Gold collection

 

Tajik gold.

The items in the special collection of precious metals and coins are tightly linked to the centuries-long history of Tajikistan. Various clothes’ adornments, household utensils, and coins serve as the testimony to the cultural and historical development of people of Tajikistan. The names of ancient masters have been lost, but their vision of beauty is reflected in today’s world.

As soon as a branch of the Soviet Academy of Sciences opened in the city of Dushanbe, the collection of precious items and coins was transferred to the department of archeology and numismatics of the A. Donish’s Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography. An independent Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan was formed later.

This collection includes finds from the excavations on the territory of Tajikistan, as well as items found during construction or other work... The collection contains artifacts from the V BC to XVII-XVIII centuries.

Traditionally, collections were restocked annually up until 1990 (the beginning of the Civil War). This collection presents the ancient history of jewelry-making and goldsmithing of Tajikistan in the course of nearly two millenniums. 

        The Commonwealth of Independent States has numerous collections of precious metals, most of which held in special storerooms of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tashkent, Erevan, Kiev and Dushanbe. The funds of the A. Donish’s Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Tajikistan Academy of Sciences permitted to gather an impressive collection of gold artifacts of the medieval time period, as well as XVII and XVIII centuries.

The gold jewelry found in this collection serves as a testament to the high level of arts and crafts, as well as to the cultural, political and economic development of the medieval society.

This is an attempt on the part of the Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography to present the jewelry collection to the wide circle of scientists and devotees of the art of jewelry. For the first time the gold artifacts kept in the Institute’s archives are grouped chronologically, by their use and geographical criteria, supported by identifying data, as well as a time stamp.

We discussed here how the art of jewelry in Tajikistan has been transferred from the ancient masters to the modern times. The masters whose work was discovered in Tajikistan were familiar with such techniques as casting, molding, stamping, and drawing. They employed such sophisticated methods as soldering, granulation and coil, producing open-worked, filled and stamped articles.  For example, the stamping technique was used when making adorning disks.

The art of ancient jewelers is evident from the various methods of connecting details and trimmings in their work: studs, soldering, and threading. Wrought sheets of gold guaranteed sturdiness and durability, which in turn allowed making delicate, light, miniature artworks that required a lot of professional skill.

Jewelry was often made out of high quality metals. One of the most interesting examples of using such materials are the artifacts of Oxus treasure, dating IV century BC, as well as the finds of Saksanohur, I-II centuries, Shakristan – XIII century, and others.

For decorating purposes, the ancient masters used precious and semi-precious stones, employing polishing and chiseling techniques. Turquoise, garnet, ruby, carnelian, and pearls complemented the masters’ artistic designs.

One of the most popular methods was casting. Hard casting, wax models, two-sided, open and sectional molds were used. Sometimes fabrics were embroidered with gold thread – examples have been found in Tahti-Sangin (II century BC) and Bishkent burial grounds (I-II centuries).

The art of jewelry making is a crucial part of studies of history, culture and art of Tajikistan.

Beginning in the ancient times, gold has been excavated, treated and processed into articles of jewelry. The artistic and stylistic features of some of them speak of the highly developed cultural and commercial connections of the Tajik people, as well as of their ideas of fashion, style and taste.

The history of the Tajik people in the mid-millennium BC has been characterized as “the time of forming and establishing of an early class-based society in Central Asia, the time of development, of first government unions, the time of ethnic and linguistic formation;” undeniably, initial contacts with other ethnic groups of higher civilization level influenced the process.

It is known that Central Asia was part of the Achaemenid Empire in IV century BC. In the 30s of IV century BC, Macedonian king Alexander the Great played an instrumental part in the fall of the Achaemenid Empire.  In the second part of the III century BC, the Central Asian portion of the empire (Bactria) seceded as the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, which included southern parts of contemporary Tajikistan. The peoples of Central Asia had extensive contacts with the Greek culture.

Archeological discoveries in the southern part of Tajikistan demonstrate not only the creators’ familiarity with the Hellenistic culture and art, but also their understanding of Hellenistic traditions. This grasp of traditions and philosophy is reflected in several unique monuments of that time, for instance, the Temple of Oxus at Takhti-Sangin (end of II century BC – 1 century AD).

The art and culture of 1 century BC to II century AD was influenced by the Kushan tribe, which existed on the large territory that included contemporary Tajikistan. This powerful empire stretched out to the Gissar mountain ridge and included the Indus valley. The artistic objects of that time period demonstrate syncretism of Hellenistic heritage, local traditions and Hindu art. After the decline of the Kushan Empire, the southern regions of what is now contemporary Tajikistan were soon subjugated by the Persian Sassanid Empire. During the early medieval era, what is now contemporary Tajikistan contained a number of independent societies: the south of the country was part of North Tokharistan, the eastern part of the Zeravshan valley was part of Sogd, including separate regions, and the western part was ruled by Ustrushan, which was tightly linked to Sogd; finally, part of the land belonged to Fergana and Ilak. All this political diversity was reflected in art, particularly in the art of jewelry making.

It has been noted by researchers that the first signs of cultural unification began in the IX-X centuries. Sogd led the initiative of transferring cultural values from one people to another thanks to the dynamic commercial connections of the Sogdian people.

