The hat was discovered in 1877 by archaeologist Samokvasov in the same barrow as the shirt mentioned in the previous article. The hat is described by G. Stelmaschuk in the “Traditional Headdresses of the Ukrainians” published in 1993.
“A hat made of silk fabric woven with gold was found by archaeologist and historian D. Ya. Samokvasov (1843-1911) during excavations of a burial mound in Kanev district in the village of Rosava in the Kyiv region. It has two stripes sewn from top to bottom on the front, decorated with gold ornamented plates, and on the sides of the hat above the temples are flat gold rings. The cap was topped with an ivory ornament, into which, perhaps, a decoration in the form of a sultan was inserted. Similar caps are depicted on Slavic-Ruthenian, as well as Byzantine monuments of the 10th-11th centuries. Thus, Emperor Basil the Great is dressed in Rus’ clothes, including a cap made of cloth interwoven with gold edging and decorated with gold plates.”
It is impossible to guess who of Kyiv rulers was buried in the Rosava barrow. It could be Oleg or some other ruler before him. But the royal hat found in the Rosava barrow indicates that he was a ruler of some ancient dynasty. The fact that he was buried in a barrow indicates that the dynasty probably traced its royal origin to the Scythian times. Ornamentation on the hat points in that direction as well.
Some scholars are confident that Byzantine emperor Basil I of Macedon (811-886) who wore a similar-looking hat was of Slavic descent, and the “Gardariki, UKraine” e-book has references on that account.
The scholars noted that the similar-looking stripes were present on the headdress of a price of the Parthian Empire Meherdates, who lived in the 1st c. A.D. Since Meherdates belonged to the Parthian Arsacid dynasty, the question arises of the possibility of the Kyiv Rus elite’s relation to that dynasty.
Gold decorations on the royal hat
More about textile from the same barrow >
