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Топор с изображением древнерусского княжеского знака из окрестностей Чернигова

Author(s): Serge V. Beletsky / Language(s): Russian Publication Year: 0

The picture of the silver inlaid iron axe was published in the Internet in 2019. Besides the wattled ornament, the incrustation includes an image of an ancient Russian ducal sign in the form of trident. According to the finders´ information, the axe originates from the outskirts of Chernihiv. The sign on that axe belonged to the duke Vladimir Svyatoslavovich.The finds of the silver inlaid axes with ducal signs are rare but not unique. A similar axe which had images of two ducal signs along with a geometrical ornament was found in 2011 during the excavations of a mound on Shekshovo-9 burial ground near Suzdal. There is a silver inlaid ducal sign at the end face of the axe from the mound excavated on Nikolskoye III burial ground.The finds listed above indicate that the use of ceremonial weapons with the images of ducal emblems was not uncommon in the Ancient Rus. Obviously, such axes were the same regalia of power as heraldic pendants, but they only represented the insignia of military power, and not the civilian one.

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The Grave of an Allegedly “Conquest Period Hungarian Warrior” Found in 1959, at Tei Lake near Bucharest

Author(s): Erwin Gáll / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

In 1959, a brief, quarter page long report concerning a 10th century grave of a “Hungarian warrior” who died in the battle against the Bulgars was published by Sebastian Morintz and D. V. Rosetti. However, they did not clarify when and how the finds were recovered; the excavation project documentation has no records provided concerning the grave itself. Consequently, the author supposes that the finds recovered at Lake Tei near Bucharest were uncritically interpreted as a grave from the 10th century. These finds are without clear archaeological context and documentation, and should be removed from the list of 10th century Hungarian graves outside of the Carpathian Basin.

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Погребение из Владычень с украшением венгерского облика

Author(s): Maksym V. Kvitnytskyi,Nicolai P. Telnov,Vitalii S. Sinika,Sergey D. Lysenko,Attila Türk / Language(s): Russian Publication Year: 0

It is the first introduction of a funerary complex, investigated at the Vladycheni-I cemetery on the left bank of the Lower Danube. The only bronze plate with the image of an eight-petal rosette with a rounded projection in the center was preserved in the completely looted grave. This item, undoubtedly, belongs to the Hungarian artistic repoussage. This circumstance allows us to consider such finds (as well as their replicas on foil) as reliable markers of the early Magyars’ presence in the North-West Black Sea region.

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Древнерусские курганы могильника Которск IX

Author(s): Elena Robertovna Mikhaylova / Language(s): Russian Publication Year: 0

The article discusses the research results of a group of several barrows with inhumations of the 11th — beg. 12th centuries (Kotorsk IX), which is part of the archaeological complex near Kotorsk village in the north of the Pskov region. The barrows were built on the edge of the burial ground with scattered cremations of the 10th—11th centuries, probably the barrows were successively associated with it. Small objects found in burials are typical of medieval Russian inhumations of the 11th — beg. 12th centuries, some ceramic forms have their own features. A number of features in the internal structure of the studied barrows correlate with the funerary rituals of the Long Barrows Culture and, probably, provide new information about the specific participation of this culture’s bearers in the formation of medieval Russian culture in the Northwest.

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Древнерусская погребальная культура Новгородской земли. Хронологические индикаторы раннего этапа

Author(s): Vladislav Yu. Sobolev / Language(s): Russian Publication Year: 0

The earliest phase of the formation of the Russian funerary rites still remains poorly studied since there are practically no reliably dated sites up to the mid-11th century. Beginning with the mid-11th century, Russian inhumations appear throughout the entire Novgorod Land demonstrating diverse variants of the rite but remaining nevertheless within the frame of the Christian canon.A detailed dendrochronology has been developed for Novgorod archaeology, due to which the types of antiquities from the excavations of Novgorod are well dated. The same types of things were found in funerary monuments of the rural population of Novgorod land. These circumstances give us the opportunity to distinguish small groups of chronologically significant things among them that go out of use no later than the mid-12th century. They perfectly mark the initial stage of the old Russian funerary culture of the Novgorod Land.

