Belt Segment (Three Pieces)

Belt segment in three pieces. Divided into registers, at least three preserved, perhaps a fourth. Incised are scenes of the lion hunt. Male figures on horseback ride after the lions. They wear conical crowns and brandish various weapons. All figures are stylized and have incised decoration. On the proper right fragment the riders (divided between two reigsters) brandishe swords and ride to the right. In the center fragment, the riders (also preserved in two registers) hold spears and ride to the left. The rider in the upper register chases two visible lions, one of which is divided between the central fragment and the left fragment. The rider in the lower register of the central fragment also chases two lions, but one of them is entirely on the left fragment. There are three registers of the left fragment. Each depicts a lion chased by the riders in the central fragment, who in turn, chases the riders at the far left of the fragment who draw their bows to fire to the left (presumably after lions of their own). Given the three registers in the left fragment and its join with the central fragment we can reconstruct at least three register for both. We then have a sequence in each register of rider with spear, lion, lion, rider with bow. The affect calls into question the hunter and the hunted, for the rider and the lion are each both.