TRAVELLING OBJECT · INTERCULTURAL BIOGRAPHY

The Kul-Oba vase

A workshop of Greek tradition represented Scythian figures on a vase destined for a Scythian tomb.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Image of The Kul-Oba vessel — **DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · AI-GENERATED IMAGE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction; not a photograph of the original nor documentary evidence.

History and context

Bosporan Kingdom · Greek workshop: Technique and composition are linked to Greek workshops of the Black Sea.

The same piece also appears in Kul-Oba · Scythian context. Duplicating the card does not duplicate authorship: it allows reading manufacture, use, deposition and discovery from both routes.

Evidence and interpretation

Bosporan Kingdom · Greek workshop [probable]: Technique and composition are linked to Greek workshops of the Black Sea. Kul-Oba · Scythian context [documented]: Client, iconography and deposition belong to Scythian networks.

Catalogue facts

Role in this museum: production
Location: Cimmerian Crimea/Bosporus
Date: 4th century BCE
Certainty: probable
In this grouping: Vessel with figures and warrior equipment. The narration and identities are interpreted, not inscribed.

A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS

Objects connected through time

Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.

The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.

You are viewing

4th century BCE

The Kul-Oba vase

Greek worlds

Approximate dating according to the record.

Current record

Gold32 dated objects

18 / 32In the centre: The Kul-Oba vase

You can scroll the first group without JavaScript. The other topics are also available below.

Vessels

Before Sumer · mid-6th–5th millennium BCE · Sumer
Twin-chambered vessel from Cova de l’Or · Early Neolithic · VI–V millennia BCE · Prehistory
Before Egypt · ca. 4400–3800 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Before Nubia · V–IV millennium BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Before Gojoseon · Middle Neolithic, c. 4000 BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
Bevel-rimmed bowl · ca. 3500–3000 BCE · Sumer
Uruk Vase · ca. 3300–3000 BCE · Sumer
Before Yayoi · Middle Jōmon, ca. 3000 BCE · Yayoi Japan
Vasiliki · ca. 2500–2200 BCE · Greek worlds
Before the Greeks · c. 2400–2200 BCE · Greek worlds
Before Ancient China · c. 2500–2000 BCE · Ancient China
Longshan · c. 2500–2000 BCE · Ancient China
Kerma vessel · c. 1802–1640 BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Grave Circle A and Chrysolakkos · 18th–16th centuries BCE · Greek worlds
Before Vedic India · c. 1900–1300 BCE · Vedic and later Indian worlds
Jue · c. sixteenth century BCE · Ancient China
Pithos · c. 1450–1375 BCE · Greek worlds
Tutankhamun's grave goods · death towards 1323 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Stag Vessel · 14th–13th centuries BCE · Hittites
Valchitran · second half of the 14th century–beginning of the 13th century BCE, according to NAIM; other publications use wider intervals from the Late Bronze. · Thracians
Liding · 12th–11th centuries BCE · Ancient China
Before the Iberias · Final Bronze, c. 1000 BCE · Iberians
Grey bowl from Hastinapura · c. 1100–800 BCE in the classical sequence of Hastinapura · Vedic and later Indian worlds
Before Etruscans and Rome · ca. 850–800 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
The urn under the helmet · 9th–8th centuries BCE · Etruscans and Rome
Tomb 1 at Kuntur Wasi · c. 800 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Regolini-Galassi tomb · ca. 675–650 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
The great Greek krater of Vix · ≈530–500 BCE · Greek worlds
Scorțaru cauldron · 6th–5th centuries BCE · Thracians
Vix Tomb · c. 500 BCE · Celtic worlds
Orpheus among the Thracians · circa 440 BCE; attributed to the London Painter E 497. · Thracians
Twenty-six voiceless signs · 5th–4th centuries BCE · Scythians and Saka
Rogozen · mainly 5th–4th centuries BCE; The set has a history of accumulation, not a single manufacturing date. · Thracians
Grave goods of Baza and Toya · First half of the 4th century BCE · Iberians
The Attic krater that took on a new life in Cástulo · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds
The silver amphora of Chertomlyk · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds
The Kul-Oba vase · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds — You are viewing
Faces of the Steppe · Second half of the 4th century BCE · Scythians and Saka
Poroina Mare Rhyton · Second half of the 4th century BCE · Thracians
Borovo · 4th century BC C.; 350–300 BCE in the ISAW catalog. · Thracians
Leipzig Fish Plate · Last third 4th–early 3rd century BCE · Greek worlds
Golyamata Kosmatka · End of the 4th century – beginning of the 3rd century BCE; ritual burial at the beginning of the III according to Iskra. · Thracians
Panagyurishte · late 4th century – early 3rd century BCE, towards 300 BCE · Thracians
Dove of the Amarejo · 3rd century BCE · Iberians
Mairena Hoard · 3rd century BCE · Iberians
Vase from Chão de Lamas · Piece: III–II centuries BCE · concealment ≈110–76 BCE · Iberians
Vas dels Guerrers · 3rd–early 2nd century BCE · Iberians
Warriors' Vase · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE · Iberians
The dismantled cauldron · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Celtic worlds
Kalathos of Alcorisa · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Iberians
Patera from Perotito · Second half of the 2nd–beginnings of the 1st century BCE · Iberians
Urewe vessel · regional range c. 800 BCE–650 CE · Bantu-speaking worlds
Two rows of coffins · Mainly Middle Yayoi, 2nd century BCE–1st century CE · Yayoi Japan
Ceramics that continued · Last third of the 2nd century BCE–1st century CE · Iberians
Roman glass oinochoe · Late 1st century BCE–early 1st century CE · Etruscans and Rome
Gladiators Cup of Chavagnes · 25–75 CE · Etruscans and Rome
Egyptian oil lamp with a fish, held in Laon · 3rd–4th centuries CE · Ancient Egypt
Laon lamp with fish · 3rd–4th centuries CE · Etruscans and Rome
Water in a shell · 1816–1826 · San histories