Urban development during the early medieval era was followed by development of arts and crafts. Late medieval era encompasses an entire millennium – ten centuries. The arrival of the new religion, Islam, to the territory of Tajikistan nearly extinguished the new local culture in the VIII century, but in the last decades up until the IX century the new ideas have been accepted. Studying artifacts of that time, we witness the beginning of a new conscience, new culture, which had its roots in the past achievements, albeit veiled and hidden. The basis for this spectacular process was the empire of Samanids, and later Karakhanids. Still, even that time was short. In the beginning of the XIII century, the invasion of Genghis Khan slowed down the cultural development of the peoples of Central Asia, including Tajik. This period is characterized by syncretism of the existing Islamic traditions with the nomadic culture; the evidence is seen in the art of ornament, both in its free-standing form, and used as decoration technique in jewelry making.

This short excursion into the cultural history of the Tajik people shows how complex and multilayered was its development, and how difficult were conditions in which artisans and craftsmen produced their unique creations. The deep roots and extensive branches of the tree of Tajikistan’s art are far-reaching. In this paper, we intend to look at one of the branches, the art of jewelry making, which brought fame to the Tajik people and continues to glorify them even in today’s world.

An all-encompassing look at the available gold artifacts allows analyzing the developmental level of the art of jewelry making, an unforgettable part in history of art and culture of Tajikistan. This research became possible thanks to the archeological excavations on the territory of Tajikistan, led on the regular basis starting from 1946.

Such accidental finds as the famous Oxus treasure became available for presentation and research only after being included in museum collections. In Tajikistan, first museums opened in early 1950s.

The Sogd-Tajik expedition led by A. Yakubosky is known as the beginning of Tajikistan’s archeological traditions. At this time, several expeditions are dedicated to detailed research of nearly all of the country’s regions, including Dushanbe, the capital itself.

The most ancient of the burial sites on the territory of Tajikistan dates back to the Bronze Age – the so-called Nurek burial site. While this paper was written, it became obvious that the majority of the finds has been discovered in the southern parts of Tajikistan, where dynamic culture and artisan work centers were concentrated in the ancient times. Only later, in the medieval era, urban development moves in the northern direction and toward the valley.

Thus, the south of the country was rich with the archeological discoveries, including the ancient traces of the human habitat in this area dating back five thousand years. However, based on the examined artifacts, we can conclude that this region was actively developed in II-I centuries BC. In the first millennium BC, the most prominent among nomadic tribes of Central Asia was the Saks tribe, which, along with the Bactrian and Sogdian peoples, formed one of the major layers of the Eastern-Iranian linguistic group of the ancient Tajik.

One of the richest discoveries was a unique temple of god of water at Takhti-Sangin (the Stone Throne), located at the junction of Vakhsh and Pyandzh rivers. The temple was built in the III century BC and existed until III-IV centuries BC; during this time, the temple was sporadically ruined and rebuilt. The overall number of archeological discoveries at this site exceeds five thousand, including articles of gold, used for wreaths, threads, coating layers, and other items. Gold trade promoted production of jewelry as well, since the trade channels served as methods of cultural exchange.

Another point of interest in the Southern region is the burial ground in the Bishkent valley, which is considered a part of the Tokharo-Yuedji period (end of II century BC –I century AD), where a number of gold ornaments was found.

By the IV –VII centuries, Southern Tajikistan became a part of the powerful Tokharistan. Buddhist temples (discovered in the 1980s), built at the same time. Thus, a Buddhist temple of Hanayan movement was built on the territory of Vakhsh city. Another significant monument was the Ajina-Tepe temple. This period is characterized by using gold-plating method to decorate sculpture and paintings. Only a few gold items produced at that time have been found. 

Northern regions of Tajikistan are not as abundant in ancient gold finds. The earliest ones date back to I century BC – I century AD. Adornments of the Shirin settlement and Kurkat burial sites were found later, in IV-VI centuries.

In the north, active urban expansion and cultural development begins in the medieval period, especially X-XIII centuries. The value of gold and solver jewelry was one of the reasons we no longer have these items – most of the precious artifacts were reused as coins and therefore lost forever. Thanks to the work of archeologists, the few items that remained were found in burial sites. It is our responsibility to make sure that modern generation has access to these artifacts and is familiar with artistic and cultural accomplishments of the past.

Old traditions are reflected in gold jewelry crafted by modern masters. The jewelry collection of the ethnographical museum mentioned above includes several pairs of gold earrings (as well as nose rings) that serve as perfect examples of artistic and ethnographical features, fashion, taste and rituals of Tajikistan in XIX-early XX centuries. Even in modern world earrings remain the most popular type of adornments among women and children.

We would like to point out that history of jewelry making on the territory of Tajikistan is several centuries old. The results of archeological excavations allow us to have a handle on the level at which gold was processed and types of items created from it.

The art of jewelry making grew significantly in Tajikistan in the IV century BC, and that is also the time when first art objects made of gold were produced. These objects were found on the territory of Tajikistan and are known to the world as the Oxus treasure, currently kept in the BritishMuseum in London. One of the most recent exhibits held in Switzerland displayed artifacts found at the Takhti-Sangin settlement in the XIX and XX centuries.

The oldest gold adornment, a temple pendant or an earring with a single remaining turquoise inset, was found in the Nurek burial site and was probably made in XI-X centuries BC. As is evident from the surviving artifacts, jewelry art was quite well developed at that time.

