Lands of Asia layouts (Eng) 26.11.21

4 .3
used. Depictions of it crowning particular objects, especially pins, from as early as
the Bronze Age have been found in Central Asia at sites such as Sapallitepa, dating
from the middle or second half of the 2nd millennium BC.
Along with amulets made of blue Egyptian paste, individual, relatively large
representations of these hands, made of well-fired clay and marble, have been found
in Central Asia. They have also been found crowning particular objects made of bone,
in the form of a staff with a sharp end, referred to by some scholars as styli – a kind of
‘pen’ for writing.
The ritual significance of such symbols was various. They were amulets protecting
against evil forces, symbols of power and strength, and of healing and fertility. For many
peoples of the Caucasus, especially the Tushins and Khevsurs, the severed hand of an
enemy was a trophy of honour, and it would have been nailed above the entrance to a
house. In Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, these symbols originally represented the
‘heavenly hand’, and were associated with sun worship; this symbolism then penetrated
into Christianity where it has a prominent role, for example the Hand of Fatima.
The hand symbol was also a representation of Sabazios – the Thracian god of
fertility, whose cult first came to Phrygia from Asia Minor and then spread throughout
the Roman Empire from Spain to the ancient cities north of the Black Sea. Many
such symbols made of bronze have been found here and have been interpreted as
votive offerings to the god Sabazios. It is also possible it was Roman legionaries who
brought the cult of this deity to Central Asia, where it merged with other cults of
fertility, nature, and the Sun, which had similar significance.
An object of particular interest is a cast bronze hairpin (12.6 x 0.4 cm) from the
Kavatkal oasis of Khorezm (1st–2nd centuries AD) topped with a hand holding a
ball between the thumb and index finger, and a snake on the wrist in relief.
This image is similar to the top of a Roman banner from the 2nd century AD,
found in the Dnieper River area. This consists of a bronze hand 11.5 cm high, with
the fingers pointing upwards and a similar ball between the index finger and thumb.
Below the hand is dedicatory inscription – ‘The commander of the First Cohort of
the Spanish Legion dedicates this to Great Jupiter Dolichenus’.
Jupiter Dolichenus was a supreme god of the Syrians. The similarity of these two
objects suggests a similar religious association. However the Roman banner includes
a dedication by an individual, i.e., a personal votive object to a god worshipped by
an individual devotee. The Khorezmian hairpin is most likely related to the cult of
Sabazios. Several aspects of the pin attest to this: in addition to the symbol of the
hand, the ball most likely symbolises the cone of a pine tree (the cone is an essential
attribute of Sabazios); the snake is also often present in symbols associated with the
cult of Sabazios.
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