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The Challenge in Scythian Animal Art: Hunters and the Prey

Year 2023, Issue: 12, 1383 - 1399, 26.09.2023
https://doi.org/10.51531/korkutataturkiyat.1345925

Abstract

The nomadic Scythians, who travelled between the Caspian steppes and the Altai Mountains during the 7th and 3rd centuries BC, were known for their iconic animal-style art. This art, which depicts fewer human figures, brought a completely different interpretation to history by stylising animals as living creatures. However, the fact that the Scythians did not leave written sources for us to understand their beliefs and understanding of art has caused us to resort to Greek and Persian sources, which have a settled life style. In addition, it is obvious that the questions asked to clarify some points in these written sources cannot be fully answered. Another important issue that should not be forgotten is that it is sometimes quite mysterious to unravel and analyse societies in ancient times -and today- and to understand the motives that mobilise these masses politically, culturally, religiously or artistically.
It is understood that the Scythians created human stories by using animals in their understanding of art, and that they tried to shed light on their society today by creating a multi-perspective reading environment from the animal style they created over time. For this reason, in this study, I will try to draw an anthropological perspective in order to better understand the depths of their belief systems and how they perceived the world, based mostly on animal figures, one of the elements of material culture in Scythian art. At the same time, I will endeavour to emphasise the importance of interpreting the struggle between predators, prey and hunter in Scythian art from a different perspective.

