Treasures of the Hermitage. Secrets of ancient jewelers: earrings from Feodosia Feodosia earrings made in the ancient Greek grain technique
the big story of the little cape
Mountains of Crimea May 27, 2014
Cape St. Elijah is the most extreme eastern end of the Main ridge of the Crimean Mountains, further east begins the Feodosiya Bay.
At the foot of the cape, on the coast, among the boulders and sheer cliffs, mineralogy lovers can find interesting samples of snow-white calcite, drusen and brushes of the brown mineral ankerite, bluish strontianite.
The trail to Cape Ilya leads past the destroyed bunker, the last witness of the last war, and rises to the green oasis where the lighthouse is located.
Above the lighthouse, to the southwest, on one of the plateau-like peaks of the cape, there was an ancient Greek church in memory of St. Elijah, where a solemn service was held annually on July 20 on the patronal feast day. According to legend, the church was dedicated to fishermen who miraculously escaped death during a storm off the coast of the cape.
There is also a Feodosian legend about how the merchant sailor Ilya Tamara was twice shipwrecked off the coast of Cape St. Ilya. Seeing the imminent death, Tamara prayed to the prophet Elijah to soften his anger, to calm the storm. In his prayer, he promised to build a temple on the cape in case of a successful outcome.
Fiery lightning split the formidable sky, scorched the air, illuminated the ships and rocks, for the last time slid along the mast and caught fire in front of the ship, the storm subsided, the Kaffin fires lit on the side ...
Tamara kept his promise and built a temple on the mountain. How long it stood is unknown, but already in 1816 the chapel of St. Ilya. Nearby, at the edge of the cape, there was a cemetery of the Red Cross Society.
In September 1861, Emperor Alexander II visited Theodosia. After the liturgy in the Nicholas Cathedral Church, visiting the military hospital, the archaeological museum, the Armenian Khalibov school and the city's antiquities, Alexander II went on horseback to the top of the mountain and visited the chapel of St. Ilya.
In 1854 I.K. Aivazovsky, together with the prince-archaeologist of Siberia, during archaeological excavations at Cape Ilya not far from the chapel, during the excavation of a mound, among many household items, discovered amazingly beautiful women's gold earrings (IV century BC).
This find entered the world science under the name “ Feodosia earrings"(Located in the Hermitage). These filigree earrings are a remarkable example of the artistic culture of Hellas, apparently, imported work.
The diameter of the shield is 2.5 cm. It is impossible to see the details with the naked eye. And now, armed with a magnifying glass, a monumental composition opens up to the eye: Nika, the goddess of victory, rules a chariot harnessed by four galloping horses.
The ancient artist showed, inspired by inspiration, imagination when creating a genuine work of art. This can be seen both in the ornament of the earrings and in their entire composition. The way the master conveyed the swift movement in the figures of the tiny horses clearly speaks of his amazing "skill".
The best modern jewelers turned out to be powerless to reproduce these earrings. Some secret of "microtechnology" has obviously been lost.
Among the finds in the mounds of Cape Ilya are various terracotta figurines, antique coins and amphorae, painted vases covered with gilding and multi-colored paints.
This is how the defensive fortifications at Cape St. Elijah in Feodosia look like in January 2014. It is sad to watch how vandals-builders systematically destroy historical monuments.
Curiosities of antiquity sometimes pose such riddles to researchers that modern science hastens to declare unsolvable.
Everyone probably knows the famous Hermitage exhibit - gold earrings with gold grain, which can only be distinguished with magnification. The product dates back to the 4th century. BC.
These “gold earrings of filigree work, found during excavations in 1853 in one of the burial mounds on the outskirts of Feodosia, are one of the most striking examples of the work of Greek jewelers of the 4th century. BC. and performed in the so-called microtechnology, which reached an unusually high level in Athens at that time. In the upper part of the earrings there are round discs with a graceful flower in the center, which are bordered with rows of the smallest grain and decorated with an ornament of filigree palmettes and rosettes ... Feodosia earrings became especially famous precisely due to the use of grain, when the smallest droplets of metal are arranged in groups of four and are placed in regular rows. "
No matter how much jewelers tried to repeat this result, they failed. The smallest grain melted when heated. Attempts stopped, the art of the ancient Greeks was considered unsurpassed.
