BALOGH CSILLA /SZENTPÉTERI JÓZSEF /WICKER ERIKA, HATALMI KÖZPONTOK AZ AVAR KAGANÁTUSBAN. POWER CENTRES OF THE AVAR KHAGANATE, Kecskemét, 2019
THE EMPEROR ON THE CLASP
The lid of an early medieval box from Sorpe.
The detailed assessment o... more THE EMPEROR ON THE CLASP
The lid of an early medieval box from Sorpe.
The detailed assessment of a new archaeological fnd often leads to the re-interpretation of another one known since long, as will be demonstrated by the buckle fragment bearing an emperor’s portrait from the late Avar period, which sheds new light on the oft-published silver box, and particularly its lid, found at Sorpe in Spain.
The gilt bronze buckle fragment was found at Tinnye, in an area known as Kisvár-dűlő, a site lying north of Budapest. The cast bronze buckle was gilded. The shield-shaped buckle plate bears an emperor portrait looking right. The emperor wears a diadem and a cloak fastened with a round brooch on the right shoulder. Jewellery and costume accessories with imperial portraits are since long known from eighth-century Avar contexts. The buckle fragment can defnitely be assigned to this group, although it differs from the other pieces in that the emperor is portrayed looking right. The best analogy to the imperial portrait looking right can be found on the lid of a small silver box displayed in the exhibition of the Museo Arqueologico de Madrid. The box was acquired in 1932 from one of the villagers of Sorpe. The lid was originally one half of a clasp, specifcally of a box clasp of the type represented by the Avar-period exemplars from Dunapataj, Zasavica and Abony. In view of the associated fnds, the oval clasps can be assigned to Phase III of the late Avar period, to the fnal third of the eighth century. The clasp had most likely been an Avar product made and worn during the fnal third of the eighth century, shortly before Charlemagne defeated the Avar Khaganate and transported its riches to Aachen. The silver gilt clasp as well as the cloak which it had fastened reached France as part of the booty, whence it was taken to the Iberian Peninsula. The written sources mention several transfers of this type. Little is known about the composition of the riches taken from the Avar Khaganate: an entry for the year 795 in the Vetus Annales Nordhumbranis mentions cloaks in addition to gold and silver (auro argentoque palliisque). Another scrap of information is provided by Alcuin’s letter to King Offa penned after April 796, which lists the gifts sent to the sovereign, among them a sword belt, a sword and two cloaks. A part of the Avar treasure was made up of garments and furs, and the cloaks probably had clasps. To date, only the gold ewer of St. Maurice d’Agaune has been associated with the Avar riches – moreover, local tradition holds it to be a gift bestowed by Charlemagne. The Sorpe clasp had possibly been part of the booty seized by the Franks during Charlemagne’s campaign against the Avars, which had been taken to Aachen, whence it reached Spain as a gift bestowed upon its last owner.
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Books by Falko Daim
These questions were the focus of an interdisciplinary conference that took place on 17th and 18th November 2011 in Mainz. The present conference volume brings together contributions from researchers who have approached these issues from very different perspectives. They focus on the explanatory power of traditional as well as "new" sources and the methods of Byzantine Studies and Byzantine archaeology for this hitherto little-explored sphere. In this way, we see how closely environmental history is interwoven with the classical topics of Byzantine research - be they of an economic, social or culture-historical nature.
On the occasion of this exhibition two companion volumes are going to be published, that encompass 40 articles about the multifaceted and alternating relations between the Latin West and the Byzantine Empire. The volumes are subdivided into the media of communication: people, imagery, language, objects. They encompass articles of well-known researchers with archaeologic, art-historical, philological and historical focal points. The multilayered image of this general outline in conjunction with the detailed studies appreciates with the current results of research that are published for the first time in particular of the Leibniz-WissenschaftsCampus Mainz: Byzanz zwischen Orient und Okzident as well as the Byzantine research facilities in Vienna.
Die Ausstellung „Byzanz – Pracht und Alltag“ der Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland in Bonn und des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums (26.2.-13.6.2010) eröffnete für die Byzanzforschung neue Perspektiven. Die begleitende Tagung “Hinter den Mauern und auf dem offenen Land: Neue Forschungen zum Leben im Byzantinischen Reich” nahm diesen Ansatz auf und vertiefte im interdisziplinären Rahmen die Themen der Ausstellung. Im Mittelpunkt stand dabei das Alltagsleben innerhalb der urbanen und ländlichen Regionen des Reiches. Die Beiträge des Bandes führen die Ergebnisse der Mainzer Tagung zusammen. Sie widmen sich der Hauptstadt Konstantinopel, den Städten und ihrem Umland auf dem Balkan und in Kleinasien sowie dem alltäglichen Leben zur See, in Klöstern und auf dem Land.
