Scythian Gold Ritual Vessel with Drinking Scenes

4th century BC
A superb gold vessel of a conical shape, beaten from a single sheet with low-relief frieze; side A: an opposed pair of seated noblemen wearing crossover riding coats with pointillé detailing to the skirt and resting on a low stool, each extending a hand to grasp a drinking horn, jug or pot set to the rear; to side B: a similar scene lacking the pot; tapering to the flat base with ropework border and rosette; small circular hole to the bottom. 59 grams, 55mm diameter (2 1/4"). Very fine condition. Rare.
Provenance
Property of a European businessman; from his private Belgian collection formed in the 1990s; previously in the North American collection of Ms Andrea Mansees, Chicago, Illinois, 1950s-1990s; accompanied by a scientific report by Dr. habil. Mikhail Treister, Ancient Toreutics and Jewellery in Eastern Europe, Bonn, report number 130/2019.
Literature
For a similar shaped gold cup see the excavations at the kurgan of Sengileevskoe-2, Satvropol, Southern Russia.
Footnotes
The Greek historian Herodotus is one of the earliest sources for the Scythians. He tells us that they called themselves Skudat, meaning 'archers' and that they were nomadic people who covered a vast area; they were known by the Chinese who built the Great Wall to protect themselves against their raids. The gold vessels recently excavated at Sengileevskoe-2, Stavropol, also have holes to the base and were found to have a black residue inside that, when tested, was found to be a mixture of cannabis and opium. Herodotus mentions the use of drugs in Scythian rituals: 'That no Grecian vapour-bath can surpass … transported by the vapour, they shout aloud.' A number of Scythian burials have been excavated where bags of hemp seeds have been found alongside the deceased. What Herodotus tells about Scythian customs has often been corroborated by archaeologists. Examples are the human sacrifices, the use of skulls as vessels, drinking the blood of slain enemies, the funerary rituals, the existence of female warriors, and the use of cannabis and opium to get 'high'. Herodotus may have learned all this from Greeks who lived on the Scythian coast.