References

  • Alexeyev, A. Y., Korolkova, E. F., Rjabkova, T. V., Stepanova, E. V. (2017). “The Scythians and Their Cultural Contacts.” Scythians. (ed. John Simpson and Svetlana Pankova). London: Thames & Hudson.
  • Andersson, J. G. (1932). Hunting Magic in the Animal Style. Stockholm: Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities.
  • Andreeva, P. (2021). Glittering Bodies: The Politics of Mortuary Self-Fashioning in Eurasian Nomadic Cultures (700 BCE-200 BCE). Fashion Theory-Journal of Dress Body and Culture, 1–30.
  • Azbelev, P. P. (2017). Pazyryk Tattoos as an Artistic Testimony of Ancient Wars and Marriages. Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art: Collection of articles. Vol. 7. (ed. S. V. Mal’tseva, E. Iu. Staniukovich-Denisova, A. V. Zakharova). St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg Univ. Press.
  • Bessonova, S. S. (1983). The Religious Ideas of Scythians (Religioznye predstavleniya skifov). Kiev: Naukova dumka.
  • Beisenov, A. Z. and Galiya A. B. (2013). Исскуствo Древних Кoчевникoв Центральнoгo Казахстана: Образы, Сюжеты, Кoмпoзиции. Isskustvo Drevnikh Kochevnikov Tsentral’nogo Kazakhstana: Obrazy, Syuzhety, Kompozitsii. Вестник ЮУрГУ. Серия «Сoциальнo-Гуманитарные Науки». Vestnik YuUrGU. Seriya ‘Sotsial’no-Gumanitarnie Nauki’ 94: 13–18.
  • Beisenov, A. Z. (2015). Пoселения и Мoгильники Сакскoй Эпoхи Центральнoгo Казахстана. Poseleniya n Mogil’niki Sakskoi Epokhi Tsentral’nogo Kazakhstana. In Сарыарқа Сақтары Мәдениеті Далалық Еуразиядағы Этнoәлеуметтік Және Мәдени Үдерістерді Зерттеу Аясында. Saka Culture of Saryarka in the Context of the Study of Ethnic and Sociocultural Processes of Steppe Eurasia. Edited by Arman Z. Beisenov. Almaty: НИЦИА «Бегазы-Тасмoла». NITSIA ‘Begazy-Tasmola’, 11–38.
  • Borovka, G. (1928). Scytian Art. New York: Frederick A. Stokes; First Edition.
  • Castro, E. V. (1998). Cosmological Deixis and Amerindian Perspectivism. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. 4, 469–488.
  • Castro, E. V. (2007). The Crystal Forest: Notes on the Ontology of Amazonian Spirits. Inner Asia, 9, 153–172.
  • Castro, E. V. (2012). Cosmological Perspectivism in Amazonia and Elsewhere: Four Lectures Given in the Department of Social Anthropology, Cambridge University, February–March 1998. Masterclass Series; Manchester: HAU, Journal of Ethnographic Theory, vol. 1.
  • Chugunov, K. V. (2017). Scythians: Warriors of Ancient Siberia. Early nomads of Central Asia and southern Siberia. (ed.John Simpson and Svetlana Pankova). London: Thames & Hudson.
  • Cunliffe, B. (2019). The Scythians: Nomad Warriors of the Steppe. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Durmuş, İ. (2007). İskitler. İstanbul: Kaynak Yayınları.
  • Durmuş, İ. (2021). Yazılı Kaynaklar Işığında İskitlerin Kökeni Üzerine Görüşler. A. Âsaui atyndaġy Halyk̦aralyk̦ K̦azak̦-Tùrìk Universitetìnìn̦ Habaršysy, (122), 139-155.
  • Farkas, A. (1973). Sarmatian Roundels and Sarmatian Art. Metropolitan Museum Journa.l 8, 77-88.
  • Farkas, A. and others (1975). Metropolitan Museum of Art. From the lands of the Scythians. Metropolitan Museum of Art: Distributed by New York Graphic Society.
  • Farkas, A. (2000). Filippovka and the Art of the Steppes. In The Golden Deer of Eurasia: Scythian and Sarmatian Treasures from the Russian Steppes. (ed. Joan Aruz, Ann Farkas, Andrei Alekseev and Elena Korolkova). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  • Francfort, H.P. (2020). Masters of the Steppe: The Impact of the Scythians and Later Nomad Societies of Eurasia. (ed. Svetlana Pankova and John Simpson). Oxford: Archaeopress.
  • Grakov, B. (1947). Γυναικoκρατoυμενoι: Perezhitki Matriarkhata u Sarmatov. Vestnik drevney istorii, 3, 100–121.
  • Gnecchi R., Guido A., Elmira K., Nurzhibek K., Lyazzat M., Maria A. S., Raffaela A. B., Rita R., Nuno F. G. M., Caecilia F., Olzhas I., and et al. (2021). Ancient Genomic Time Transect from the Central Asian Steppe Unravels the History of the Scythians. Science Advances 7, 1–14.
