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Sampul tapestry

Coordinates:37°01′13″N80°06′47″E/ 37.020199°N 80.113078°E/37.020199; 80.113078
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Sampul tapestry
Full length
Detail
ProbableYuezhisoldier in red jacket and trousers, in the Sampul tapestry. Embroidered in Hellenistic style, with motif of acentaur,1st century AD, Sampul,ÜrümqiXin gian g Region Museum.[1]
MaterialEmbroided tapestry
Created1st century AD
DiscoveredSampul,37°01′13″N80°06′47″E/ 37.020199°N 80.113078°E/37.020199; 80.113078

Sampul tapestryis an ancient woolen wall-hanging found at theTarim Basinsettlement ofSampulinLop County,Hotan Prefecture,Xin gian g,China,[2]close to the ancient city ofKhotan.[3]The object has manyHellenistic periodfeatures, including aGreekcentauranddiadem,linking it to theGreco-Bactrian Kingdom(formed after the conquest of theAchaemenid EmpirebyAlexander the GreatofMacedonand establishment of theSeleucid Empire). It may represent aYuezhisoldier, in red jacket and trousers, from the 1st century CE.[4][5]Alternatively, the soldier (king) is possibly a Greco-Bactrian,[6]an Hellenized Saka or a Greco-Saka military aristocrat.[7]The man's head features (cheek, mouth, blue eyes,[8]nose,hairband) and the spear representation are modeled similarly with the depiction ofAlexander the Greaton a medallion found from Roman Egypt (215-243 AD)[9]and could represent the king.[10]Overall, the Sampul tapestry belongs to the Greco-Bactrian culture.

Description[edit]

The full tapestry is 48 cm wide and 230 cm long.[11]The centaur fragment is 45 cm by 55 cm, warrior's face fragment is 48 cm by 52 cm.[12]The recovered tapestry only constitutes the left decorative border of what would be a much bigger wall hanging.[12]

Made of wool,[13]it comprises 24 threads of various colours.

Thetapestrydepicts a man withCaucasoidfeatures,[14](including blue eyes),[15]and acentaur.[16]If lost fabric is accounted for, the soldier would be about six times as tall as the centaur.[17]The subject is identified as a warrior by the spear he is holding in his hand as well as a dagger tucked on his waist.[18]He wears a tunic with rosette motifs.[19]His headband could be adiadem,a symbol of kingship in the Hellenistic world – and represented onMacedonianand otherancient Greek coinage.

The centaur is playing a horn (salpinx) while wearing a cape and a hood.[20]Surrounding him is a diamond-shaped floral ornament.[12]His cape is made of theNemean lionskin and the centaur is a reference to bothHeraclesandChiron(the mentor ofAchilles).[21]

Due to heavylootingat the location, the dating of the material is uncertain. It has been assigned dates from the 3rd century BC to the 4th century AD.[12][15][22][23][24]

Discovery[edit]

Thecentaur,with floral decorations.

The tapestry was excavated in 1983–1984 at an ancient burial ground in Sampul (Shanpula), 30 km east ofHotan(Khotan), in theTarim Basin.[25]

The tapestry was, curiously, fashioned into a pair of man's trousers (all the other trousers found in Sampul had no decoration).[26]

Origin[edit]

Tapestry with head ofHermesand his staffcaduceus,discovered byAurel SteininLoulan Kingdom.[27]

It is uncertain where the tapestry was made, although theGreco-Bactrian Kingdomin Central Asia has been suggested to be a possibility. The technique used for the tapestry, with more than 24 threads of different colours, is a typically Western one. The centaur's cape and hood are a central Asian modification of the Greek motif.[28]The fact that he plays a horn also distinguishes him from the Greek prototypes.[12]Flower diamond motif on the warrior'slapelis of central Asian origin.[22]Certain motifs, particularly the animal head on the soldier's dagger, suggest that the tapestry originated in the kingdom ofParthiain northern Iran.[29]

Romehas also been proposed as a possible source.[29]Another suggestion is that it is locally made as Tang annalNew Book of Tangmentioned that local people of Khotan were good at textile and tapestry work whenEmperor Wu of Han(r. 141-87 BC) opened the Silk Road to Khotan during the first century BC. The tapestry may have been made roughly a century before theHan Chineseconquestof theTarim Basinunder Wudi.[30]Hellenistic tapestries have also been found inLoulanbyAurel Stein,indicating a cultural link between Loulan and Khotan.[30]

Significance[edit]

The existence of this tapestry tends to suggest that contacts between the Hellenistic kingdoms of Central Asia and theTarim Basin,at the edge of the Chinese world, occurred from around the 3rd century BC.[citation needed]

Exhibition history[edit]

The tapestry is on permanent display in the Xin gian g Museum,Ürümqi,China.[24]

Centaur and head fragments of the tapestry have been a part of a major exhibitionChina: Dawn of a Golden Age, 200–750 AD,held at theMetropolitan Museum of Art,New York,from 12 October 2004 to 23 January 2005.[31][32]

From 18 February to 5 June 2011, they were displayed at thePenn Museum,Philadelphia,in exhibitionSecrets of the Silk Road.[33][34]

See also[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toSampul tapestry.

