Sara Peterson
SOAS University of London, History of Art and Archaeology, Post-doctoral Research Associate. Lecturer, Tutor, Convenor, Postgraduate Diploma in Asian Art.
PhD (SOAS, University of London, 2016) and Lectures.
PhD title: Roses, Poppies and Narcissi: Plant Iconography at Tillya-tepe and Connected Cultures across the Ancient World.
This research considers the prolific plant imagery on gold objects - jewellery and weapons - excavated from six graves at Tillya-tepe in northwest Bactria. The study entails a detailed survey of the 'narrative' of three floral motifs: identifying the species or genera; tracking the journey of similar plant images through space and time on artefacts from other sites; and analysing how they were used in different material contexts. This investigation also considers relevant literary sources, including medical and ritual texts, and archaeobotanical evidence.
An analysis of the resulting data offers information about three areas in particular: the transmission of the flower images, indicating potential contacts and interaction between cultures; the internal hierarchy and status of the Tillya-tepe folk; and iconography, which provides information about the function and emblematic context of several important artefacts. It also demonstrates the concept of 'Plant Iconography' as a sub-discipline - the systematic deployment of plant imagery on objects which can be studied to understand more about the artefacts themselves and the societies which produced them.
Other activities
Co-convenor, lecturer: Courtly cultures: from Kandahar to Kyoto 400–1200 CE
(short course)
SOAS, February 2022
Lectures on:
Earthly Paradise: the garden and courtliness
Scheherazade's Feast: food culture and gastronomy in the courts of the caliphs
Barbarians in the house: Central Asian performers and personnel, exotica in Sui and Tang China
Convenor, lecturer: Global trade in the ancient world: cultures of luxury 3000- 300 BCE (short course)
SOAS, June 2021
Lectures on:
The 'intercultural style': prestige vessels from Afghanistan to the Persian Gulf
Nomads and networks: Achaemenid artefacts and imagery in the Eurasian steppes
Convenor, lecturer: The Golden Road to Samarqand (short course)
SOAS, November 2020
Lectures on:
Introduction to Samarqand and goods moving East
The Pre-Sogdian art and archaeology of the Samarqand region
Image and identity along the 'Silk routes'
2017 to present
Postgraduate Diploma in Asian Art
Lead tutor, lecturer: Indian Art
Lectures on early Buddhist and Hindu art, from the Mauryans to the Guptas
Convenor, lecturer: Arts of the Silk routes (short course)
Lectures on:
Art of the ‘Scythian’ nomads at Pazyryk and Berel
Tillya-tepe at the crossroads of the Silk Routes: looking west, looking east
Buddhist art of Central Asia: from Mirān to Kizil
Convenor, lecturer: Arts of the Ancient Near East and Iran (short course)
Lectures on:
Ancient Near Eastern gardens: from paradise to the fruits of conquest
An introduction to Sasanian art
Feasting and luxury in the Persian world
Miscellaneous presentations 2014 - 2020
2020 'East meets West: the Rise of Parthia' research conference, British Museum, London. POSTPONED
'New light on the Julius Terentius wall-painting at Dura-Europos'
2020 Second International Conference on Central Asian Archaeology, Bern University
'A study of the gold folding crown from Tillya-tepe as an indicator of cultural exchange and status'
2020 Central Asian Seminar, UCL
'From Bactria to Chorasmia: connections along the Oxus around the 1st century CE'
2018 Central Asian Seminar, UCL
'Opium in Afghanistan, a glimpse from the ancient world'
2017 Symposia Iranica, University of Cambridge
‘The migration of the rose motif: the transmission and context of rose imagery in Sasanian and Sogdian art’
2017 Research in Languages and Cultures of the Near and Middle East, SOAS
‘The Tillya-tepe folding crown, a case study in interconnected cultures’
2016 Central Asian Seminar, UCL
‘An analysis of the Tillya-tepe folding crown and influences from Central Asian art’
2016 Hellenistic Central Asia Research Network, University of Reading
‘Roses at Tillya-tepe, a case study in Plant Iconography’
2016 Annual conference, British Association of Near Eastern Archaeology
‘Echoes of Mesopotamia and Iran at Tillya-tepe, a study in liminality’
2015 Herbal History Research Network Research Forum, London
Poster: ‘Poppies and narcissi: images of narcotics on the “Silk Road” ’
2014 Expedition Silk Roads Symposium, Amsterdam and Leiden Universities,
Poster: ‘Plant iconography at Tillya-tepe’
Supervisors: Professor Lukas Nickel, Professor Almut Hintze, and Examiners: Professor Henri-Paul Francfort, Professor Cosimo Zene
PhD title: Roses, Poppies and Narcissi: Plant Iconography at Tillya-tepe and Connected Cultures across the Ancient World.
