Antique cameos, these miniature creations of human hands, combine subtle grace and beauty. And although their age is estimated at more than a dozen centuries, looking at them, every viewer has the feeling that these images are about to come to life! After all, in ancient times in Ancient Rome, in Ancient Greece and the Hellenistic states, this art reached the heights of perfection.

No wonder it is said about them: Gems are small but they conquer centuries"(S. Reinak). The art of miniature carving on precious and semi-precious stones, glyptic, has been known since ancient times. At the same time, carved miniatures, called gems, can be of two types - with convex images (these are cameos) or with carved ones (intaglios).

Intaglio as seals

Intaglio is a more ancient type of carving, and they survived their heyday a very long time ago. Intaglios were carved on single-color stones, usually always for a practical purpose - for use as seals. Impressions were made on soft clay or wax, thus sealing the premises, sealing letters and documents. They also stamped some things, thus marking their belonging to the owner of the intaglio.

Carving miniature intaglios is not an easy task, the carver must have a good idea of ​​\u200b\u200bwhat an inverted print will look like. Varieties of quartz are most often used as the material for intaglios: carnelian and reddish chalcedony, as well as rock crystal.

Cameos - luxury goods in ancient Greece

In the era of antiquity, at the end of the 4th century BC. e., masters ancient rome and Ancient Greece, continuing to work with intaglios, they begin to work with another material - multi-colored and multi-layered sardonyx or agate, from which convex relief gems - cameos are cut. With a skillful approach, the carvers managed to achieve interesting color and lighting effects.
Working on double or triple portraits, they tried to keep each of them in its own color. And if it was possible to successfully hit the color, which was not at all easy, the cameos seemed to come to life.
While intaglios were used for practical purposes, cameos became a luxury item. They were inserted into rings and diadems for beauty, they decorated their clothes with them ... But not everyone could afford to buy them.

Gems of Alexandria

The first to work with cameos based on polychrome sardonyx were unnamed Greek stone carvers who served at the Ptolemaic court in Alexandria. In terms of glyptics, they were great masters, even their earliest work with cameos was performed masterfully.

A number of their works have become famous masterpieces. These include the unique "Gonzaga Cameo", "Farnese Cup", "Ptolemy Cup" and others.

Their most brilliant work, recognized as a masterpiece for all time, was the "Gonzaga Cameo", stored in the Hermitage.

A most beautiful cameo, one of the largest. Two profiles are carved on it - male and female. Most likely, this is Ptolemy II and his wife Arsinoe, who is also his sister.

This cameo did not escape the fate of many historical relics: seven times it passed from one owner to another until it ended up in St. Petersburg. It was presented to the Russian Emperor Alexander I by Josephine in 1814 after the defeat of France in the war with Russia.

Glyptics in Ancient Rome

After the fall of the Ptolemaic kingdom (30 BC), the Hellenistic era ended, and the Greek masters began to work for the benefit of the Roman Empire, which successfully absorbed the culture of Ancient Hellas, including glyptics. But reproducing it the best examples, Roman carvers began to create numerous portrait and multi-figured cameos with mythical and allegorical heroes.
Gradually in the history of glyptics came new period, in which it took shape new style. Now the main storyline the triumph of the emperor became, and in technology, preference began to be given to more strict and graphic two-color compositions - white silhouettes on a dark background.

"August Cameo"

This two-tone cameo depicts Emperor Augustus surrounded by real historical figures and Roman gods.

"Gemma of Tiberius"

This cameo is the largest cameo in the world. Napoleon I called it the "Great Cameo of France". A cameo was made during the reign of Emperor Tiberius in his honor on the basis of a five-layer sardonyx. There are more than 20 figures on it in three rows. Emperor Tiberius and his wife Livia are depicted surrounded by their relatives and gods, carved with jewelry precision, and under their feet are the defeated Germans and Dacians with their women and children.

It is clear that miniature stone carving is not at all an easy task, requiring great skill and patience. In addition, the master must be able to discern the beauty in the stone, to predict how the layers are located inside it. The carving process itself is very long. It can take not even months, but years of hard work to create one cameo. Experts compare the process of making one large cameo with the construction of an entire cathedral. Apparently, you have to love your job very much in order to do it.

But, despite all these difficulties, many beautiful specimens, real works of art, came out from under the chisels of ancient masters. And all subsequent years they remain the ideal of beauty and perfection, which many glyptic masters aspire to.

Intaglio

cameos

In the center of the cross is a rather large cameo depicting Emperor Augustus. This cross was donated to the ancient and famous Aachen Cathedral German Emperor Otto III.

Cameo of Emperor Constantine, sardonyx, 4th century AD e., Constantine and Tyche. Sardonyx. Roman work. 4th century St. Petersburg, State Hermitage.

