On the Find of a Phalera Made from the Medallion of a Hellenistic Cup in Barrow No. 20 of the Noin-Ula Burial-Ground (Northern Mongolia)

Abstract

The paper explores a uniquephalera(horse brass) found in Noin-Ula Barrow No. 20 (Northern Mongolia). The form and decoration of the medallion, its style and the composition of the scene (depicting a satyr chasing a maenad – a subject which can be traced back to metal-working of the 4th centurybc) – show that thephaleramust have been made between the late-2nd or mid-1st centurybc, most probably in a Pontic workshop and from the medallion of a silver plate, aphialeor a conic cup, perhaps manufactured in Asia Minor in the second half of the 1st centurybc. Thephalerawas placed in a Hunnu burial-ground no later than in the middle of the 1st centuryad, since a Chinese lacquered cup dated to the fourth year of the Yuanyan Era (9bc) was found in the same grave. Thephalerais to date the easternmost find of Hellenistic silver plate.