|
i.
COLLECTION
OF
THE
PRE-ISLAMIC
PERIOD
Among
the
most
ancient
objects
of
Iranian
art
in
the
Hermitage
collection
are
55
Elamite
painted
vessels
of
the
late
4th-3rd
millennium
B.C.E.
donated
by
the
French
Archaeological
Mission
in
Persia
at
the
beginning
of
the
20th
century.
Antiquities
from
Luristan
(13th-8th
century
B.C.E.),
among
them
bracelets,
pins,
bronze
figurines
and
pottery,
make
a
comparatively
small
collection.
The
Iron
Age
is
represented
also
by
several
earthenware
vessels
of
the
Hasanlu
type
(10th-9th
century
B.C.E.)
and
by
a
varnished
red-slip
vessel
from
the
area
of
Amlash
donated
to
the
Hermitage
by
Arthur
Pope.
Among
the
objects
of
the
Achaemenid
period
(6th-4th
century
B.C.E.)
there
is
a
fragment
of
one
of
the
Persepolis
reliefs—the
head
of
one
of
the
"immortals"
of
the
royal
guard
(donated
by
the
government
of
Iran
in
1935
on
the
occasion
of
the
international
exhibition
of
Iranian
art
held
in
the
Museum),
a
profiled
golden
bowl
with
lion-shaped
handles
(found
in
the
18th
century
near
Astrakhan),
several
pieces
of
jewelry:
gold
torques
with
semi-precious
stones,
a
plaque
with
the
image
of
a
winged
man
(called
by
some
the
Ahuramazda@
symbol),
and
animal
figurines.
Most
of
these
objects
come
from
the
Siberian
collection
of
Tsar
Peter
I.
A
small
collection
of
Achaeme-nid
seals
include
a
cylinder
seal
of
the
late
5th
century
B.C.E.
representing
the
triumph
of
a
Persian
king
over
Egypt,
several
chalcedony
and
carnelian
stamp-seals
of
the
Greco-Persian
style,
among
them
a
remarkable
seal
with
a
combat
between
a
horseman
and
a
foot-soldier.
The
Parthian
period
is
represented
mainly
by
finds
from
the
site
of
Old
Nisa
(Turkmenistan),
from
the
excavations
of
one
of
the
first
palaces
of
Parthian
kings
carried
in
1947-63.
Most
of
the
objects
coming
from
the
excavations
are
now
in
the
Museum
of
History
in
Ashkhabad
(Hellenistic
marble
sculpture,
clay
bullae,
ivory
rhyta,
silver
and
bronze
figurines).
The
government
of
Turkmenistan
donated
to
the
Hermitage
four
ivory
rhyta
(2nd
century
B.C.E.)
and
several
terracotta
plaques
once
decorating
the
Parthian
palace.
The
Nisa
ostraca,
over
2600
documents
from
the
archives
of
the
royal
wine-cellars
(last
quarter
of
the
2nd–middle
of
the
1st
century
B.C.E.)
are
also
in
the
Hermitage.
Ivory
rhyta
from
Nisa,
strictly
speaking,
cannot
be
regarded
as
pieces
of
Iranian
art.
They
were
produced
by
Greco-Bactrian
craftsmen
and
came
to
the
treasury
of
the
Parthian
kings
as
spoils
of
war
ca.
150
B.C.E.
The
Nisa
ostraca,
most
valuable
documents
on
Parthian
economics
and
history,
are
now
published
in
Corpus
Inscriptionum
Iranicarum
(Part
II,
Vol.
II).
Recently,
in
1996,
the
Hermitage
acquired
a
rare
piece
of
Parthian
metalwork,
a
silver
gilded
lobed
plate
decorated
with
a
figurine
of
an
ibex,
presumably
of
the
1st-2nd
century
C.E.,
with
a
long
Parthian
inscription.
The
inscription
records
that
in
the
middle
of
the
3rd
century
C.E.
it
belonged
to
the
Sasanian
viceroy
of
the
Transcaucasian
region
(bidaxæ),
Narseh,
son
of
Ardaæir.
The
Hermitage
has
the
largest
collection
of
silver
vessels
manufactured
in
Iran
and
Central
Asia
in
the
3d-9th
centuries.
Pre-Islamic
traditions
in
silverwork
continued
to
the
9th
century;
therefore
it
is
more
convenient
to
consider
the
whole
collection
in
the
article
dedicated
to
the
pre-Islamic
period.
Most
of
these
vessels
come
from
chance
finds
and
hoards
discovered
in
the
Kama
and
Ob'
basins
from
the
1780s;
some
Hellenistic
Iranian
and
Bactrian
gold
and
silver
vessels
had
been
in
the
Siberian
collection
of
Peter
I.
