Iranians and Greeks in South Russia - Robert Bedrosian's Armenian ...

io8 THE SCYTHIANS IN THE
we
(pi. XVIII, 4, and p. 130, fig. ; 17) and in plaster on Panticapaean
coffins of the Roman period. The serpent-footed goddess is an old
Ionian type, a variant of Medusa. It is rare in archaic Ionian monuments
: I know but two examples, an archaic vase-handle of bronze
in the Museum at Nimes, its fellow in the British Museum, and
a well-preserved archaic vase, with the same kind of handles, in Berlin.
But the type was adapted by Greek artists to the beliefs of the
Scythian and Maeotian tribes, and became extremely popular in the
Russian steppes and nowhere else.
To conclude our survey of the religious scenes, I will mention the
plaques representing the Great Goddess accompanied by her sacred
animals, the raven and the dog (pi. XXIII, 5), and the plaque with
a wrestling contest between two Scythians, no doubt in honour of the
same deity (pi. XXIII, 6). In a word :
see that in the hands of
Greek artists, the aniconic Iranian religion, as described by Herodotus,
becomes peopled with divine images, created by the Greek artists
and no doubt accepted by the Scythian devotee. In creating these
images, the artists seem to have been inspired by very ancient representations
of Oriental divinities, such as the seated goddess with a vase
in her hand, a type which is
times.
found in Babylonia from the remotest
Let us now pass to social and economic life. The warlike activity
of the ruling class was a favourite subject with the artists who worked
for the Scythians. Battle scenes are common everywhere : fights
between Scythians and their enemies, Scythians of other tribes,
Thracians, Maeotians : enough to cite the Solokha comb (pi. XIX)
and the gorytus from the same grave (pi. XXI, i). Hare-hunts,
and hunting in general (pi. XX, i, 2), are no less frequent : this
was the most usual form of sport among the Scythians : it trained
them to hit a moving adversary at full gallop. More interesting are
the scenes on two spherical vases ; one, of silver, from Voronezh, the
other, of electrum, from Kul-Oba. The scene on the Voronezh vase
is a peaceful one : Scythian warriors in conference ; an old warrior
instructing a youth in the use of the bow, the principal weapon of the
Scythians : a Scythian camp on the eve of an expedition. The Kul-
Oba vase (pi. XXII) shows the same camp after the battle : the
king receiving a report from a messenger, wounded warriors attended
by their comrades—a leg-wound being dressed, an operation for a
mouth wound. Both vases are interesting for their style and their
inspiration : they provide, as it were, illustrations to the account of
Ephorus, who was the first to idealize the Scythian social system, as
an example of communism on a democratic basis : the same motive