:''Solokha is also the name of a witch in

Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...

's opera Christmas Eve.'' :''Solokha is also a hamlet at .'' Scythian comb

The Solokha ()

kurgan A kurgan is a type of tumulus constructed over a grave, often characterized by containing a single human body along with grave vessels, weapons and horses. Originally in use on the Pontic–Caspian steppe, kurgans spread into much of Central As ...

is on the left bank of the

Dnieper } The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and ...

, 18 km from Kamianka-Dniprovska, opposite Nikopol, in central

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. It has a height of 19 m and a diameter of about 100 m, dating to the early 4th century BC. The burial mound contained two royal

Scythian The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Centra ...

tombs, the central tomb had been robbed already in antiquity, but still contained the remains of a female ruler and two horses in rich attire, while the side tomb was found intact by the 1912–13 campaign by the Russian archaeologist N. I. Veselovski. The intact lateral tomb yielded spectacular treasures. It contained the remains of a male ruler, completely covered in gold. He had been buried with his weapon bearer, a servant and five horses. He was armed with bronze greaves, a bronze helmet, and a sword in a sheath covered with gold sheets and a quiver covered in silver containing 80 bronze arrowheads. The most notable find in the grave, however, was a golden

comb A comb is a tool consisting of a shaft that holds a row of teeth for pulling through the hair to clean, untangle, or style it. Combs have been used since prehistoric times, having been discovered in very refined forms from settlements dating ba ...

with an extremely detailed group of three fighting warriors worked in gold. The comb, as well as other finds, are part of the

Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the largest ...

's holdings of

Scythian art Scythian art is the art associated with Scythian cultures, primarily decorative objects, such as jewellery, produced by the nomadic tribes of the area known as Scythia, which encompassed Central Asia, parts of Eastern Europe east of the Vistula Ri ...

. The site appears to have confirmed the historicity of an account of

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...

.Piotrovsky, 30 It is in an area where according to Herodotus the "royal Scythians" buried their kings, the land of

Gerrhos Gerrhos (Greek "reed-swamp") is a place in Scythia essential to interpreting Herodotus' world-map, for it formed one of the corners of the great square that defined Scythia. A more familiar ''Gerrhos'' or reed-swamp — from the Alexandrian poin ...

, corresponding approximately to the modern

Zaporizhia Oblast Zaporizhzhia Oblast ( uk, Запорі́зька о́бласть, translit=Zaporizka oblast), also referred to as Zaporizhzhia ( uk, Запорі́жжя, links=no), is an oblast (province) of southeast Ukraine. Its capital is Zaporizhzhia. The ...

Notes

{{Reflist

References

* Piotrovsky, Boris, et al. "Excavations and Discoveries in Scythian Lands", in ''From the Lands of the Scythians: Ancient Treasures from the Museums of the U.S.S.R., 3000 B.C.–100 B.C.'' The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 32, no. 5 (1974)
available online as a series of PDFs
(bottom of the page).

Literature

*Schiltz, Véronique, ''Kelermès et Solokha'', Les Dossiers d'archéologie ISSN 1141-7137, no 259 (2000–2001), 20–23. * Алексеев А.Ю. К идентификации погребений кургана Солоха //Тез. докл. междунар. конф. «Проблемы скифо-сарматской археологии Северного Причерноморья», посвящ. 95-летию со дня рождения профессора Б.Н.Гракова. – Запорожье, 1994. – II. * Алексеев А.Ю. Гребень из кургана Солоха в контексте династической истории Скифии //Эрмитажные чтения памяти Б.Б.Пиотровского. Тез. докл. – Санкт-Петербург, 1996. * Кузнецов C. В. Щиты на золотом гребне из кургана «Солоха» //Проблемы ски-фо-сарматской археологии Северного Причерноморья (К 100-летию Б.Н.Гракова). – Запорожье, 1999.Мозолевський Б.М. Солоха // Мозолевський Б.М. Скіфський степ. – Київ, 1983. - С. 83-94 * Манцевич А.П. Гребень и фиала из кургана Солоха //СА. – 1951. – XIII. * Манцевич А.П. Золотой гребень из кургана Солоха. – Ленинград: Изд-во ГЭ, 1962. * Манцевич А.П. Горит из кургана Солоха //ТГЭ. – 1962. – Т.3. * Манцевич А.П. Курган Солоха. Публикация одной коллекции. – Ленинград:Искусство, 1987. * Половцова С. Объяснение изображений на драгоценных вещах из Солохи проф. Свороносом //ИАК. – 1918. – Вып. 65. * Русяева М.В. Золотой гребень из кургана Солоха //VI чтения памяти профессора В.Д.Блаватского. К 100-летию со дня рождения. Тезисы докладов 21-22 мая 1999 г. – М., 1999. – С.96-97. * Русяева М.В. Сцена охоты на чаше из кургана Солоха // V Боспорские чтения. Боспор Киммерийский и варварский мир в период античности и средневековья. Этнические процессы. – Керчь, 2004. – С. 301–306. * Русяева М.В. Серебряная чаша из кургана Солоха // Боспорские исследования. – Вып. IX. – Керчь, 2005. – C. 112–126. * Фармаковский Б.В. Горит из кургана Солоха //ИРАИМК. – 1922. – II.

External links

*http://hermitage.informbureau.com/the_hermitage_-_the_department_of_prehistoric_culture.htm __NOTOC__ Scythians Archaeological sites in Ukraine Archaeological collections of the Hermitage Museum Iranian archaeological sites Kurgans