Scythian Ewe

Phyllis Taplitz

A depiction of part of the Golden Pectoral from Tovsta Mohyla, a gold Scythian collar from around the 4th century BC. Within the 24 karat gold collar - made by a Greek goldsmith of individually cast figures and decorations that were then soldered together - are three sections of imagery, the first (or top) section depicting everyday life of Scythians, the second a decorative representation of nature featuring various flora, and the third a representation of Scythian cosmology and mythology. This etching borrows a detail from the first section, that of the figure of a Scythian shepherd milking a ewe, found on the collar's left side.

The Scythians were an ancient Iranic equestrian nomadic tribe, whose territory stretched from Eastern Iran to the Pontic Steppes in modern day Ukraine.