Oriental
silverware
were
brought
to
the
Kama
and
Ob'
area
mostly
by
Central
Asian
merchants
in
exchange
for
furs
starting
from
the
6th
century
C.E.
When
Sasanian
treasuries
were
looted
by
Bahra@m
Ùo@bin
(in
589)
and
then
by
the
Arabs
in
the
7th
century,
merchants
obtained
earlier
vessels
(3rd-5th
century).
There
are
finds
of
even
earlier
dates,
e.g.,
a
medallion
representing
one
of
the
1st
century
C.E.
Parthian
kings
from
the
Ob'
region.
The
Kama
and
Siberian
finds
were
transferred
to
the
Hermitage
mainly
through
the
Imperial
Archaeological
Commission
(from
the
1860s).
After
the
revolution
of
1917
a
large
collection
of
the
Stroganoff
family
came
to
the
museum
(1925),
as
did
several
other
silver
vessels
from
private
collections.
Between
1920
and
1940
the
Hermitage
received
several
finds
and
hoards
from
different
parts
of
Russia.
Several
vessels
came
from
finds
in
the
Ukraine,
North
Caucasus,
the
Don
region
and
from
Georgia.
Of
the
Ukrainian
finds
the
most
famous
is
the
Perestchepino
hoard,
from
the
burial
of
some
7th-century
nomadic
chieftain
found
in
the
Poltava
district
in
1912.
It
contained
several
unique
Sasanian
gold
vessels.
Figure
1
The
whole
collection
was
formed
when
Oriental
silverware
in
Russia
was
of
no
particular
commercial
value,
so
it
is
free
of
fakes.
The
only
fake
is
the
plate
representing
Bahra@m
V
(421-39)
hunting
lions
(Orbeli
and
Trever,
1935,
pl.
10)
bought
in
Rawalpindi,
where
by
the
end
of
the
19th
century
there
was
already
a
well-developed
antiquarian
market.
In
all,
the
Hermitage
has
three
gold
and
thirty-five
(or
thirty-six)
silver
Sasanian
vessels,
of
which
the
most
noteworthy
are
eleven
plates
with
scenes
of
royal
hunts
(Trever
and
Lukonin,
1987).
It
is
difficult
to
trace
the
exact
limit
between
Sasanian
and
post-Sasanian
periods;
still
three
or
four
vessels
can
possibly
be
attributed
to
the
second
half
of
the
7th
century
or
to
the
8th
century.
The
collection
of
Sasanian
seals
numbers
over
1200
items.
Many
of
them
come
from
famous
European
collections,
such
as
the
collection
of
the
Duke
d'Orleans
purchased
at
the
end
of
the
18th
century
for
Catherine
II,
from
Russian
collections
(Kastalsky,
Kibalchich,
Petrovski,
Lemmlein)
or
from
documented
finds
in
the
Caucasus
and
Central
Asia.
The
most
famous
gems
are
the
amethyst
seal
of
Queen
De@nak
(see
DENAG),
wife
of
Ardaæir
I
(first
half
of
the
3rd
century),
seal
of
a
treasurer
(mardbed)
named
Agnvist
inscribed
in
Parthian,
a
chalcedony
seal
of
the
6th
century
dignitary
Ma@ha@n
with
the
longest
inscription
in
Middle
Persian
known
in
glyptic
context.
The
collection
of
Parthian
coins
numbers
over
3,000
pieces;
it
is
one
of
the
world's
exceptional
collections.
Among
rare
coins
there
are
drachms
of
the
early
years
of
Mithradates
II
minted
in
Margiana,
coins
of
Sinatruces
countermarked
by
the
junior
branch
of
the
Arsacid
family
reigning
in
Sista@n.
There
is
a
fine
collection
of
minor
South
Iranian
states:
Persis,
Characene,
Elymais.
Figure
2
The
Sasanian
collection
is
the
richest
in
the
world,
and
numbers
over
6,000
coins,
among
them
coins
from
celebrated
old
collections
(Bartholomaei,
Dorn)
and
from
finds
in
Central
Asia
(collected
by
General
Komarov).
The
rare
coins
include
a
double
denar
of
Hormozd
II,
denars
of
K¨osrow
I
and
II,
a
fine
selection
of
Sasanian
coins
countermarked
by
rulers
of
Central
Asian
states
(Sog@d,
Ùa@±),
and
local
imitations
of
Sasanian
coins.
