GOLD OF THE GREAT STEPPE
The Eastern Steppe lies between Mongolia and the Black Sea (far away from the Fitzwilliam Museum). At its eastern boundary bordered by dramatic Altai Mountains, the Saka people developed their dynasties, only glimpsed by the rest of antiquity. Herodotus the heavy weight Greek Historian saw them and describes a “one –eyed people
“I think this idea probably comes from impressions of their amazing archery central to their culture. When you fire off an arrow, you do have to close one eye” remarks Dr. Rebecca Roberts the curator of the exhibition. “As early as the 8th-7thcentury B.C.the Saka had created horse harness, tools, highly sophisticated works of craftsmanship.”
We have heard of the Scythians, their emergence in the British Museum was a recent sell out ticket. But these are the Saka with a different profile. And possibly they were an entirely different people. It appears that they went on to develop a heroic culture – the bogatyr/warrior stars in epic tales to celebrate the values of valour in battle , the hunt for mythical monsters – and the comradeship that goes with it. Their religion was a mixture of shamanism – a Northern version of Buddhism and an eastern version of Zoroastrianism. With their wonderful conical tall hats and dashing equestrian stills – for men and women – this is the adventurous and mysterious culture we know so little about.
How long to discover and excavate a whole civilization? Kazakhstani archaeologists in concert with Rebecca Roberts and Saltanat Amirova her assistant and PhD student also at the University of Cambridge have done so much in the past two years : these astonishing discoveries are entirely authentic. Experts have supervised their removal from the graves where they had lain for millennia and guided them towards the scrutiny of the world. Dr. Roberts was emphatic about the technical input driving the precision of their discovery. “ So often the provenance of ancient finds is unclear – but I have personally seen these objects in the ground “. The latest scientific research tools supplied by AHRC - the Arts and Humanities Research Council has helped reveal them to the world. “We already had the best equipment, now it is world –beating”
The newly revealed civilization of the Saka of Kazakhstan has a dynamic feel. Our knowledge of antiquity is limited in scope. We have seen endless exhibitions of the Egyptians - a rather oppressive death cult in my view – however loaded with treasures it might be. And of course the glories of Rome and Greece survive in literature and architecture right here in Europe. But in early antiquity, the end of the Bronze Age, lived these people whose extraordinary world and art lie open to us in this thrilling exhibition. And there is an appeal in their lifestyles. Animals were central – gold images of snow leopards – some in action killing an Ibex join the curly haired golden sheep depicted on miniature high mountain clouds, and of course the horses central to their survival. In fact you could say the most striking exhibit is the reconstruction of a funereal horse, its red panoply and bright crimson saddle hangings completed by equestrian paraphernalia so brilliantly wrought it would be useable today. “Horses were first domesticated in this region” a Kazakhstani delegate told me, ‘From our lands in East Kazakhstan they spread across the world’ Astounding – it puts the horse right at the centre of this civilization, in life and then buried with them - in death. And then there is the seeming equality between the sexes. Women rode to the same astonishing standard as men, their clothes appear very similar. One of the great glories of the exhibition is the evidence unearthed when a raided tomb (these are the remnants of the great burial edifices that dotted across the vast landscape) is the ‘Golden Man’ actually a youth of about 17 years old. Looters missed his magnificently attired body and the traces of his clothes and the intact golden artifacts in the burial ground show how the Saka treated their elite dead - and how intricate were the items around this young man. Beyond the dazzle of the dagger scabbard embossed with great skill, devices to keep weapons secure when riding show an intricacy and skill – their tiny hinges are still perfectly functional– that conveys an impressive level of workmanship. An earlier find of a woman’s grave shows how she was dressed, warmly and brightly – and ready for action.
Exhibits in this show are unusual. One modest label tells us that the pile of what initially looks like golden sand is in fact 10,000 golden beads – and indeed when you look closely there they are complete with an hollowed aperture to sew them on. Credit should go to those ancient people – as well as the modern conservation workers who have give us re-imagined outfits – yes complete with countless golden beads.
They present a mysterious but accessible people. Their costumes are practical furs and felts, embossed with bright ornaments; their customs and traditions occluded by time have emerged with great energy and colour to us. Headdresses tall conical hats for men and women are here in full Technicolor felt – but familiar from their profile carved in antiquity as subject kings to King Darius the Persian Emperor. At the end of one conquered queue is the Saka leader, with a dramatic high soaring hat, Skunkha .These are the hard facts of Saka history carved in stone. Some fundamental questions still persist; were the Saka the same as the Scythians? How come bowls for corn -grinding appear in the haul from graves? Weren’t they nomads? `Intriguingly this would suggest a more complex society. No mention is made of the Scythian Queen Tomyris who appears in countless imagined portraits down the centuries with the severed head of one of the most famous Emperors of all time, Cyrus of Persia. She allegedly executed him herself in revenge for his underhand slaying of her son, but more realistic accounts do suggest that the Saka warriors defeated his army and under the Queen’s orders discovered his body on the battlefield and dishonoured it by decapitating him. The story appeals down the ages and to contemporary Kazakhs too. Possibly it embodies a sense of mythic defiance that appeals to a race cruelly repressed in recent years
Kazakhstan was once a vale of tears. Stalinist purges killed, it is said, four million in forced famines. Thousands of Russian dissidents were exiled here in the harshest of conditions. In the visiting exhibition staff you can clearly see the ethnic diversity; but all are immensely proud of their 30 years of independence as much as their three millennia- long traditions.
Just for once ‘Exit via the Bookshop’ pays off. Dr. Rebecca Roberts’ brilliant volume on this complex project, Gold of the Great Steppe is well worthwhile if only for its wonderful photography (attempted in the exhibition but way too dark for real impact). It shows the wild Steppe, its seas and mountains and its never-ending plains.
GOLD OF THE GREAT STEPPE EXHIBITION
FITZWILLIAM MUSEUM UNTIL 30 JANUARY 2022
https://steppe-gold.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/
