Silver Kithara from Old Nisa

Abstract

The article covers attribution problems of the silver artifact, which was discovered in the so-called “Big Square House” (probably a treasure house) in the course of the excavations at Old Nisa. Old Nisa was the fortress that bore the name “Fortress of Mithradates” (Parth. Mithradatkirt) in the ancient times. The common opinion is that the silver artifact is the parade hatchet, which could have been produced in the Greco-Iranian culture milieu of Central Asia, in the 2nd century BC. This ceremonial axe served as a sign of martial power for the Parthian king or it could have been produced outside of the Parthian realm and had reached Old Nisa as a gift or booty. According to the author’s opinion, this silver artifact is the kithara arm and the cylindrical yoke with tuning pins triangular in cross-section. Silver kithara had originally been a part of a bronze or a silver statue. Its reconstructed height is c. 0,8 – 1 m. Large-scale silver statues have not survived from antiquity, as most of them were melted down so that their precious metal could be reused. We cannot claim to recognize it with certainty, who was the musician. The kithara was naturally Apollo’s music instrument, but various figures could be depicted playing kithara: Eros, Hyacinth, Muses, maenads, poets, centaurs, etc. The pictorial witnesses belonging to Hellenistic age have also been discussed. The silver kithara from Old Nisa can be dated on stylistic grounds in the IIIrd – Ist cc. BC. The article includes two reconstruction drawings of the silver kithara with seven and eleven strings.