Persian - Sarmatian Tribal King’s Ritual Gold Pectoral Necklace & Amulet 1st BC – 2 AD Press Release!
"...What is unusually rare about these artifacts is that the ancient pair represents the most Holy Symbol of ISLAM – The Crescent Moon and The Star and The Pleiades Star Cluster..
which were widely practised by both the Persians and Sarmatians at that time. Birds and circular shapes at both ends of the necklace symbolize the ability or worthiness of the bearer to reach or be one with the Moon and the Stars.
The Gold Necklace was worn directly on the chest (hence Pectoral) to display power and wealth of the bearer. Throughout various civilizations gold pectoral necklaces always represented a symbol of power and were worn only by royalty.
It was also concluded that the Necklace might hold a message or storyline within these images as well as be much older that it’s current dating. The possibility of Necklace’s older age is supported by two facts – stylistically almost no analogues of similar Sarmatian items have ever been seen, found or heard and all Sarmatian items that are known were made by a much different process. This Necklace can in fact be entirely Persian or Post-Sumerian that was passed down through generations ending up in the Sarmatian tribes.
It is important to note the reason for the Necklace’s and Amulet attribution to both – the Persian and Sarmatian cultures. Stylistically the artifacts possess definite Persian attributes that have little analogs to Sarmatian culture. That said, the location where the Necklace was found, the Pontus / Bosporus Kingdom, clearly points to the territory of the Sarmatians. What bridges these two cultures is common history which states that Sarmatians were Iranian people who migrated throughout Eurasia and settled in Balkans and Eastern Europe. This information supports the above stated facts that these artifacts were either inherited, perhaps captured and even traded by Sarmatians from Persian tribes.
The Necklace is beautifully decorated with dotted pattern triangles / pyramids, seven Carnelian (cornelian) stones, circular ornaments and two symbolic birds. It is in very good condition, and almost completely intact. Its structure consists of a single solid gold sheet cover that sits on internal silver-alloy frame. The only significant damage that the Necklace sustained is one crack of the internal silver-alloy frame in the left-central part of the crescent. To note, this did not damage the gold cover and the crack was successfully repaired by the National Restoration Center of Lithuania (European Union).
The Gold Pectoral Amulet consists of five Cornelian stones set on a decorated gold sheet cover and the entire composition rests on a silver-alloy amulet base. There is slight damage seen on the entire amulet primarily on the top left corner and on the central cornelian stone.
The Amulet was preserved by experts from the National Restoration Center of Lithuania (European Union) from further deterioration.
The fact that these two artifacts survived to this day as a pair makes them a truly rare archaeological discovery.
Rarity of these artifacts is very high. There are very few pectoral gold necklaces of this age in the world, most of which are located in recognized National Museums. A pair of fully intact gold ritual jewelery that belonged to a tribal leader who lived more than