For instance, the Oxus treasure contains skillfully made items that demonstrate sophisticated, tasteful design. Part of the Oxus treasure could have been transferred from other countries, as a donation to the temple, but it is practically impossible to make any decisions over the ownership. Votive tablets and templates found among the items of the Oxus treasure prove that the Takhti-Sangin temple had its own artisan studio. O. Dalton and E. Zeimal provide more details regarding the Oxus treasure exhibit at the BritishMuseum. In catalogs published in England and Russia, Dalton and Zeimal present the contents of the Oxus treasure and other important information. In this chapter, we consider the Oxus treasure as a starting point in the history of jewelry making in Tajikistan and entire territory of Central Asia.

There are many different types of jewelry: diadems, earrings, signets, cover tablets, sewn-on disks – for instance, items found in Takhti-Sangin, dated II century BC. In their artistic and stylistic qualities these items are closely related to the BritishMuseum’s collection of the Oxus treasure. This verifies existence of the unified artistic movement, i.e., the Bactrian tradition in the art of Central Asia. Bactrian tendencies are found in the articles of Tillya-Tepe (the KabulMuseum) – the world-famous royal necropolis, discovered in the 1970s on the territory of Northern Afghanistan. This territory used to belong to Bactria, a unified state, which included southern regions of modern Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Detailed descriptions of the Tillya-Tepe items can be found in the work of V. Sarianidi.

A well-known electrum earring found in Dushanbe in 1950s was determined to belong to the Greek-Bactrian period. The earring is very similar to ear adornments popular in the Scythian society in II-I centuries BC.

We must note that earrings are the most frequently found objects and appear to be the most popular type of jewelry.

The Bishkent Valley earrings found at the burial sites demonstrate distinct influence of the Greek culture. Certain motifs and technical details are evident in the jewelry items of I-II centuries, such as earrings with amphora-shaped pendants and stylized images of dolphins. Several of the items are clearly designed by the local masters, for instance, objects found in the Dangarin region (Ksirov’s burial) – earrings and earring-like items, the Takhti-Sangin adornments, and objects found  on the territory of Northern Bactria, i.e., modern Afghanistan.

The most frequently used decoration methods included such stones as coral, turquoise, and pearls (used for their special qualities). The design was frequently based on amphorae, with dolphin-shaped handles. Among the techniques used was granulation, wrapping, coil, insets. Later, in the medieval period, another set of techniques became popular, such as casting, incrustation, stamping, and embossment. Different shapes and designs were introduced – floral (tulips) and geometric (circle, oval). Pearls, turquoise and garnet were still popular as insets.

In the ancient times clothes tended to have many sewn-on adornments, which can be classified as hanging and sewn-on ornaments. In most cases, we see different types of fastenings or fibulae that held hems of cloaks together. Many of the ancient garments were almost entirely covered by gold – examples can be seen in the burials of Tillya-Tepe or Issyk. Later, in the medieval ages, less sewn-on adornments were used, slowly being replaced by embroidery.

This collection contains different types of tablets and disks used in decorating clothes – round, triangular, shaped like flowers or sharp-ended leaves, made by embossing thin sheets of gold. Occasionally, the disks would depict a scene, for instance, an image of a sleeping stallion found in the Bishkent burial site (I-II centuries).

The archeological finds give us access to quite a few brooches, pendants, beads and brakteaten. In the items found in the south of the republic, granulation is often used to decorate the borders. Filigree and inset borders are used as well, for instance, in the fibulae found in the Bishkent burial site.

Adornments found in the northern part of Tajikistan are more recent; it is proven by a different technique and different designs, such as a crowned ruler, a woman, an archer, a she-wolf feeding two boys, etc.

Let us look at yet another type of adornments – buckles. Buckles, the traditional elements of northern costumes, are usually shaped as either circles or rectangles, and have no images printed on them. Most of these were found in Penjikent.

A unique buckle discovered in Saksonakhur is made by casting. On the buckle, a horseman hunting a wild boar is depicted within a rectangular frame (I-II centuries). The ends of the buckle are adorned by ovals separated by two vertical stripes. The image of the horseman is three-dimensional. The stallion’s back legs are bent, its mane is shorn. Reins are visible on its rump, head and neck. The saddle has a low semi-circular saddle pin. A long saddle blanket is hanging below the horseman’s feet. There are no visible stirrups. Both sides of the saddle are decorated with ribbons and tassels. The front tassel is shaped like a flower bud. The tail of the horse is hidden between its legs; the end is tied into a knot.  The rider is shown at a three quarter angle. His face is in poor condition – the right side is worn out. Hair is smoothed back and braided or pulled into a bun. The rider is dressed into a long robe, wrapped to the left, with wide sleeves and tied with a narrow belt. Deep grooves show folds on the sleeves and hem. The hem reaches below the knees. Loose trousers are gathered at the ankles. The right foot is shown schematically, the toe is pointing downwards. The right arm is lifted towards the right ear, possibly holding a spear (only a small part of the spear remained). The rider’s left arm is bent at the elbow, is stretched at the waist level, and was probably holding a spear – also lost. In the bottom right corner of the frame, a protomai of the wild boar can be seen – its head with powerful fangs is pressed against the right hoof. The hide is drawn with small curved strokes. The boar’s ear has a notch for an inset. There are notches, or gaps, shaped as drops, on the body of the boar, which were filled with blue glass paste, as evidenced by the remains of the paste on the buckle’s frame. The reverse side of the buckle has four corner hoops for fastening (one is missing).

