The Urzhar Priestess 5th-3rd C. BCE

December 14, 2022

The Urzhar Priestess 5th-3rd C. BCE

"Powerful plants: Study of ancient plant remains and written sources has shown that the Saka had a sophisticated knowledge of the medicinal and stimulant properties of plants. They had access to a rich natural medicine cabinet, in addition to those plants they may have cultivated themselves. The ‘Urzhar priestess’ was buried with a wig made of grasses, and a variety of medicinal herbs. Ferns were known to have anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, and painrelieving properties. Cumin, thistle, and plantain were used for their bactericidal effect. Campion, used to treat poisoning and digestive issues, and cannabis for pain relief. In the wider Scythian world, finds of cannabis seeds with a burner from the Altai cemetery of Pazyryk show that it was used during funerary rituals. The Persians identified Saka ‘haoma-consumers’, an unknown plant with an intoxicating effect.

Reconstruction of the burial costume of the Urzhar priestess: Buried with a magnificent golden headdress and a mortar for grinding the medicinal herbs that were placed in her grave. Her high status is linked with her skills as a herbalist, and indicates that Saka respect for the natural world extended to plants as well as animals. Urzhar, modern reconstruction of Saka costume Linen, silk, bronze, wood, woollen cloth, metal alloy

Reconstruction by K. Altynbekov. КПо94-39116"

-taken from FitzMuseum