Alexandria's founded by Alexander

Alexandria's founded by Alexander the Great (by year BC): 334 Alexandria in Troia (Turkey) - 333 Alexandria at Issus/Alexandrette (Iskenderun, Turkey) - 332 Alexandria of Caria/by the Latmos (Alinda, Turkey) - 331 Alexandria Mygdoniae - 331 Alexandria (Egypt) - 330 Alexandria Ariana (Herat, Afghanistan) - 330 Alexandria of the Prophthasia/in Dragiana/Phrada (Farah, Afghanistan) - 330 Alexandria in Arachosia (Kandahar, Afghanistan) - 330 Alexandria in the Caucasus (Begram, Afghanistan) - 329 Alexandria of the Paropanisades (Ghazni, Afghanistan) - 329 Alexandria Eschate or Ultima (Khodjend, Tajikistan) - 329 Alexandria on the Oxus (Termez, Afghanistan) - 328 Alexandria in Margiana (Merv, Turkmenistan) - 326 Alexandria Nicaea (on the Hydaspes, India) - 326 Alexandria Bucephala (on the Hydaspes, India) - 325 Alexandria Sogdia - 325 Alexandria Oreitide - 325 Alexandria in Opiene / Alexandria on the Indus (confluence of Indus & Acesines, India) - 325 Alexandria Rambacia (Bela, Pakistan) - 325 Alexandria Xylinepolis (Patala, India) - 325 Alexandria in Carminia (Gulashkird, Iran) - 324 Alexandria-on-the-Tigris/Antiochia-in-Susiana/Charax (Spasinou Charax on the Tigris, Iraq) - ?Alexandria of Carmahle? (Kahnu)

Wednesday, May 8, 2024

The remarkable Illyrian helmet

Illyrian helmets truly stand out and are immediately recognizable. Their particularity is the rectangular opening for the face and two parallel ridges on the top of the crown for the crest.


They may be found all over the Balkan but also in Macedonia and Greece proper and evolved from the 8th to the 3rd century BC. The earliest version had a low crown and lacked a neck guard. It was soon followed by a helmet with a more pronounced back guard, the typical horizontal ribs, and a decorative edge around the face often using a series of studs. The most recent model showed elongated cheek pieces and a simple decoration around the edges.
 
An early example is in the Museum of Olympia, Greece which dates from the end of the 7th century/beginning 6th century BC. It clearly shows the framing studs. The horizontal ribs are already more pronounced than those shown in my previous post, A rare Illyrian Helmet.

 

The Archaeological Museum in Athens has two beautiful specimens from the 6th century BC. One is this helmet from Pengaion,  550-500 BC
 
The other is the very telling Funerary Mask (see top picture) from 530-510 BC, which is missing the horizontal slit for the crest between the ridges. It is framing the face of the deceased covered in gold foil.

 

As expected, the Museum of Tirana in Albania has a well-preserved helmet on display. It has been dated to 550-500 BC.

 



The Illyrian helmets are in the news after excavations of the burial mounds on the Peljesac Peninsula in Croatia. Several tombs from the 4th century BC yielded well-preserved Illyrian helmets that have been dated to the 6th century BC.
 
The eastern Adriatic coast looks very promising since at least a dozen helmets were found in Dalmatia, and even more in Herzegovina.

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