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2023, Acta Illyrica
This paper examines the tauroctony relief from the village Dardagan, near Zvornik (Bosnia and Herzegovina), and proposes a new interpretation of the monument. Contrary to previous views, which deemed the relief as a primitive work executed by an unskilled sculptor, the careful analysis of its stylistic, compositional, and iconographic features, as argued in the paper, reveals its semi-finished nature. Since the existence of the workshop at the quarry in Dardagan was recently proven, the tauroctony relief is interpreted as its product. Moreover, it is the sole evidence that, besides funerary monuments and architectural elements, the workshop also produced votive images for specific cults. The tauroctony from Dardagan represents a unique instance of a semi-finished Mithraic sculpture discovered at its production site within the Roman province of Dalmatia. Furthermore, an examination of archaeological reports and original photographs of Milica Kosorić allowed for a better understanding of the context of the tauroctony’s discovery, providing new insights into the small finds and rock-carved figures so far associated with the cult. It is argued that these finds cannot be linked to the cult of Mithras and that the existence of the mithraeum at the site remains hypothetical.
Monuments of the Mithraic cult in the territory of Arupium (Dalmatia), Romanising Oriental gods? Religious transformations in the Balkan provinces in the Roman period. New finds and novel perspectives.; Pоманизирање на ориентални богови? Религиски трансформации во балканските провинции во римскиот период. Нови наоди и перспективи.; Romanisation des dieux orientaux? Transformations religieuses dans les provinces balkaniques à l’époque romaine.Nouvelles découvertes et perspectives. Proceedings of the International Symposium Skopje, 18–21 September 2013. Skopje, 2015, 403-426.
Banatica 31-I
Contribution to the study of Mithraic iconography: tauroctony relief with lower frieze from Moesia Superior2021 •
Journal of Ancient History and Archaeology
Review: Corpus Signorum Imperii Romani. North Macedonia, volume 1/1. Sculpture in the round. Edited by Vera Bitrakova Grozdanova, Aleksandra Nikoloska, Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Art and Research Center for Cultural Heritage “Cvetan Grozdanov”, Skopje, 2022, pp. 302, ISBN 978-608-203-358-7.2023 •
Transylvanian Review • Vol. XX, Supplement No. 2:1
Cult Images and Mithraic Reliefs in Roman Dacia2011 •
The use of images in religious rituals might be considered an essential practice, integrating theminto the spiritual life of the antiquity. The festivals, in which images were periodically dressed,paraded, washed and worshiped, stand as a proof of the religious dimension of these artifacts. Thequestion that arises is what kind of images might be considered cultic representations and could there be certain features likely to identify these cultic media? The purpose of this paper is to ana-lyze the relationship between the means of representation and the significance of the cults attested on the territory of the province of Dacia, focusing on the relief representations of the Mithraic reli-gion. The generally accepted thought is that a cult object is symbolized only by statues, while relief representations fall into the votive category. It is believed that only statues occupied a central placein the temple, receiving donations and other kinds of manifestations in order to demonstrate thedivinity’s veneration by the worshiper. This hypothesis is based on the ancient Greeks’ belief that the divinity had the same nature as the humans, and thus anthropomorphism was the Greek solu-tion for the representation of the deity. Nevertheless, there are several cults which have the relief asa main form of representation, central among them being the Mithraic cult, and thus the questionthat arises, and which we try to answer, is whether a representation is a cult image or not.
