The imagery on this comb has been interpreted as possibly depicting a story told by Herodotus in Book 4. There were three brothers, Scylas, Octamasades, and Oricus. Scylas was murdered (beheaded?) by his brother Octamasades. People wanted Scylas dead because he really really liking Greek culture and was sneaking off to do Dionysianism rituals instead of being a King/leader. Many people believe the horseman is Octamasades and the man behind him is Oricus. The figure they are fighting is assumed to then be Scylas. Many people also believe the kurgan this comb was found in may have belonged to Octamasades and Oricus (what a power move to have a com depicting you killing your brother in your burial chamber).

While they share many similarities, they are quite different. Studies have shown they have different skull structures. Scythians appear to come from a European descent, while the Sarmatians appear to come from a European and Asian descent. The Scythians were intermixing often with the Greeks which led to many of their objects being more naturalistic. As seen in the gold pectoral, many of the animals depicted are very detailed and proportional. The pectoral depicts animal combat on the bottom register, floral rosette motifs in the middle, and pastoral activities on the top. While the Sarmatians in Filippovka were also using animals in their art, they were viewing and creating them more stylistically. As seen in the gold stag-shaped plaques, the stags are twisted and contorted. On the left plaque, the stag has its head down in profile with its antlers terminating up into a raptor head. On the right plaque, the stag is in profile again, but its hoof/leg is contorted to come out of its back. These objects are significant because they show how different the Scythians and the Sarmatians were. While they appear to be very similar because they lived in similar areas, they were interpreting and intermixing with their surroundings differently.

While looking at the stag-shaped finial from Pazyryk, the Scythian stag shield emblem, and the Sarmatian stag sculpture, it is clear that each group of people interpreted the stag differently due to influence and trade from other cultures around them. While looking at the Scythian stag emblem, it is clear they have been in contact with the Greeks. The proportions of the stag are accurate and naturalistic, but the antlers are large and terminate along its back. This was clearly made by the Greeks and sold to the Scythians. Looking at the Filippovka stag, they are replicating the idea of large antlers that terminate, but the antlers on their stag grow vertically. The craftmanship isn’t as clean and the body is less proportionate. The stag is more stylized and there is embossing along the shoulders and legs. When looking at the stag from Pazyryk, they are returning to the more naturalistic, proportionate stag imagery. This stag looks more elk-like. The craftmanship has increased tremendously and that leads many people to believe they were also influenced by peoples from farther west of the Altai mountains, such as the Greeks.

Many, many bronze vessels were stuffed into Chu tombs including a hu that belonged to a minister. A hu is a vessel used for holding wine during rituals. This hu is kind of mind blowing! It was created using the section mold technique and the lost wax technique. This is one of the earliest examples of the lost wax technique being used in China- and no one knows how the Chinese learned it! The lost wax technique was invented in Mesopotamia and traveled all the way to south China. The technique was used to craft the highly decorated lid, handles, and feet. The handles and feet contain theriomorphic animals that resemble taotie but have antlers that terminate and resemble Eurasian Steppe art. The section mold technique was used to create the vessel base of the hu. The section mold technique was invented in the Jin State and used at the Houma Foundry, located in Northern China. The Jin State and other northern states were stealing ideas from the Steppe cultures and the Chu state was stealing ideas from the Steppe through those northern states.

The incense burner was crafted out of bronze and gilded primarily in gold. The gold surface gives the burner a shiny, polished, and expensive appearance. The emphasized vertical form adds an overall calming tone. On the base, there are intertwined, contoured dragons with their mouths pointed up toward the stem, possibly giving the illusion they are biting or holding the stem up. There are also small inscriptions on the rim of the base. Moving up, the stem is divided into four sections by horizontal lines, giving a naturalistic impression of bamboo. Upon the top of the stem, there are three dragons. The dragons are supporting the bowl of the incense burner with their heads. The bottom bowl of the incense burner is divided up into triangular sections. In each section, there are contoured animal relief motifs with terminating horns. The animals could be birds, griffins, or stags. Continuing up the burner, there is a register of low-relief dragons circling the top of the bowl. On the bottom of the lid, there is another register containing inscriptions. Large crashing waves circulate the middle of the lid and mountains come out the top.

Emperor Wu’s incense burner functioned by releasing the smoke from the incense out from the holes in the mountains on the lid. This gave the illusion the mountains were floating in misty clouds above the water. This imagery is from Daoist beliefs that were being spread throughout China. Immortality cults began forming and many people believed there was an island covered in mountains hidden in the clouds where there could be an elixir of immortality.

The contoured animal forms and terminating horns on the bottom of the incense burner were popular motifs in Eurasian Steppe tribes, like the Xiongnu, and are completely foreign to the Chinese. Dragons and the mountain subject matter are popular motifs in China. Seeing both nomadic and Chinese motifs side by side on the object shows how closely these two groups of people were entangled.

