Pitcher, with a ritual hunt scene

Pitcher, with a ritual hunt scene
Material	clay
Size	12.2 x 16 cm
Created	12th-11th centuries BC
Discovered	Dilijan, Armenia
Present location	History Museum of Armenia
Identification	1919-1

Pitcher, with a ritual hunt scene, is a polished, black, convex, short-neck pitcher. It is kept in the History Museum of Armenia under the number 1919-1.

History

With the pitcher's dot design and engraving decoration, the body's top part is presented as a ritual procession plot. On the hood of the two-wheeled chariot, there is a human figure standing with his arms wide open, and in his hand a whip-shaped object. The chariot is drawn by two horses. In front of them, there is another human figure with his hands in the air, either praying or performing sorcery. A little further from them, around the perimeter of the container, there are six rows of animals. In the front, there is an animal walking with a long tail, snout, and long ears resembling a dog, who is followed by goats with similar posture and features, and one baby goat. The goats have long and curved horns, with standing short tails. While all the goats are facing one way, there is one goat facing the opposite, with a stretched neck.

The picture is linked to animal worship, fertility, and the beliefs of conception.

References

• Hasmik Israelian - Cults and Beliefs in the Late Bronze Age of Armenia, Yerevan, 1973
• View from the Bronze Age, album-catalog, History Museum of Armenia, 2010
• Հայացք բրոնզե դարից, Ալբոմ-կատալոգ, Հայաստանի պատմության թանգարան, 2016, 160 էջ: A Glance from the Bronze Age. Yerevan, History Museum of Armenia, 2016, 160 pages