REZAN HAS MUSEUM URARTIAN JEWELLERY COLLECTION

It is not yet known whether other civilizations of the 1st thousand BCE used metal belts in the Near East as intensively as the Urartians did. Excavations of Urartian tombs and fortresses have uncovered hundreds of belts made of bronze. The 74 Urartian belts to be found in the Rezan Has Museum’s collection can be principally divided into three groups: narrow, medium and wide. The wide belts vary between 13 cm and 18 cm in width and 90 cm and 120 cm in length.

 

The wide and medium sized belts were generally used by men. The bronze belts decorated with various ornamentation are thought to have been produced in the royal workshops. These belts engraved with scenes of cults and ceremonies provide us with important information on the system of the Urartian army, the weapons it used and the existence of military classes, such as chariot troops, infantry and cavalry. This is a bronze "Wide Belt With Cult and Ceremonical Scenes.". A ceremonial scene is depicted on the surface. Two superimposed foot soldiers are depicted at the left end, and behind them follow three rows of horsemen, war chariots behind the horsemen and two further rows of horseman and war chariots. The cavalry are depicted at a gallop, with shields and spears. The horses in the chariots are depicted with one leg extended forward and the other static. Two people are standing on the war chariots. One is holding the bridle and the other is in the sacred hailing pose, extending his arms horizontally forming a V-shape.

Urartian belts are divided into three main groups: narrow, medium sized and wide examples. This division is made based on the width of the belts. It is also possible to group Urartian belts according to the gender of the people who wore them. In this sense, the decoration on belts differs by gender as well. Lion and bull decorations are seen mostly on the wide and medium sized belts, which were used by men. These figures are not encountered on the narrow belts used by women. In addition to this, figures such as sheep, fish and water birds that were used on narrow belts do not appear on wide and medium-sized belts. In addition, on wide and medium sized belts, it is unlikely to see feasting scenes with the figure of a queen/goddess (?) in the middle, who sits on a backed throne at the central point of the feasting scene with female figures that are serving and bringing various gifts to this figure. This is a "Medium Sized Belt With Hunting Scenes." The figures were generally arranged symmetrically. The figures and cavalry on the hunter vehicle hunt mythological creatures as well as lion and bull. Three winged divine figures with hunting equipment are placed on top of each other at the left end of the belt. A total of 99 figures are depicted in 33 successive columns on the belt. There is a loop-shaped buckle at the right end of the belt.

The width of narrow belts varies between 5.5/6 cm. and 8 cm and the length is between 60 cm and 90 cm. In contrast with the wide and medium sized belts, there are no string holes on the exterior border of narrow belts. This shows that the interior side didn’t cover a leather or woven lining. Narrow belts are different from wide and medium sized belts with their decoration, figural motifs and themes, as well as this technical data. While the figures on wide and medium-sized belts range from the center to the ends in a symmetric manner, the arrangement on narrow belts is usually from the ends to the center. Female figures, goats, sheep, fish and water birds, which are occasionally seen on wide and medium-sized belts, are depicted as part of the main scene.

On narrow belts, a feasting scene which occurs in an open air situation usually takes place. In the center of a belt which was designed like this, sometimes in a space arranged with two-registers, a female figure (queen/goddess ?) who is sitting on a throne behind a table which is full of food and a dozen maids who are serving and bringing presents from two directions are seen. Also, scenes such as the entertainment of women playing instruments, acrobats and musicians, sacred offering scenes, castle depictions, weaving looms, weaving women, the figures of sheep, goats, fish and birds in series are seen. Besides this, it is possible to see lines of sprouts, which decorated the whole surface of wide and medium-sized belts, on narrow belts decorating the whole surface. Flat examples also exist, as well as the ones decorated with geometric and floral motifs and figures. This is a narrow belt with a banquet scene. The middle fragment of a bronze belt. A band of sprouts oriented back to back, interconnected with bow-shaped lines and bordered by a line of interlocking small loops runs along the outer border and the panels of the belt. Four fish figures are depicted in each of two horizontal panels placed on top of each other. In the main panel in the middle, a female figure is sitting on a throne with a backrest. A standing female figure is serving the seated individual. The seated figure is lifting the cup she is holding in both hands. The standing figure is presenting the object she is holding to the seated woman. Three walking bird figures are depicted in the panel on the left.

Dragon-Headed bronze bracelet. The preference for lion, snake and dragon heads in the bracelets widely used in Urartian culture is perceived as an indicator of force and power and it is also important in the sense that the gods were sacred animals. They also might have determined the social status of the people wearing them. In addition to their aesthetic appearance, the various forms of bracelets must have been worn with the belief in their protective powers. With the placement of the bracelets in graves as grave goods, they were intended to continue their protective powers into the afterlife.

