Szőllősy Csilla - Pokrovenszki Krisztián (szerk.): Alba Regia. Annales Musei Stephani Regis - Szent István Király Múzeum közleményei. C. sorozat 45. (Székesfehérvár, 2017)
Tanulmányok/közlemények - Régészet - Keszi Tamás: A nagyrévi kultúra szimbolikus ábrázolásokkal díszített urnái Kiapostag - Dunai-dűlő lelőhelyről. Alternatív javaslat a Budapest - Pannonhalmi úti edény ábrázolásának értelmezésére
Tamás Kesgi: Cinerary urns from the Nagyrév Culture ornamented with symbolic representations found at the Kisapostag - Dunai-dűlő site feature hornless138 but also horned creatures139 140 (Fig. 14, No. 8).m This motif is also found on metal objects. A bronze casting (findspot unknown) featuring a horned creature standing on the back of two zebus and holding two serpents appeared on the French art market. A third serpent, located between the two zebus and the anthropoid figure, appears to thrust its head forward perpendicular to the plane of representation (Fig. 14, No. 10).141 At the time of excavations in Shahdad, Iran, during field survey, a ca. 17.7 cm long silver pin was found, the triangular head of which is ornamented with a horned human figure holding snakes.142 (Fig. 14, No. 9) The publisher of this find dates it to the Takab 1V1 period (2700-2450 BC).143 Therefore, objects featuring this motif exhibit great variation in terms of material and function. The representation of lightning as a zigzag is very rare in Middle Eastern depictions.144 Two or three-pronged, forklike representations are significantly more common,145 which cannot be identified with the zigzag on the Pannonhalmi út vessel. From the point of view of chronology, horned figures holding serpents, which were widespread in the Middle East in the second half of the 3rd millennium BC as well, seem to be an adequate parallel for the interpretation of the scene on the Pannonhalmi út vessel. The similarity is further confirmed by the fact that several wedge-shaped markings occur in Middle East representations (Fig. 13, No. 8)),146 which is interpreted by Rózsa Schreiber as a plant in the case of the vessel found in the Carpathian Basin (Fig. 13, No. 4; Fig. 13, No. 7; Fig. 14, No. 7, Fig. 14, No. 9), and astral symbols, whose counterparts can also be found on the Budapest vessel.147 Behind the markings interpreted as headless half-human creatures with raised arms one could recognise the stylised symbols of horned animals seen in Fig. 12, No. 7—8, Fig. 13, No. 7, Fig. 14, No. 8, or Fig. 14, No. 10, represented according to the pars pro toto principle, although the precise meaning of these motifs — due to their overly simplistic form — inevitably remains arguable. These supplementary markings give the impression that they are not independent universals — the similarity of which could be explained by general human cognitive processes —, but rather were borrowed as a closed composition. The key question is whether there is any further proof to support the existence of a historical link with motifs discovered in remote areas. 138 POTTS 1994, Fig. 44,2 (= ARUZ 2003b, Cat. No. 224d); 45,2. (Some doubt has arisen about the origin of the latter artefact: MUSCARELLA 2000, 169-170, No. 8. The find is accepted as genuine by WINKELMANN 2016, 487) ARUZ 2003b, Cat. No. 224e. Another item of uncertain origin appeared at an auction: MUSCARELLA 2000, 171, No. 16 = WINKELhL\NN 2016, Fig. 14, a. 139 ARUZ 2003b, Cat. No. 235. One of the chlorite vases purchased by the Louvre (inventory No. A031918) had also been unearthed in Iran; on the side of this vase, apparendy hornless figures hold two twisting serpents in each hand, and the adjacent snakes are intertwined: http://www.photo.rmn.fr/archive/07-522834-2C6NU0C5ATQI.html (date of access: 21 May 2016). The surface of the bowl is covered with indentations that were originally inlaid with white stones. These have remained intact in some places to this day. Above the head of the figure on the less damaged side, one can observe an indentation that has a curved horn-like shape: https://upload. wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Tronconical_vase_Tepe_Giyan_Louvre_AO31918.jpg (date of access: 21 May 2016) It is likely that this had a similar inlay, i.e. the figures had horns. A photo of a chlorite vase that was allegedly seized at the Iranian-Turkish border from smugglers is also available on the Internet. In this image, a bullheaded half-man creature holds two serpents under its arm: http://commons.wikimedia.Org/wiki/File:Two_horned_elam.jpg (date of access: 21 May 2016). The genuineness of this artefact, of course, also needs to be verified. 140 Additional representations of anthropoid figures holding serpents on vessels and ‘lock-shaped weights’ which have appeared on the art market: http://www.barakatgaUery.eom/store/index.cfm/FuseAction/ItemDetails/UserID/0/CFID/66355194/ CFTOKEN/89174186/CategorylD/36/SubCategorylD/945/ItemID/20326.htm (date of access: 6 May 2016), http://wwwbarbiermueUer.ch/coUections/antiquite/proche-orient-au-iiie-miUenaire/?lang=fr (date of access: 6 May 2016), PERROT - MADJIDZADEH 2005, Fig. 12, b, e, g. The auction ID of the latter artefact, according to the authors, is Drouot, le 26 juin 2003, n° 113. Oscar White MuscareUa refers to the same ID as weU (Hotel Drouot 06/26/03, no. 113: MUSCARELLA 2001, 197). Based on his description, the artefact published in PERROT - MADjIDZADEH 2005, Fig. 12, b can be recognised. Winkelmann mentions further representations on the vessel of the ‘Jiroft Treasury’: 2016, Fig. 13, a, c; 15, a. For problems associated with the genuineness of the ‘Jiroft’ vessels, see: MUSCARELLA 2001. 141 http://www.phoenixancientart.com/work-of-art/ornament-with-a-mythological-scene (date of access: 6 May 2017) No exact paraUel of this object is known so far, which makes it probable that it is a genuine find. 142 HAKEMI 1997,115, 708, Xf, Ob. No. 4506. 143 HAKEMI 1997,77-78. 144 BLACK — GREEN 1992, 118. I have not found anything similar in the materials available to me. 145 BLACK - GREEN 1992, 118, Fig. 21, 89, 90, 96; LAMBERT 1997, Fig. 13. 146 Additional example: RASH AD 1990, No. 1140. 147 SCHREIBER 1984a, 16. 35
