The Roman Gods of Hadrian’s Wall

 The Roman Gods of Hadrian’s Wall

 I recently visited Hadrians wall at Housestead and was fascinated by the statues of the Roman Gods on display. Displayed amongst the artifacts are statues of three Roman Gods.

1)      Mercury the God of trade and commerce. This was found in the fort Vicus. This carving shows Mercury in a classical pose, naked except for a cloak over his arm. He has a winged hat (Petasus) on his head and a staff (caduceus) in his left hand. His right hand holds a money bag.

2)      Diana, the goddess of the moon and the hunt. In this carving she looks out from her shrine with her hinting dog at her side. A stag watches warily as Diana poises her bow and reaches for an arrow from her quiver.

3)      Mars, the god of war and god of the legions. “to the God Mars Victory and deities of the Emperor”. Mars was the binding force of the Roman Empire. This carving shows Mars as a soldier wearing body armor, a pleated skirt, a crested helmet and leg protection (greaves). He has a spear in his raised right arm and his left hand rests on his shield. A goose stands in the foreground facing away from the god.

This fourth Roman God was also pictured at Housestead but for the life of me I cannot remember who the god is - I did not seem to note down the caption.   Oh God - I will just have to go back to find out !! Unless anyone else can enlighten me!!

These gods demonstrates how the ancient Roman civilization revered their gods and relied on them to bring them good luck.

The Ancient Jewellery of Hadrian’s Wall

 Over 2000 years ago the Romans built heavily defended forts to control their newly won territory in England.   

 The most famous of these was Hadrian’s Wall built on the northern edge of their British territory. Hadrian’s Wall spanned from coast-to-coast to protect Roman England from the tribes who lived in Scotland. The wall  separated the Romans from the barbarians. I was lucky enough to visit the ancient remains of Hadrian’s Wall at Housesteads and experience how people lived at that time and see the wonderful Roman artifacts on display. This display included the ancient jewellery of Hadrian’s Wall which of course interested me a lot. 

Hadrian’s Wall epitomized Roman power. The Roman Empire was one of the greatest the world has ever seen and existed in one form or another for over 2000 years. How the Romans were able to rule their enormous empire for so long is a constant source of fascination. Their professional army whilst relatively small were actually extremely powerful. The Romans no only used power and force to rule but portrayed a strong image about themselves.

Hadrian’s Wall stretched for over 80 miles from the Solway Coast in Cumbria to Wallsend near Newcastle upon Tyne. In places it was 6m in height and was a massive feat of engineering covering the rolling countryside, crossing rivers and hugging the formidable crags of the Whin Sill near Bardon Mills. The wall was a frontier control with forts built along the walls which served two purposes, protection and defense. 

Outside these forts thriving settlements developed where locals lived. It is assumed that the soldiers' wives and families also lived here rather than in the forts. Beside their houses, there would have been shops and workshops, inns and taverns, temples and brothels and farmers could sell their goods in the markets.

In the busy environment of this Fort of Vicus which I visited, the soldiers, merchants and civilians all mingled. Artifacts of female personal adornment were found all over the site and included brooches (14), an earring (15),  beads (16), and bracelets (17) serve as a reminder that women were very much present in this frontier society. 

Roman women loved jewellery and wore necklaces and bracelets made out of  pearls,brightly coloured glass beads and polished stones. Roman women also wore earrings and friendship rings. Highly decorated clothes pins and hair combs were also popular.  
Roman men tended to wear a finger ring as their sole source of jewellery.

 

The Romans imported all sorts of other luxury goods to maintain their standard of living. Another piece excavated from sites around the wall was a finger ring made from a single piece of amber has a relief carving of Minerva, who was goddess of wisdom and righteous warfare. This delicate piece of jewellery was made in the north-east corner of Italy and was probably worn to promote good dreams. 

Other jewellery recovered from the wall, includes a jet finger ring and part of a decorated glass bangle would probably been owned by quite well off women possibly the wives and daughters of soldiers serving there.

