Papers by Archil Balakhvantsev
The article is devoted to the interpretation of terracotta slabs depicting a war elephant discove... more The article is devoted to the interpretation of terracotta slabs depicting a war elephant discovered on New Nisa. According to the author, the finds belong not to the Arsacid, but to the Seleucid period.
Despite the fact that excavations at the site of Takhti-Sangin began almost a hundred years ago, ... more Despite the fact that excavations at the site of Takhti-Sangin began almost a hundred years ago, questions about the date of the founding of the city and foundation of the Oxus temple are still far from being resolved. The article provides arguments indicating that the parameters of the mud brick, column bases, and even the discovered fragments of Yaz III ceramics do not provide grounds to abandon B.A. Litvinsky’s assumption that the founding of Takhti-Sangin can be dated back to the early 3rd century BC. Thus, the square bricks of the 50–52×50–52×12–14 cm format used in the construction of the Oxus temple have no analogies among the Achaemenid monuments. The composite nature of the column bases does not at all indicate that the latter were manufactured in the Achaemenid era. Composite and monolithic bases existed in parallel in the 6th – 3rd centuries BC. Fragments of late Achaemenid ceramics from the wall seams of the temenos of the Oxus temple were already known to B.A. Litvinsky and I.R. Picikyan, but this did not affect their chronological conclusions. This is explained not only by the fact that any layers that could be dated to the Achaemenid period have not been discovered both at the time of Litvinsky’s work and later. In the last third of the 4th – first decades of the 3rd century BC, the population of the Central Asian satrapies continued to produce and use ceramics genetically related to the late Achaemenid period.
The article discusses how the Achaemenid luxury goods reached the South Urals. The author analyse... more The article discusses how the Achaemenid luxury goods reached the South Urals. The author analyses the theories that explain this phenomenon by long-term military and political contacts between the Achaemenids and the South Urals nomads during the V–IV centuries BC, as well as provides additional arguments for the theory that the Achaemenid goods got into this region in two waves: the first one occurred when the South Urals nomads participated in the suppression of Inaros' revolt in Egypt in 456–454 B.C., and the second one was connected to the events that followed after the fall of the Achaemenid empire and the conquest of Central Asia by Alexander the Great.
The article is devoted to archaeological exploration conducted by researchers of the Institute of... more The article is devoted to archaeological exploration conducted by researchers of the Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences in March 2023 at the site of Tell Jidr in Iraq. According to new research, the city of Tell Jidr, named Karkar in the ancient times, was a multi-layered monument that emerged on the eastern channel of the Euphrates – Iturungal – back in the Ubaid III Period, and then existed throughout the Early Dynastic I and Akkadian Periods, the Third Dynasty of Ur, into the Old Babylonian and the Kassite era. At its peak in the Parthian and Sasanian Periods, Tell Jidr, which apparently lost its original name, occupied an area of about 430 ha, stretching 4.4 km from northwest to southeast and 1.9 km from southwest to northeast, and competed with the capital of both empires, Ctesiphon. Remote sensing and ground truthing activities made it possible to clarify the internal structure of the monument, which consisted of northern and southern parts, to identify the system of city blocks and streets, public buildings (temple, palace, citadel), fortification, and to trace the evolution of urban development. Taking into account the finds of ceramic fragments decorated with stamps and fish dishes, as well as mention of Karkar in cuneiform sources of the Late Achaemenid and Seleucid time, it is possible to clarify the existing ideas about the stages of the settlement’s development and to confirm the existence of the settlement in the Achaemenid and Hellenistic Periods.
The silver vessels from the hoard found in the Erebuni citadel were hammered out of hollow blanks... more The silver vessels from the hoard found in the Erebuni citadel were hammered out of hollow blanks. The shaping of the reliefs was made using the metal-plastic technique with the help of wooden tools and carved wooden matrices inside the blanks. The vessels were decorated on a plastic support by pressing lines and drawings with a metal pencil, notches, scalpel, ringed punch rather than engraving. Parts of vessels and small details were soldered.
The article analyzes the localization of finds of archaic Greek ceramics in burial mounds and in ... more The article analyzes the localization of finds of archaic Greek ceramics in burial mounds and in the settlements of the North Caucasus, the Don basin and the Northern Black Sea region. The chronological and territorial features of this process are traced. It is concluded that the presence of early Greek ceramics is directly related to the political situation in the respective region.