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

A Kerma vessel deposited at Abydos · Second Intermediate Period · Ancient Egypt
A tradition that invents · collected in 1993 or 1995 · Batwa / Twa histories
A vase travels; the rite changes · No individual dating published on this record · Iberians
Early pottery · before ca. 9400 cal BCE · Mande Worlds
Liédena Flask · Roman period · individual chronology not published in the entry · Etruscans and Rome
Made in Garama · I millennium BCE–I millennium CE · Garamantes
Oil in a calabash · ca. 1947 · Batwa / Twa histories
The unfinished gesture · 1947 · Batwa / Twa histories
Travelling objects · Mainly Roman period · Garamantes
Urns from Adichanallur · Iron Age · samples towards 665 and 467 BCE · Vedic and later Indian worlds
Vessels without a language · Urewe, broad regional range ca. 800 BCE–650 CE · Bantu-speaking worlds

Embossing

Stag Vessel · 14th–13th centuries BCE · Hittites
Tribute to Assyria · c. 848 BCE · Phoenicians
Gold at Kuntur Wasi · c. 800–550 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Coțofenești helmet · Second half of the 5th century – beginning of the 4th century BCE · Thracians
Rogozen · mainly 5th–4th centuries BCE; The set has a history of accumulation, not a single manufacturing date. · Thracians
The silver amphora of Chertomlyk · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds
The Kul-Oba vase · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds — You are viewing
Faces of the Steppe · Second half of the 4th century BCE · Scythians and Saka
Chão de Lamas pectoral · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE · concealed in the early 1st century BCE · Iberians
Vase from Chão de Lamas · Piece: III–II centuries BCE · concealment ≈110–76 BCE · Iberians
The dismantled cauldron · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Celtic worlds
Patera from Perotito · Second half of the 2nd–beginnings of the 1st century BCE · Iberians