This research considers the prolific plant imagery on gold objects - jewellery and weapons - excavated from six graves at Tillya-tepe in northwest Bactria. The study entails a detailed survey of the 'narrative' of three floral motifs: identifying the species or genera; tracking the journey of similar plant images through space and time on artefacts from other sites; and analysing how they were used in different material contexts. This investigation also considers relevant literary sources, including medical and ritual texts, and archaeobotanical evidence.
An analysis of the resulting data offers information about three areas in particular: the transmission of the flower images, indicating potential contacts and interaction between cultures; the internal hierarchy and status of the Tillya-tepe folk; and iconography, which provides information about the function and emblematic context of several important artefacts. It also demonstrates the concept of 'Plant Iconography' as a sub-discipline - the systematic deployment of plant imagery on objects which can be studied to understand more about the artefacts themselves and the societies which produced them.
Other activities
Co-convenor, lecturer: Courtly cultures: from Kandahar to Kyoto 400–1200 CE
(short course)
SOAS, February 2022
Lectures on:
Earthly Paradise: the garden and courtliness
Scheherazade's Feast: food culture and gastronomy in the courts of the caliphs
Barbarians in the house: Central Asian performers and personnel, exotica in Sui and Tang China
Convenor, lecturer: Global trade in the ancient world: cultures of luxury 3000- 300 BCE (short course)
SOAS, June 2021
Lectures on:
The 'intercultural style': prestige vessels from Afghanistan to the Persian Gulf
Nomads and networks: Achaemenid artefacts and imagery in the Eurasian steppes
Convenor, lecturer: The Golden Road to Samarqand (short course)
SOAS, November 2020
Lectures on:
Introduction to Samarqand and goods moving East
The Pre-Sogdian art and archaeology of the Samarqand region
Image and identity along the 'Silk routes'
2017 to present
Postgraduate Diploma in Asian Art
Lead tutor, lecturer: Indian Art
Lectures on early Buddhist and Hindu art, from the Mauryans to the Guptas
Convenor, lecturer: Arts of the Silk routes (short course)
Lectures on:
Art of the ‘Scythian’ nomads at Pazyryk and Berel
Tillya-tepe at the crossroads of the Silk Routes: looking west, looking east
Buddhist art of Central Asia: from Mirān to Kizil
Convenor, lecturer: Arts of the Ancient Near East and Iran (short course)
Lectures on:
Ancient Near Eastern gardens: from paradise to the fruits of conquest
An introduction to Sasanian art
Feasting and luxury in the Persian world
Miscellaneous presentations 2014 - 2020
2020 'East meets West: the Rise of Parthia' research conference, British Museum, London. POSTPONED
'New light on the Julius Terentius wall-painting at Dura-Europos'
2020 Second International Conference on Central Asian Archaeology, Bern University
'A study of the gold folding crown from Tillya-tepe as an indicator of cultural exchange and status'
2020 Central Asian Seminar, UCL
'From Bactria to Chorasmia: connections along the Oxus around the 1st century CE'
2018 Central Asian Seminar, UCL
'Opium in Afghanistan, a glimpse from the ancient world'
2017 Symposia Iranica, University of Cambridge
‘The migration of the rose motif: the transmission and context of rose imagery in Sasanian and Sogdian art’
2017 Research in Languages and Cultures of the Near and Middle East, SOAS
‘The Tillya-tepe folding crown, a case study in interconnected cultures’
2016 Central Asian Seminar, UCL
‘An analysis of the Tillya-tepe folding crown and influences from Central Asian art’
2016 Hellenistic Central Asia Research Network, University of Reading
‘Roses at Tillya-tepe, a case study in Plant Iconography’
2016 Annual conference, British Association of Near Eastern Archaeology
‘Echoes of Mesopotamia and Iran at Tillya-tepe, a study in liminality’
2015 Herbal History Research Network Research Forum, London
Poster: ‘Poppies and narcissi: images of narcotics on the “Silk Road” ’
2014 Expedition Silk Roads Symposium, Amsterdam and Leiden Universities,
Poster: ‘Plant iconography at Tillya-tepe’
Supervisors: Professor Lukas Nickel, Professor Almut Hintze, and Examiners: Professor Henri-Paul Francfort, Professor Cosimo Zene
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Papers by Sara Peterson
This study provides a systematic identification of various forms of the rose, including enduring conventions for rose petals and rose buds, and it is organised by typology. It discusses the different morphologies, noting earlier precedents where relevant, and considers the variations and developments in the depiction of the motif. There are also short observations on rose imagery in later Roman and post-Roman art, including its presence in Iranian art. The objective of this typological study is not an exploration of the cultural significance and emblematic values of roses but is intended as a prelude to an exploration of their potential semantic roles in specific contexts in future articles.
