Illyrian helmet (Olympia B 5316)
The Illyrian helmet was found during excavations in Olympia and is under inventory number B 5316 in the Archaeological Museum of Olympia . The so-called "Illyrian" helmets were worn mainly in the northern Balkans until the 5th century BC, with an estimated date of origin around the late 6th or early 5th century BC. This find is a comparatively late specimen.
The bronze helmet was found in 1963 during excavations in a well on the site southeast of the peristyle of the Nero House , its height is about 26.5 cm, the depth 22 cm, the width of the path for the helmet bush is 3.8 cm. It has a surrounding border made of ball-headed bronze nails. Except for the lower part of the right cheek flap, the helmet is essentially completely preserved in its original form, but is badly damaged. The sides are dented, the edge of the neck broken off, the cheek flaps broken off and the bronze corroded. Even though the figurative editions made of thin sheet silver are not completely preserved and the silver shows severe corrosion damage in places, the editions are comparatively well preserved. Most of the surviving helmets of this type are either no longer preserved or are only very fragmented.
The silver plating is on the front and on the cheek flaps of the helmet. A rider is depicted on a double base line on each of the cheek flaps, with only remains of the rider on the right side being preserved. Their representation corresponds to other equestrian images from the archaic period , which contributed significantly to the dating of the helmet. The support of the forehead shows an animal fighting group with a boar in the middle and two lions ready to jump in front of and behind. The animals are on a common baseline, which, despite their relatively large distance from one another and their different postures, creates the impression of a closed group. The pads were either glued with organic material or attached to the helmet with solder . Presumably, the motif should illustrate the helmet wearer's readiness to fight.
Like other weapons, the helmet came to Olympia as a votive offering ; it may have been related to the oracle service in the Olympic oracle, which was based on armed arms . Since these helmets were probably made all over Greece, no indications of origin can be made for this unique piece.
literature
- Hanna Koenigs-Philipp : "Illyrian" helmet . In: Alfred Mallwitz , Hans-Volkmar Herrmann (ed.): The finds from Olympia . German Archaeological Institute, Athens 1980, pp. 92–93.
- Emil Kunze : Helmets . In: Report on the excavations in Olympia , Volume 8. De Gruyter, Berlin 1967, pp. 125–135.
Web links
- later an 'Illyrian' helmet with silver applications on the forehead and cheek pieces in the Arachne archaeological database
Individual evidence
- ↑ Werner Fuchs, Josef Floren: The Greek sculpture: The geometric and archaic sculpture . CH Beck, 1987, ISBN 978-3-406-31718-7 ( google.de [accessed on January 13, 2020]).