Nagyszentmiklós Treasure
Type:
Bowls,
Flasks,
Drinking vessels
Date:
Mid-seventh to late eighth century
Location or Findspot (Modern-Day Country):
Romania
Medium:
Gold
Description:
The Nagyszentmiklós Treasure is a group of twenty-three objects collected over a century and a half and buried together at what is today Sânnicolau Mare (Romania). The vessels were produced by Avar goldsmiths, who had access to gold through tribute payments the Avar Khaganate received from the Byzantine emperors. These payments were meant to secure the peace until negotiations were concluded in 678. The vessels show little signs of use and were more likely created for display during high-status feasts.
Among the pieces reproduced here are two oval bowls with backwards-facing bull's heads, bowls with crosses and Greek inscriptions (meaning unclear), and a flask with four different scenes inside roundels. The two sides of the flask reproduced here depict a mounted rider holding a prisoner and an image of a woman being carried off by an eagle (reminiscent of the abduction of Ganymede).
Among the pieces reproduced here are two oval bowls with backwards-facing bull's heads, bowls with crosses and Greek inscriptions (meaning unclear), and a flask with four different scenes inside roundels. The two sides of the flask reproduced here depict a mounted rider holding a prisoner and an image of a woman being carried off by an eagle (reminiscent of the abduction of Ganymede).
Relevant Textbook Chapter(s):
4
Repository and Online Resources:
• The treasure is now in Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum.
Image Credits:
Wikimedia Commons