  • Heptner, V. G., Nasimovich A. A. and A. G. Bannikov. (1988). Mammals of the Soviet Union: Artiodactyla and Perissodactyla. 3 vols. Vol. I. Mammals of the Soviet Union. (Trans.) P. M. Rao). (ed. Robert S. Hoffmann, V. G. Heptner, N. P. Naumov and V. S. Kothekar). New Delhi: Amerind.
  • Heptner, V. G. and Sludskii, A.A. (1992). Mammals of the Soviet Union: Carnivora (Hyaenas and Cats). In Mammals of the Soviet Union. 3 vols. (Trans.) P. M. Rao). (ed. V. G. Heptner, N. P. Naumov, Robert S. Hoffmann and V. S. Kothekar). New Delhi: Amerind Publishing Co. Heredotos. Histories. Penguin Classics.
  • Huntingford, G.W.B. (1935). Who were the Scythians?. Anthropos, XXX, 785-795. Jacobson, E. (1999). Early Nomadic Sources for Scythian Art “Scythian Gold”. (ed. Ellen D. Reeder, Harry N. Abrams). New York: Incorporated.
  • Koçak, K. (2015). Kuzey Kafkasya ve Kuzey Karadeniz’deki İskit Kurganlarının Ortaya Çıkışı. Karadeniz Uluslararası Bilimsel Dergi. 25, 66-78.
  • Korolkova, E. F. (2017). Siberian collection of Peter the Great. In Scythians: Warriors of Ancient Siberia. (ed. John Simpson and Svetlana Pankova). London: Thames & Hudson.
  • Korolkova, E. F. (2017). O proiskhozhdenii nekotorykh osobennostei sibirskogo zverinogo stilia/Kratkije soobschenija Instituta arkheologii. Vypusk. 247, 50–60. (In Russian) (About origin of some characteristic of Siberian Animal Style).
  • Korolkova, E. F. (2020). Animal Style Art: Influences and Traditions in the Nomadic World. In Masters of the Steppe: The Impact of the Scythians and Later Nomad Societies of Eurasia. (ed. John Simpson and Svetlana Pankova). Oxford: Archaeopress.
  • Max L. (1955). The stag image in Scythia and East. Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America, IX, 63-76. Minns, E. H. (1970). The Scythians and Northern Nomads. The Cambridge Ancient History, IX, 187-205.
  • Molodin V. I.; Parcinger G. And Ceveendorzh D. (2012). Zamerzshie pogrebal’nye kompleksy pazyrykskoi kul’tury na iuzhnykh sklonakh Sailiugema. Mongol’skii Altai (Frozen Funerary Complexes of the Pazyryk Culture on Southern Slopes of the Sajliugem Range. Mongolian Altai). Moscow, Triumf Print Publ., 566 (in Russian).
  • Өмірбекова М.Ш. (2004). Сақ (скиф) тарихы мен мәдениеті. Оқу құралы- Алматы: Зият Пресс. Perevodchikova, E. V. (1994). Iazyk zverinykh obrazov: ocherki iskusstva Evraziiskikh stepei skifskoi epokhi. (The language of animal images: Essays on art of the Eurasian steppes of the Scythian era). Moscow, Vostochnaia literature Publ. 205 p. (In Russ.).
  • Polosmak N. V. (2000). Tattoos in the Pazyryk World. Arkheologiia, etnografiia i antropologiia Evrazii (Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia), 4, 95–102.
  • Rice, T. T. (1958). The Scythians (1. Baskı). London: Thames and Hudson.
  • Rudenko, S. J. (1958). The Mythological Eagle, the Gryphon, and the Wolf in the Art of Northern Nomads. Artibus Asiae. 21, 101–122.
  • Rostovtzeff, M. (1922). Iranians and Greeks in South Russia. Oxford.
  • Sharkey, B. (2022). Predators and Prey: Cosmological Perspectivism in Scythian Animal Style Art. Arts, 11(6), 1-39).
  • Simpson, J. and Stepanova, E. V. (2017). Eating, Drinking, and Everyday Life. Scythians, (ed. John Simpson and Svetlana Pankova). London: Thames & Hudson.
  • Vidma, B. (2014). ОСОБЛИВОСТІ ТРАКТУВАННЯ АНІМАЛІСТИЧНИХ ОБРАЗІВ У МИСТЕЦТВІ КУЛЬТУР СКІФСЬКОГО ТИПУ. Вісник Національної академії керівних кадрів культури і мистецтв, 6(2), 227-232. Yılmaz, A. (2002). İskit Sanatı. Türkler. (ed. Hasan Celal Güzel, Kemal Çiçek, Salim Koca). Ankara: Yeni Türkiye Yayınları.
  • Xu Yahui, 斯基泰人:騎馬游牧民族和草原藝術. https://kamatiam.org/%E6%96%AF%E5%9F%BA%E6%B3%B0%E9%A8%8E%E9%A6%AC%E9%81%8A%E7%89%A7%E8%BB%8D%E5%9C%98%E8%88%87%E8%8D%89%E5%8E%9F%E8%97%9D%E8%A1%93/ [Erişim tarihi: 04.12.2023].