Archaeology of a World of Changes Late Roman and Early Byzantine Architecture, Sculpture and Landscapes
La nécropole rupestre de Dara (Turquie). De nouvelles perspectives de recherche. In Moreau D. et al. (éd.), Archaeology of a World of Changes Late Roman and Early Byzantine Architecture, Sculpture and Landscapes, Oxford, 20202020 •
Le village de Dara est situé à proximité de la ville de Mardin, en Anatolie orientale. L’histoire du village est bien connue grâce aux sources antiques et médiévales : elle fut fortifiée en 505-507 ap. J. C. sur ordre de l’empereur Anastase Ier. Vingt ans plus tard, la fortification fut restaurée par l’empereur Justinien. La préservation des fortifications et des citernes est remarquable. Quelques monuments et une partie de la ville ont été fouillés dans les années 1990 par Metin Ahunbay (Université d’Istanbul) et durant les années 2000 par Nihat Erdoğan, actuel directeur du musée archéologique de Mardin. En outre, le village est entouré de carrières dont le plus impressionnantes s’étendent au sud-ouest des fortifications. Certaines sont devenues des nécropoles. Plusieurs études ont été publiées sur ces fortifications ou sur le système d’adduction d’eau, quelques-unes sur les nécropoles, mais aucune sur les carrières. En nous appuyant sur l’archéologie des techniques, nous souhaitons formuler quelques hypothèses au sujet de l’occupation des carrières. Seront également discutées certaines propositions autour de la Galeri Mezer. Enfin, nous présenterons quelques inscriptions inédites. Dara is located close to the city of Mardin in Eastern Anatolia. The history of the village is well known from ancient and Byzantine written sources; it was fortified in AD 505–507 by order of the emperor Anastasius I. These fortifications were rebuilt twenty years later under the emperor Justinian I. The fortifications as well as the cisterns are exceptionally well preserved. Some monuments and parts of the village were excavated during the 1990s by Metin Ahunbay (Istanbul University) and in the 2000s by Nihat Erdoğan, current director of the Museum of Mardin. The village is furthermore surrounded by quarries, of which the most impressive extend to the south-west of the fortifications. Some of these quarries were later turned into necropoleis. While several studies have been published on the fortification and the systems of water supply as well as the necropoleis, no systematic research has been conducted on the quarries. Based on the study techniques, this paper advances some hypotheses about the use of the quarries. Some proposals are also discussed concerning the Galeri Mezer and some unpublished inscriptions are presented.
Pontica 52
MITHRAS CULT IN MOESIA INFERIOR: THE ANALYSIS OF SOME RELIEFS FROM THE NORTHERN PART OF THE PROVINCEThe publication of a Mithras relief from Castelu/Medgidia, bearing a Greek inscription and a simple tauroctony scene, offers an opportunity for its iconographical analysis in the context of analogies existing in Moesia inferior and other Roman provinces. Therefore, it is possible to highlight the specifics of the Mithras reliefs from the region. The Mithras cult was one of the most widespread in the Roman provinces in the 2 nd-3 rd century, with Moesia inferior being no exception 1. The occurrence of dedications in Greek, especially in the Greek cities on the Black Sea coast and their hinterland, was characteristic for this region.
75 YEAR JUBILEE OF THE INSTITUTE OF ART HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY
M. Blečić Kavur 2024 - Archaeology and iconography's of the social elite on the example of the Trebenishta Grave 82024 •
The ancient necropolis of Gorenci near Trebenishta certainly has a special place in the context of Central Balkans archaeology. During several campaigns in the last century, some of the most valuable examples of arts and crafts from the 6th and 5th centuries BCE were discovered. Both older and more recent considerations of this material increasingly confirm the value of the Ohrid area in the dynamic processes of various intercultural relations and transmissions of leading members of society of that period, but also the spread of specific material culture of the narrower and wider region. An exceptional find is certainly Grave 8, which was systematically discussed in previous scientific discourse so that the preserved objects have undergone countless interpretations. However, they were rarely or never connected into a meaningful, coherent entity that represented the grave as a unique, cohesive unit. The present study focuses on the archaeological context of the grave and the analysis of symbolic grave goods, such as golden foils that covered various parts of the deceased's body, silver ceremonial drinking vases, an Illyrian bronze helmet, and a volute krater. Since the comparative analysis and iconographic interpretation of multidimensional visual art depicted on these objects are integral to understanding the archaeological context, their synthesis will revise previous knowledge and offer a new interpretation of the gender, age, and significance of the buried person as well as the burial ritual itself.
