Beschreibung:

IRON AGE DANUBIAN RIDER CULT PLAQUE 2nd century BC-1st century AD A square votive lead plaque with high-relief design of the sun and birds over a scene of opposed horsemen, a row of symbols and another of birds; ropework border and arch. 240 grams, 74mm (3"). Condition Fair condition, gouge to one edge. Provenance Property of a gentleman; acquired in the late 1960s-early 1970s. Footnotes The cult of the Danubian Riders spread amongst the Roman troops shortly after Dacia was conquered and made into a province of the Empire by the Emperor Trajan in 106 AD. The deities depicted on the reliefs are never named and this may refer to a secret mystery cult of the sort that was popular across the Empire, such as that of Mithras, Isis and Cybele. The usual iconography depicts two male deities on horseback flanking a central goddess holding a fish. In upper and lower registers are symbols, such as the sun, moon, stars, and numerous animals including the ram, dog, lion, eagle, peacock, raven, cock, snake, and sometimes even the bull, which seem to imply death and rebirth.