In the Georgian National Museum in Tbilisi, as part of the exhibition New
Discoveries – Georgian Archaeology, are first century BC bronze artefacts. One
is an elephant lamp, and another is an elephant incense burner.
The elephant lamp, that can hold four candles, has representations of
Dionysus Tauromorphos, Ariadne, Heracles, and three elephant heads. It was
excavated in Vani, Georgia.
Dionysus (also known as Bacchus) is the Greek god of the grape harvest,
winemaking, and theatre, circa 1500-1100 BC. He is also the god of epiphany and
of ‘foreignness’ and is included in the list of 12 Olympians – the youngest god
to be accepted into Mt. Olympus. Ariadne in Greek mythology was the daughter of
Minos, the King of Crete. She is associated with mazes and labyrinths. She
became the bride of Dionysus. Heracles (Hercules) was the greatest of Greek
gods and a champion of the Olympians.
The incense burner was also found in the Vani archaelogical excavation
site. Again, it has three elephant heads. However, the elephant heads are not
decorated like the lamp.
All of the elephants’ trunks are raised, which is a symbol of good luck.
Also, each elephant has tusks. All African elephants, male and female, have
tusks. However, only some Asian male elephants have tusks, and about 50% of
Asian female elephants have short tusks known as tushes. Therefore, the incense
burner’s elephants are likely to be Asian female elephants. The elephants on
the lamp may also be Asian elephants.
The New Discoveries – Georgian Archaeology is exhibited from 16 June to 16
December 2016.
MARTINA NICOLLS is an international
aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of
Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet
(2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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