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О редкой находке в Березове на севере Западной Сибири

Author(s): Alexandr V. Kurbatov / Language(s): Russian Publication Year: 0

In 2018, at the townsite (late medieval posad or suburb) within the modern urban settlement of Berezovo, in the north of Western Siberia, at the low reaches of the Ob River (Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Tyumen Oblast), eight horizons of dwelling and economic buildings of the 17th—18th century were excavated. At estate no. 8, in the fifth building horizon, remains of a dwelling log-house no. 20 and adjoining log household building no. 20A were uncovered. In the latter building, in a layer of rotten straw and manure, a rare archaeological object was found — a leather carabine holster (olstra) with embossed decoration. The estate was functioning in the second half of the 17th century.The holster from Berezovo was the sevenths find of this kind of leather objects in the whole history of archaeological investigations in the Russian Federation. The holster is intended for carrying carabine on the shooter’s back or being suspended on the front pommel of the saddle. It was suspended with the help of belts run through holes in the holster, similarly to the finds from Moscow. To the Moscow find, the Berezovo find is close also in terms of its purpose — used for a carabine, as well as the decorative ornamentation with incised figures. This fact suggests that this object was manufactured by Moscow artisans.

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Женские украшения и возникновение Древнерусского государства: заметки на полях проблемы

Author(s): Aleksey A. Romanchuk / Language(s): Russian Publication Year: 0

The paper presents some thoughts on the issue of archaeological data interpretation (concerning women’s jewelry) in the context of processes that led to the formation of Old Russian state. The author critically considers the ideas about the “Scandinavian control on the Baltic-Volga trade route” and “Scandinavian colonies” in the Eastern Europe. The author raises also a question on the initial political status and real role in the formation of the Old Russian state of the emerging trade-specialized settlements in the Ladoga and Gnezdovo.

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Парадоксы рецепции византийской культуры в Древней Руси

Author(s): Aleksandr E. Musin / Language(s): Russian Publication Year: 0

The article analyses the reception of Byzantine culture in medieval Eastern Europe, especially the selection and transfer of its elements and their subsequent transformation, and establishes a correlation between the reception of texts and elements of material culture. The importance of archeology in the study of reception, which is considered as the local materialization of Byzantine culture, is stressed. The regional differentiation of reception and its periodization is proposed as following: 6th—8th, 9th—10th, 11th—13th, 14th—15th centuries. The importance of South Slavic intermediary cultures in the transmission of Byzantine culture to Eastern Europe is emphasized. The author concludes that, despite the political and geographical changes in the Byzantine Empire, the territories that once belonged to it continued to be perceived in Eastern Europe as a “great Byzantium”, regardless of their Islamization or Latinization. As a result, the reception of Byzantine culture in Eastern Europe was of a spontaneous and occasional nature. Despite the fact that several Byzantine phenomena which did not preserve in the Mediterranean region were kept nearly intact in Eastern Europe, the general image of Byzantium in the local culture and consciousness turned out to be very limited and specific. In modern times it led sometimes to the abuse of historical memory in social and political life.

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Synthisophy - Integrating the Wisdoms of History into Present Culture

Author(s): Andre Houle / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

This paper is an introduction to synthisophy: roots, mission, description and conclusion;

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Practical Advice on Equine Care from Jordanus Rufus, c. 1250 CE

Author(s): Jennifer Jobst / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

While ostensibly a book on veterinary medicine for horses, the highly influential De medicina equorum by Jordanus Rufus (c. 1250), also provides insight into horse care and training practices in the mid-thirteenth century. This paper presents an English translation of Rufus’ work, based on Brigitte Prévot’s analysis of the early fourteenth century Paris BNF, MS Fr. 25341, the first Old French translation of the original Latin. The English translation allows us to compare Rufus’ practices to both ancient and modern horse care techniques, demonstrating both the strong oral tradition of horse care and training techniques, and how little both have changed in nearly 800 years.

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A Tapuya “Equestrian Nation”?