So how did they manage in the IV century. BC. to accomplish what was not possible to repeat in the twentieth century?
In Altshuller's book "The Invention Algorithm", in case of problems with regulation and control of temperature, it is advised to use a phase transition. A phase transition, like melting, is hardly acceptable here. But the metal can become liquid in one more case - in amalgam, an alloy with mercury. Try to imagine this option: the smallest balls of gold (it is not difficult to get them, it is enough to melt a shortly chopped thin wire on a non-wettable surface, for example, charcoal) are immersed in mercury for a short time. A thin layer of amalgam forms on the surface. The substrate is also rubbed with mercury, on which the granulation is applied. The desired pattern is laid out with grains, after which the entire composition is heated to a temperature that is lower than the melting of gold, but sufficient to remove (evaporate) the mercury from the amalgam. Gold grain is firmly connected to each other and to the substrate. This technology of evaporation of mercury from gold amalgam (fire gilding) is the most ancient gilding technique. The Eastern Slavs were familiar with the method of making a gold amalgam "from an alloy of gold with mercury" and covering silver and bronze items with it. Working with amalgam requires strict adherence to safety measures, as you can get severe poisoning. So, when gilding the domes of St. Isaac's Cathedral in 1838-1841. 60 workers died from the action of mercury vapors.
It is not surprising that the technology of the Athenian craftsmen was lost for many centuries. After all, the masters strictly kept their secrets, and death overtook such craftsmen as inexorably as two thousand years later - the St. Petersburg gilders.
Vladimir Repin
So, in 1853, the famous Feodosia marine painter I. Aivazovsky received official permission from the Ministry of the Imperial Court and Districts to carry out archaeological work in the area of Feodosia. The purpose of the archaeological research was allegedly the search for "old, antique Feodosia".In the middle of the 19th century, there were allegedly disputes between scientists around the world about the location of medieval Kafa-Feodosia. Someone placed it on the slopes of Tepe-Oba, in the area of Cape St. Ilya, someone at the foot of Karadag, in the area of today's Koktebel, but someone in all seriousness carried ancient Kafa 70 km to the east, to Cape Opuk. But once the famous archaeologist of that time, Siberian A.A. While walking along the slopes of Tepe - Oba, I discovered an ancient Greek coin, presumably 5th century BC. The archaeologist shared his find with the famous Feodosia artist I. Aivazovsky, expressing his opinion about existence " ancient city"in the area of Cape St. Ilya on the slopes of the Tepe-Oba ridge. The artist fully supported the ideas of Siberian AA and took a direct part in organizing an archaeological expedition.
Already in the spring of 1853, survey work was in full swing on the slopes of the ridge, almost immediately they were discovered 5 mounds- burial grounds. Four mounds were completely empty, but in the fifth ...! In the fifth, the burial of a woman, presumably 4-5 centuries BC, was discovered, many exquisite ceramic objects, as well as a whole galaxy of interesting jewelry, including the FEODOSIA'S EARRINGS, unique in their craftsmanship. The news of the unique Feodosia find spread all over the world, attracting the attention of numismatists, antique dealers and goldsmiths. Jewelers from all over the world tried to copy the decoration, but to no avail - the technologies of the ancient Greek masters were irretrievably lost. Even famous Carl Faberge, trying to repeat the "Feodosia earrings", suffered a complete fiasco.
Encouraged by the incredible find, I. Aivazovsky with trebled energy continued his archaeological searches, and during the summer-autumn of 1853. uncovered more than 80 mounds in the vicinity of Feodosia, and luck smiled on the artist again - one of the burial grounds on the Tepe-Oba ridge was also full of jewelry. Naturally, all the found jewelry were recounted, described and sent to St. Petersburg, where they were exhibited for all to see in the Hermitage.
According to the results of the archaeological expedition led by I. Aivazovsky, the following conclusion was made - on the slopes of the Tepe-Oba ridge there was a Greek Necropolis, approximately 4-5 centuries BC.
This beautiful story about "Feodosia earrings" can be heard from Feodosia guides or read on numerous "historical" sites. The reality, however, is much harsher and dirtier.