Earrings are remarkable among Urartian jewelry in terms of their forms and decorations. They are made of gold, silver, lead and especially bronze. They are generally plain loops or crescent and boat-shaped pieces with suspensions. The plain loops have variations, such as open ended, overlapping ends, beaded/nodular and boat-shaped types. The earrings with suspensions have variations such as pyramidal, conical and pendant-shaped types. Among these, the boat-shaped earrings are the most commonly used form in the Urartian period and the most sought-after type in the Near East, from the 3rd millennium BC onward. Earrings are also emphasized in Urartian visual arts, in addition to the excavation data. Earrings were popularly used by the 1st millennium BC cultures and were worn by both men and women in Urartu. In addition to plain earrings, Urartians produced earrings with a granulation technique, which is extremely demanding work. Earrings with suspensions are produced by hanging pendants of various forms on loop or boat-shaped earrings. 

Hair spirals have overlapping ends. Their sizes are similar to the sizes of rings or slightly bigger. However, they differ from rings by their open ends. Urartian hair spirals can be divided into plain, decorated or attached types. They are mostly made of gold, silver and bronze and are made by forging. Their cross-section is round in shape and their ends were left plain or sometimes pointed. In some examples, a thin metal wire is wound to attach their ends to the hair. Hair spirals might have been used in order to make curls or adorn hair ends, like modern curlers. Another possibility is that they might have been worn on the ends of braided hair as a decorative accessory or in order to prevent it from getting loose. Spirals are placed at the ends of its shoulder-length hair. Hair spirals were mostly worn by women, as seen from examples above. However, the data shows that they were also worn by men. Visual arts showing that both men and women used hair spirals in Urartu and contemporary cultures are present in the 1st millennium BC in the Near East. 

Fibulae, which can be seen as modern safety pins, are composed of a pin and a spring. Depictions on reliefs, terra-cotta and painted pots, as well as the archaeological data, indicate that fibulae were attached to clothes, on the shoulder, hip, arm and wrist. They were used both for decoration and for attaching cloth edges together. Bead necklaces or chains were suspended from them for decorative purposes. Make-up utensils or seals were also affixed to fibulae. It is generally accepted that fibulae have religious meanings. They were used for their religious power in daily life and they were placed in tombs to banish evil spirits in the afterlife. Fibulae were also used in the enshrouding of the dead. Fibulae were included in the Urartian jewelry repertoire due to the impact of the Phrygians in the second half of the 8th century BCE and were widely used. We know that they were used widely, due to fibulae unearthed in several excavations conducted at Urartian centers. Urartian fibulae are generally plain, however decorated examples also exist. The decorations may be incised lines or parallel grooves on the body. Fibulae with grooves on the body were widely used by the Urartians. The pin and the body are joined in various forms. In some examples, the pin’s wire is joined to one or more of the body branches by coiling. In this type of fibula, the head of the branch where the pin is coiled is made in the shape of a mushroom to prevent the pin from sliding. In other examples, the end of the wire that joins to the body is bent to form a spiral. A third type of joining technique in Urartian fibulae is seen in the example in which the pin is directly bent. Although there are different techniques for joining the pin with the body, fibulae with similar forms are seen in all the different groups.      

The abundance of rings found in excavations in Urartian centers indicates that Urartian society used rings intensively in daily life. In addition to simple and plain examples, decorated rings with snake and dragon heads, as seen in bracelets, decorative pins and amulets, recalls religious functions in addition to aesthetic concerns. The use of similar figures such as dragon and snake heads on rings, bracelets and arm bands, recalls modern jewelry sets. Groups of rings attached together as chains were among the finds.It is difficult to guess for what purpose they were arranged together in this fashion. However, the owner of the rings might have wanted to collect all the rings he/she had used throughout his/her life. The different sizes of rings, appropriate for both children and adults, found within the same chain supports this argument. Bracelets, arm bands, earrings and spirals arranged in a similar way were encountered in the studies we conducted in various museums.

 

Pectorals are rare among Urartian jewelry. They are generally made of bronze. A few examples made of silver, gold-plated silver and gold also exist. They are crescent-like in shape, with rings on both sides for suspension. They are evaluated as personal decorative objects, but they are also indicators of class and status in Urartian society, as well as decorative elements complementing a garment. Pectorals usually bear religious scenes. At the center of the pectorals are figures in the sacred hailing pose, winged creatures carrying cauldrons (buckets), the sacred tree or scenes of its fertilization, lions, bulls and mixed creatures. Examples with floral and geometric motifs are also found. 

Bead necklace composed of carnelian beads. Beads are usually made of agate and carnelian, as well as magnesite, anthracite, chalcedony, calcite, serpentine, bone, frit, faience, glass, gold and bronze. They occur in the shape of cylinders, spheres, pipes, long barrels, ellipses, reels, spirals, with suspensions, convex biconical shapes, triangles, flat hexagons, flat spheres, animal heads and complete animals.

Bronze Oval Triangular Amulet. Amulets are generally made of stone or bronze. Urartians used many objects for adornment and as amulets, such as precious stones, metals and animal teeth. Amulets must have been used in order to protect the people who wore them against evil in Urartian culture.

A group consists of one armband and two bracelets. Armband is formed as a row of beads. On the other hand one bracelet is plain while the other is dragon-headed. . As with bracelets, Urartian armbands were also used by both men and women. The terminals of the bracelets and the armbands are generally shaped like snake and dragon heads. Armbands were also used as indicators of class and for protection, as were bracelets.