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For the full pdf text of The Silk Road, Vol. 14 (2016), click here.
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CONTENTS

 
From the editor’s desktop: The Future of The Silk Road [iii]
Download
 
Reconstruction of a Scythian Saddle from Pazyryk Barrow No. 3 1 + Plate I
Elena V. Stepanova Download
The Pazyryk collection of excavated Scythian saddles in the Hermitage Museum provides abundant information about the details of their construction and has made possible the creation and testing of a replica which has revealed new insights into the horse harness of the early Eurasian steppes.
 
An Image of Nighttime Music and Dance in Tang Chang’an: Notes on the Lighting Devices in the Medicine Buddha Transformation Tableau in Mogao Cave 220, Dunhuang 19 + Plates II, III
by Sha Wutian Download
The unusually detailed depiction of lighting devices in the Medicine Buddha tableau of Mogao Cave 220 reflects a knowledge of the popular nighttime entertainmsnts of the Tang Dynasty capital, Chang’an, as documented from a great many contemporary texts.
 
The Results of the Excavation of the Yihe-Nur Cemetery in Zhengxiangbai Banner (2012-2014) 42 + Plates IV-VI
by Chen Yongzhi, Song Guodong, and Ma Yan Download
The Yihe-Nur Cemetery in Inner Mongolia is the northernmost one yet discovered for the Northern Wei period. Its excavation has yielded an array of interesting artifacts attesting to the multi-ethnic nature of the northern frontiers of China in the early centuries of the Common Era.
 
Art and Religious Beliefs of Kangju: Evidence from an Anthropomorphic Image Found in the Ugam Valley (Southern Kazakhstan) 58
by Aleksandr Podushkin Download
A striking anthropomorphic image inscribed on a ceramic vessel excavated at Ushbastobe in southern Kazakhstan provides interesting evidence about possible ritual and religious beliefs of the local population in the Kangju period.
 
Observations on the Rock Reliefs at Taq-i Bustan: A Late Sasanian Monument along the “Silk Road”71
by Matteo Compareti Download
Analysis of the deer hunt scene in the large grotto at the Sasanian site of Taq-i Bustan in Iran offers new possibilities for explaining the history and dating of this otherwise well-known complex.
 
Sino-Iranian Textile Patterns in Trans-Himalayan Areas 84
by Mariachiara Gasparini Download
An examination of silks from Qinghai and in the collections of the National Silk Museum in China, along with evidence from murals, documents the popularity and spread of textiles produced in Central Asia into the Trans-Himalayan regions in the second half of the first millennium CE.
 
Some Notes on Dayuezhi, Daxia, Guishuang, and Dumi in Chinese Sources 97
by Yang Juping Download
A close examination of the Chinese texts about Central Asia reveals new possibilities for understanding political organization in Bactria in the wake of the Yuezhi invasion.
 
The Place Names of Euro-Africa in the Kangnido 106 + Plate VII
by Nurlan Kenzheakhmet Download
The earliest Korean world map, the Kangnido, contains a rich store of geographic and cartographic data. This article is one of a series devoted to identifying all its place names for Central Asia, Africa and Europe.
 
Technology Transfer from Ancient Egypt to the Far East?126 + Plate VIII
by Alessandra R. Giumlía-Mair Download
A technically sophisticated patination technique developed first in ancient Egypt spread through the Middle East, and, as argued here, may well have influenced the adoption of similar technology in East and Southeast Asia.
 
Production of Bronze Wares among the Xiongnu 147
by Sergei S. Miniaev, with a Preface by William Honeychurch Download
This classic study pioneered in the metallurgical analysis of Xiongnu and related bronze wares, opening new avenues to understanding the nature of the Xiongnu society and economy and its relationship to other cultures.
 
Orgoiton—A Xiongnu Cemetery in Transbaikalia166
by Nikolai N. Nikolaev and Sergei S. Miniaev Download
A brief report on the results of a new excavation of an elite Xiongnu cemetery in Transbaikalia.
 
Newly Discovered Petroglyphs of Hurand County 168
by Reza Salmanpoor, Zahra Abtahi, and Mina Ranjbar Download
Recent discoveries of petroglyphs in northewestern Iran, an area previously little studied for its rock art.
 