In fact, the number of so-called "antique jewelry" that cannot be copied is quite large and amounts to hundreds and thousands of jewelry. Naturally, this group also includes the so-called "Scythian gold", jewelry found in Scythian burial mounds. The geography of the finds of "Scythian gold" is very extensive - from Altai to the Danube from east to west, and from the White Sea to North Africa from north to south. Many of the "Scythian adornments" are really unique and technologies unknown even at the present time were used to create them. The photographs below ("Feodosia earrings on the first") show a small part of the "gold female earrings" discovered during excavations of Scythian burial mounds in completely different places: South Siberia, Tavria, Taman, the Dnieper region, the Volga region. These unique products will have one thing in common - they are truly unique, it is extremely difficult and often impossible to counterfeit them, and they are works of art of ancient Greek antique jewelry masters, whose technologies have been irretrievably lost.
Exactly - in the Scythian mounds lay "ancient Greek gold" !!! Including Siberian and Altai! How it got there, modern "historical science" is absolutely not interested in - but you never know - bought at the bazaar, at a sale!
The only arguments of these "fighters for ancient Greece" is the assertion that the Scythians are nomads, and the nomads are not capable of creating unique masterpieces.
But back to the "Feodosia earrings". So, on the slopes of the Tepe-Oba ridge, an archaeological expedition led by I. Aivazovsky discovered some burial mounds in the amount of about 90 pieces, which were identified as the Greek Necropolis of the 4th century BC. However, 50 years later, a certain German forester F. Siebold, on the same slopes of the Tepe-Oba ridge, found about 30 objects of the medieval hydraulic system of Feodosia, as well as a significant number of ceramic water pipes. Naturally, the ceramic plumbing was not created in the 4th century BC, but much later, in the 15-16th centuries.
It turns out a very amusing picture - the medieval hydraulic system was built straight on the ancient Greek necropolis! Here one of two things - either our ancestors, who built the ceramic water supply system, had no idea about hygiene and sanitation, or someone is openly and blatantly lying. But I don’t think that our ancestors would have started building a hydraulic system in the middle of burial mounds, so the point is different!
By the way, it is known that the Siberian-Aivazovsky expedition revealed the order 90 burial mounds on the Tepe-Oba ridge, that's just where they are, and why have not they survived to this day? And as a rule, all burial mounds where something worthwhile was found has its own name (Kurgan Kul-Oba, Kurgan Solokha, Tsarsky Kurgan, etc.) "? No way.
The same F. Zibold, describing the Tepe-Oba ridge in 1900, mentions, in addition to hydraulic structures, numerous stone ruins of other structures, but these were definitely not burial grounds.
By the way, the big question is why gentlemen historians of the mid-19th century, who allegedly talked about the location of "old Feodosia", did not see these ruins and hydraulic structures, as if they did not exist? Have they been struck by sudden blindness?
But after all, I. Aivazovsky, who was allegedly born in 1817 in Feodosia, should have known for certain about some ruins on Tepe-Oba, which at that time could have had a completely different look.
In the painting by K. Bossoli, depicting Feodosia in 1842, we can observe a rather interesting landscape - fortifications and structures of unknown purpose in the foreground and the city itself in the background, in the valley. It is quite obvious that the Italian artist painted the picture while on the slopes of the Ridge - you will not find more of a similar angle. The question is - what happened to these structures in 15 years? Disappeared without a trace or turned into burial mounds?
It must be admitted that no Greek Necropolis, consisting of Scythian burial mounds, on the Tepe-Oba ridge EVER EXISTED, on the ridge there were structures of a different nature, absolutely incompatible in their purpose with the City of the Dead.
But where, in this case, and when exactly was the archaeological expedition of Siberian-Aivazovsky carried out?
Indeed, in the vicinity of Feodosia there are a lot of incomprehensible heights that can be identified as burial mounds, only they are located mostly in the north and northeast of Feodosia, i.e. on the opposite side of Tepe-Oba. There are several hills, similar to mounds, to the south of the ridge, in the valley of Dvuyakornaya Bay, but these may well be the remains of fortifications.
In any case, in the vicinity of Feodosia for the period of the middle of the 19th century, there were quite a lot of interesting ancient monuments, which, I would venture to suggest, had not yet been plundered and desecrated.