İskit Hayvan Sanatındaki Meydan Okuma: Avcılar ve Av

Year 2023, Issue: 12, 1383 - 1399, 26.09.2023
https://doi.org/10.51531/korkutataturkiyat.1345925

Abstract

MÖ 7. ve 3. yüzyıllar boyunca Hazar bozkırları ile Altay Dağları arasında dolaşan göçebe İskitler, ikonik hayvan stili sanatlarıyla tanınmışlardır. Daha az sayıda insan figürünü tasvir eden bu sanat, hayvanları canlı stilize ederek tarihe bambaşka bir yorum getirmiştir. Fakat İskitlerin, inançları ve sanat anlayışlarını anlayabilmemiz adına yazılı kaynak bırakmamış olmaları, yerleşik yaşam şekline sahip olan Yunan ve Fars kaynaklarına başvurmamıza neden olmuştur. Bunun yanı sıra bu yazılı kaynaklarda bazı noktaların aydınlatılması için sorulan soruların cevabının tam olarak verilemediği de aşikardır. Unutulmaması gereken diğer önemli bir konuda, eski tarihlerde -ve bugünde- toplumları çözmenin, analiz etmenin ve bu kitleleri siyasal, kültürel, dinsel ya da sanatsal açıdan harekete geçiren saiklerin ne olduğunu anlamanın bazen oldukça gizemli hale gelmesi meselesidir.
İskitlerin ortaya koydukları sanat anlayışlarında hayvanları kullanarak insan hikayeleri oluşturdukları, zamanla ortaya çıkardıkları hayvan üslubundan çok bakışlı bir okuma ortamı meydana getirerek toplumları hakkında günümüze ışık tutmaya çalıştıkları anlaşılmaktadır. Bu nedenle bu çalışmada, İskit sanatındaki maddi kültür unsurlarından -çoğunlukla- hayvan figürlerini baz alarak, onların inanç sistemlerinin derinliklerini ve dünyayı nasıl algıladıklarını daha iyi anlamak adına antropolojik bir perspektif çizmeye çalışacağım. Aynı zamanda İskit sanatında ortaya konan yırtıcıların, avın ve avcının arasındaki mücadelenin farklı bir bakış açısı ile yorumlanması gerekliliğinin önemi üzerinde durmaya gayret göstereceğim.

