»Danubian Riders« – Studies on a syncretistic cult in Pannonia and Moesia superior
Since the corpus of Dumitru Tudor (CMRED) was published in 1969 and 1976, the number of known monuments of the so-called »Danubian Riders« has increased enormously. This is due to the archaeological excavation activities in the areas in question, but also by the fact that extensive private collections of lead votive tablets have become known. The finds from archaeologically proven contexts are particularly valuable for cultural-historical evaluation, but often only inaccurate information on the provenance of the objects is available.
Since the corpus of Dumitru Tudor (CMRED) was published in 1969 and 1976, the number of known monuments of the so-called »Danubian Riders« has increased enormously. This is due to the archaeological excavation activities in the areas in question, but also by the fact that extensive private collections of lead votive tablets have become known. The finds from archaeologically proven contexts are particularly valuable for cultural-historical evaluation, but often only inaccurate information on the provenance of the objects is available.
The cult of the »Danubian Riders« currently still poses some puzzles, as there are hardly any written sources available. Information on the content and form of the cult, on the rites, the religious ideas, the persons involved and the historical background is only accessible through the preserved votive and cult monuments and their contexts. This makes it all the more important to record the entire range of existing monuments and to reconstruct as far as possible the find circumstances. The investigation of production and distribution patterns can provide valuable information, especially for lead votive tablets.
A further approach to the significance of the so-called Danubian Rider cult leads via the iconography of the representations on votive tablets, the complexity and cross-connections of which have only been rudimentarily decoded. Here, too, regional characteristics can be observed, which need to be examined more closely on the basis of the distribution of finds. Recent attempts at explanation and comparisons with epigraphic sources must be examined and confronted with the results of iconographic and religious-historical analysis.
The aim of the ongoing project is to achieve an inventory of the relevant monuments in the northwestern part of the province of Pannonia superior and in the Serbian area of the provinces Pannonia inferior and Moesia superior, with a focus on the region around Sremska Mitrovica, the ancient Sirmium, one of the presumptive production centres of votive tablets of the »Danubian Riders«.