Undoubtedly, a very rich profit awaited the archaeologists-treasure hunters.
And here a very interesting moment arises. The age of many Crimean mounds in Crimea is about 2000 years and more. According to the official history, over these 2000 years dozens of tribes and peoples have passed through Crimea, but for some reason no one had a desire to see what was stored in these very pyramid-mounds until the 19th century, when research and development of ancient monuments began ... Therefore, it should be admitted that from time immemorial, only one people lived on the Crimean Peninsula - a descendant of the Tavro-Scythians - the Russians, in any other case, all the burial grounds and mounds would have been destroyed long before the 19th century. In the 19th century, the owner of the peninsula changed - it became part of the Russian Empire, which, despite its name, did not at all represent the interests of the Russian people, rather the opposite. Therefore, all archaeological expeditions on the Crimean Peninsula, without exception, pursued, by and large, only two goals - to destroy the monuments of the past of the Great People and, if possible, to enrich themselves as much as possible, having torn apart and appropriated the riches that have been accumulating in the territories of the Tauride Peninsula for millennia.
Aivazovsky's Archaeological Expedition is no exception. It is enough to take a closer look at the personality of the chief archaeologist of the expedition, and also antiquary and numismatist - Sibirsky A.A., as well as the personalities of his patron friends J. Reichel, B. Kene, I. Bartolomei, P.-Yu. Sabatier. All these gentlemen clearly not of Russian origin stand at the origins of the creation of the Imperial Archaeological Society, the curator of which was directly the House of Romanovs. Naturally, all these people had the largest collections of jewelry and gold antique coins in Europe. I don’t think it’s worth proving where this wealth came from. This happened in the order of things - most of the looted jewelry and antiques simply remained in the hands of the people who led the "archaeological searches" and then settled in numerous private collections, a smaller part went to museums.
By the way, I. Aivazovsky also had a fairly large jewelry collection, which after the artist's death in 1900 remained his widow - A. Burnazyan - Sarkisova. After the October Revolution, the widow's collection was arranged real hunt, and since the power in Crimea changed several times a year, literally everyone hunted for Aivazovsky's jewelry collection - both the occupying Karaite-German government of Solomon Solomonovich Crimea, a former friend of I. Aivazovsky, and the White Guard "black baron" Wrangel, and the Dzerzhinsky Chekists ... The latter, I must say, have succeeded the most. A. Burnazyan was arrested by the Cheka and spent at least six months in prison, from which she left only after the jewelry collection was handed over to the new authorities.
It is possible that A. Burnazyan managed to preserve some part of the collection, since it is known that during the Great Patriotic War some jewelry from the artist's collection somehow ended up in the hands of the Germans who occupied Feodosia. The further fate of the jewelry collection of I. Aivazovsky is unknown, for it came from the darkness, went into the darkness.
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So, in 1853, the famous Feodosia marine painter I. Aivazovsky received official permission from the Ministry of the Imperial Court and Districts to carry out archaeological work in the area of Feodosia. The purpose of the archaeological research was allegedly the search for "old, antique Feodosia".In the middle of the 19th century, there were allegedly disputes between scientists around the world about the location of medieval Kafa-Feodosia. Someone placed it on the slopes of Tepe-Oba, in the area of Cape St. Ilya, someone at the foot of Karadag, in the area of today's Koktebel, but someone in all seriousness carried ancient Kafa 70 km to the east, to Cape Opuk. But once the famous archaeologist of that time, Siberian A.A. While walking along the slopes of Tepe - Oba, I discovered an ancient Greek coin, presumably 5th century BC. The archaeologist shared his find with the famous Feodosia artist I. Aivazovsky, expressing his opinion about the existence of an "ancient city" in the area of Cape St. Ilya on the slopes of the Tepe-Oba ridge. The artist fully supported the ideas of Sibirskiy A.A. and took a direct part in organizing an archaeological expedition.