Zwölf Untersuchungen zu den Häfen und Anlegestellen der Stadt am Marmarameer und am Goldenen Horn – aber auch zu jenen in ihrem europäischen und asiatischen Vorfeld – schaffen unter Auswertung schriftlicher, bildlicher und archäologischer Quellen eine Synthese des aktuellen Forschungsstandes.
Mit Beiträgen von Beate Böhlendorf-Arslan ∙ Jörg Drauschke ∙ Gerhard Fingerlin (†) ∙ Benjamin Fourlas ∙ Markos Giannoulis ∙ Michael Grünbart ∙ Sonngard Hartmann ·
Katarina Horst ∙ Karin Kirchhainer ∙ Guntram Koch ∙ Selina Küst ∙ Urs Peschlow ∙ Andreas Pülz ∙ Dieter Quast ∙ Sabrina Schäfer ∙ Mechthild Schulze-Dörrlamm ∙ Florian Ströbele ∙ Bendeguz Tobias
Twelve studies regarding the city's the harbours and landing stages at the sea of Marmara and the Golden Horn - but as well regarding those in their European as in their Asian surroundings - are creating a synthesis of the current state of research by analysis of written, pictorial and archaeological sources.
An English Translation is available since November 2019: F. Daim, History and Culture of Byzantium. Brill's New Pauly Supplements 10 (2019) ISBN 978-90-04-33933-0.
The accompanying conference "Hinter den Mauern und auf dem offenen Land: Neue Forschungen zum Leben im Byzantinischen Reich" ingested the approaches and enhanced the subjects of the conference in an interdisciplinary context. Everyday life in urban and rural regions of the empire has been focused. The contributions in this volume consolidate the results of the conference in Mainz. They consecrate to the capital Constantinople, the cities and their hinterland on the Balkans and in Asia Minor as well as everyday life at sea, in monasteries and in the country.
This conference volume presents the results of an interdisciplinary congress that took place October 1.-3, 2010 in the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz. The congress intended to discard this impression and initiate a discussion about problems concerning the Byzantine-Seljuk relations.
Papers by Falko Daim
The lid of an early medieval box from Sorpe.
The detailed assessment of a new archaeological fnd often leads to the re-interpretation of another one known since long, as will be demonstrated by the buckle fragment bearing an emperor’s portrait from the late Avar period, which sheds new light on the oft-published silver box, and particularly its lid, found at Sorpe in Spain.
The gilt bronze buckle fragment was found at Tinnye, in an area known as Kisvár-dűlő, a site lying north of Budapest. The cast bronze buckle was gilded. The shield-shaped buckle plate bears an emperor portrait looking right. The emperor wears a diadem and a cloak fastened with a round brooch on the right shoulder. Jewellery and costume accessories with imperial portraits are since long known from eighth-century Avar contexts. The buckle fragment can defnitely be assigned to this group, although it differs from the other pieces in that the emperor is portrayed looking right. The best analogy to the imperial portrait looking right can be found on the lid of a small silver box displayed in the exhibition of the Museo Arqueologico de Madrid. The box was acquired in 1932 from one of the villagers of Sorpe. The lid was originally one half of a clasp, specifcally of a box clasp of the type represented by the Avar-period exemplars from Dunapataj, Zasavica and Abony. In view of the associated fnds, the oval clasps can be assigned to Phase III of the late Avar period, to the fnal third of the eighth century. The clasp had most likely been an Avar product made and worn during the fnal third of the eighth century, shortly before Charlemagne defeated the Avar Khaganate and transported its riches to Aachen. The silver gilt clasp as well as the cloak which it had fastened reached France as part of the booty, whence it was taken to the Iberian Peninsula. The written sources mention several transfers of this type. Little is known about the composition of the riches taken from the Avar Khaganate: an entry for the year 795 in the Vetus Annales Nordhumbranis mentions cloaks in addition to gold and silver (auro argentoque palliisque). Another scrap of information is provided by Alcuin’s letter to King Offa penned after April 796, which lists the gifts sent to the sovereign, among them a sword belt, a sword and two cloaks. A part of the Avar treasure was made up of garments and furs, and the cloaks probably had clasps. To date, only the gold ewer of St. Maurice d’Agaune has been associated with the Avar riches – moreover, local tradition holds it to be a gift bestowed by Charlemagne. The Sorpe clasp had possibly been part of the booty seized by the Franks during Charlemagne’s campaign against the Avars, which had been taken to Aachen, whence it reached Spain as a gift bestowed upon its last owner.