Museum Collections, I: A Gift of Steppe Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation to the Miami University Art Museum175
by Trudy S. Kawami, Daniel Prior, and Robert S. Wicks Download
A major gift of steppe bronzes from the Sackler Foundation to the Miami (O.) University Art Museum, in support of its teaching mission.
 
Fastening the Buckle: A Strand of Xiongnu-Era Narrative in a Recent Kirghiz Epic Poem 186
by Daniel Prior Download
The intriguing connections between the scene depicted on a 2000-year-old buckle plaque and the events recorded in a 19th century in a Kirgiz oral epic.
 
Women’s Status in the Iron Age Based on Ethno-archaeological Studies of the West Central Zagros Nomads 196 + Plate IX
by Ali Nourallahi Download
Iron Age burials in the West Central Zagros Mountains of Iran contain mute evidence about the roles of women in those societies. Recent ethnographic study of semi-nomads in the same region may shed some light on the status of women in that much earlier period.
 
Game Pieces of Knucklebones: Evidence about the Continuation of Local Games in Khorasan, Iran 209
by Hadi Sabori, Hasan Basafa, Esmaeil Hejininezhad, Reza Bolandi, and Mina Norouzi Khorasani Download
Astragali, small leg bones from sheep, have been used through the centuries as game pieces and for divination. The game of “knucklebones” can still be documented in northeastern Iran today.
 
“Zandaniji Silks”: The Story of a Myth 213
by Zvezdana Dode Download
By tracing carefully how the myth of “Zandaniji” silks, allegedly produced by Sogdian weavers in Central Asia, came into being and spread, this essay suggests it is high time that the use of this classification be abandoned. Proper technical analysis of the silks in question remains to be done.
 
Museum Collections, II:Discoveries from the Sinan Shipwreck 223
by Lee Myong Ok Download
The 14th-century Sinan Shipwreck, with its large cargo of Chinese ceramics and other items, is still one of the most significant finds from underwater archaeology and was the subject of a major exhibition in the National Museum of Korea in 2016.
 
The Silk Roads at the National Museum of Korea: A Visual Introduction226 + Plates X-XIV
by Daniel C. Waugh Download
One of the great museums in the world, the National Museum of Korea houses, inter alia, an interesting collection of artifacts from along the silk roads, many illustrated in this photo essay.
 
Book Reviews
 
Dreyer, Abenteuer Seidenstraße236
by Jan Bemmann Download
 
Jacobson-Tepfer, The Hunter, the Stag and the Mother of Animals237
by Bryan K. Miller Download
 
Exhibitions in Retrospect: Meyer and Wandel., Shahnama; Zhao, ed., Silks from the Silk Road; Agnew, Reed, and Ball, Cave Temples of Dunhuang 241
by Daniel C. Waugh Download
 
Short Notices Download all these book notices.247
 
  • Shenkar, Intangible Spirits and Graven Images, by Matteo Compareti.

  • The following all written/compiled by Daniel Waugh:

  • Kolesnikov, Sasanidskii Iran. Istoriia i kul’tura.
  • P’iankov, Sredniaia Aziia i Evraziiskaia step’ v drevnosti.
  • Vedeler, Silk for the Vikings.
  • Wertmann, Sogdians in China.
  • Kuznetsov and Kuznetsov, Feodal’nyi gorod Severnogo Kavkaza (srednevekovyi Derbent v VI-XIII vv.).
  • Mys’kov, Kochevniki Volgo-Donskoi stepei v epokhu Zolotoi Ordy.
  • Teleki, Introduction to the Study of Urga’s Heritage.
  • Majer and Teleki, Reviving the Cam Dance Tradition in Mongolia.
  • Bulletin of the Asia Institute. N. S., Vol. 26 (2012) [2016].
  • Xiyu Wenshi. Literature and History of the Western Regions, Vol 9 (2015); Vol. 10 (2016).
  •  
     
    List of Color Plates 252
    Color Plates I-XIV following p. 252
     

    For the full pdf text of The Silk Road, Vol. 14 (2016), click here.