Нововавилонская печать в контексте могильника сарматской эпохи у станицы Тбилисской

Археология евразийских степей. 2026. № 1. С. 287–292.

Bodrova M.

The article examines a Neo-Babylonian seal discovered among the grave goods of a Sarmatian burial in Kurgan No. 3 near the village of Tbilisskaya (Pre-Caucasus region). Although the burial itself dates to the late 1st – early 2nd century CE, the seal’s iconography and carving technique indicate its origin in the Neo-Babylonian cultural sphere of the 6th–5th centuries BCE. The seal depicts a human figure in a gesture of worship before the symbols of the gods Marduk and Nabu. It is made in the "cut-and-drilled" style and bears a cuneiform inscription similar to those found on the prints from the Persepolis Administrative Archive. The author traces a possible "cultural biography" of the seal, exploring its presence in the Babylonian, Achaemenid, and Sarmatian eras Presumably the image on the seal during the last period of its existence may have been interpreted as a ritual scene, based on its context among the burial equipment found near the village of Tbilisskaya. Three complexes of burial grounds contained iron tripods with zoomorphic tops, which the author interprets as altars associated with fire worship. This suggests that the seal was not a random or outlandish object, but rather one that retained its significance over centuries in different cultures.

Keywords: intercultural contacts, межэтнические и межкультурные контакты, Прикубанье, сарматская эпоха, ritual practices, Sarmatian period, Pre-Caucasus, Neo-Babylonian seal, нововавилонская печать, ритуальная практика