The Dian people were very violent nomadic people who regularly engaged in human sacrifice, valued warfare, and glorified violence. They owned slaves and were highly skilled artisans working with bronze. While the Dian people’s style of weaponry and violence stands out in this plaque, the intertwining style of animal forms is from Eurasian Steppe culture. However, I would argue that animal combat scenes in general are a universal motif. If I saw two animals fighting to the death in nature, I would cry my eyes out; however, I think previous groups of people would have been inspired. I recently watched a hawk try to eat another hawk in my front yard (I went outside and saved it! No death!). While I was very traumatized, I was also fascinated. The hawk launched the other one into the side of our house to get the upper hand in the fight. The hunting skills the hawk had were impressive. I’m sure previous groups of people saw this type of animal combat too and were inspired to create art based on that theme and favored the way the nomadic peoples were depicting it.

This artwork best illustrates art on the Silk Road during the reign of the Kushan Empire because of how inclusive it is. The style the figures are depicted is influenced by Greek culture, while the inclusion of Hindu deities shows a strong connection with India. Shakyamuni Buddha is the focal point in the middle of the sculpture and is larger than the other figures (hierarchy scale). Buddha is sitting upon a lotus flower, under the Bodhi tree, surrounded by Bodhisattvas. His hands are placed in a mudra symbolizing the spinning of the wheel, or the teachings of the Buddha being set into motion. On the left is Maitreya, who lives in the Tushita Heaven until he is reborn into the world, becoming Buddha of the Future. On the right is Avalokitesvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. Behind those three figures are Indra and Brahma, deities of the Hindu religion, supporting the views of the Buddha.

It's important to note that the Kushans were the first people to show the Buddha in human form. Before the Kushans, Buddha was depicted through symbols like the dharma wheel. The inclusivity may have come about naturally, as the Kushans were looking to other cultures for how to accurately create the human figure of the Buddha, as well as the Lakshana. Through the Gandharan and Mathura workshops, the Kushans were able to create this human-like Buddha, making the religion more digestible to outsiders. This not only spread Buddhism but also developed a great marketing tactic for the Kushans to gain donations from merchants traveling on the Silk Road.

 Comparing these two Caves is important because it shows that the Chinese were starting to embrace Buddhism. We know this because they started to incorporate their style with Western images of the Buddha. In terms of the Silk Road, this information is very important because it shows just how far and fast items and ideas moved on the Silk Road. This proves how important and powerful the Silk Road was.

The Kushans were obsessed with the Greek Art style and replicated it often in their work, as clearly seen in the Emancipated Buddha sculpture. The sculpture is made of grey schist, the typical sculpture material of Gandhara. Buddha is here seen basically withering away. His rib cage is bulging out of his skin and where his eyes are supposed to be is just sunken in sockets. This extreme style is directly from Greek culture, specifically the Hellenistic period. The Kushans were the first to depict the Buddha in human form because they needed him to be similar to us, but God-like. It was easier for them to understand his teachings, and for travelers on the Silk Road to understand what they were looking at.

During the Gupta period at Ajanta, Buddhism was flourishing and spreading, and people were really starting to reflect and dissect the Buddha’s teachings. They began to create Buddhist art to earn good karma, making the creation of the art more meaningful to them than the actual art piece itself. In addition, they shifted to more Indian art styles. Seen in Cave 1 at Ajanta, is Padmapani, otherwise known as Avalokitesvara. Avalokitesvara is the Bodhisattva of compassion and is always represented holding a lotus flower. Avalokitesvara is depicted with a red/dark outline, white highlights, arched eyebrows, and chubby/plumb fertility goddess-inspired body proportions, typical of Indian art. The depiction of Bodhisattvas seems to become more popular also, possibly due to Buddhism evolving and growing.

The Buddhist art created during the Gupta period evolved from the art created during the Kushan dynasty due to artistic styles, motivations for creating the work, and the evolution of Buddhism itself.

The third artwork on the right is a fresco from Cave 224 at Kizil and it’s one of the coolest pieces I learned about this semester. Like the two reliefs, it is also a parinirvana scene, but it is depicted very differently. This scene has a strong German influence, meaning people from Kizil were interacting with people in Germany! Whether it was in person, or through trading goods on the Silk Road, this is huge! We know that this is German because of the coffin. The coffin has an animal head on it and is designed exactly the same as the coffins that were being used in Germany. The most puzzling piece is the fact that there is a coffin being shown in the first place, as Buddha was cremated, and his remains given to his followers. Moving up the painting, there is a balcony scene with people watching over the process. These people are losing their minds (ding ding ding! Nomadic/Kushan art style!!!) Balcony scenes were very common in Indian Buddhist art. So not only is this fresco influenced by Nomadic and Indian culture, but also German culture!

All three artworks are significant because they all show the interconnectedness and interactions between different groups of people during that time. All three pieces are heavily influenced by other cultures, with each of them having a “trademark,” feature of the styles they were influenced by. The two works from Gandhara have influences from Greek, nomadic, and Indian art styles, while the work from Kizil has all of those- plus, influences from German art style! This is significant and shows that over time, people were becoming more and more diverse, and Buddhism was becoming more inclusive, all thanks to the Silk Road.