As
for
cultures
of
Iranian
peoples
beyond
the
present
historical
borders
of
Iran,
different
regions
of
Central
Asia
are
well
represented:
five
so-called
Bactrian
bowls
were
manufactured
in
Tokòa@resta@n
in
the
4th-7th
centuries;
five
bowls
of
the
same
period
come
from
Chorezm
(Kóa@r-azm);
thirty-six
vessels
dating
from
the
6th-early
9th
centuries
are
from
Sogdiana
or
from
different
lands
inhabited
by
Sogdians;
two
vessels
are
from
Semirechye.
From
three
to
five
vessels
possibly
were
made
in
Merv
at
the
time
when
it
was
the
capital
of
the
viceroys
of
the
eastern
part
of
the
caliphate
(8th-early
9th
centuries).
One
bowl
was
most
probably
made
in
the
realm
of
the
Ka@bolæa@hs
in
the
8th-9th
centuries.
The
attribution
of
several
remaining
vessels
remains
problematic.
Figure
3
The
classification
of
Oriental
silver
is
built
mainly
upon
the
Hermitage
materials
by
reason
of
their
wide
scope,
abundance,
and
authenticity
(Marschak,
1986).
Several
post-Sasanian
and
Islamic
bronze
vessels
acquired
in
the
Caucasus
should
also
be
mentioned
(Orbeli
and
Trever,
1935,
pls.
71,
79,
80,
83;
Trever
and
Lukonin,
1987,
pls.
121-24).
The
other
important
parts
of
the
Hermitage
collection
are
archeological
finds
from
Central
Asia.
Among
them
are
objects
collected
by
N.
Veselovsky,
B.
Kastalsky,
S.
Dudin,
V.
Vyatkin
before
the
revolution
of
1917.
Of
greatest
interest
are
terracotta
figurines
from
Samarkand
(1st-8th
centuries,
Trever,
1934)
and
ossuaries
from
Biya-Naiman
and
Samarkand
(7th-8th
centuries)
with
Zoroastrian
images.
Important
archeological
collections
came
in
the
decades
of
1930-50:
materials
from
Tali-Barzu
and
Kafyr-qala
near
Samarkand
excavated
by
G.
Grigor'ev
(in
1938-40),
including
terracotta
figurines
and
decorated
pottery
(2nd-8th
centuries)
and
from
excavations
of
V.
Gaidukevich
at
Munchak-tepe
(in
1943-44)
and
Shirinsai
in
Ustrushana.
The
Kushan
antiquities
of
Bactria
(Tokòa@resta@n)
are
represented
by
the
Airtam
relief
(1st-2nd
centuries)
from
the
Termez
region
donated
by
the
government
of
Uzbekistan.
From
1960
the
Kushan
collection
was
expanded
by
pottery,
inscribed
vessels,
and
architectural
ornamentation
from
the
Buddhist
site
of
Kara-tepe
near
Termez
(excavated
by
B.
Staviski¥).
The
Kóa@razmian
expedition
directed
by
S.
P.
Tolstov
contributed
several
1st-century
C.E.
terracottas
and
a
sculptured
ossuary
from
Koj-krylgan-qala,
fragments
of
(3rd
century
C.E.?)
clay
reliefs
and
wall-paintings
from
the
Toprak-qala
palace,
and
some
other
items.
The
Hermitage
received
also
two
alabaster
ossuaries
with
paintings
from
Tok-qala
(excavated
by
A.
Gudkova).
Sogdian
art
is
represented
in
the
Hermitage
better
than
anywhere
else.
A
shield
with
a
painted
figure
of
a
horseman,
textiles,
objects
of
wood,
metal,
etc.,
also
one
document
on
leather
used
to
cover
a
dagger
sheath,
were
found
in
1933-34
on
Mount
Mugh
(the
upper
Zerafshan)
in
the
8th
century
fortress
belonging
to
De@wa@æti±
(q.v.),
the
ruler
of
Panjikent.
From
1948
the
Hermitage
received
wall-paintings,
clay
and
(carbonized)
wooden
sculpture,
and
some
other
objects
from
excavations
in
Panjikent
(5th-8th
centuries),
in
which
the
museum
took
and
is
still
taking
active
part.
The
conservation
of
these
objects
was
done
by
the
Hermitage
staff
after
the
method
developed
by
P.
Kostrov.
Among
the
most
interesting
objects
are
a
6th-century
clay
frieze
representing
fantastic
sea
creatures,
wooden
statues,
paintings
from
the
so-called
"Hall
of
Rustam"
(ca.
740
C.E.)
illustrating
the
exploits
of
the
hero,
wall-paintings
with
scenes
from
the
Pañcatantra
and
Maha@bha@rata.