Russian archaeological scholarship. Although several papers have already been devoted to this topic, it
seems instructive to take a fresh look from the perspective of the archaeology of the Avar period. This
study offers a new typochronology and analysis of the “pseudo-buckles” with a focus on the earlier, less
profusely ornamented types. Examples from both the Carpathian Basin and Eastern Europe are reviewed to
illustrate the cultural connections between these two regions. Highlighted here are the formal connections
between the different types, alongside a model of the transformation process of these objects. Besides the
formal analysis, the technological aspects of these objects are also considered when possible. The formal
and chronological analysis is followed by a discussion of the possible social and historical relevance of the
pseudo-buckles.
damascene or coated decoration that are generally seen as related to Germanic groups. In the second
half of the 7th century, this changes: only three of the multiple types known from Italy and southern
Germany in particular are represented amongst Avar finds. Each of these three types, however, is
found at several sites:
1. Narrow fittings with depictions of faces (SD-phase 10, c. 650– 670): found at 4 sites;
2. Iron belt fittings with wide longitudinal stripes and/or zig zag damascene decoration
(SD 11, c. 670–700): found at 6 sites;
3. Iron belt fittings with coated stripe decoration (SD-phase 11, 670–700): found at 6 sites.
This distribution pattern cannot be explained by the mere presence of Langobard or Baiuvarii groups
within the Avar sphere. It ought rather to be seen as the result of traders offering their merchandise
within this territory. The distribution of fittings with depictions of faces appears to indicate Italian
origins, while the other two groups appear around Vienna and in southern Pannonia. As such, they
may indicate a trade route running along the Danube that originated in Bavaria.
DALLE STEPPE AL MEDITERRANEO POPOLI, CULTURE, INTEGRAZIONE
Atti del Convegno internazionale di studi Fondazioni e rituali funerari delle aristocrazie germaniche nel contesto mediterraneo Cimitile-Santa Maria Capua Vetere, 18-19 giugno 2015.
Atti del Convegno internazionale di studi Oriente e Occidente fra tarda antichità e medioevo popoli e culture dalle steppe al Mediterraneo Cimitile-Santa Maria Capua Vetere, 16-17 giugno 2016.
Cimitile 2017
pp. 407-422.
These questions were the focus of an interdisciplinary conference that took place on 17th and 18th November 2011 in Mainz. The present conference volume brings together contributions from researchers who have approached these issues from very different perspectives. They focus on the explanatory power of traditional as well as "new" sources and the methods of Byzantine Studies and Byzantine archaeology for this hitherto little-explored sphere. In this way, we see how closely environmental history is interwoven with the classical topics of Byzantine research - be they of an economic, social or culture-historical nature.
On the occasion of this exhibition two companion volumes are going to be published, that encompass 40 articles about the multifaceted and alternating relations between the Latin West and the Byzantine Empire. The volumes are subdivided into the media of communication: people, imagery, language, objects. They encompass articles of well-known researchers with archaeologic, art-historical, philological and historical focal points. The multilayered image of this general outline in conjunction with the detailed studies appreciates with the current results of research that are published for the first time in particular of the Leibniz-WissenschaftsCampus Mainz: Byzanz zwischen Orient und Okzident as well as the Byzantine research facilities in Vienna.
Die Ausstellung „Byzanz – Pracht und Alltag“ der Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland in Bonn und des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums (26.2.-13.6.2010) eröffnete für die Byzanzforschung neue Perspektiven. Die begleitende Tagung “Hinter den Mauern und auf dem offenen Land: Neue Forschungen zum Leben im Byzantinischen Reich” nahm diesen Ansatz auf und vertiefte im interdisziplinären Rahmen die Themen der Ausstellung. Im Mittelpunkt stand dabei das Alltagsleben innerhalb der urbanen und ländlichen Regionen des Reiches. Die Beiträge des Bandes führen die Ergebnisse der Mainzer Tagung zusammen. Sie widmen sich der Hauptstadt Konstantinopel, den Städten und ihrem Umland auf dem Balkan und in Kleinasien sowie dem alltäglichen Leben zur See, in Klöstern und auf dem Land.
Zwölf Untersuchungen zu den Häfen und Anlegestellen der Stadt am Marmarameer und am Goldenen Horn – aber auch zu jenen in ihrem europäischen und asiatischen Vorfeld – schaffen unter Auswertung schriftlicher, bildlicher und archäologischer Quellen eine Synthese des aktuellen Forschungsstandes.