What I saw of Hadrian’s wall was so well preserved and fascinated me so much I had to see it several times to absorb what life was like during the Roman rule. What intrigues most were the statues of the gods (see next blog) and the ancient Roman jewellery pictured above.

Ancient Jewellery Belonging To King Mo

Ancient Jewellery From The Tomb Of King Mo

I recently had a stop over for a few days in Guangzhou, in China. While I was there I made the time to visit the tomb of King Mo at the Museum of the Nanyue King of the western Han Dynasty to see some ancient jewellery. And the effort to get there was so worth it. The  tomb was only  discovered in 1983 so it had fortunately remained intact and untouched for over 2000 years. The tomb was the burial site of the second Nanyue King, Zhoa Mo who was entombed with 15 human sacrifices along side him. These human sacrifices included four of his four concubines, a musician, a chariot driver and nine of his personal servants. 

 The tomb itself was built into a hill and comprised of several rooms as well as the burial chamber. The Nanyue King Museum is located on the site of the original tomb on the Xiang Gang Hill.  On display at the museum was the impressive array of ancient jewellery and statues found in the tomb as well as all the other artefacts found buried with the king.   

The exhibits discovered in the tomb are well preserved and show how people lived all that time ago. There is a incredible collection of objects, or the remains of them, which were used in the everyday life of this early civilization. The exhibits include ancient jewellery, belt hooks, seals, domestic utensils, drinking vessels, ladles, weights, measuring devices bronze mirrors, ceremonial regalia, horticulture equipment, fish hooks, a chariot, weapons and hunting equipment, food and grains, medicines, animals, fish, birds  and the  funereal.  

 

It was awesome for me to see both the tomb and the exhibits and have the chance to see first hand how these people lived over 2000 years ago. The information is presented in both Chinese and English so it is easy to comprehend the significance of each item on display.

 

The discovery of this tomb gave archaeologists a precise snapshot of this civilisation, providing a real life view of the past. The contents echo life in the Western Han Dynasty as it related to politics, economy, and culture. It also provides an insight into how people lived and the type of tools, weapons, and other implements which were used by these people who inhabited China so many thousand of years ago. 

I have a intense interest in ancient jewellery, so I was particularly attracted to the displays of the ancient jewellery and belt hooks worn by the king, his concubines and his servants. The design of the ancient jewellery looked heavy and I expect would have been quite uncomfortable to wear. It was made out of jade, gold, bronze, pearls, and glass beads. The jade tended to be ornately carved discs which depicted the different animals, dragons and gods of the time. The four animals which featured regularly in the carvings were the dragon, the lion, turtle and a rooster intertwined with snakes.  It is likely that these symbolizes good luck and protection in the after life.

 The ancient jewellery buried with the king represented his status and rank and many elaborate pieces were found on or around his burial suit. Many pieces were also found on his senior concubine but not the other three concubines. The musician also wore a piece of the ancient jewellery but it was not as detailed as the kings. 

The belt hooks found in the tomb were possibly the forerunner of the belt buckle. They were also made of elaborately carved jade or bronze. Like the ancient jewellery they were also used as a status symbol with the king’s belt hooks being far more decorated than those of his servants.

Jade was the most important gemstone used in Han Dynasty. The corpse of the king found in the burial chamber was dressed in an elaborate burial suit made from small pieces of jade sewn together with red silk. The face was adorned with a jade face mask and jade discs of various sizes which had been elaborately carved were also found under the suit. 

The head lay on a ceramic pillow filled with pearls which were considered to be for good luck. Glass beads and mirrors discovered in the tomb are thought to be one of the first examples of glass having being produced in China from local materials. Five different colored good luck stones were also found in the tomb along with all the other objects.

I really enjoyed my visit to the Nanyue King Museum and fully recommend it if you ever get to Guangzhou. I learnt so much. But I am grateful that my necklaces I love to wear are not as cumbersome as those worn 2000 ears ago. It is interesting to see that belief in the good luck stones and amulets were as common 20000 years ago as they are today.