Many
paintings
and
pieces
of
sculpture
have
been
returned
after
their
restoration
and
conservation
to
the
Institute
of
History,
Archœology
and
Ethnology
of
the
Tadjik
Academy
in
Dushanbe
and
to
the
Museum
of
Rudaki
in
Panjikent.
The
Hermitage
temporarily
keeps
some
other
fragments
of
paintings
which
are
being
restored:
from
Panjikent,
ˆahresta@n
(Ustrushana),
and
from
the
Buddhist
monastery
of
Adzhina-tepe
(the
Vakòæ
valley).
P.
Kostrov
and
his
team
also
conserved
wall-paintings
of
the
"Red
hall"
of
Varakòæa
near
Bukhara
(7th-8th
centuries)
excavated
by
V.
Shishkin.
Of
these,
one
part
is
exhibited
in
the
Hermitage,
the
other
in
the
Museum
of
Art
in
Tashkent.
Figure
3
Figure
4
Figure
5
Bibliography:
General.
V.
G.
Lukonin,
Art
of
Ancient
Iran,
Moscow,
1977
(in
Russian).
I.
Mestchaninov,
Elamite
Antiquities,
Petrograd,
1917
(in
Russian).
Mikhail
B.
Piotrovsky
and
John
Vrieze,
Art
of
Islam,
Heavenly
Art,
Earthly
Beauty,
Amsterdam,
1999.
Oriental
metalwork.
O.
Harper,
Silver
Vessels
of
the
Sasanian
Period:
Vol.
1,
Royal
Imagery,
New
York,
1981.
B.
I.
Marschak,
Silberschätze
des
Orients,
Leipzig,
1986.
Idem,
Sogdian
Silver,
Moscow,
1971
(in
Russian).
I.
A
.
Orbeli
and
K.
V.
Trever,
Sasanian
Metal,
Moscow
and
Leningrad,
1935
(in
Russian).
Ya.
I.
Smirnov,
Oriental
Silver
(Argenterie
Orientale),
St.
Petersburg,
1909.
K.
V.
Trever,
Monuments
of
Graeco-Bactrian
Art,
Moscow
and
Leningrad,
1940
(in
Russian).
K.
V.
Trever
and
V.
G.
Lukonon,
Sasanian
Silver:
The
State
Hermitage
Collection,
Moscow,
1987
(in
Russian).
Zalesskaya,
et
al.
Treasures
of
Khan
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The
Peresthchepino
Hoard,
St.
Petersburg,
1997
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Russian).
Central
Asian
collections.
G.
Azarpay,
Sogdian
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With
contributions
by
A.
M.
Belenitskii,
B.
I.
Marshak
and
Mark
J.
Dresden,
Berkeley,
Los
Angeles,
London,
1981.
A.
V.
Bank,
Oriental
Collections
of
the
Hermitage,
Leningrad,
1960,
(in
Russian).
A.
M.
Belenitsky,
Central
Asia,
Geneva,
Paris,
Munich,
1969.
A.
M.
Belenitski¥,
Monumental
Art
of
Panjikent:
Paintings,
Sculpture,
Moscow,
1973
(in
Russian).
A.
M.
Belenizki,
Mittelasien,
Kunst
der
Sogden,
Leipzig,
1980.
I.
B.
Bentovich,
"Finds
on
Mount
Mugh,"
Materialy
i
issledovaniya
po
arkheologii
SSSR,
66,
Moscow
and
Leningrad,
1958,
pp.
358-83
(in
Russian).
N.
V.
D'yakonova
and
S.
S.
Sorokin,
Antiquities
of
Khotan:
Terracotta
and
Stucco.
Leningrad,
1960
(in
Russian).
V.
F.
Gaidukevich,
"Burial-grounds
near
Shirin-Sarai
in
Uzbekistan,"
Sovetskaya
arkheologiya
[SA]
16,
1952,
pp.
331-59
(in
Russian).
Idem,
"Works
on
the
Farkhad
channel
Archaeological
Expedition
in
Uzbekistan
in
1943-1944,"
Kratkie
soobshcheniya
Instituta
istorii
material'noi
kul'tury
[KSIIMK],
fasc.
14,
1947,
pp.
92-109
(in
Russian).
F.
Grenet
and
B.
I.
Marshak,
"Le
mythe
de
Nana
dans
l'art
de
la
Sogdiane,"
Arts
Asiatiques
53,
1998,
pp.
5-18.
G.
V.
Grigor'ev,
"The
Site
of
Tali-barzu,"
Trudy
Otdela
vostoka
Ermitazha
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