Edinburgh University Blog about the article: https://euppublishingblog.com/2020/11/16/opium-in-afghanistan/
This study explores Dionysos’s multiple identities and associations in order to understand how and why the god found a special place in Indian culture. It looks beyond his most familiar role as god of wine and viticulture, and considers his association with water, sacred liquids, fertility, snakes, death and the afterlife. The origins of theatrical performances and episodic narrative are also touched upon, revealing a different aspect of Dionysiac influence in India. Finally, there is a comparison of the characteristics of Dionysos with both the anthropomorphised Soma and Hindu god Shiva.
This broader interpretation of Dionysos demonstrates that within the Indian cultural environment there was more than the usual syncretism, revealing an evolving relationship which resulted in a degree of cultic assimilation, bringing aspects of this complex deity into the sub-pantheon of Buddhist religion.
Grave IV contained the only male, and many of his possessions exhibited a strong affinity with Parthian art. This connection is studied in detail in relation to an inlaid gold medallion belt. It is typologically, thematically and emblematically related to other roundel belts, including examples depicted on statues of kings and worthies found within the temple complex at Hatra. A study of these is followed by a review of other artefacts from grave IV which exhibit Parthian characteristics. This investigation of the archaeological evidence is supplemented with brief assessments of the local topography, economy, and numismatic evidence. These contribute to a picture which suggests that the Tillya Tepe folk were not only geographically close to Parthia, but were also culturally and economically orientated towards the Parthian kingdoms.
Thesis Chapters: ABSTRACT and SHORT INTRODUCTION by Sara Peterson
Talks by Sara Peterson
New excavations at the Akchakhan-Kala ceremonial complex, just north of the Oxus river in Chorasmia (modern-day Uzbekistan), have been taking place over the past few years. Among the most important discoveries are wall paintings in the main hypostyle hall depicting three monumental figures, putatively deities. This research concerns the headwear and weaponry of two of these figures. Notwithstanding the obvious Iranian characteristics of some ornamental detail, aspects of the imagery also suggest contact with Bactria. By studying the iconographic contexts of a prominent floral motif in Akchakhan-Kala, Bactria, and parts of the eastern Roman Empire, it is possible not only to propose transmission but also to identify commonalities in the deployment of this motif.
An elaborate, collapsible crown was found in the grave of a woman at Tillya-tepe, an important burial site in modern Afghanistan, in the borderlands of Bactria and the Parthian world and at a nodal point on major communication routes through Central Asia to China. The crown was among thousands of objects excavated from six richly provisioned, elite burials dating to the 1st century CE. Both its form and ornament reflect Tillya-tepe’s pivotal position between different cultures.
This gold crown comprises a diadem decorated with an ensemble of five trees with birds in their upper branches and spiny beasts at their bases. This configuration of motifs relates it to headdresses from the Altai region, the Southern Urals, and the Pontic-Caspian area. However, it is uniquely covered with six-petalled rosettes, identifiable as narcissus flowers, which are more usually found in Graeco-Roman and Parthian contexts.