References

  • Alexeyev, A. Y., Korolkova, E. F., Rjabkova, T. V., Stepanova, E. V. (2017). “The Scythians and Their Cultural Contacts.” Scythians. (ed. John Simpson and Svetlana Pankova). London: Thames & Hudson.
  • Andersson, J. G. (1932). Hunting Magic in the Animal Style. Stockholm: Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities.
  • Andreeva, P. (2021). Glittering Bodies: The Politics of Mortuary Self-Fashioning in Eurasian Nomadic Cultures (700 BCE-200 BCE). Fashion Theory-Journal of Dress Body and Culture, 1–30.
  • Azbelev, P. P. (2017). Pazyryk Tattoos as an Artistic Testimony of Ancient Wars and Marriages. Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art: Collection of articles. Vol. 7. (ed. S. V. Mal’tseva, E. Iu. Staniukovich-Denisova, A. V. Zakharova). St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg Univ. Press.
  • Bessonova, S. S. (1983). The Religious Ideas of Scythians (Religioznye predstavleniya skifov). Kiev: Naukova dumka.
  • Beisenov, A. Z. and Galiya A. B. (2013). Исскуствo Древних Кoчевникoв Центральнoгo Казахстана: Образы, Сюжеты, Кoмпoзиции. Isskustvo Drevnikh Kochevnikov Tsentral’nogo Kazakhstana: Obrazy, Syuzhety, Kompozitsii. Вестник ЮУрГУ. Серия «Сoциальнo-Гуманитарные Науки». Vestnik YuUrGU. Seriya ‘Sotsial’no-Gumanitarnie Nauki’ 94: 13–18.
  • Beisenov, A. Z. (2015). Пoселения и Мoгильники Сакскoй Эпoхи Центральнoгo Казахстана. Poseleniya n Mogil’niki Sakskoi Epokhi Tsentral’nogo Kazakhstana. In Сарыарқа Сақтары Мәдениеті Далалық Еуразиядағы Этнoәлеуметтік Және Мәдени Үдерістерді Зерттеу Аясында. Saka Culture of Saryarka in the Context of the Study of Ethnic and Sociocultural Processes of Steppe Eurasia. Edited by Arman Z. Beisenov. Almaty: НИЦИА «Бегазы-Тасмoла». NITSIA ‘Begazy-Tasmola’, 11–38.
  • Borovka, G. (1928). Scytian Art. New York: Frederick A. Stokes; First Edition.
  • Castro, E. V. (1998). Cosmological Deixis and Amerindian Perspectivism. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. 4, 469–488.
  • Castro, E. V. (2007). The Crystal Forest: Notes on the Ontology of Amazonian Spirits. Inner Asia, 9, 153–172.
  • Castro, E. V. (2012). Cosmological Perspectivism in Amazonia and Elsewhere: Four Lectures Given in the Department of Social Anthropology, Cambridge University, February–March 1998. Masterclass Series; Manchester: HAU, Journal of Ethnographic Theory, vol. 1.
  • Chugunov, K. V. (2017). Scythians: Warriors of Ancient Siberia. Early nomads of Central Asia and southern Siberia. (ed.John Simpson and Svetlana Pankova). London: Thames & Hudson.
  • Cunliffe, B. (2019). The Scythians: Nomad Warriors of the Steppe. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Durmuş, İ. (2007). İskitler. İstanbul: Kaynak Yayınları.
  • Durmuş, İ. (2021). Yazılı Kaynaklar Işığında İskitlerin Kökeni Üzerine Görüşler. A. Âsaui atyndaġy Halyk̦aralyk̦ K̦azak̦-Tùrìk Universitetìnìn̦ Habaršysy, (122), 139-155.
  • Farkas, A. (1973). Sarmatian Roundels and Sarmatian Art. Metropolitan Museum Journa.l 8, 77-88.
  • Farkas, A. and others (1975). Metropolitan Museum of Art. From the lands of the Scythians. Metropolitan Museum of Art: Distributed by New York Graphic Society.
  • Farkas, A. (2000). Filippovka and the Art of the Steppes. In The Golden Deer of Eurasia: Scythian and Sarmatian Treasures from the Russian Steppes. (ed. Joan Aruz, Ann Farkas, Andrei Alekseev and Elena Korolkova). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  • Francfort, H.P. (2020). Masters of the Steppe: The Impact of the Scythians and Later Nomad Societies of Eurasia. (ed. Svetlana Pankova and John Simpson). Oxford: Archaeopress.
  • Grakov, B. (1947). Γυναικoκρατoυμενoι: Perezhitki Matriarkhata u Sarmatov. Vestnik drevney istorii, 3, 100–121.
  • Gnecchi R., Guido A., Elmira K., Nurzhibek K., Lyazzat M., Maria A. S., Raffaela A. B., Rita R., Nuno F. G. M., Caecilia F., Olzhas I., and et al. (2021). Ancient Genomic Time Transect from the Central Asian Steppe Unravels the History of the Scythians. Science Advances 7, 1–14.
  • Heptner, V. G., Nasimovich A. A. and A. G. Bannikov. (1988). Mammals of the Soviet Union: Artiodactyla and Perissodactyla. 3 vols. Vol. I. Mammals of the Soviet Union. (Trans.) P. M. Rao). (ed. Robert S. Hoffmann, V. G. Heptner, N. P. Naumov and V. S. Kothekar). New Delhi: Amerind.
