1. Lambousa treasure
The first treasure found in Lambousa is the earlier of a total of two silver treasures that were found near the ancient city of Lambousa (now Lapta ), a Byzantine bishopric in Cyprus , at the end of the 19th century . The artifacts date from between the end of the 6th and the middle of the 7th century.
Find history
The history of the discovery of the first treasure in Lambousa was unclear until a few years ago, as there are few oral records and almost no written sources for finding the silver objects. To make matters worse, only a few years after the first treasure a second one was discovered, which attracted greater attention due to the David plates it contained and which thus overshadowed the first treasure find.
A letter found in the Nicosia State Archives shed some light on it. The letter that the then District Captain of Kyrenia , James Chamberlayne, wrote to the Chief Secretary of the Island Administration on December 28, 1898, states that the 1st Lambousa Treasure was obtained from a farmer named Constati Thoma in 1897 while working in a field in the Was discovered near the Acheiropoietos Monastery.
Today the silver objects of the treasure find are in the British Museum in London. The museum bought a total of 28 pieces of the treasure in 1899.
Composition of the treasure
The silver treasure, which is in London today, consists of a total of 28 individual parts. This includes 25 silver spoons, a silver plate, a silver bowl and a hexagonal vessel that may have been used as an incense burner.
However, whether this is the entire treasure is very debatable. OM Dalton, who dealt intensively with the first treasure find from Lambousa, already indicated in the first publication of the treasure around 1900 that there may be even more silver objects from the treasure find. Eleven of the 36 previously existing silver spoons are said to have been lost. Marlia Mundell Mango even assumes that there are also three other silver plates that are said to have been sold to the USA in the 1950s.
The "censer"
This is a hexagonal object that was probably used as a censer. Because the circumstances of the find of the treasure are controversial, the question arises here, too, why the object is understood as a censer. Some researchers, including OM Dalton, believe that the vessel could possibly be an oil lamp.
The vessel is hexagonal, has a small base and there are three eyelets on the upper edge. The diameter of the object is 10.9 cm, it is 6.7 cm high and weighs approx. 234 g. On each of the six sides there is a round medallion with a portrait of a human figure on it. Each of these six people is represented with a halo around their head. The medallions are separated by a leaf pattern. The corners or the abutting edges of the sides are decorated with small round medallions, which are adorned with a cross in their center. The arrangement of the six people is to be divided into two groups of three people each. The first side of the vessel contains three human images. In the middle is the image of Jesus Christ. He is shown with long wavy hair that is separated by a middle part. His head is surrounded by a nimbus. He has a short, pointed beard. In his left hand he is holding a closed book that he touches with the first two fingers of his right hand. This gesture represents the gesture of blessing . To the left of Jesus Christ is an image of the Apostle Paul , who has short hair and a slightly longer beard. His head is also surrounded by a nimbus and he is also holding a book in his left hand, on the corner of which the two fingers of his right hand rest. To the right of the image of Christ is an image of the Apostle Peter . He has short hair and also has a halo. He is holding a cross in his left hand.
On the opposite side of the vessel there are also images of three people. In the middle is the image of the Virgin Mary. As with all the other people shown, her head is framed by a nimbus. She wears the maphorion on her head, which covers her shoulders and hair on her head. To the right and left of the Virgin are two other images of male figures, each with a halo and holding a book in their hand that they touch with two fingers of their right hand. The difference between these two figures is that the man to the left of the virgin has a pointed beard, while the one on the right has no beard. It is unclear who they are. OM Dalton speculates that the bearded man could be James the Elder and the beardless man the evangelist John .
There are 5 control stamps on the underside of the base of the object. Two of them are cross-shaped. Both have a monogram and an inscription in the middle that reads "Sinnius". One stamp is square and contains the monogram of the emperor Phocas. Another stamp is long and arched. The fifth stamp is round. The control stamp set of the vessel can be clearly assigned to the emperor Phocas and thus the object can be dated to his reign between 602 and 610 AD.
The silver plate
The flat plate has a diameter of 26.8 cm, weighs approx. 2.16 kg and has a 3.5 cm high base.
In the middle of the plate is a Latin cross decorated with a niello . There are teardrop-shaped structures at the corners of the cross arms. The cross is encircled by two narrow gilded stripes, which are followed by an ivy tendril on the outside, which in turn is encircled by two narrow stripes. The plate is surrounded by a narrow rim on the very outside.
A control stamp set consisting of five stamps is located on the underside of the stand. Two of them are arc-shaped, two are round, and one of them is cross-shaped. All five punches were damaged by the lathe when making the stand. Thanks to the monograms that can still be recognized, the silver plate can be dated to the reign of Emperor Tiberius II. Constantine (578 - 582 AD).
The silver bowl
The bowl has a diameter of 24.3 cm, weighs 922 grams and is 7.8 cm high. It has a small base that is severely damaged.
In the center of the bowl there is a medallion in the middle with the image of a man inside. The man's head is surrounded by a nimbus. He has curly hair and his face is beardless. His clothing consists of a chlamys, which is held together on the right shoulder by a fibula . There is a rectangular patch on his chest, the so-called ' Tablion' . There is an embroidered rosette on his right arm, near the shoulder. He wears a collar with a medallion around his neck. In his right hand he holds his cross with a staff. Based on comparisons with other figurative representations with similar equipment, O .M. Dalton assumes that this is Saint Sergios .
Let us enclose the image of the saint with two nielloed wave patterns, in the middle of which there is a geometric pattern of intersecting circles. The edge of the bowl is decorated with a double leaf pattern, in the middle of which there is a pearl ornament.
