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Kul Oba

Image - A hill on which the Kul Oba kurhan is located. Image - A Scythian silver vase from the Kul Oba kurhan.
Image - Scythian gold objects from the Kul Oba kurhan.

Kul Oba [Куль Оба]. A Scythian kurhan from the 4th century BC 6 km from the city of Kerch in the Crimea. P. Dubrux and Ivan Stempkovsky's excavation of the kurhan in 1830 uncovered a pyramid-shaped stone vault containing the skeletons of a Hellenized Scythian chieftain, his wife or courtesan, and his servant, and a rich hoard of several hundred gold trinkets, two gold diadems with gold tablets depicting Scythians, weapons with gold ornamentation, two gold collars and bracelets, medallions depicting Athena's head, earrings, gold, silver, and bronze ware, and hundreds of bronze arrowheads and spearheads. The most valuable artifact discovered there was a gold and silver bowl ornamented with scenes of Scythian life. Much of the jewelry is held at the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 2 (1988).]


Image - A gold ornament with a Scythian goddess Apa from the Kul Oba kurhan. Image - A Scythian gold statuette depicting the ritual of brotherhood (from the Kul Oba kurhan). Image - A a detail of a Scythian gold bowl from the Kul Oba kurhan. Image - A Scythian gold bowl from the Kul Oba kurhan. Image - A Scythian gold jewelry from the Kul Oba kurhan. Image - A Scythian gold ornament from the Kul Oba kurhan. Image - A gold statuette of a Scythian man from the Kul Oba kurhan.

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