  • Heptner, V. G. and Sludskii, A.A. (1992). Mammals of the Soviet Union: Carnivora (Hyaenas and Cats). In Mammals of the Soviet Union. 3 vols. (Trans.) P. M. Rao). (ed. V. G. Heptner, N. P. Naumov, Robert S. Hoffmann and V. S. Kothekar). New Delhi: Amerind Publishing Co. Heredotos. Histories. Penguin Classics.
  • Huntingford, G.W.B. (1935). Who were the Scythians?. Anthropos, XXX, 785-795. Jacobson, E. (1999). Early Nomadic Sources for Scythian Art “Scythian Gold”. (ed. Ellen D. Reeder, Harry N. Abrams). New York: Incorporated.
  • Koçak, K. (2015). Kuzey Kafkasya ve Kuzey Karadeniz’deki İskit Kurganlarının Ortaya Çıkışı. Karadeniz Uluslararası Bilimsel Dergi. 25, 66-78.
  • Korolkova, E. F. (2017). Siberian collection of Peter the Great. In Scythians: Warriors of Ancient Siberia. (ed. John Simpson and Svetlana Pankova). London: Thames & Hudson.
  • Korolkova, E. F. (2017). O proiskhozhdenii nekotorykh osobennostei sibirskogo zverinogo stilia/Kratkije soobschenija Instituta arkheologii. Vypusk. 247, 50–60. (In Russian) (About origin of some characteristic of Siberian Animal Style).
  • Korolkova, E. F. (2020). Animal Style Art: Influences and Traditions in the Nomadic World. In Masters of the Steppe: The Impact of the Scythians and Later Nomad Societies of Eurasia. (ed. John Simpson and Svetlana Pankova). Oxford: Archaeopress.
  • Max L. (1955). The stag image in Scythia and East. Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America, IX, 63-76. Minns, E. H. (1970). The Scythians and Northern Nomads. The Cambridge Ancient History, IX, 187-205.
  • Molodin V. I.; Parcinger G. And Ceveendorzh D. (2012). Zamerzshie pogrebal’nye kompleksy pazyrykskoi kul’tury na iuzhnykh sklonakh Sailiugema. Mongol’skii Altai (Frozen Funerary Complexes of the Pazyryk Culture on Southern Slopes of the Sajliugem Range. Mongolian Altai). Moscow, Triumf Print Publ., 566 (in Russian).
  • Өмірбекова М.Ш. (2004). Сақ (скиф) тарихы мен мәдениеті. Оқу құралы- Алматы: Зият Пресс. Perevodchikova, E. V. (1994). Iazyk zverinykh obrazov: ocherki iskusstva Evraziiskikh stepei skifskoi epokhi. (The language of animal images: Essays on art of the Eurasian steppes of the Scythian era). Moscow, Vostochnaia literature Publ. 205 p. (In Russ.).
  • Polosmak N. V. (2000). Tattoos in the Pazyryk World. Arkheologiia, etnografiia i antropologiia Evrazii (Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia), 4, 95–102.
  • Rice, T. T. (1958). The Scythians (1. Baskı). London: Thames and Hudson.
  • Rudenko, S. J. (1958). The Mythological Eagle, the Gryphon, and the Wolf in the Art of Northern Nomads. Artibus Asiae. 21, 101–122.
  • Rostovtzeff, M. (1922). Iranians and Greeks in South Russia. Oxford.
  • Sharkey, B. (2022). Predators and Prey: Cosmological Perspectivism in Scythian Animal Style Art. Arts, 11(6), 1-39).
  • Simpson, J. and Stepanova, E. V. (2017). Eating, Drinking, and Everyday Life. Scythians, (ed. John Simpson and Svetlana Pankova). London: Thames & Hudson.
  • Vidma, B. (2014). ОСОБЛИВОСТІ ТРАКТУВАННЯ АНІМАЛІСТИЧНИХ ОБРАЗІВ У МИСТЕЦТВІ КУЛЬТУР СКІФСЬКОГО ТИПУ. Вісник Національної академії керівних кадрів культури і мистецтв, 6(2), 227-232. Yılmaz, A. (2002). İskit Sanatı. Türkler. (ed. Hasan Celal Güzel, Kemal Çiçek, Salim Koca). Ankara: Yeni Türkiye Yayınları.
  • Xu Yahui, 斯基泰人:騎馬游牧民族和草原藝術. https://kamatiam.org/%E6%96%AF%E5%9F%BA%E6%B3%B0%E9%A8%8E%E9%A6%AC%E9%81%8A%E7%89%A7%E8%BB%8D%E5%9C%98%E8%88%87%E8%8D%89%E5%8E%9F%E8%97%9D%E8%A1%93/ [Erişim tarihi: 04.12.2023].
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Details

Primary Language Turkish
Subjects Asian Cultural Studies
Journal Section Araştırma Makaleleri
Authors

Ayten Akcan 0000-0003-0974-5263

Publication Date September 26, 2023
Submission Date August 18, 2023
Published in Issue Year 2023 Issue: 12

Cite

APA Akcan, A. (2023). İskit Hayvan Sanatındaki Meydan Okuma: Avcılar ve Av. Korkut Ata Türkiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi(12), 1383-1399. https://doi.org/10.51531/korkutataturkiyat.1345925

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