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ABOUT THE DISCOVERY OF A SASSANID CUP IN THE URSDON GORGE OF NORTH OSSETIA
Tsutsiev, Aslan A.
Kavkaz Forum. 2026. Issue 26.
Abstract:
In 1938, in the village of Tsamad in the Ursdon Gorge of North Ossetia, archaeologist Evgeniya Pchelina purchased a medieval silver vessel (a stemless cup) of Iranian manufacture from a local resident, Giorgi Cherchesty. That same year, the object was transferred to the State Hermitage Museum for permanent storage, where it remains today. Despite nearly 90 years having passed since the purchase of the «Ursdon» Sassanian cup, several disputes remain regarding both its ownership and the date of its discovery. This paper presents some little-known and new facts about the circumstances of the Cherchesov family’s chance discovery of the Sassanian cup in the Arv area near the village of Tsamad in North Ossetia. Original documents, discovered in North Ossetian archival institutions and provided to the author by members of the Cherchesov family, are published for the first time. New data allows for a reasoned critique of the published information regarding the supposed age of the relic’s owner, which, in the author’s opinion, is significantly overstated. Furthermore, a new date for the find is proposed: 1871. It is highly likely that the item was removed from the village of Tsamad to Vladikavkaz in the fall of 1938, and that the State Hermitage Museum paid for its purchase in 1939.
Keywords: Sassanid cup, North Ossetian Museum of Local History, State Hermitage Museum, toreutics, Alania.
Language: Russian
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 For citation: Tsutsiev, A.A. On the discovery of a Sassanid cup in the Ursdon Gorge of North Ossetia. KAVKAZ-FORUM. 2026, iss. 26 (33), pp. 161-170. (In Russian). ← Contents of issue |
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