Depiction of a wild boar hunt is very common for Greek art, including the art of jewelry. Its appearance in the crafts of Central Asia demonstrates the frequent contacts and widely-spread Greek influence.

The list of discovered fragments, single items, twisted and crimped threads used for decorating clothes is quite impressive. The details and fragments of the items show not only the social standing of the people buried at the sites, but also prove that studios of arts and crafts existed near temples and cities. These fragments also allow us to imagine what the items looked like when they were intact – diadems, necklaces, bracelets, votive tablets,  covering tablets, details of earrings, pendants, beads, sewn-on adornments, and even a gold nail found in Penjikent, or a drop-shaped template found in Kafyr-Kala.

The art of ancient jewelers was developed as a single stylistic movement in the context of other types of arts of the Ancient East. The art of jewelry played an important part in the enrichment of the Ancient East, adding various nuances and stylistic elements.

The interaction between different forms of art and architecture found its place in the jewelry of that era. For example, diadems follow the traditional architectural designs, which can be seen in diadem fragments with Ionic and Lesbian decor on thin gold sheets.

Therefore, jewelry found on the territory of Tajikistan can be viewed not only as an example of existing items, but also as a criteria of cultural and economic development of the previous generations. We must note that most of the gold jewelry known to us is of the kind used for burials – gold was considered to have apotropaic qualities, able to avert evil from the dead, as well as a symbol of wealth that would accompany the dead person to other world. Other types of jewelry could have been used during the owner’s life, for instance, the signet rings of the treasure of Shakhristan. The owner must have been forced to hide the rings in the ground.

Thus, we can conclude that the basic types of jewelry can be distinguished by how they were worn, based on the rituals and social customs of the society. The art of jewelry is connected to the social etiquette, as well as behavioral esthetics: adornments worn on the head, chest, arms, sewn-on items and votive tablets .

Head adornments include diadems, crowns and fillets. Head adornments identified the social status of the wearer, which is evident from the gold votives of the Oxus treasure with the depictions of donors, as well as from the fine detailing of the items (figure of an Achaemenid royalty, #85).

Head adornments carried a social-ideological weight. For instance, a tablet depicting geese from the Oxus treasure could be a part of a head adornment, or a funeral diadem similar to a funeral diadem of Takhti-Sangin. The latter consisted of two folded parallel sheets of gold, with perpendicular gold partitions secured by silver fastenings (I century BC – I century AD).  Head and forehead jewelry is familiar to us from wall paintings, bas relief and pottery. The manner of wearing of forehead adornments had not changed even later, in VII century, which is evident from the diadems of bodhisattva of Ajina-Tepe. The following historical information regarding a Sogdian head adornment made of precious stones is known to us: the ruler of Samarqand wore a “golden crown” decorated with seven precious stones.  Fillets indicated not only the wearer’s distinction and social strata, but also completed his or her artistic image; wearing a fillet was analogous to a complete architectural form and signified a closed aesthetic system.

Quite often fillets and diadems were complemented by temple pendants, similar to how architectural porticos would carry a diadem’s frame. The above-mentioned detail found in Nurek burial could have been a temple pendant. This item may be an early example of an oval temple pendant with open ends, made out of whole wire (3.3 mm in diameter in the middle, 3 mm in diameter at the ends). The ends are flattened. One of the spikes is hollow and has a turquoise inset.

Later examples of temple pendants are rectangular or square. Scenes depicted on them are similar to the existing bas reliefs, compositions and wall paintings. During the early medieval period, temple pendants change their shapes; new characteristic features develop at the time, such as splitting, multiple parts, and strict vertical lines.

As the comparison chart shows, earrings were the most popular kind of ear adornments. There are many types of earrings, worn by both men and women. Bar reliefs of Persepolis depict a Bactrian tributary wearing a drop-shaped earring. Similar earrings were found in the Oxus treasure and are still popular to this day. Circle-shaped earrings were worn not only on the territory of Central Asia: bas reliefs of Suz show guards wearing similar earrings.

A new design - a wire circle with pendants - was created in Scythia in V century BC; this design became extremely popular in the IV-II centuries BC. Aristocracy of that period wore temple pendants shaped like ornamental tablets with pendants along with the earrings.

In the II century BC – II century AD, the Greek influence is evident from the amphorae-like earring pendants and handles stylized as dolphins. Earrings of that period had an unusual shape and sometimes were fashioned into miniature sculptures, for instance, the lead earring in the shape of a female sphinx, found in Dushanbe and mentioned above.

During the first centuries of the new millennium, jewelers began to use granulation as décor (see earrings from the Ksirov’s burial). In the middle ages, the Sogdian earrings were shaped as ovals, could include pendants, or be very simple, and shaped like a circle, heart, or a horseshoe, analogous to the Penjikent earrings of VII-VIII centuries. These items are found in Fergana, Siberia, areas of Seven Rivers and other regions of Central Asia, which speaks of their popularity and usage. Paintings of Ajina-Tepe depict earrings consisting of two balls, connected by a strap, as well as earrings shaped as large spirals.

Neck and chest adornments include necklaces, beads, torques, pectorals, etc. Some of them functioned as decorations only, while others were intended as magical or utilitarian objects. For instance, torques secured cloaks and protected the wearer. They could be shaped as four-sided shafts with open ends, or round solid shafts with zoomorphic ends; we suggest that they were supposed to be part of an ensemble, complemented by bracelets, for instance, torques and bracelets of the Oxus treasure fund.