Mit Beiträgen von Beate Böhlendorf-Arslan ∙ Jörg Drauschke ∙ Gerhard Fingerlin (†) ∙ Benjamin Fourlas ∙ Markos Giannoulis ∙ Michael Grünbart ∙ Sonngard Hartmann ·
Katarina Horst ∙ Karin Kirchhainer ∙ Guntram Koch ∙ Selina Küst ∙ Urs Peschlow ∙ Andreas Pülz ∙ Dieter Quast ∙ Sabrina Schäfer ∙ Mechthild Schulze-Dörrlamm ∙ Florian Ströbele ∙ Bendeguz Tobias
Twelve studies regarding the city's the harbours and landing stages at the sea of Marmara and the Golden Horn - but as well regarding those in their European as in their Asian surroundings - are creating a synthesis of the current state of research by analysis of written, pictorial and archaeological sources.
An English Translation is available since November 2019: F. Daim, History and Culture of Byzantium. Brill's New Pauly Supplements 10 (2019) ISBN 978-90-04-33933-0.
The accompanying conference "Hinter den Mauern und auf dem offenen Land: Neue Forschungen zum Leben im Byzantinischen Reich" ingested the approaches and enhanced the subjects of the conference in an interdisciplinary context. Everyday life in urban and rural regions of the empire has been focused. The contributions in this volume consolidate the results of the conference in Mainz. They consecrate to the capital Constantinople, the cities and their hinterland on the Balkans and in Asia Minor as well as everyday life at sea, in monasteries and in the country.
This conference volume presents the results of an interdisciplinary congress that took place October 1.-3, 2010 in the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz. The congress intended to discard this impression and initiate a discussion about problems concerning the Byzantine-Seljuk relations.
The lid of an early medieval box from Sorpe.
The detailed assessment of a new archaeological fnd often leads to the re-interpretation of another one known since long, as will be demonstrated by the buckle fragment bearing an emperor’s portrait from the late Avar period, which sheds new light on the oft-published silver box, and particularly its lid, found at Sorpe in Spain.
The gilt bronze buckle fragment was found at Tinnye, in an area known as Kisvár-dűlő, a site lying north of Budapest. The cast bronze buckle was gilded. The shield-shaped buckle plate bears an emperor portrait looking right. The emperor wears a diadem and a cloak fastened with a round brooch on the right shoulder. Jewellery and costume accessories with imperial portraits are since long known from eighth-century Avar contexts. The buckle fragment can defnitely be assigned to this group, although it differs from the other pieces in that the emperor is portrayed looking right. The best analogy to the imperial portrait looking right can be found on the lid of a small silver box displayed in the exhibition of the Museo Arqueologico de Madrid. The box was acquired in 1932 from one of the villagers of Sorpe. The lid was originally one half of a clasp, specifcally of a box clasp of the type represented by the Avar-period exemplars from Dunapataj, Zasavica and Abony. In view of the associated fnds, the oval clasps can be assigned to Phase III of the late Avar period, to the fnal third of the eighth century. The clasp had most likely been an Avar product made and worn during the fnal third of the eighth century, shortly before Charlemagne defeated the Avar Khaganate and transported its riches to Aachen. The silver gilt clasp as well as the cloak which it had fastened reached France as part of the booty, whence it was taken to the Iberian Peninsula. The written sources mention several transfers of this type. Little is known about the composition of the riches taken from the Avar Khaganate: an entry for the year 795 in the Vetus Annales Nordhumbranis mentions cloaks in addition to gold and silver (auro argentoque palliisque). Another scrap of information is provided by Alcuin’s letter to King Offa penned after April 796, which lists the gifts sent to the sovereign, among them a sword belt, a sword and two cloaks. A part of the Avar treasure was made up of garments and furs, and the cloaks probably had clasps. To date, only the gold ewer of St. Maurice d’Agaune has been associated with the Avar riches – moreover, local tradition holds it to be a gift bestowed by Charlemagne. The Sorpe clasp had possibly been part of the booty seized by the Franks during Charlemagne’s campaign against the Avars, which had been taken to Aachen, whence it reached Spain as a gift bestowed upon its last owner.
