Istvánovits Eszter: International Connections... (Jósa András Múzeum Kiadványai 47. Aszód-Nyíregyháza, 2001)

Eszter Istvánovits - Valéria Kulcsár: Sarmatians through the eyes of strangers. The Sarmatian warrior

Another weapon dated mainly to the 1

ST c, is the bow always worn on the left side. Sarmatian archery is more problematic. No remains of bows have ever been found in the Sarmatian graves of the Great Hungarian Plain (ISTVÁNOVITS-KULCSÁR 1995, 1112). Arrowheads in the burials have only a secondary context up to the end of the 4

TH c. (e.g. the one from Endrőd-Szujókereszt grave 133 - VADAY-SZÖKE 1983, 98-103, 27. kép). But, judging from the grave-finds of the eastern Sarmatian territories and the iconographical material, we can suggest that Sarmatians of East Hungary used bows, as did the Jazyges of the Lower Danube, whose bows and poisoned arrows Ovid mentioned on several occasions (Ovid. Ex Ponto I. 2,47, 60; 5,49 ff., IV. 7, 9 ff, 1.

2, 15 ff. Ibis 637, Trist. V. 6, 9 ff; III. 10, 53 ff; IV. 1, 77 ff. and see also Plin. N.H. 16, 160). Religion or ritual (i.e. some sort of taboo) may explain their absence from the graves. The Roxolani on Trajan's Column appear to have small reflexive bows of the Scythian type (fig. 10: 3) (thus, even if these bows without bone laths had been buried, there was nothing to be preserved). A Jazygian warrior is also seen leaning upon a quiver (fig. 10: 13). The widely spread bow of Scythian type together with quiver and gorytos was frequently represented on Bosporan frescoes and gravestones

5 (e.g. fig. 10: 4, 9-10), and cohors Bosporanum, mentioned by Arrian (Arr. Extaxis, 3,18), must also have used a Scythian bow (COULSTON 1985, 241-242). Although the so-called Hunnic bows with bone laths are only rarely found in burials (one early example is known from Porogi - SIMÖNENKO-LOBAI 1991, ris. 5-6), judging from the large iron arrowheads appearing at the end of the 1

ST - beginning of the 2

ND c. in South Russia (MOSHKOVA 1989, 184), we may perhaps infer "Hunnic" bows among the Sarmatians of the Carpathian Basin as well. It seems to us that the situation regarding the bow of the Sarmatians of the Carpathian Basin could be the same as in the steppe, that is to say there was a certain interval of time when small "Scythian" bows were used concurrently with the 120160 cm long "Hunnic" bows. The latter spread at the steppe in the end of the 1

ST c. A.D. but it did not drive out the former - e.g. the one depicted on the vessel from Kosika (rich grave at the Lower Volga region - TREISTER 1994, ris. 1, 4) (fig. 10: 5, 11) - which was in use until the Late Sarmatian Period (SIMONENKO-LOBAI 1991, 44). Judging from the finds of bone laths, Syrian (and other) archers of the Roman army also used the "Hunnic" bow starting in the 1

ST c. (COULSTON 1985, 224-225; SIMONENKO-LOBAI 1991, 44). It is true that the bow of the Syrian or Bosporan archer on Trajan's Column differs from the Roxolanian (fig. 10: 2), but its length could be about 80 cm (based on a comparison to the man). In a presumably 3

RD c. graffito of a Parthian eques Sagittarius (DURA-EUROPOS 1933,207,215, pl. XXI: 2) (fig. 10: 7), we also see a typical "Hunnic" bow. To summarise our information on bows gathered from depictions, we must emphasise that there are many transitional forms and that the question of the time and place of the change from "Scythian" to "Hunnic" bows is far from resolved. 5 Here we have to note that on these depictions usually the combination of quiver (for arrows) and gorytos (for bow) is seen, and at the same time on the above-mentioned Jazygian representation (fig. 10: 13) there is a quiver. It deserves attention because on Central Asian depictions connected with Iranians there is also gorytos on the left side as well. Among such, the bone plate from Orlat (recently dated to the 1

ST c. B.C. 1

ST c. A.D. (BERNARD-ABDULLAEV 1997, 75-84) (fig. 10: 1, 6), or the hunting horseman on the bone plate from Tacht-i-Shangin, determined as Kushan (fig. 10: 8) (2000 Jahre 1989, Kat. 22) can be mentioned. However, the quiver type of the Jazygian warrior of the Trajan's Column appears already on a Bosporan gravestone in at the end of the 1

ST c. A.D. (fig. 10: 12) (KIESERITZKY-W

ATZINGER 1909, 111, N 627, Taf. XLII) - depicted together with a sword with ring-shaped pommel.