Most artefacts in prehistoric and ancient times were created for practical purposes, and therefore the term techne — craft was used for all types of art objects until late Hellenistic times. From the perspective of the aristocratic circle, the craftsmen (slaves — servi, freedmen — lib-ertini, and metoikoi) were seen as humble members of society, working for the needs of others. But the utilitarian purpose of artefacts did not prevent craftsmen from expressing their artistic perceptions, depending to a greater or lesser extent on their skill and talent. Since the roots of Classical archaeology stem from collecting ancient art objects 1 , attention of the early researchers was focused primarily on them. Even today, in a survey text on Greek and Roman art, paintings and sculptures are emphasized above all other art forms. It was common for almost every ancient artefact to be evaluated from an artistic point of view, which is an elitist approach. Therefore, the older studies favoured artefacts with greater artistic value, while objects with less significant artistic qualities found in Roman provinces were totally neglected. An excellent example of this approach is the group of gravestones whose original and primary purpose was marking the tomb, followed by a religious commemorative aim; thus different styles and types of monuments were developed. The gravestones set up on the slopes of the mountains in the valley along the middle course of the Vardar river (ancient Axios), from (Titov) Veles in the North to Demir Kapija in the South (Republic of Macedonia), have a very specific iconographic composition and style. They were therefore named the Kavadarci type stelae, after the biggest town in the region, but the name of Tikveš type stelae is much more appropriate 2. This type of stelae with non-figural and stylized motifs shown in the relief zone: both in the relief field and in the pediments are very rare in other parts of Macedonia. Apart from this unusual kind of motif, we have specific types of stelae with a relief field in the form of an arch or arched niche on the columns shown in the relief field. The stelae with two relief fields were rare in Macedonia, and always displayed figural motifs in the upper field, and non-figural ones, mostly agricultural tools, in the lower one [10, ill. II] (Fig. 1, Table of types). 1 Antiquarianism led to Archaeology as a science. 2 Registered by Nikola Vulić before World War II, therefore collected and stored in the Skopje Museum, and after the war in the local museums of (Titov) Veles, Kavadarci, Negotino, etc.
University of Religions and Denominations
Mythological Motifs in the Tauroctony Sculpture2023 •
This article is a follow-up to a previous article on astronomical hypotheses in the Roman mysteries of Mithras. In my earlier article, I suggested that the tauroctony symbology was not a map entirely derived from astronomical theology, and perhaps non-astrological mythological symbols and narratives are also deployed. In this article, I have surveyed the most important myths related to tauroctony in the Indo-European regions, and by utilizing library data, I have considered the hypotheses put forward by modern Mithra researchers in accounting for the motifs and mythological symbols of the tauroctony sculpture. I conclude that, as per the well-established Roman practice, the sculpture of Roman tauroctony does not only narrate one myth but compared to the previous myths, it narrates at least three tauroctony myths, borrowing symbols from each of them. The first is the myth of Gilgamesh's battle with, and slaughter of, the Bull of Heaven; the second is the slaying of the Hadyusha by Saoshyanet; and the third is the myth of the Gavaevodata. Moreover, in the part about Mithra's fight with the bull and its hunt, there are similarities with the myth of Hercules's battle with the Cretan bull.
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Nova antička Duklja / New Antique Doclea XII
Monumental Tumuli from the Area of Montenegro and the Issue of the Continuity of the Cult Place (Part I - Example of Prehistoic Princely Tombs)2021 •
HORTUS ARTIUM MEDIEVALIUM
A Ninth-century Stone-cutting Workshop in Southern Dalmatia2014 •
Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae
To Carry the Universe in One's Own Pocket: A Miniature Mithraic Relief from the Archaeological Museum in Split2018 •
Sacralization of Landscape and Sacred Places: Proceedings of the 3rd International Scientific Conference of Mediaeval Archaeology
Houses and Paths from Podgora: a Case of Landscape Sacralization, in: ''Sacralization of Landscape and Sacred Places: Proceedings of the 3rd International Scientific Conference of Mediaeval Archaeology'', Institute of Archaeology, Zagreb, 2018, 353-366.2018 •
http://www.e-bulletin.sofiahistorymuseum.bg/images/pdf/02-Nadejda-Kirova.pdf
A RELIEF OF MITHRAS FROM THE VICINITY OF SOFIA2016 •
Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae
The material evidence of the Roman Cult of Mithras in Dacia. CIMRM Supplement of the province. In: Acta Ant. Hung. 58, 2018, 325–357 .2018 •
SCIENCE BEYOND BOUNDARIES II / Nauka bez granica II, medjunarodni tematski zbornik
A contribution to Interpreting Decorations on a Group of Late Antique Objects from the Central Balkans (in Serbian)/ Прилог интерпретацији представа на групи касноантичких предмета са централног БалканаAquincum Aeternum, Studia in honorem Paula Zsidi, Aquincum Nostrum II.9.
A small marble relief with the depiction of Mithras2022 •
Funerary Monuments in the Interior of the Roman Province of Dalmatia
Funerary Monuments in the Interior of the Roman Province of Dalmatia2021 •
2006 •