Human imagery

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Before Persia · Central core c. seventeenth century BCE; Neo-Elamite additions between the ninth and sixth centuries BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Bhimbetka · Mesolithic–historical and medieval period · Prehistory
Eland Cave · Regional tradition of ≈4,000 years · up to historical period · Prehistory
Four offerers · Iberian period · individual dating according to catalogue · Iberians
Game Pass Shelter · Regional rock art chronology · panel not dated in isolation · San histories
Lararium of Vilauba · Roman period · Etruscans and Rome
Leang Karampuang · Minimum 51,200 years · dating published in 2024 · Prehistory
Quinkan Country · Regional art up to ≈27,000 BP · modern continuity · Prehistory
Sierra de San Francisco · Broad tradition with direct dates ≈5290–295 BP · Prehistory
Tassili n’Ajjer · Corpus ≈6000 BCE–first centuries CE · Prehistory
The Thracian Horseman · Roman era · diffusion especially in the 2nd–3rd centuries CE · Thracians

Funerary contexts

Brno II Articulated Figure · ≈28,000 years cal BP · by funerary association · Prehistory
'Jamila's' necklace · ≈7250–7000 BCE · Prehistory
The Gold of Varna · Towards 4600–4200 BCE · Thracians
El Miradero spatula-idols · ≈4000–3800 cal BCE · Prehistory
Guadancil idol-plaque · 3750–2500 cal BCE · Iberians
Staff of Anta 4 · Late 4th–first half of the 3rd millennium BCE. · Prehistory
Abydos Boats · ca. 3000 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Queen's Lyre · ca. 2600–2500 BCE · Sumer
Puabi headdress · ca. 2600–2450 BCE · Sumer
Standard of Ur · ca. 2600–2400 BCE · Sumer
Cemetery R-37 · ca. 2550–2030 BCE · Indus civilisation
Kerma vessel · c. 1802–1640 BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Grave Circle A and Chrysolakkos · 18th–16th centuries BCE · Greek worlds
Burial at K IV · circa 1750–1550 BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Before Vedic India · c. 1900–1300 BCE · Vedic and later Indian worlds
Osmankayası and Ilıca · ca. 1700/1650–1200 BCE · Hittites
Tutankhamun's grave goods · death towards 1323 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Fu Hao’s burial goods · ca. 1200 BCE · Ancient China
The voice of Ahiram · c. 11th–10th century BCE · Phoenicians
Before Etruscans and Rome · ca. 850–800 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
The urn under the helmet · 9th–8th centuries BCE · Etruscans and Rome
Tomb 1 at Kuntur Wasi · c. 800 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Beads from Cerro de los Vientos · 8th–7th centuries BCE · orientalizing · Iberians
Ceramic stand 1010 · 8th–7th centuries BCE · orientalizing · Iberians
Regolini-Galassi tomb · ca. 675–650 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
Shabti of Psamtek · 570–526 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Two voices in an urn · 530–520 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
The great Greek krater of Vix · ≈530–500 BCE · Greek worlds
Steppe kurgans · 7th–4th centuries BCE · Scythians and Saka
Vix Tomb · c. 500 BCE · Celtic worlds
La Venta grave goods · ca. 600–400 BCE · Maya worlds
Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar · first quarter of the 5th century BCE · Phoenicians
Banquet under leopards · Around 480–470 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
Twenty-six voiceless signs · 5th–4th centuries BCE · Scythians and Saka
The oldest knotted carpet · 5th–4th centuries BCE · Scythians and Saka
The statue was the urn · First half of the 4th century BCE · Iberians
Grave goods of Baza and Toya · First half of the 4th century BCE · Iberians
The Attic krater that took on a new life in Cástulo · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds
The silver amphora of Chertomlyk · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds
The Kul-Oba vase · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds — You are viewing
Susa grave goods · c. 350 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Faces of the Steppe · Second half of the 4th century BCE · Scythians and Saka
Lady of Ibiza · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Phoenicians
453 astragali from Alarcos · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · necropolis chronology · Iberians
Lady of Ibiza · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Iberians
Falcata from Almedinilla · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Iberians
Golyamata Kosmatka · End of the 4th century – beginning of the 3rd century BCE; ritual burial at the beginning of the III according to Iskra. · Thracians
The blade became straight · 5th–1st centuries BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
Geometry in very fine lines · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
Northern mound · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Yayoi Japan
Two rows of coffins · Mainly Middle Yayoi, 2nd century BCE–1st century CE · Yayoi Japan
Kabusanza, ca. 400 · ca. 400 CE · Batwa / Twa histories
Pakal’s grave goods · sealed on 28 August 683 CE · Maya worlds
Missing grave goods · 13th–15th centuries according to the heritage overview · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