Already in the spring of 1853, survey work was in full swing on the slopes of the ridge, almost immediately they were discovered 5 mounds- burial grounds. Four mounds were completely empty, but in the fifth ...! In the fifth, the burial of a woman, presumably 4-5 centuries BC, was discovered, many exquisite ceramic objects, as well as a whole galaxy of interesting jewelry, including the FEODOSIA'S EARRINGS, unique in their craftsmanship. The news of the unique Feodosia find spread all over the world, attracting the attention of numismatists, antique dealers and goldsmiths. Jewelers from all over the world tried to copy the decoration, but to no avail - the technologies of the ancient Greek masters were irretrievably lost. Even famous Carl Faberge, trying to repeat the "Feodosia earrings", suffered a complete fiasco.
Encouraged by the incredible find, I. Aivazovsky with trebled energy continued his archaeological searches, and during the summer-autumn of 1853. uncovered more than 80 mounds in the vicinity of Feodosia, and luck smiled on the artist again - one of the burial grounds on the Tepe-Oba ridge was also full of jewelry. Naturally, all the found jewelry were recounted, described and sent to St. Petersburg, where they were exhibited for all to see in the Hermitage.
According to the results of the archaeological expedition led by I. Aivazovsky, the following conclusion was made - on the slopes of the Tepe-Oba ridge there was a Greek Necropolis, approximately 4-5 centuries BC.
This beautiful story about "Feodosia earrings" can be heard from Feodosia guides or read on numerous "historical" sites. The reality, however, is much harsher and dirtier.
In fact, the number of so-called "antique jewelry" that cannot be copied is quite large and amounts to hundreds and thousands of jewelry. Naturally, this group also includes the so-called "Scythian gold", jewelry found in Scythian burial mounds. The geography of the finds of "Scythian gold" is very extensive - from Altai to the Danube from east to west, and from the White Sea to North Africa from north to south. Many of the "Scythian adornments" are really unique and technologies unknown even at the present time were used to create them. The photographs below ("Feodosia earrings on the first") show a small part of the "gold female earrings" found during excavations of Scythian burial mounds in completely different places: South Siberia, Tavria, Taman, the Dnieper region, the Volga region. These unique products will have one thing in common - they are truly unique, it is extremely difficult and often impossible to counterfeit them, and they are works of art of ancient Greek antique jewelry masters, whose technologies have been irretrievably lost.
Exactly - in the Scythian mounds lay "ancient Greek gold" !!! Including Siberian and Altai! How it got there, modern "historical science" is absolutely not interested in - but you never know - bought at the bazaar, at a sale!
The only arguments of these "fighters for ancient Greece" is the assertion that the Scythians are nomads, and the nomads are not capable of creating unique masterpieces.
But back to the "Feodosia earrings". So, on the slopes of the Tepe-Oba ridge, an archaeological expedition led by I. Aivazovsky discovered some burial mounds in the amount of about 90 pieces, which were identified as the Greek Necropolis of the 4th century BC. However, 50 years later, a certain German forester F. Siebold, on the same slopes of the Tepe-Oba ridge, found about 30 objects of the medieval hydraulic system of Feodosia, as well as a significant number of ceramic water pipes. Naturally, the ceramic plumbing was not created in the 4th century BC, but much later, in the 15-16th centuries.
It turns out a very amusing picture - the medieval hydraulic system was built straight on the ancient Greek necropolis! Here one of two things - either our ancestors, who built the ceramic water supply system, had no idea about hygiene and sanitation, or someone is openly and blatantly lying. But I don’t think that our ancestors would have started building a hydraulic system in the middle of burial mounds, so the point is different!
By the way, it is known that the Siberian-Aivazovsky expedition revealed the order 90 burial mounds on the Tepe-Oba ridge, that's just where they are, and why have not they survived to this day? And as a rule, all burial mounds where something worthwhile was found has its own name (Kurgan Kul-Oba, Kurgan Solokha, Tsarsky Kurgan, etc.) "? No way.
The same F. Zibold, describing the Tepe-Oba ridge in 1900, mentions, in addition to hydraulic structures, numerous stone ruins of other structures, but these were definitely not burial grounds.
By the way, the big question is why gentlemen historians of the mid-19th century, who allegedly talked about the location of "old Feodosia", did not see these ruins and hydraulic structures, as if they did not exist? Have they been struck by sudden blindness?