Author(s): Felipe Vander Velden / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

This article brings together and analyzes several historical sources to argue that an equestrian culture or horse nation emerged (albeit briefly) among certain indigenous groups known as Tapuya in the sertão badlands of northeastern Brazil. Based on Portuguese and Dutch accounts from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, I suggest that while the expansion of cattle ranching in this region was certainly marked by violence and brutality, this movement also permitted Amerindian peoples to make various connections and carry out a number of new activities including incorporating the horse and technologies associated with raising and riding horses, and to use these resources in pursuing indigenous social, economic and political goals.

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Counting Your Blessings in Froissart’s “Debate of the Horse and the Greyhound”

Author(s): Anastasija Ropa / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Dialogues and debates between animals, or narratives that feature animals acting as human beings, have a long tradition in European literature, going back to Aesop’s fables. However, Jean Froissart’s “Debat dou cheval et dou levrier” [Debate between the horse and the greyhound] is different in that it presents the discussion from the animals’ point of view. The two companion animals debate the advantages and disadvantages of each other’s position, considering such issues as duties, capacities to perform their respective duties, rewards and punishments, feeding, as well as general and medical care accorded to the horse and the greyhound. Unsurprisingly, each animal argues that the other’s burden is lighter and the benefits are more bountiful, at the same time highlighting one’s own hardships and obligations. The article examines the information provided by each animal in light of other evidence from literature, hippiatric treatises and hunting books as well as illuminations to elucidate Froissart’s representation of the lives of the horse and the greyhound and the animals’ relations to their human owner.

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Equestrian Military Equipment of the Eastern Roman Armies in the Sixth and Seventh Centuries

Author(s): Mattia Caprioli / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

This study examines artefactual, literary, and other evidence relating to equestrian military equipment of the sixth and seventh centuries from the reigns of the Emperors Justinian and Heraclius. Evidence from these sources are compared with that of territories and cultures outside the empire such as those of the Sasanians and Avars. Research questions explored and analyzed include: how widespread was the use of horse armor in the Eastern Roman army; were two types of saddle possibly in use; how widespread was the adoption of stirrups, newly introduced at this time; what evidence is there for equestrian decorative pieces; how was equestrian military equipment produced. Some major issues are analyzed: how widespread was the actual use of horse armors in the Eastern Roman army; the possibility of the usage of at least two different types of saddle; how widespread actually was the use of the newly introduced stirrups; the actual evidence for equestrian decorative devices; the production of the equestrian military equipment.

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Aelian on Tortoise Sex and the Artifice of “Erotic Love Magic”

Author(s): Naomi Janowitz / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

For the Roman author Claudius Aelianus (Aelian, ca. 175–235 CE), intercourse is not a simple issue for animals. In his book On Animals, Aelian introduces the tortoise as follows: “Tortoises are the most lustful land animals but the males only, the females do not willingly mate.” Luckily, nature offers a solution to this dilemma. Male tortoises, Aelian states, use a plant to stimulate an appetite for sex in reluctant female tortoises. Christopher Faraone, in a sophisticated analysis of the anecdote, considers it evidence of “love magic.” He connects the anecdote with much earlier Greek rites via their standard classification in this category. Ancient Greek love magic includes agape-inducing formulas/rites used by men to turn women into passionate lovers and philia-inducing formulas/rites used by women to attract men. The category “love magic” is widely used to evaluate and classify rites, adopted recently by Radcliffe Edmonds. Evidence includes the use of lead tablets with cursing formula (fourth century B.C.E.), rites related to intercourse or sexuality found in the Greek papyri (first-fourth centuries C.E.), and numerous Greek and Roman literary anecdotes about goddesses or women who poison or attempt to poison men for marital or love interests.