Head of lion used for the zoomorphic ends was very popular in the ancient world. We must note that torques was used as signs of military rank in Central Asia and Persia. Starting in the IV century BC, torqueses were included in the burial sites of men, women, and children. In the Bronze Age and up until the medieval ages, wearing a torque becomes a sign of nobility. Torqueses found in wealthy tombs are frequently decorated by images of animals.

The given collection includes a fragment of a torque, probably a part of a complex torque depicting a horse and its rider. Materials used are silver, coral shaft, gold frame (I century BC – I century AD). Analogous items are found among the Scythian adornments – a torque with grommets, which depicts Scythian horsemen, found in Kula-Oba burial site (IV-II centuries BC).

Some of the medieval torques were twisted or spiral-shaped, which can be attributed to the Greek renaissance. Judging by the existing wall paintings, torques, pectorals and fillets were worn only by the nobility.

Bracelets enjoy popularity during the ancient period, medieval ages, and modern times.  Early bracelets were triangular, omega-shaped, or spiral-shaped, as, for instance, the bracelets in the Oxus treasure. Bracelets could be massive and solid, or fragile, and sometimes had zoomorphic ends. The bangles could be smooth or ribbed and were cast separately, while the ends were soldered on later. Jewelers employed insets and incrustation techniques for magic and decorative purposes. Bracelets were worn by men and women, one or two at a time. Bracelets could be open- or close-ended. It is possible that women’s bracelets came from men’s military rings that protected arms and hands from wounds. The heavy solid bracelets may have been worn by men, the more fragile lighter ones – by women. During the first centuries of the new millennium, closed bracelets with spiral-shaped wrap gain popularity. In the Ajina-Tepe paintings dating back to early medieval ages, we see arm bracelets similar to fillets, with an ornament in the center shaped like a rosette, a triangle, or a rectangle. Sogdian bracelets of the VIII century have a simple shape, ends are slightly thicker. Judging by the wall paintings of Penjikent, Sogdian bracelets occasionally had colored gem insets and was similar to the bracelets of Ajina-Tepe. A fragment of a bracelet with an oval-shaped purple gem inset, found in Penjikent, seems to be analogous to the ones depicted in the wall paintings, which allows us to reconstruct its original shape.

Signet rings were quite popular; several were found among the Oxus treasure. Our collection includes a few examples: from the south of the country, we have a carnelian intaglio (gem) depicting a horseman with a bow and arrow (Takhti-Sangin, II-III centuries), and three signet rings from Shakhristan that serve as examples of designs used in the north in XIII century. Penjikent rings belong to an earlier chronological period and are much simpler in shape than the ones from Shakhristan. They are decorated with turquoise, carnelian, garnet and amethyst. The rings from the Oxus treasure can be classified by the images on the seals. All of the rings in the Oxus treasure have a smooth flat oval, circular, or triangular setting. There are two types of images – anthropomorphic and zoomorphic (bulls, gryphons, lions, panthers). Rings can be subdivided into the several categories: solid, ridged, woven. Judging by their weight and decoration, they can also be classified as men’s and women’s.  From the results of the archeological excavations we know that rings were usually worn on the left hand, middle and index fingers (usually found in women’s tombs). “There are many rings,” said Omar Khayyam, “but only rings with sapphires and turquoise are fit for the tsars, because “pirouz” symbolizes victory, its color sweet and pleasant; it protects one from an evil eye and guards one’s sleep, it is the kind of jewelry one could not be without.”

The rings from the Oxus treasure can be classified in four subtypes: ribbed, covered in spheres, smooth, and ridged. The signet ring with a carnelian gem from the Takhti-Sangin collection is pretty typical for the given time period. There is an image of a rider with a bow and arrow on the carnelian. Signets and seals of the later period do not differ significantly from the ancient items. For instance, in medieval Sogd, both nobility and commoners wore signet rings. These rings can be classified into several groups: plain signets, signets with flat setting, signets with one or several concave placeholders, and signets woven from wires. Members of medieval nobility wore gold pinkie rings with gem insets. Among finds of Ajina-Tepe are rings with a moving clasp.  Sogdian rings depict the same images as their ancient counterparts: mountain rams, Bactrian camels, birds, and goats. A two-line inscription in cursive, a common decorative element of the medieval period, appears on one of the signets. Some of the Sogdian signets have a simple design or an amethyst inset. “The widespread use of signets,” notes V. Raspopova, “is probably indicative of thriving commerce of that period, when all legal agreements (e.g. rent, buy-sell, and marriage contracts) were ‘signed’ with a seal.” The shape of signets remains the same, while some stylized elements change – zoomorphic elements are replaced by plant life, as, for instance, on the Shakhristan signets of the XIII century. These items are decorated with turquoise and almandine (common garnet). According to D. Fakhretdinova, three of the Shakhristan rings, made by two different masters of different skill level, are of the same type: a large colorful stone in an elevated closed setting, secured by four prongs. The wide band is covered with stamped and engraved ornaments, both flat and raised. Although the rings appear solid and heavy, they are made of thin gold sheet in the “bosma” technique. Two of the rings have a thin cabochon in the center, one turquoise, the other one is missing. The third signet has a rectangular dark red almandine.