Notes[edit]

  1. ^Yatsenko, Sergey A. (2012)."Yuezhi on Bactrian Embroidery from Textiles Found at Noyon uul, Mongolia"(PDF).The Silk Road.10:45–46.
  2. ^Wood 2002, p. 37, p. 255
  3. ^Christopoulos, Lucas (August 2012), "Hellenes and Romans in Ancient China (240 BC – 1398 AD)," in Victor H. Mair (ed),Sino-Platonic Papers,No. 230, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, University of Pennsylvania Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, p. 15, ISSN 2157-9687.
  4. ^Yatsenko, Sergey A. (2012)."Yuezhi on Bactrian Embroidery from Textiles Found at Noyon uul, Mongolia"(PDF).The Silk Road.10:45–46.
  5. ^Betts, Alison; Vicziany, Marika; Jia, Peter Weiming; Castro, Angelo Andrea Di (19 December 2019).The Cultures of Ancient Xin gian g, Western China: Crossroads of the Silk Roads.Archaeopress Publishing Ltd. p. 104.ISBN978-1-78969-407-9.
  6. ^The ornamental trousers from Sampula (Xin gian g, China): their origins and Biography. Antiquity 83 (2009): 1065-1075. p.6
  7. ^Lucas, Christopoulos; Dionysian rituals and the Golden Zeus of China pp.63-118
  8. ^According to Pseudo-Callisthenes, Alexander right eye was heavily-lidded and black/dark blue (kuanoblefaron) and the left one was blue (glaukos). Ps.-Callisthenes, Bios Alexandrou 1.13.3 (ca AD 300); Brown 19 49; Stewart 1993, 346, T 18.
  9. ^"Medallion with Alexander the Great | the Walters Art Museum".
  10. ^Christopoulos, Lucas (August 2021). "Hellenes and Romans in Ancient China" Sino-Platonic Papers. 230. p.15
  11. ^Hansen 2012, p. 285, fn. 6
  12. ^abcdeZhao 2004, p. 194
  13. ^Wood 2002, p. 37; Zhao 2004, p. 194
  14. ^Time Life 1993, p. 81; Wood 2002, p. 37; Hansen 2012, p. 202
  15. ^abTime Life 1993, p. 81
  16. ^Time Life 1993, p. 81; Wood 2002, p. 37; Hansen 2012, pl. 13 image + text, p. 202
  17. ^Zhao 2004, p.195
  18. ^Zhao 2004, p. 194; Hansen 2012, p. 202
  19. ^Alexander the great was wearing a mixed Persian and Median dress until the end of his career. Plut. Life of Alexander 45.
  20. ^Hansen 2012, pl. 13 text; Zhao 2004, p. 194
  21. ^Christopoulos, Lucas (August 2021). "Hellenes and Romans in Ancient China" Sino-Platonic Papers. 230. p.15
  22. ^abHansen 2012, pl. 13 text
  23. ^Image galleryfor theSecrets of the Silk Roadexhibition at thePenn Museum
  24. ^abWood 2002, p. 255
  25. ^Wood 2002, p. 37, p. 255; Zhao 2004, p. 194; Hansen 2012, p. 201
  26. ^Hansen 2012, pl. 13 text, p. 202
  27. ^Rowland, Benjamin (1974).The Art of Central Asia.Art of the World. New York: Crown Publishers. p. 44.ISBN9780517516607.
  28. ^Zhao 2004, p. 194; Hansen 2012, pl. 13 text
  29. ^abHansen 2012, p. 202
  30. ^abLucas, Christopoulos (August 2012)."Hellenes and Romans in Ancient China (240 BC – 1398 AD)"(PDF).Sino-Platonic Papers(230): 9–20.ISSN2157-9687.
  31. ^Zhao 2004
  32. ^China: Dawn of a Golden Age, 200–750 ADat theMetropolitan Museum of Art
  33. ^Sheng 2010, p. 33, pp. 38–39
  34. ^Secrets of the Silk RoadArchived2018-09-02 at theWayback Machineat thePenn Museum

References[edit]

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