The paper to be presented entails an analysis of the crown’s structure and associated imagery and will consider the transmission from different sources of both its form and motifs. It may be demonstrated that these diverse iconographies converge to provide strong clues towards the status and worldview of the crown’s owner. This evaluation is measured against the backdrop of the Central Asian nomadic heritage of the Tillya-tepe folk.
This study provides a systematic identification of various forms of the rose, including enduring conventions for rose petals and rose buds, and it is organised by typology. It discusses the different morphologies, noting earlier precedents where relevant, and considers the variations and developments in the depiction of the motif. There are also short observations on rose imagery in later Roman and post-Roman art, including its presence in Iranian art. The objective of this typological study is not an exploration of the cultural significance and emblematic values of roses but is intended as a prelude to an exploration of their potential semantic roles in specific contexts in future articles.
Edinburgh University Blog about the article: https://euppublishingblog.com/2020/11/16/opium-in-afghanistan/
This study explores Dionysos’s multiple identities and associations in order to understand how and why the god found a special place in Indian culture. It looks beyond his most familiar role as god of wine and viticulture, and considers his association with water, sacred liquids, fertility, snakes, death and the afterlife. The origins of theatrical performances and episodic narrative are also touched upon, revealing a different aspect of Dionysiac influence in India. Finally, there is a comparison of the characteristics of Dionysos with both the anthropomorphised Soma and Hindu god Shiva.
This broader interpretation of Dionysos demonstrates that within the Indian cultural environment there was more than the usual syncretism, revealing an evolving relationship which resulted in a degree of cultic assimilation, bringing aspects of this complex deity into the sub-pantheon of Buddhist religion.
Grave IV contained the only male, and many of his possessions exhibited a strong affinity with Parthian art. This connection is studied in detail in relation to an inlaid gold medallion belt. It is typologically, thematically and emblematically related to other roundel belts, including examples depicted on statues of kings and worthies found within the temple complex at Hatra. A study of these is followed by a review of other artefacts from grave IV which exhibit Parthian characteristics. This investigation of the archaeological evidence is supplemented with brief assessments of the local topography, economy, and numismatic evidence. These contribute to a picture which suggests that the Tillya Tepe folk were not only geographically close to Parthia, but were also culturally and economically orientated towards the Parthian kingdoms.
New excavations at the Akchakhan-Kala ceremonial complex, just north of the Oxus river in Chorasmia (modern-day Uzbekistan), have been taking place over the past few years. Among the most important discoveries are wall paintings in the main hypostyle hall depicting three monumental figures, putatively deities. This research concerns the headwear and weaponry of two of these figures. Notwithstanding the obvious Iranian characteristics of some ornamental detail, aspects of the imagery also suggest contact with Bactria. By studying the iconographic contexts of a prominent floral motif in Akchakhan-Kala, Bactria, and parts of the eastern Roman Empire, it is possible not only to propose transmission but also to identify commonalities in the deployment of this motif.
An elaborate, collapsible crown was found in the grave of a woman at Tillya-tepe, an important burial site in modern Afghanistan, in the borderlands of Bactria and the Parthian world and at a nodal point on major communication routes through Central Asia to China. The crown was among thousands of objects excavated from six richly provisioned, elite burials dating to the 1st century CE. Both its form and ornament reflect Tillya-tepe’s pivotal position between different cultures.
This gold crown comprises a diadem decorated with an ensemble of five trees with birds in their upper branches and spiny beasts at their bases. This configuration of motifs relates it to headdresses from the Altai region, the Southern Urals, and the Pontic-Caspian area. However, it is uniquely covered with six-petalled rosettes, identifiable as narcissus flowers, which are more usually found in Graeco-Roman and Parthian contexts.
The paper to be presented entails an analysis of the crown’s structure and associated imagery and will consider the transmission from different sources of both its form and motifs. It may be demonstrated that these diverse iconographies converge to provide strong clues towards the status and worldview of the crown’s owner. This evaluation is measured against the backdrop of the Central Asian nomadic heritage of the Tillya-tepe folk.