Thread: A Phrygian type, late Byzantine helmet, found 3 years ago in Northern Serbia...
This is what the helmet most likely looked like when it was in use...
And here is a depiction of Byzantine soldiers wearing this type of helmet, from the 12 century incensory, most likely made in Constantinople and currently in St Mark’s Cathedral, Venice, Italy...
The helmet was found in the rectangular field called "mali grad" (small city) 🙂 which is where the Byzantine fort once stood...
The field is in the village of Braničevo Once a very important Byzantine border fortress and the centre of a doukaton (duchy). It's name comes from from the Slavic root "bran" (defend)
Byzantines called it Branitzoba (Βρανίτζοβα) or Branitza (Βρανίτζα)...
This Phrygian type helmet is one of 3 such helmets discovered in the Balkans so far, all dated from the same period, 12th century...
Two found in Braničevo, Serbia. Third, this one, was found in Pernik, Bulgaria...
A lot more very interesting information about this archaeological site, the continuity of the use of Phrygian type helmets in the Eastern Roman Empire, and its spread to the west by Normans can be found in this article academia.edu/41423491/THE_P…
Mosaic from the St Mark’s Cathedral, Venice, Italy, second half of the 12th century, "St Peter in front of Herod Antipas". Soldiers wearing the same Phrygian type helmet. They look like Elves from Lord of the rings...🙂
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Map of the distribution of bull leaping motifs found on seals and amulets, mid 3rd millennium BC to mid 2nd millennium BC. Eagle headed dudes and bull leaping dudes 🙂 From: "Myths of ancient Bactria and Margiana on its seals and amulets" scribd.com/document/47027…
Thread: The other day I posted this article and it went completely unnoticed??? In this thread I want to present the full analysis of all 4 sides of this sarcophagus. Honestly this is as cool an example of symbolic religious calendar art as they come.
First, I definitely don't think that these panels depict funerary rituals, which is the most common interpretation of the scene ancientworldmagazine.com/articles/agia-…
I think that they could be depicting religious rituals related to Proto Demeter, Persephone and Poseidon. The "two queens and the king" mentioned In the Mycenean Greek tablets dated 1400–1200 BC.
They are also a religious calendar closely linked to the climatic calendar.
Thread: Years ago, anthropologist Margaret Mead was asked by a student what she considered to be the first sign of civilisation in a culture. The student expected Mead to talk about fishhooks or clay pots or grinding stones.
But no...
...Mead said that the first sign of civilisation in an ancient culture was a femur (thighbone) that had been broken and then healed. Mead explained that in the animal kingdom, if you break your leg, you die...
...You cannot run from danger, get to the river for a drink or hunt for food. You are meat for prowling beasts. No animal survives a broken leg long enough for the bone to heal...
Thread: Have you ever heard of shepherd's stick calendars? Here's one from Bulgaria...
In the mountains of the Balkans, up until the end of the 20th century, shepherds carried with them calendar sticks...
It was a stick with a notch cut into it for every day of the year and a cross or some other symbol for major holy days, which in Serbia are all linked to major agricultural events and major solar cycle events...
At the end of every day a piece of the stick up to the first notch, representing the previous day, was cut off from the stick. When the last piece was cut, the year was over...
Thread (a quite long one, sorry, but I think worth reading to the end): A while back @another_barbara posted this 1865 beehive panel image with this description: An interesting Shrovetide tradition from Slovenija "babo žagajo" (sawing of an old woman)...
The other day wanted to write an article about this custom, and while looking around the net for more info on the subject, I came across 1960 paper by Niko Kuret "BABO ŽAGAJO, Slovenske oblike pozabljenega obredja in njegove Evropske paralele" etno-muzej.si/sl/etnolog/slo…
In which he presents all the different versions (he knew of) of the "SAWING OF THE OLD WOMAN" ritual found in Slovenian lands, and its European parallels...
Here I will translate the most interesting bits from this paper, and will then give my interpretation of the ritual...
Thread: The žirgeliai (little horses), are common motifs on Lithuanian rooftops, placed there for protection of the house...
They are a symbolic depiction of the Ašvieniai (), Baltic counterparts of Vedic Ashvins, who are said to pull the chariot of Saulė (the Sun Goddess) through the sky. As depicted on this rooftop of a house in Nida... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%C5%A1vi…
Both names, Lithuanian ašva and Sanskrit ashva, mean "horse" and are derive from the same Proto-Indo-European root for the horse – *ek'w-...