Ancient Anatolian Jewellery
In the Neolithic age, when a wandering life of hunting
and gathering made way for settled communities, the people of Anatolia began
to place burial gifts in graves. These gifts included necklaces, bracelets
and rings made of diverse stones, teeth, horns and bones of animals, and
seashells. The earliest Anatolian jewellery, dating from between 7000 and
5000 BC, has been found in excavations of cayonu in
Diyarbakir, and catalhoyuk, Asiklar Hoyuk and Kosk Hoyuk in central
Anatolia. Jewellery made of precious metals begins in the 4th millennium BC,
although very few examples from this period have been discovered. By the 3rd
millennium BC, however, skilfully cra
fted metal jewellery was being
produced, and that made of gold found in tombs at Eskiyapar and Alacahoyuk
in central Anatolia dating from 2600-2000 BC is exquisite both in design and
technique. Jewellery made by the Hittites, who established a powerful empire
in Anatolia in the 2nd millennium BC, also shows great sophistication,
although examples are too scarce to
make any generalizations about its characteristics. Finds dating from the
7th century BC, however, are more numerous, particularly in western
Anatolia. At this period city-states founded by Hellenic Anatolian peoples
ruled the Aegean coast, while the inland areas were under Lydian domination.
The Lydian capital of Sardis was the main centre of gold jewellery
production. Jewellery dating from the 7th and 6th centuries BC has been
found in the votive pit at the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, and in tumuli
in  the province of
Usak. The Ephesian Artemis evolved from the Anatolian mother goddess, a
universal deity who was a guardian of civilization, ruler over nature, and
queen of bees. She represented three aspects of womanhood: virginity, the
married woman and motherhood. This trinity is symbolized in jewellery by the
use of motifs like rosettes and double-headed axes in triplicate.
The most
frequently used emblems of the mother goddess are the bee, the crescent and
the sparrow hawk. Bees often feature on earrings, brooches, and the finials
of pins. The crescent, representing Artemis as goddess of the moon, appears
as crescent-shaped earrings and pendants. Sparrow hawks, often found on
brooches and pendants, symbolise the goddess’s power over nature, and
plant motifs represent fertility. Granulation is the most common decorative
technique on jewellery of this period. Jewellery made in the Aegean coastal
region was mainly worn by women, the men wearing only rings or sometimes
wreaths. In Lydia, however, where the influence of
eastern cultures was stronger, men worn jewellery to a much greater extent.
From 500 BC onwards, Anatolian cultures absorbed many aspects of Persian
art, giving rise to a characteristic style known as Anatolian Persian.
Large
quantities of jewellery found in tombs near Sardis and Usak provide a
detailed picture of this period of Persian domination. Since the costume of
the period had changed, pins and fibulas were no longer made. Instead we
find earrings, necklaces and pendants, bracelets, rings, buckles and
ornaments for clothing. During this period the use of semi-precious stones
and glass imitations of these became widespread, and hence jewellery much
more colourful. Two main centres of jewellery production stand out during
this period. One was Sardis, where fine jewellery had been produced since
Lydian times, and the other Lampsakos (the modern Lapseki) on the Strait of
canakkale. Triangles and lozenges are forms characteristic of this period.
The monotheist Zoroastrian faith of the Persians featured a trinity
consisting of Anahita, the world mother, Ahura Mazda, representing light and
righteousness, and Ahirman representing the force of evil, and it may be
that the triangle was a symbol of these three aspects of divinity.
Necklaces
often combined beads in various forms relating to fertility, such as
pomegranates and sea snails. Decorative metal work techniques were filigree
and granulation, the former being found from the 4th century BC onwards.
When Alexander the Great overthrew the Persian state in 330 BC, and carried
his conquests as far as India, the resulting synthesis of traditional Aegean
and eastern cultures is referred to as Hellenistic. During this period we
find new features, such as earrings with animal motifs and mythological
figures, resulting from the modification of Persian elements by Hellenic
traditions and tastes. The principal centres of production at this time were
Lampsakos, and subsequently Antioch and Alexandria.  The
new motifs, which appear at this time, include the knot of Heracles and Isis
or Hathor (two Egyptian goddesses who are sometimes identified). But it was
Aphrodite, goddess of love that jewellery symbolized most often; sometimes
in the form of Eros, and
sometimes by doves or myrtle,
the sacred tree of the goddess. Other plants held sacred by association with various
deities are the oak of Zeus, the bay of Apollo, the vine of Dionysus
and the olive of Athena. Under eastern influence the use of semi-precious
stones begins at this time, leading to a new
diversity in jewellery. As well as earrings, wreaths and diadems,
hairpins, necklaces, bracelets and
rings, we now find such new types as breast
ornaments and hair nets.
Declining prosperity from the mid-2nd century BC became even more marked in the 1st century
BC, and economic difficulties led to a demand
for less costly jewellery. At this time Anatolia
became part of the Roman Empire, and the precious
and magnificent jewellery of the Roman period
was produced not in the provinces but in Rome. Earrings
and rings of very diverse types were made in
the Roman period, and necklaces and rings often
incorporated coins or medallions representing
the emperors. Medallion pendants bearing mythological
designs are also typical of the period, as are
head and hair ornaments. During the Byzantine period jewellery production in other cities
ceased, as Constantinople became the sole centre
for jewellers and goldsmiths.
By YILDIZ
AKYAY MERICBOYU*
Photos ALI KONYALI
* Yildiz Akyay Mericboyu
is an archaeologist
Source: Skylife 07/2001
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