Rings signified not only the social status, but also a generational and gender-specific function. Rings were given to brides by their grooms. Rings also served as protection against evil eye – during the first bath of a newborn, people of Northern Tajikistan placed a gold ring into the bath water.

Fragments of jewelry that survived until our times, as well as the existing casting forms, show that most of the items were made by casting. We know of several types of casting used by jewelers. One of them is sand casting, used when large items or a large amount of similar items needed to be cast. Oval-shaped sepia cuttlefish shells could only be used once.  

Before a piece of jewelry was created, the masters must have made preliminary sketches, which allowed them to think through the design of the piece and to plan its details. Only once the sketch was completed, a cast mold was prepared: a wax model, or a template, as described above. A model was made out of wood or metal, a clay matrix was fired in the oven and filled with wax. The excess warm wax was squeezed out of the matrix by pressing a piece of fabric or leather over it. A layer of clay was placed over the fabric. As the matrix dried and became smaller, the double matrix was heated up, wax would melt and pour out – the casting form was now ready.  During the drying and firing, the initial patrix (a template for making matrices) would shrink to a smaller size than the resulting matrix, and a narrow roll would form around the contour of the item. Research shows that the fabrics used were mostly of canvas weave; sometimes rough twilled fabrics were used. These fabrics were used to squeeze excessive wax out of flat, conical, spherical and other molds.

After the item was cast, it was polished and decorated with semi-precious stones. The master would select an exact amount of stones of necessary shape and prepare placeholders in the casting mold for the stones. For a more pronounced artistic effect, pieces of jewelry were embossed on the outer surface. It is well known that precious metals yield to embossing quite easily. Usually, embossing is used for large sculptures, since embossing is based on careful sculptural process of the outer surface of the jewelry. A 0.40 mm thick sheet metal was normally used; its entire surface was secured by mastic adhesive on the embossing hemisphere. Massive cast objects were secured by clamps.

Many sewn-on articles were made by stamping. Stamps for jewelry or separate parts were made using special instruments. For stamping a design, convex or concave chiseled stamps were used. Before stamping, lead liners softened the force of the stamping tool. Spikes in the bottom part of the matrix prevented the lower half of the stamp from sliding over the wooden stand when the upper stamp hit. Thus, the resulting image would be crisp and neat, and can be seen, for instance, on the sewn-on disks.

Embossing was done on a brass or bronze bar. A design was carved onto the lower half of the bar, then a sheet of metal was placed on the anvil, and the design was transferred by a wooden mallet. This technique was used in making belt buckles, as noted by V. Raspopova; a bronze elongated matrix with a drop-shaped end and slightly bent sides was found in the VII century layer in ancient Penjikent. The upper part of the matrix was covered with a raised plant ornament for the belt ends.

Jewelry was decorated by granulation, an ancient method of jewelry making, dating back to the Mycenaean period. Granulation technique was known to many peoples in the ancient world, especially the ones familiar with metalworking, in particular, jewelry making. In the VI century BC, this technique was known in Olvia, in IV century BC it was used by Mediterranean jewelers, in VI-IV centuries BC it is found in the art of the Saks and later Yusuns. Later the same technique is found in Syria in VII century and Byzantium in X century.

In the south of Tajikistan, in the Kulyab region, granulation is still known as one of the most popular jewelry-making methods in this area.

The simplest method is the following: wood charcoal is crushed into powder, mixed with small pieces of gold, and melted in a fireproof clay furnace. The melted substance is then tipped over onto a sheet of metal, or into a dish filled with cold water. Other methods may have been used, such as the one described by N. Pyatnysheva: 1) a bunch of wires was soldered by a soldering iron, the ends melted and formed tiny spheres.  2) Small holes were drilled in a piece of wood charcoal, one or several wire spheres and rings were placed into the holes and subjected to more soldering. The rings melted forming more spheres. If rings were needed, the wire was wrapped around a shaft forming a spiral. The spiral was then removed and cut into rings, later used as desired.

Granulation was used to trim the jewelry: granules were soldered onto the jewelry in the shape of triangles, pyramids, and rhombuses, and then secured by natural resins. A forge was used in soldering, which guaranteed a tight adhesive fit. Another granulation method involved a wire, 1-2 mm in diameter, which was pulled through a drawing block and cut into small pieces 1-2 mm long. The diameter of the wire and length of the pieces defined the quality and size of the granules. For high-quality granules, every granule was made separately. The master drilled large holes in a piece of wood charcoal; pieces of gold or silver, dipped into the sodium tetra borate solution, were placed in the holes. The charcoal was then placed into the fire-forge, where it was heated until pieces of metal began to melt. At this point, the master used tongs to remove the charcoal from the fire and shook the melted gold or silver into a dish of cold water, where they took shape of small granules. This highly labor-intensive process resulted in high quality, perfectly shaped granules. Very sophisticated professional skills were required to make high quality granules.

In order to make the process less expensive, faux granulation was also used: to achieve the same effect, the metal was punched with a needle from the underside. Granulation, especially the four-granule pyramid, was very popular not only in decorating earrings, but also in sewn-on disks, pendants, and other items.

Jewelers also employed filigree technique – a thin wire used for decoration. Some items were made entirely of filigree. Faux filigree can also be seen in I century BC – I century AD, probably for the same reason, i.e., trying to save the expensive gold. Faux filigree was made by chiseling smooth wire.

