Tag Archive | Treasure

Luxury and Power: Persia to Greece

Jul4

One of the current exhibitions at the British Museum is Luxury and Power: Persia to Greece and as always, there is an exhibition catalogue which is written by James Fraser, Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones and Henry Cosmo Bishop-Wright. As with all BM catalogues, it is so much more than that. There are beautiful photos of the objects in the exhibition and some context for what they are, and there is also an exploration of the meaning of luxury.

People convey status in a variety of ways and almost all societies and cultures have differences in status, no matter how egalitarian. The book looks at how the Achaemenid Persian empire, a highly hierarchical political system based on kingship, used luxury to communication extreme wealth and power. The possession of fabulously costly objects set royalty and nobles apart. The wealth needed to have the objects created was out of reach of almost everyone. There is also a luxury in the impracticality of many of these things. To be able to afford the inconvenience of wearing pounds of gold and gems as jewellery and clothing means that you can have others serve you, that you don’t have to carry out even the smallest task for yourself.

As the Greek city states, led by Athens, became more powerful the Greeks defined themselves in opposition to the Persians. Luxury wasn’t power and status, it was decadence and decline. Which is not to say that Greeks weren’t wealthy, just that ostentatious displays of luxury were associated with the enemy, with all the things that Greeks were not. Wealth was poured into social projects, especially temples and public architecture. Luxury was used to express the power and status of the state rather than the king and his family.

Luxury and Power: Persia to Greece is an interesting look at concepts that have always been present in societies in all ages. It provokes thought about how luxury and power are expressed and used today. The book itself is a lovely hardback with purple inside covers and gold embossing. Not quite the kind of luxury on display in the book/exhibition, but unnecessary enough to feel special.

The Sutton Hoo Helmet

Jun4

The Sutton Hoo Helmet is the second of the British Museum Objects in Focus series that I’ve read. There’s seven of them in the series so far.

It is an in-depth look at an iconic object in the Museum’s collection, and is another of my favourites. The Sutton Hoo helmet is a finely crafted helmet, both fully functional as armour and exquisitely decorated with gold and garnet.

The book talks about the excavation of Sutton Hoo, which was not straightforward, and the effort involved in discovering the treasure hoard. The helmet was in many tiny pieces and putting it together took years. Indeed the first attempt was later decided to be wrong and it had to be taken apart, carefully, and reconstructed again. Putting the helmet in context with similar finds across Northern Europe, based on the decoration and shape, gave the scientists a better idea of what it would have looked like.

And, of course, the best bit is the model of what it is now thought to have been, made by the Royal Armouries in the 1970s. This is also in the Museum alongside the reconstructed original.

Finally, the book covers the candidates for the occupant of the tomb. It is made difficult because dating the helmet can only give an approximate date within a hundred-year range. These are fascinating little books and I’ll be getting another one as soon as I next get to the Museum.

 

Seven Viking Romances

Aug27

I’ve had this book on my shelf for a long time, wanting to read it but thinking it might be hard work. Seven Viking Romances, translated by Hermann Pálsson and Paul Edwards, is a collection of Viking adventure stories.

 

These tales are less serious than the Icelandic Sagas and have many more fantastical elements. There are seven stories, drawn from several centuries, with a common theme of raiding, pillaging and  theft.

This book was an easier read than I thought it would be, in large part because the stories are meant to be entertaining and funny. They are essentially episodes of sailing around the world looking for notable warriors to kill and treasure to steal. For dramatic effect, once or twice the protagonists of the stories fail to kill the notable warrior. When that happens they either join forces with him or run away and come back later.

I was wrong to think that this would be heavy-going. It’s actually delightful and there were parts that made me laugh out loud. These stories don’t explore the ideas of right and wrong or offer a deep psychological insight into the motivations of the characters, or try to educate the listener/reader about the world. They are just entertaining tales from another time and place.