Kul Oba Scythians

Salvete Omnes,

it has been a while since I visited my 'beloved' Scythia on this blog, hence time to somewhat mend this omission.

Kul Oba or the 'hill of ashes' (in the Kipchal Tatar tongue) was a kurgan that contained a large stone tomb with a corbelled roof located in the Kerch Peninsula of the greater Crimean Peninsula (lately of Russian Federation, but between 1954-91 AD part of the Ukrainian SSR and then between 1991-2014 AD it was an integral part of Ukrainian independent state territory).

 

 It was built sometime in the early IV century BC and perhaps represents pretty much the high art of the rapidly Hellenizating' Scythian aristocracy/nobility.

The following pages and images are taken from Ellis Minns, Scythians and Greeks. chapter Scythic Tombs, Kerch.
 

and on Academia there is article by Nikolaos F. Fedoseev - the Necropolis of Kul Oba and Juz Oba. Denis Zhuraviev's article on the standing Scythian from Kul-Oba (in Russian). Leonid Babenko's article on the famous torque's construction  from Kul Oba.{Russian with English summary]

 The Scythian theme ..  to be continued - :)

Valete

M. I. Artamonov - Sokrovishcha Skifskih Kurganov

Salvete Omnes,

the clock is ticking and perhaps this may next to the last post this 2019:
I watched the entire Netflix' Witcher series - for me it did not get better with each episode, so much money wasted; the hose tack in this production is horrid, mix of nonsense, pretensions and bad saddlery ideas. They should have hired some of the experienced European saddlers, like Joram van Essen et al or our Polish saddler Marcin Ruda ( Ruda Sadlery) to create some pleasing choices.

just a link (kronk site) to the color illustrations from prof. Mikhail Illarionovich Artamonov(Артамо́нов Михаи́л Илларио́нович) titled Сокровища скифских курганов в собрании Государственного Эрмитажа.-published as The splendor of Scythian art;: Treasures from Scythian tombs (1969).
The examples of the Scythian art from the Hermitage, just a few examples from the Kul-Oba kurgan 

Kul-Oba kurgan - a lancer

Kul-Oba kurgan - another lancer

 Scythian archers from the Kul-Oba kurgan
 

 Geremes kurgan - Геремесов курган ( Марьевка (Запорожский район) ),Ukraine - mounted lancer against an archer
 

Merdzhani or Merdzhana (Мерджаны) kurgan - late period - a horseman with a rython


  Elizavétinskaya stanitsa(Елизаветовская станица) kurgans -( Kuban Basin ) and one of my favorite animals - the wild boar detail from the sword scabbard discovered in the the kurgan number 16.


Valete
ps
the animal-style steppe art may be exemplified by the deer adornment for a shield that  comes from the Kostromskaya Stanitsa Kurgan numer 1, Kuban Basin.