The bowl can be dated to the reign of Emperor Constans II (between 641 and 651 AD) due to the control stamps on the base .
The silver spoons
The main component of the first Lambousa treasure find are 25 silver spoons. It can be assumed that the treasure contains 36 spoons, 11 of which have been lost to this day.
Stefan R. Hauser divided silver spoons from the 5th to 7th centuries AD into groups. The names were taken from his work.
Due to their variety of shapes, the spoons of the first Lambousa treasure can be divided into five closely related groups:
First group
Stefan R. Hauser calls this group group 7.1 . The spoons in this group are characterized by the fact that their handles were made separately and later soldered onto the disc . Spoons in this subgroup weigh approximately 77.6 grams and are 23.5 cm long. In addition, the nielloed, uninterpreted letter combination АΥ + АΛ is on its handle.
Second group
In the second group ( group 7.2 ) the connection between the handle and the disc was melted together and the spoons were made in one piece. Spoons in this subgroup weigh 77.81-89.62 g and 24.2 cm long.
The spoons in groups 7.1 and 7.2 show no signs of wear, but have probably been cleaned thoroughly. In addition, their focus is directly behind the disc and they have a leaf decoration on the underside of the bowl .
Third group
This group is called group 7.3 by Stefan R. Hauser . It consists of a single object of the treasure, which has a small ball head at the end of the handle, in which a hole can be seen. The bowl of this single spoon is destroyed and only about half a millimeter thick.
All spoons in groups 7.1 to 7.3 have a number of features in common: They all have a flat connection between the pear-shaped spoon and the approx. 1.9 cm large, convex disc. Above the discs, the handles start 4.5 cm long, hexagonal pieces, widen slightly and end in abrupt tapering. The middle parts of the handles continue on these tapers in a non-round cross-section approx. 11 cm long, becoming thicker and thicker and ending in simple roundings.
Fourth group
Group 8.1 is characterized by the following characteristics:
The spoons have a large, pear-shaped bowl with a central rib on the inside that extends from the disc to about the middle of the bowl. The bowl and disc are connected flat to each other. The handle is soldered onto the disc as a separate part and there is a rounded, attached ball head at the end of the handle. The spoons weigh between 73.86 and 75.52 g and are 22.9 cm long.
On a spoon of this group there is a nielled inscription that reads "Theodorou" and possibly indicates the previous owner of the spoon.
Fifth group
Group 9 (after Hauser), comprises 11 uniform spoons with different animal motifs on the inside of the spoon. They have a flat, pear-shaped bowl that is approximately 9 cm long and 4.5 cm wide. The back of the bowls are decorated with symmetrical, floral motifs. The spoons and disks are made from one piece.
Hauser assumes that various other spoons, which are scattered all over the world, can be assigned to the spoons of this treasure due to their characteristics. A spoon z. B. the one in the Early Christian Byzantine Collection of the Staatliche Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz in Berlin-Dahlheim, whose spoon has been partially destroyed, but weighs 72 g, is 24 cm long and has the same leaf pattern decoration on the underside of the spoon from Lambousa.
Dating and classification
Due to the control stamps on the larger objects of the first Lambousa treasure find, the silver vessels and spoons can be dated between the end of the 6th and the middle of the 7th century.
It is unclear how the treasure should be classified in relation to its alleged location, the bishopric of Lambousa near the Acheiropoietos monastery. Since one cannot say for sure whether the hexagonal vessel is actually an incense burner (even if the image program and a comparison object from the Sion treasure would suggest it) and other liturgical devices, such as For example, if a chalice is missing, it can be assumed that the treasure was privately owned and has no connection to a church treasure .
Web links
literature
- JPC Kent, KS Painter (Ed.): Wealth of the Roman World AD 300–700 , London 1977 (brief overview)
- Stefan R. Hauser: Late antiquity and early Byzantine silver spoons. Notes on the production of luxury goods in the 5th to 7th centuries. Yearbook for Antiquity and Christianity Erg. Vol. 19, Münster 1992, pp. 49–54 (comments on the silver spoons)
- Marlia. Mundell Mango: Silver from Early Byzantium. The Kaper Koraon and Related Treasures , Baltimore 1986
- Erica Cruikshank Dodd: Byzantine Silver Stamps , Dumbarton Oaks Studies 7, Washington 1961 (Comments on the control stamp system)
- Erica Cruikshank Dodd: Byzantine Silver Treasures , in: Monographs of the Abegg Foundation Bern 9, Bern 1973
- A. and J. Stylianou: The Treasures of Lambousa , Vasilia, Cyprus, 1969
- JG Deckers u. a .: Contributions to the cultural history of Cyprus: from late antiquity to modern times , Münster 2005
- OM Dalton: Byzantine silversmith's work from Cyprus , in: Byzantinische Zeitschrift 15, 1906, pp. 615–617
- OM Dalton: Byzantine silversmith's work from Cyprus , in: Archeologia 57, pp. 159–174 (first publication)
- Robert Merrillees: The modern history of the first Lambousa Treasure of byzantine silverware from Cyprus , in: Antiquaries Journal 89, 2009, pp. 389–403 (explanations on the history of the treasure)
Individual evidence
- ↑ OM Dalton: A Byzantine Silver Treasure from the district of Kerynia, Cyprus, now preserved in the British Museum , In: Archeologia 57, 159-174
- ^ SR Hauser: Late antiquity and early Byzantine silver spoons. Comments on the production of luxury goods in the 5th to 7th centuries , JbAC Erg. Vol. 19 (Münster 1992)