The article publishes a fragment of a ceramic vessel with a Parthian inscription preserved on it,... more The article publishes a fragment of a ceramic vessel with a Parthian inscription preserved on it, discovered in 2012 at the site of New Nisa (Turkmenistan), approximately 120 m northeast of Tower XIII, and currently kept in a private collection in Russia. A small sherd (maximum dimensions 73×45 mm) 5–8 mm thick is most likely a fragment of a jug covered with white engobe. It is possible that, judging by the color of the engobe and the shard in the fracture, as well as the use of a high-temperature oxidative firing regime, the jug was made not in Parthyene, but in Margiana. A one-line inscription written in black paint or ink, of which only nine characters have come down to us, is located on the outside of the vessel, apparently on its hangers. The surviving part of the inscription reads ](y/z) ZNH ʻL wt(?)[. Its translation reads: “[The vessel] is for Vat...” It is possible that the name of the owner of the jug read as Wtpn (*Vātapāna) – “having the protection of the wind(-god)”, known from an Aramaic inscription from Persepolis. Judging by the fact that there is no hint of cursive in the inscription – each letter is written separately – it can be dated in the same way as the entire body of documents from Old Nisa, i.e. e second half of the 2nd – end of the 1st centuries BC.
The article examines the issue of dating a flask with an Aramaic inscription discovered in the Te... more The article examines the issue of dating a flask with an Aramaic inscription discovered in the Temir mound (Southern Trans-Urals). The known analogies of the flask from Susa and Chorasmia, as well as the historical circumstances associated with its production and arrival in the Southern Urals, speak in favor of dating it to the second half of the 5th century BC. Paleographic criteria are fully consistent with the archaeological dating of the flask itself. Analogies for the first (right) letter samekh with a head in the form of a straight line or a slightly curved arc, resembling the numeral 3, can be found only in monuments of the 5th century BC. The next two identical characters on the left represent the same letter – lapidary nun. The last sign is a kap with a very long stem. The inscription can be read as Snnk – Sinnak. This personal Iranian name is mentioned several times in the Arsacid period (Ios. Ant. XIII. 384 – Σινάκης; Tac. Ann. VI. 31.2, 32.2, 36.2, 37.3 – Sinnaces). Dating the flask from the Temir mound to the second half of the 5th century BC allows us to clarify our ideas about the time of the formation of the funeral rite and the archaeological complex of the early Sarmatian culture.
Сборник посвящён 25-летию работы международной научной кон фе ренции «Боспорский феномен». Он сос... more Сборник посвящён 25-летию работы международной научной кон фе ренции «Боспорский феномен». Он составлен из материалов, освещающих архео ло ги ческие и историко-культурные исследования городов и сельских поселений как самого Боспорского царства, так и окружавших его варварских земель. Уделено внимание особенностям развития этого уникального государства, его месту в сис теме припон тийских греческих апойкий и в целом колонизационному процессу в Северном Причерноморье. В сборник включены статьи, посвященные разным аспектам изучения истории региона и анализу находок на территории боспорских памятников, включая результаты новейших археологических исследований. Значительное место отведено разделу Personalia, где отражена деятельность видных учёных-антиковедов, в част ности-К. С. Горбуновой, чьё столетие отмечается в 2023 году.
Коллективная монография «История письма от Античности до Нового времени. Очерки по эпиграфике, па... more Коллективная монография «История письма от Античности до Нового времени. Очерки по эпиграфике, палеографии и дипломатике» представляет письменную традицию Европы как единый процесс развития культуры, технологий, эстетики, социальных механизмов от Античности к Новому времени. Традиции кириллического письма вписаны в общий контекст европейской культуры. Наибольшее внимание уделено эволюции приемов и типов письма. Первая часть посвящена эпиграфике, вторая часть-рукописной традиции. Книга адресована научным работникам, преподавателям, студентам, а также представляет интерес для широкого круга читателей. С о с т а в и т е л ь В. Г. Вовина-Лебедева (СПбИИ РАН) Р е д а к ц и о н н а я к о л л е г и я:
Abstract: in the article, the author again turns to the discussion of the place and time of issue... more Abstract: in the article, the author again turns to the discussion of the place and time of issue of Andragoras and Sophytes coins in the light of new numismatic material that appeared in 2017–2018 on the antique market. It is concluded that the coins of Andragoras and Sophytes had nothing to do with either India or Parthia, but were minted in Bactria, and before its conquest by Seleucus I.