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The Dodekaoros, Magical Papyri, and Magical Gems

Author(s): Attilio Mastrocinque / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The Dodekaoros is an astrological system based on twelve symbolic animals, each one representing a form of the Sun when approaching a particular constellation and zodiacal sign. This system was used for horoscopes. Its origin has no certain chronology and is known from the late Hellenistic Age thanks to the Babylonian astrologist Teukros. Nevertheless, the system was probably older and seems to be rooted in the Egyptian speculations about the different forms of the Sun God. Its use in some magical papyri and gems is studied here by taking also new data into account. In particular, we will review the Papyri Graeca Magica (thereafter PGM) IV, 1644-1649, XXXVIII, 1-26, reporting the Dodekaoros with an orientation (with the cat in S-E), and III, 500-535, where καν[θάρου should be read and not καμ[μάρου. Two features will prove particularly useful in our research: the orientation of the system and the nocturnal part of the animal series. Several animal forms of the Dodekaoros also appear on magical gems, where they are placed in the cardinal points. In PGM II, 103-40 and on a magical gem, the Sun has 4 four forms in the different quarters of the sky and – this system can be understood only if we remember that these forms depend on the Dodekaoros and if we place one half the forms beneath the Earth, during the night; moreover, in PGM VIII, 6-11 four animals of the Dodekaoros are displaced into the four cardinal points. Some series of magical gems represent five animal forms of the Dodekaoros repeated thrice in order to depict the lower, the middle, and the upper parts of the world. These iconographies were aimed to represent the solar god in his variety of forms with his related influences over the world. This chapter will first study the meaning of the Dodekaoros, then its descriptions in magical papyri with or without orientation, and finally it will analyze several magical gems.

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How to Deal With the Evil Daimones

Author(s): Tiana Blazevic / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

This chapter analyses the self-styling of Porphyry and Iamblichus as Priestly-Philosophers and divine theurgists who were competing against the ritualists of the so-called magical papyri. Using an anthropological perspective and a close reading of the relevant texts, this study establishes that knowledge of daimones was unequivocally tied up in the production and negotiation of power relations in late antiquity. This chapter will demonstrate the striking similarities between Neoplatonic daimonic theories and the magical papyri. This chapter is also the first serious attempt at looking at the practical aspects of late antique demonology in pagan writers.

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Magic and Disbelief in Carolingian Lyon

Author(s): Michael D. Bailey / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The Middle Ages are often associated with credulity, especially toward magic, compared to modern Western society, which is often regarded as thoroughly disenchanted. Yet not all medieval people believed unhesitatingly in all magical practices. The early ninth-century Carolingian archbishop Agobard of Lyon described a remarkable system of weather-magic widely believed by people in his diocese of which he was completely skeptical. He justified his disbelief through references to biblical texts, but this study argues that his disbelief was grounded in his own encounters with and investigations of these magical practices, and focused only on certain elements within them.

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The Merseburg Charms

Author(s): Martina Lamberti / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Among the texts of Old High German literature, two alliterative spells, the Merseburg charms, contained in a tenth-century liturgical manuscript, show some analogies with Christian prayers. This chapter focuses on the role of Christianity in the literary production of medieval Germany, with special regard to magic formulas. Attention is drawn on the manuscriptʼs paleography and contents, and it continues with the magic “genre” and the study of spells. Then, the Merseburg charms are analysed on the basis of content, structure, language, and parallels with other texts. The purpose of this study is to show the analogies between Christian prayers and heathen charms with regard to their allusions to the divine and the fulfillment of performative acts.

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Hirsuta et cornuta cum lancea trisulcata

Author(s): Francesco Marzella / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

This paper investigates the perception of witchcraft and magic in three Latin literary sources that were written or circulated in twelfth century Britain. The study focuses on both historical and narrative aspects, stressing how the approach to witchcraft can be influenced by the different purposes of the texts. The analysis of the texts will prove how very often behind the images of women endowed with supernatural powers or learned in magical arts lies a warning against potentially dangerous cultural and religious ‘othernesses’.

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Sympathetic Graphophagy in Late Medieval Scandinavian Leechbooks and Collections of Charms

Author(s): Andrea Maraschi / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

This article examines four late medieval Scandinavian manuscripts (ca. 1400-1500 AD), namely three leechbooks and a collection of charms, with the aim of investigating the still remarkable importance of sympathetic magic in Christian times for practitioners of both magic and medicine. Particular attention is paid to the role of graphophagy, that is, the practice of eating or drinking written formulas so as to absorb their powers. The sources show that modern distinctions between magic, religion, and science are unsuitable to describe the mindset of their authors. On the contrary, these sources shared the ancient belief that written formulas (whether Christian or not) could be literally taken via ingestion.

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