae – Cioroiu Nou (1), to which add two examples found in burial contexts at Sucidava (1) and Dierna – Orşova (1). From the seven pieces discussed herein, three are worked of gold, other three are silver-made and one is in bronze. The inscription was incised on the bezel or ring body, beside the short or even complete versions of the phrase being also present two names, that of Valerius at Potaissa and Caeserius at Dierna. Although according to part of bibliography, rings in this class were assumed to conceal a most certain affiliation to Christianity, we believe they may be the exponents of a fashion trend that originated in the military environment, which later diffused in that civilian, where among others, it was also used to decorate jewellery. In Dacia, such rings start to emerge most surely from the end of the 2nd century AD, peaking in circulation during the first half of the 3rd century AD, in use, on the decreasing slope of the curve, until the 4th century AD. Due to the find context, we believe they were used by soldiers or civilians in connection with the army, without yet further dismissing the possibility that in part, they were also used as signet rings.
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The present stage of research on this subject shows that the earliest evidences of the use of the andesite from the Măgura Uroiului volcanic hill were found during a survey of certain dwellings from the Early Neolithic period in Rapoltu Mare. The volcanic rock was used throughout the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, when two fortifications were erected on the terraces of Măgura Uroiului. The andesite quarry was systematically exploited during the Roman period. The traces of the ancient techniques of extracting stone blocks are still visible today. The site’s strong connection with the Micia Roman stonemasons’ centre lead to the discovery, in the Uroi exploitation site, of an anthropomorphic representation in an early stage of manufacture, a representation that bears the artistic marks of the Micia sculpture practices. The Uroi andesite was also used throughout the Middle Ages, as proven by a nearby fortification. Evidences of medieval and modern exploitations are also still visible through different markings left in the native rock.
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In 2003, the Dacian and Roman Civilization Museum in Deva bought an iron vessel from the owner of a hostel in Costeşti (Hunedoara County). He told us that the piece was found in Grădiştea Muncelului. This explanation could be true if we take into consideration another vessel of this type found on an iron tools and weapons depot from a smith workshop. It was excavated on a terrace in the ancient Sarmizegetusa Regia more than half a century ago (Pl. I)5. Although the vessel was strongly oxidized at the time, it was displayed in the salon of the hostel (Fig. 1). The pot was made of iron segments connected by rivets and the shape is very similar to that of situla type vessels with or without graphite. The piece was indexed on the treasure category of the Romanian National Patrimony.A few physicochemical analyses were done before the restauration method was chosen. The restauration process was acomplished in the laboratories of the National History Museum in Bucharest. After the analysis, a treatment meant to stabilize the corrosion byproducts was applied to the artefacts7. It consists of the usage of a solution of anhydrous sodium sulfite and sodium hydroxide. This method was tested and used for a long time in the laboratories of great western museums8, and it was adopted by Romanian specialists in the ’80-’90s.The object was sunk five times in the working active solution, in a vessel specially purchased for this. This process took five months (almost 800 hours, without weekends)11.After every halt of the steamer/vessel system and return to the room tempreture, the piece was mechanically cleaned using adequate tools. Afterwards it was sunk again, for the stabilisation treatment (Fig. 3). After finishing the process of the stabilization of the corrosion byproducts of the iron vessel and neutralising the sulfite solution, we started the next stage. The vessel wall was fallen on the inside and it was supported only by a small part of the wall, around the middle (Fig. 4), with the width of five centimeters.During the working process we tried to sketch the vessel in my notebook in order to capitalize the manner in which its component pieces were made (Fig. 5). After completion, the vessel rise with about two centimetres, so that now it has 38 centimeters. We tried to stabilize the wall as closely as possible to its natural position. That is why, for the completion and reinforcing of the wall we planned and done the operation of strenghtening the filling material.The restoration and chiseling of the walls imposed a schedule of six hours/day, from the 17th of November to the 15th of December 2016. At this stage cca 45 syringes of 24 mL of epoxy resin were prepared, in average 4 syringes/day on a period of eleven days. After each strenghtening of the resin we polished the redundancy using adequate tools to obtain the missing wall. A Silicon membrane (Fig. 8) was placed in the interior of the vessel, before the fibreglass.The cromatic integration of the resin was made in the nuance of tannin, in which the vessel was preserved, due to the color of iron oxide. By being restored as we have just described, the artifact received a new chance at life, at having an aspect and a strenghtened structure, and the hope of being appreciated by the public. Now, the vessel has its original shape and a high of 38 cm. The rim is inclined towards the interior and we can see that, on the upper part, the walls were decorated by two veins.The Aquisition and restoration of the artefact described by us enriched the Dacian and Roman Civilization Museum’s collections by a valuable piece. Short time after its return in town, in January 2017, it was exposed in the main hall of the Magna Curia Palace, on the “Exhibit of the month” programme. On this occasion, it was received with interest by the public of Deva. We also intend to exihbit it on a privileged position on the main exhibition of the museum which will be organised soon.
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