But after all, I. Aivazovsky, who was allegedly born in 1817 in Feodosia, should have known for certain about some ruins on Tepe-Oba, which at that time could have had a completely different look.
In the painting by K. Bossoli, depicting Feodosia in 1842, we can observe a rather interesting landscape - fortifications and structures of unknown purpose in the foreground and the city itself in the background, in the valley. It is quite obvious that the Italian artist painted the picture while on the slopes of the Ridge - you will not find more of a similar angle. The question is - what happened to these structures in 15 years? Disappeared without a trace or turned into burial mounds?
It must be admitted that no Greek Necropolis, consisting of Scythian burial mounds, on the Tepe-Oba ridge EVER EXISTED, on the ridge there were structures of a different nature, absolutely incompatible in their purpose with the City of the Dead.
But where, in this case, and when exactly was the archaeological expedition of Siberian-Aivazovsky carried out?
Indeed, in the vicinity of Feodosia there are a lot of incomprehensible heights that can be identified as burial mounds, only they are located mostly in the north and northeast of Feodosia, i.e. on the opposite side of Tepe-Oba. There are several hills, similar to mounds, to the south of the ridge, in the valley of Dvuyakornaya Bay, but these may well be the remains of fortifications.
In any case, in the vicinity of Feodosia for the period of the middle of the 19th century, there were quite a lot of interesting ancient monuments, which, I would venture to suggest, had not yet been plundered and desecrated.
Undoubtedly, a very rich profit awaited the archaeologists-treasure hunters.
And here a very interesting moment arises. The age of many Crimean mounds in Crimea is about 2000 years and more. According to the official history, over these 2000 years dozens of tribes and peoples have passed through Crimea, but for some reason no one had a desire to see what was stored in these very pyramid-mounds until the 19th century, when research and development of ancient monuments began ... Therefore, it should be admitted that from time immemorial, only one people lived on the Crimean Peninsula - a descendant of the Tavro-Scythians - the Russians, in any other case, all the burial grounds and mounds would have been destroyed long before the 19th century. In the 19th century, the owner of the peninsula changed - it became part of the Russian Empire, which, despite its name, did not at all represent the interests of the Russian people, rather the opposite. Therefore, all archaeological expeditions on the Crimean Peninsula, without exception, pursued, by and large, only two goals - to destroy the monuments of the past of the Great People and, if possible, to enrich themselves as much as possible, having torn apart and appropriated the riches that have been accumulating in the territories of the Tauride Peninsula for millennia.
Aivazovsky's Archaeological Expedition is no exception. It is enough to take a closer look at the personality of the chief archaeologist of the expedition, and also antiquary and numismatist - Sibirsky A.A., as well as the personalities of his patron friends J. Reichel, B. Kene, I. Bartolomei, P.-Yu. Sabatier. All these gentlemen clearly not of Russian origin stand at the origins of the creation of the Imperial Archaeological Society, the curator of which was directly the House of Romanovs. Naturally, all these people had the largest collections of jewelry and gold antique coins in Europe. I don’t think it’s worth proving where this wealth came from. This happened in the order of things - most of the looted jewelry and antiques simply remained in the hands of the people who led the "archaeological searches" and then settled in numerous private collections, a smaller part went to museums.
By the way, I. Aivazovsky also had a fairly large jewelry collection, which after the artist's death in 1900 remained his widow - A. Burnazyan - Sarkisova. After the October Revolution, the widow's collection was arranged real hunt, and since the power in Crimea changed several times a year, literally everyone hunted for Aivazovsky's jewelry collection - both the occupying Karaite-German government of Solomon Solomonovich Crimea, a former friend of I. Aivazovsky, and the White Guard "black baron" Wrangel, and the Dzerzhinsky Chekists ... The latter, I must say, have succeeded the most. A. Burnazyan was arrested by the Cheka and spent at least six months in prison, from which she left only after the jewelry collection was handed over to the new authorities.
It is possible that A. Burnazyan managed to preserve some part of the collection, since it is known that during the Great Patriotic War some jewelry from the artist's collection somehow ended up in the hands of the Germans who occupied Feodosia. The further fate of the jewelry collection of I. Aivazovsky is unknown, for it came from the darkness, went into the darkness.
