04-25-2013, 07:37 PM
As to why all these different gods are in armour, see Henri Seyrig "Antiquités syriennes. Les dieux armés et les Arabes en Syrie" Syria 47 (1970)
I wrote:
Pectorals are also shown in Indian art from the Sanchi stupa (1st century BCE) onwards and may have been mentioned in Vedic texts with a much older oral origin, first of all as actual armour, only in the 5th century CE they also appear as additions to armour vests, probably inspired by the Sasanian use of the pectoral. This later combination would be used not only in Tibet but also in Bhutan up to the 20th century (see D.J. LaRocca Warriors of the Himalaya)
I was wrong, pectorals on top of a suit of armour may well have first appeared in the Kushan empire:
[attachment=7047]gandhara.png[/attachment]
1st-3rd century CE. Note what looks like a "rigid scale" knee-lenght skirt of the armour.
I wrote:
Pectorals are also shown in Indian art from the Sanchi stupa (1st century BCE) onwards and may have been mentioned in Vedic texts with a much older oral origin, first of all as actual armour, only in the 5th century CE they also appear as additions to armour vests, probably inspired by the Sasanian use of the pectoral. This later combination would be used not only in Tibet but also in Bhutan up to the 20th century (see D.J. LaRocca Warriors of the Himalaya)
I was wrong, pectorals on top of a suit of armour may well have first appeared in the Kushan empire:
[attachment=7047]gandhara.png[/attachment]
1st-3rd century CE. Note what looks like a "rigid scale" knee-lenght skirt of the armour.