The Origin of Scythian Art

In the most archaic, rich aggregations of Scythian culture, dating from the first third of the 6th century B.C.E., such as the Kelermes mounds and the Mel'gunov Treasure (Litoi [Cast] Mound), motifs and forms from Hither Asia predominate. Thus, on the gold cup from Kelermes, representations of animals are in the style of Assyro-Babylonian art, known from the reliefs of the palace in Kouyunjik. (1) On the gold facings of sword sheaths from the Kelermes and Mel'gunov treasures, religious subjects employing the tree of life reproduce the ancient Mesopotamian motif, and do not differ in style from representations of the same kind stemming from Urartu. The depictions of fantastic beings on the facings of the sheaths of such swords, although they do not have exact analogies in Eastern art, fall, by character and style, into the category of works originating in Hither Asia. Even on the gold facing of the handle of a hatchet from Kelermes, shapes in the the Assyrian-Urartu style, with its double outline and graphic treatment of details, are predominant. (2)