Russian archaeological scholarship. Although several papers have already been devoted to this topic, it
seems instructive to take a fresh look from the perspective of the archaeology of the Avar period. This
study offers a new typochronology and analysis of the “pseudo-buckles” with a focus on the earlier, less
profusely ornamented types. Examples from both the Carpathian Basin and Eastern Europe are reviewed to
illustrate the cultural connections between these two regions. Highlighted here are the formal connections
between the different types, alongside a model of the transformation process of these objects. Besides the
formal analysis, the technological aspects of these objects are also considered when possible. The formal
and chronological analysis is followed by a discussion of the possible social and historical relevance of the
pseudo-buckles.
damascene or coated decoration that are generally seen as related to Germanic groups. In the second
half of the 7th century, this changes: only three of the multiple types known from Italy and southern
Germany in particular are represented amongst Avar finds. Each of these three types, however, is
found at several sites:
1. Narrow fittings with depictions of faces (SD-phase 10, c. 650– 670): found at 4 sites;
2. Iron belt fittings with wide longitudinal stripes and/or zig zag damascene decoration
(SD 11, c. 670–700): found at 6 sites;
3. Iron belt fittings with coated stripe decoration (SD-phase 11, 670–700): found at 6 sites.
This distribution pattern cannot be explained by the mere presence of Langobard or Baiuvarii groups
within the Avar sphere. It ought rather to be seen as the result of traders offering their merchandise
within this territory. The distribution of fittings with depictions of faces appears to indicate Italian
origins, while the other two groups appear around Vienna and in southern Pannonia. As such, they
may indicate a trade route running along the Danube that originated in Bavaria.
DALLE STEPPE AL MEDITERRANEO POPOLI, CULTURE, INTEGRAZIONE
Atti del Convegno internazionale di studi Fondazioni e rituali funerari delle aristocrazie germaniche nel contesto mediterraneo Cimitile-Santa Maria Capua Vetere, 18-19 giugno 2015.
Atti del Convegno internazionale di studi Oriente e Occidente fra tarda antichità e medioevo popoli e culture dalle steppe al Mediterraneo Cimitile-Santa Maria Capua Vetere, 16-17 giugno 2016.
Cimitile 2017
pp. 407-422.
Cultural exchanges between Christianity and Islam, especially between Byzantium and its Islamic Neighbours, but also in the Caucasian region, have been an attractive topic for historians, art historians and archaeologists in recent years. Scholarly interest focuses on diplomatic gift exchange, trade, the mobility of artists and the common motifs in both Christian and Islamic objects. The stage extends from Spain to Afghanistan and justifies the necessity of this debate. Yet, unfortunately, the role of one of the important protagonists of this exchange, namely the Persian Sasanians, is less well researched, although many important artistic and cultural phenomena in Byzantium, Armenia, and Georgia as well as in the Islamic countries can only be understood when this culture is included.
The Sasanian Empire (224-651 A.D.) extended over a large territory. In Late Antiquity and the early Medieval Era, it ruled the whole area of modern Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Caucasian region was exposed to its political influence. Until the middle of the 7th century, Sasanians were the major rival of the Late Roman and Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire and exported art and culture into these civilizations through various means and on different levels. The cultural connections ended after the fall of the Sasanian Empire, which was replaced mainly by Arab Muslims, and a new era began: the new owners of the territory then adapted Sasanian elements into their own culture.
From the10th century onwards, the Turkish dynasties such as the Ghaznawids (963-1186) or the Great Seljuks (1019-1157 / de facto until the 13th century) settled in Persia and styled themselves as the successors of the Sasanians as well as as Turks; hence, they were called "Persians" in Byzantine sources. The Sasanian artistic and architectural tradition continued to exist in these cultures. The same phenomenon also applies to the Turkish Rum-Seljuks, who founded their empire in Anatolia: Persian was the court language, the sultans were named after Sassanian heroes from the Shahname (Keykubad, Keyhusrev, Keykavus), and despite the religious prohibition, drinking scenes were depicted in the artworks and wine played an important role at the ceremonies and celebrations according to the Sasanian model.
As can be clearly seen, the Sasanian Empire had not only ‘transfused’ its art and culture to its neighbourhood during its prime time, but also influenced the successor states after its decline. Just as Ancient Greek and Roman culture played an important role in the formation of Western Europe, the Sasanian Empire bequeathed, a remarkably rich cultural heritage to the Christian and Islamic East.
The conference “Sasanian Elements in Byzantine, Caucasian and Islamic Art and Culture” succeeds “Der Doppeladler. Byzanz und die Seldschuken in Anatolien vom späten 11. bis zum 13. Jahrhundert", which was held at the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Mainz in October 2010. The first event dealt with the cultural relations between Islam, particularly Turkish Islam, Byzantium and the Caucasus. At the forthcoming conference, we aim to discuss the role of the Sasanian Empire in the process of cultural exchange before and after its decline.