In the following note, the authors again refer to the squeeze of the Northwest Semitic inscriptio... more In the following note, the authors again refer to the squeeze of the Northwest Semitic inscription from the collection of the Russian Archaeological Institute in Constantinople published in 2022. The reading of two problematic places in the inscription is specified, the corrected reading and drawing are published. First of all, a new understanding of the symbols no. 8–10 should be noted. Instead of three letters – ṣade, aleph, pe – we now see only two here – waw and ṣade. The closest and only analogy to the last sign is found in the Ammān citadel inscription dating back to the 9th century BC. It was discovered only in 1961. This circumstance once again testifies to the groundlessness of doubts about the authenticity of the studied inscription.
The second correction concerns the missing letter in the previous drawing, following the bet (no. 19). The sign is very poorly distinguishable, due to its location on the crease of the estampage. Based on the combination of the preserved vertical and the straight horizontal crossing it at the level of the base of the bet’s head, there is nothing left to do but assume that this is a tav. Thus, the new reading of the inscription is as follows:
z d t h š m y w ṣ k b h m l n ḥ z b t h w y d b r k ʕ l s k y r y n k y ? n
During the 2022 excavation season at the Western Suburban Complex (WSC), work on Room III (Blue H... more During the 2022 excavation season at the Western Suburban Complex (WSC), work on Room III (Blue Hall) has been continued. Two fragments of pottery discovered there date back to the ancient Chorasmian period. At the -210 and -212 cm levels from the benchmark, a flooring consisting of mud brick pavement was discovered (41–42 × 41–42 cm).
The most numerous finds in the 2022 season were fragments of painting, made with glue paint on loess plaster, covered with white loose soil – gypsum in the form of dihydrate. The polarizing microscopy of the composition of paint samples showed that the blue pigment consists of natural ultramarine, the red-brown one is red ocher, and the green paint is made of atacamite (copper hydroxychloride).
When Room III had ceased functioning normally, it lost its roof and has been gradually filled with various layers of ground. Judging by the complete absence of animal bones, hearths and/or bonfires, as well as the meager amount of ceramics, secondary habitation of the ruined premises is clearly improbable. The discovered brick pavements are not related to the period of the WSC’s functioning and appeared after the process of destruction of the walls had gone far enough.
The last stage of the destruction corresponds to the layer lying on top of the brickwork in the northeast corner of Room III, containing numerous fragments of painted plaster. The lifetime and destruction of the WSC fully corresponds to the ancient Chorasmian period.
Vestnik Drevnei Istorii 82/4, 911-940, 2022
The authors publish a hitherto unknown squeeze made from a North West Semitic inscription. The sq... more The authors publish a hitherto unknown squeeze made from a North West Semitic inscription. The squeeze originally belonged to the Russian Archeological Institute in Constantinople and is now hosted by the St. Petersburg Branch of the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The inscription, performed in relief, may have been made on a large ornamented stone vessel. Paleographic features of the letters point to the mid‑9th century BC as its approximate date. Both paleographic and linguistic features of the text suggest that its origin is to be sought in Southern Canaan (Palestine).
The authors publish a hitherto unknown squeeze made from a North West Semitic inscription. The sq... more The authors publish a hitherto unknown squeeze made from a North West Semitic inscription. The squeeze originally belonged to the Russian Archeological Institute in Constantinople and is now hosted by the St. Petersburg Branch of the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The inscription, performed in relief, may have been made on a large ornamented stone vessel. Paleographic features of the letters point to the mid-9 th century BC as its approximate date. Both paleographic and linguistic features of the text suggest that its origin is to be sought in Southern Canaan (Palestine).
ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL CULTURES OF CENTRAL ASIA (THE FORMATION, DEVELOPMENT AND INTERACTION OF URBANIZED AND CATTLE-BREEDING SOCIETIES), 2020
Древние и средневековые культуры Центральной Азии (становление, развитие и взаимодействие урбаниз... more Древние и средневековые культуры Центральной Азии (становление, развитие и взаимодействие урбанизированных и скотоводческих обществ): Материалы Международной конференции, посвя щен ной 100-летию со дня рождения д. и. н. А. М. Мандельштама и 90-летию со дня рождения д. и. н.
Problems of chronology and cultural genesis of ancient sedentary societies of Eurаsia (from the neolithic period through the Early Iron Age), 2019
analysis of the information concerning the Massagetae of the 6 th-4 th centuries bC, which is pre... more analysis of the information concerning the Massagetae of the 6 th-4 th centuries bC, which is preserved by greek and Latin authors, shows that the most justified is their localization north of the
The article is devoted to the new finds of Achaemenid and Central Asian import items from the bur... more The article is devoted to the new finds of Achaemenid and Central Asian import items from the burial complexes of nomads of the Early Iron Age, explored by the Orenburg Archaeological Expedition on the territory of the Orenburg region during the field season of 2018 year.
Uploads
Papers by Archil Balakhvantsev
The second correction concerns the missing letter in the previous drawing, following the bet (no. 19). The sign is very poorly distinguishable, due to its location on the crease of the estampage. Based on the combination of the preserved vertical and the straight horizontal crossing it at the level of the base of the bet’s head, there is nothing left to do but assume that this is a tav. Thus, the new reading of the inscription is as follows:
z d t h š m y w ṣ k b h m l n ḥ z b t h w y d b r k ʕ l s k y r y n k y ? n
The most numerous finds in the 2022 season were fragments of painting, made with glue paint on loess plaster, covered with white loose soil – gypsum in the form of dihydrate. The polarizing microscopy of the composition of paint samples showed that the blue pigment consists of natural ultramarine, the red-brown one is red ocher, and the green paint is made of atacamite (copper hydroxychloride).
When Room III had ceased functioning normally, it lost its roof and has been gradually filled with various layers of ground. Judging by the complete absence of animal bones, hearths and/or bonfires, as well as the meager amount of ceramics, secondary habitation of the ruined premises is clearly improbable. The discovered brick pavements are not related to the period of the WSC’s functioning and appeared after the process of destruction of the walls had gone far enough.
The last stage of the destruction corresponds to the layer lying on top of the brickwork in the northeast corner of Room III, containing numerous fragments of painted plaster. The lifetime and destruction of the WSC fully corresponds to the ancient Chorasmian period.
The second correction concerns the missing letter in the previous drawing, following the bet (no. 19). The sign is very poorly distinguishable, due to its location on the crease of the estampage. Based on the combination of the preserved vertical and the straight horizontal crossing it at the level of the base of the bet’s head, there is nothing left to do but assume that this is a tav. Thus, the new reading of the inscription is as follows:
z d t h š m y w ṣ k b h m l n ḥ z b t h w y d b r k ʕ l s k y r y n k y ? n
The most numerous finds in the 2022 season were fragments of painting, made with glue paint on loess plaster, covered with white loose soil – gypsum in the form of dihydrate. The polarizing microscopy of the composition of paint samples showed that the blue pigment consists of natural ultramarine, the red-brown one is red ocher, and the green paint is made of atacamite (copper hydroxychloride).
When Room III had ceased functioning normally, it lost its roof and has been gradually filled with various layers of ground. Judging by the complete absence of animal bones, hearths and/or bonfires, as well as the meager amount of ceramics, secondary habitation of the ruined premises is clearly improbable. The discovered brick pavements are not related to the period of the WSC’s functioning and appeared after the process of destruction of the walls had gone far enough.
The last stage of the destruction corresponds to the layer lying on top of the brickwork in the northeast corner of Room III, containing numerous fragments of painted plaster. The lifetime and destruction of the WSC fully corresponds to the ancient Chorasmian period.
Archil S. Balakhvantsev,
The proposed review gives a critical assessment of the new collective monograph (Kampyrtepa – Kushan fortress upon the Oxus. Archaeological research 2001–2010 / Editor S.B. Bolelov. – M.; SPb.: Nestor–History, 2018. – 360 p., ill.), dedicated to the excavation of one of the most interesting ancient monuments in the Middle East.