ИСТИНА

The rich finds discovered by archaeologists in Sarmatian burials are truly breathtaking: gold, silver and bronze and other ‘prestige objects’ from Sarmatian barrows have long been in the focus of scholarly attention and are well known to everyone who takes an interest in the antiquities of the Southern steppes of Russia and Ukraine. The epigraphy of these objects, however, is a less familiar subject altogether. Within the framework of a project funded by the DAI, I have studied all the inscriptions (Akkadian, Hebrew, Greek and Latin) found in Sarmatian burials. The inscriptions that I am going to focus on are usually engraved on objects that are either made of very valuable materials or possess a special status value as a representation of power. Examples for the first group are inscriptions made on such objects as a gold overlay of a dagger cross-guard, a bronze cauldron, and a lip of a gilded silver bowl. The other group are power symbols that are represented by a cylindrical seal with an Akkadian inscription, and a sard gem with an ancient Hebrew text. Interestingly, the aim of the inscribed messages was to express and manifest power. Sarmatian burials contain artifacts dating from the 16th century BC to 3rd century AD, which overlaps with much of the time in which (Near) Eastern, Greek and Roman civilizations flourished. Therefore, the epigraphy of Sarmatian burials appears to be a peculiar ‘museum collection’ of power symbols of the ancient world.