A Kerma vessel deposited at Abydos · Second Intermediate Period · Ancient Egypt
A vase travels; the rite changes · No individual dating published on this record · Iberians
Cemetery · ca. 2600–1900 BCE · Indus civilisation
Daegok-ri grave goods · from c. 5th century BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
Four panoplies · No individual dating published on this record · Iberians
Livestock and mounds · c. 2050–1500 BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Shum Laka · c. 8,000 and 3,000 years before present · Bantu-speaking worlds
The quarry remained visible · Mainly 6th–5th centuries BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
Three hundred lives in the sand · Mainly 4th century BCE–3rd century CE · Yayoi Japan
Urns from Adichanallur · Iron Age · samples towards 665 and 467 BCE · Vedic and later Indian worlds

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: September 5, 2026.

Everyday care or a mythic test?

The vessel brings together four scenes: conversation, preparation of a bow, and attention to injuries in a leg and in the mouth. Raevskii proposed relating them to Herodotus’ account of the sons of Heracles subjected to a test with their father’s bow: the mishaps would indicate those who failed. Stephanie West explains this reading and notes that Caspar Meyer is sceptical. The comparison matters because it offers two concrete ways of looking at the same gestures, as everyday episodes or as a genealogical sequence. It does not allow presenting a dental extraction or an identified hero as indisputable facts.

Research · Stephanie West · Review of Greco-Scythian Art and the Birth of Eurasia, BMCR 2014.09.60Access recorded: September 5, 2026.

Where it is held

State Hermitage Museum

Item or group in the record · Documented collection

The holding institution is documented; public display may change. Check its official record before visiting.

Cultural connections

Kul-Oba · Scythian context →

Client, iconography and deposition belong to Scythian networks.

Documented

Hermitage · vessel from Kul-Oba

Sources and references

Consult the piece and its provenance

Did you enjoy this exhibit?

Your opinion helps us improve the museum. You can change it whenever you like.

Loading your rating…

History and context

Evidence and interpretation

Catalogue facts

The Kul-Oba vase

The Gold of Varna

Puabi headdress

The goat from PG 1237

Before Phoenicia

Tutankhamun's grave goods

Stag Vessel

Valchitran

Before the Iberias

Tomb 1 at Kuntur Wasi

Kushite king

Gold at Kuntur Wasi

Regolini-Galassi tomb

Condomina Earring

Uni was also Astarte

Ezerovo Ring

Coțofenești helmet

A battle on a comb

The Kul-Oba vase

The Solokha gold comb

The archer in gold

Treasure of Jávea

Susa grave goods

Thoth in the form of a baboon

Faces of the Steppe

Poroina Mare Rhyton

Treasure of Cheste

Marina Alta Hoard

Panagyurishte

Mairena Hoard

Patera from Perotito

Moulds for gold

Gold rhinoceros

A closer look

Everyday care or a mythic test?

Where it is held

State Hermitage Museum

Cultural connections

Kul-Oba · Scythian context →

Sources and references

Did you enjoy this exhibit?