Ancient masters processed thin metal sheets and cut them into desired shapes. To make pipes of different diameters and lengths, thin sheets were rolled and their ends soldered together. This technique was very popular when making torques. Excavations of ancient Penjikent showed that several metal-working shops existed in VII-VIII century. Twenty eight shops were discovered on the territory of one city, among those some that worked on embossing thin metal sheets using bronze matrices. A Sogd craftsman acted as a small-scale manufacturer. He rented a shop or a studio from a rich city real estate owner, where his craft was produced and sold. Whole quarters of each city were dedicated to artisans, and jewelers were held in high esteem. Up to this day, names of city streets may reference the profession, such as Zargar (jeweler). Artistic properties of the gold collection of the Museum of Ethnography, archeological finds of the A. Donysh’s Institute of History, Archeology, and Ethnography are built on many elements of remote and well-known cultures of world civilization. In the ancient world, the art of jewelry making was influenced by political movements, as well as traditional images and designs. In VII century BC until IV century BC, we notice a tendency to flatten surfaces and spread design over a raised upper plane, for example, in the disks of the Oxus treasure. Merging of architecture, bas reliefs, sculpture and fine detailing is very similar to the actual zeitgeist of the jewelers, architects and sculptors. Their art reflected current ideology, religion and rituals of the powerful Achaemenid Empire.  For instance, the substantial cultural foundation of the ancient arts led to creation of sacrificial tablets. Our archeological finds include a bare votive tablet; the Oxus treasure contains true masterpieces of this type made by masters of the OxusTemple at Takhti-Sangin. The images on the votives were not purely decorative – they also carried certain semantic significance.

Another popular style of the ancient period was the so-called zoomorphic style, reflected in a disk found among our exhibit items. It is known that images on disks had both decorative and ritual meaning. This allows us to analyze the ancient cult of the afterlife and ideological principles associated with it. For example, a disk found at the Bishkent burial site is designed in the shape of a curled (sleeping) horse. According to the zoomorphic style, an image was supposed to be built into a given shape, in this case a circle. This explains the pose of the animal. The horse is depicted with its legs bent; its head is turned back (this is the Asian element of the zoomorphic style). Ribs are shown through its head and torso. The horse’s ear and hooves are designed as round cavities connected to recessed triangles. The horse’s shoulder blade and hip have oval cavities. Its mane and tail are indicated by notches. The figure has four round holes: small ones between the hooves, under the tail, in the nostril, and a large uneven one – under its head. The thin metal disk is made by stamping with a matrix.

In reality, the zoomorphic style combined esthetic, social and religious movements. The style is characterized by an expressive way of depicting animals, controlled by an unyielding form – circle, square, hemisphere, rectangle, etc.  This style coexisted with Achaemenid approach in the ancient art world, following two major directions – that of the Ancient East and Scythians of the Black Sea regions. The Scythian zoomorphic style was meant to give objects an additional magical power and strengthen their resistance. The zoomorphic style of the Ancient East is reflected in the depiction of the animal on the above-mentioned disk. The zoomorphic style is usually characterized by scenes and images of struggling animals, symbolizing the struggle between light and dark, good and evil. As a rule, the eyes have an elongated shape (as in our example); ears are either sharp and long, or short and rounded. The body structure was depicted by dot-shaped notches, mane – by horizontal stripes. The style of the Achaemenid Empire does not vanish from the jewelry craft – later jewelers return to it in the first centuries of the new era. Some elements of the zoomorphic style appear in the jewelry made in Central Asia at different times, according to logic of the immanent artistic development process.

Depiction of leaves, moon-shaped elements, and rosettes, jagged and pointed ornaments may have symbolized cosmic elements in the art of jewelry for a long period of time. Elements of archeological décor can be traced in the tablets of Takhti-Sangin, for instance, Ionic and Lesbian décor components. Once again, this proves our postulate that the art of jewelry, more so than other types of art, absorbs all accomplishments of the economic and financial culture. Thanks to the durability of metal, we can learn not only the art and accomplishments of the ancient jewelers, but also architects and sculptors of the same time period.

The art of the Greeks, i.e., the Hellenistic movement, left an undeniable trace in the art of jewelry makers, especially at the turn of the new millennium. Some features of the Hellenistic movement include images of dolphins, amphorae, and Greek motives, as well as a certain sophistication of the lines, complex proportions, and harmonious structure of complete items. Separate elements can still be traced in the art of the XX century. For example, at the end of XIX – beginning of XX century, Tajik art of jewelry making includes such elements as images of dolphins in temple pendants (Kajak). These dolphin-shaped pendants are closely related to the Bactrian jewelry found in Tillya-Tepe.

The abundance of gold in Bactria led to development of gold-work. Bactria introduced the advanced Hellenistic culture to the Nomadic tribes. The Greek canons were quickly accepted and adapted according to the local taste and artistic traditions. V. Polevoy notes that Hellenistic movement balanced out the existing artistic cultures of the Ancient East. During the Sassanid’s dynasty, jewelry is produced by the workshop method. Items fashioned during that period demonstrate Hellenistic, Indian, and local influences of central Asia.

At the same time, images depicted on jewelry now carried new religious symbolism. New social factors forced the religious beliefs to evolve into images of ancient mythology. Ancient motives existed in the East during the entire 1 millennium BC; these motives became popular again in VI century.

It is well known that every jewelry item carries a certain informational load. Apothropaic emblems, borrowed from daily life or mythology, conveyed magic properties when used in jewelry making. Popularity of a given myth depended on the zeitgeist of a particular time period.

One can form an opinion regarding the lost types of household and clothing items and other missing objects of antiquity based on their depictions on jewelry of that period. There one can also see the hairdos worn by our predecessors. Especially important were items used in transitional rituals. These items were used for formal occasions – coronations, military promotions, funerals, or weddings – and had a variety of common and ceremonial purposes. The ancient people believed in the magical force of a created image. To put an image onto an adornment or an item of clothing meant to furnish it with a certain spirit. This allowed them to infuse everyday objects with a mystical power. Thus every item would become magical.  People also believed in magical qualities of certain materials, in our case, gold, which was believed to be related to sun. Gold was used as an antiseptic during treatment and surgeries. Gold attracted solar energy, which meant that objects made out of gold transferred this energy to their owner. Believed to bring happiness to everyone who wears it, gold was considered part of cosmos, part of deity, and a symbol of mystical and divine. Gold was thought to be related to the afterworld, partly because of where it was found. The above-mentioned qualities of the precious metal led to its use in jewelry making, especially in producing the undecorated votive tablet we mentioned earlier, as well as disks, pendants, etc. It was also important that gold is easy to process and handle – its softness, pliability and fusibility were known to both ancient and modern jewelers. Not only metals were thought to have magical qualities; stones used to decorate gold items were assumed to have the same traits.

Stones played a significant role in the history of tangible culture as a durable and resilient material. Certain stones were believed to have healing powers, which led to the traditions of wearing stones (as amulets), having stones in close physical proximity, or even ingesting stones in powder format.

The bigger the precious stones, the more powerful they were supposed to be, and jewelers tended to add many large insets to their artifacts. Turquoise, pearls, garnet and coral used to be and still remain the most popular stones in Tajikistan’s jewelry art.

Ancient beliefs linked turquoise with the blue colors of the firmament (just like gold was linked with Sun); turquoise was also associated with purity and virginity and indicated dignity and wealth. It was supposed to protect travelers on their way and reconcile spouses; it was believed to improve eyesight, aid in communication and give courage. According to Biruni, turquoise brought victory to its owner. In folk medicine, the magic qualities of precious stones are tightly knit with elements of rational use. The peoples of Central Asia used pearls and corals to treat lung diseases. When powdered, they were used to stop bleeding and as astringents. Corals were considered to bring prosperity.

Carnelian was associated with Mercury and Venus, the planets named after patrons of trade: the God of Wisdom and the Goddess of Beauty and Fertility. This stone was believed to protect eyesight, safeguard home and bring happiness. Carnelian, or hakik , remains one of the most popular stones in our days, based on the Muslim tradition – “one, who wears carnelian, shall be forever joyful and affluent.”

Elements of jewelry decor can be classified into single images and compositions, zoomorphic, anthropomorphic and related to plant life. Most frequently used zoomorphic elements included horses as military symbols (riders), or symbols of sun or chariots, which is why circular shapes were so popular. The disk we described early is an example of this style: a curled figure of a horse is enclosed in a circular frame. The rider hunting a wild boar is a Greek composition symbolizing the struggle between good and evil, the wild boar signifying evil forces in nature.

Another symbol borrowed from the Greeks is a dolphin – a magical sea creature related to water and fertility. The image of a rooster is also linked to fertility: “In the cultural region of Iran, birds, specifically roosters, symbolized the cleansing and life-giving power of the sun.” 

Earrings adorned with heads of gryphon and dolphins were widely spread on the territory of the ancient world between V century BC and III century AD. The presence of precious stones in the earrings indicate the time they were made and worn – I-III centuries. Elements of plant life, such as laurel or trefoil, and occasionally celery, were also associated with certain beliefs and rituals. The ancient Greeks made diadems out of celery leaves – celery was thought to belong to the world of the dead and used only at funeral banquets.

The shape and symbols of jewelry items were characterized by two principles – one, aesthetic, was to strengthen the woman’s natural beauty and the man’s physical power according to the local ideals. The other was to reflect the ritualistic guarding qualities based on beliefs of earlier generations. The art of jewelers played a significant role in magic rituals by expressing the meaning of the rituals in visual images and signifiers.  

A brief analysis of the gold items shows that the jewelry production centers moved from the south to the north. The earlier finds were located mostly in the southern region; later, as the political and cultural center had shifted, later finds of the medieval period were positioned mostly in the north of the country. In our research we prove that, along with the socioeconomic and political movements, the art of jewelry was also affected by the art of Iran, Greece, India and nomadic people. As a result, a stylistic synthesis was formed: the connection between the art of jewelry and esthetic functionality of architecture and architectural décor.

The gold collection gathered thanks to the achievements of archeologists allows us to trace the extensive development of the art of jewelry as one of the most ancient types of creative art. Not all of the artifacts in our collection are equal in their value. Some of them are highly artistic, and some are simple crafts. However, the overall collection is a fantastic source of information that helps us to research and understand not only the artistic achievements of the ancient peoples, but also their state of mind and perception of the world.

The given collection has been replenished annually until 1990, which marks the beginning of the Civil War. Occasionally, archeological finds include gold items. We hope that in the future archeologists will once again be able to continue excavations in Tajikistan, thus discovering artifacts of astounding artistic value.   

 

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