The museums of Vienna, Paris and St. Petersburg have the best collections of cameos. Largely thanks to the efforts of Catherine II, who adored cameos and collected them, the collection of antique cameos in the Hermitage is one of the largest in the world. And today they impress the most sophisticated connoisseurs.

In ancient times, and in the Middle Ages, too, a messenger (as couriers were called in those days) who delivered a message with bad news was often threatened with death. Such messengers were often executed - remember from Pushkin in "The Tale of Tsar Saltan": "In anger, he began to perform miracles / And he ordered the messenger to be hanged." Only 150-200 years ago, the delivery time of letters and parcels, even within one country like Russia, could be measured in years. If the letter was on the way for less than 6 months, it was considered that it reached very quickly.


Today, the courier service in Russia is established at the very highest level and among all others, delivery of parcels in St. Petersburg "Express Tochka Ru" stands out - this company has established itself at the highest level - saving time and money.

Organization of the postal service in the land of the Incas
Before its death as a result of the invasion of the conquistadors, the Inca civilization occupied a vast territory in South America. One of the main achievements of this civilization is considered to be an excellently organized courier service at an accessible technical level. The Inca country had an extensive road network, and the roads were well equipped. Every 7.2 km there was always a sign with information about the distance to the nearest city, after 19-29 km there were special stations designed for travelers to relax. Specialized courier stations were placed very often: with an interval of 2.5 km. Inca couriers (“chaskies”) delivered their cargo (sometimes they were oral messages) by relay race: having arrived at the station, the tired courier handed over his burden to the rested one, and he immediately continued on his way. This process went on around the clock. Thus, dispatches were delivered over distances of up to 2,000 km. for less than 5 days.


The principle of the relay has been borrowed and implemented in many countries. So in the developed part of the territory of Russia in the XVII-XX centuries there was an extensive network of postal stations, where government couriers, as well as other persons traveling across state affairs could rest and/or change tired horses for fresh ones.

Courier services of antiquity
In ancient Rome, courier delivery was very high quality. It was thanks to her that residents of remote provinces could relatively quickly learn about the news. The position of the state (during the Republic) and later, the imperial courier was very prestigious and highly paid.

China was in ancient times centralized state with a developed management structure. Naturally, he also could not do without an organized courier service. It was in China that they first began to issue special sheets of paper with reports of important news, which were delivered by couriers to all parts of the Celestial Empire.

Perhaps the most famous courier ancient world is the Greek Phillipides, who brought to Athens the news of the victory over the Persian army in the battle of Marathon. Having run 42 km, 195 m without rest, from the battlefield to the central square of Athens, he shouted “Rejoice! We whitewashed! and fell dead. It is in his honor in the program Olympic Games competitions in the discipline "Marathon running" were introduced, which are still being held.

Organization of postal and courier service in Russia
The first specialized service for the delivery of written correspondence was organized in Russia as early as the 13th century. It was called "yamskaya chase" and was a very original purely Russian institution, which, not without changes, continued to exist almost until late XIX centuries. The profession of a coachman was one of the most massive.


From the 16th century In order to improve accounting and introduce the personal responsibility of the messenger for the safety and timeliness of delivery of correspondence, special "marks" began to be affixed on the packaging of documents, which became the prototypes of the postmark. Since the 17th century such marks indicated the personal data of the messenger and the date of delivery of the document.

In 1665, the Moscow-Riga postal and courier route was laid, and 4 years later, a similar route to Vilnius. So for the first time regular postal communication with Europe was organized.

On November 17, 1710, Peter I signed a decree on the organization of a specialized courier route Moscow - St. Petersburg. And after 6 years, 30.03. In 1716, the same Peter I approved the All-Russian military field courier service.

Since 1783, uniform postal rates began to operate in Russia. The price was determined taking into account the weight of the item and the distance to the addressee.

Since 1837, railways have been used to transport mail in Russia. Moreover, Russia was one of the first states where rail mail transportation was put on a regular basis.

AT early XIX in. The Russian postal and courier service consisted of approximately 460 institutions, and total the couriers who served in them amounted to 5 thousand people.

IN THE USA
The first regular services for the delivery of small goods (up to flowers), as well as mail in the United States, began to be provided by UPS in 1907.
Since 1946, the TNT company, created by K. Thomas, began to provide its services. It was this company that established a regular intercity mail service. Among the innovations of Thomas, we can note the introduction of delivery services with a return receipt, when the sender received from the company a certificate of delivery of his shipment, signed by the recipient.
Since 1969, airplanes have been regularly used for courier delivery. It was from this moment that courier delivery service companies could begin to cover the whole world with their activities, and not individual regions.

1. Some hundred years ago, the delivery of parcels and letters in Russia was considered very fast, if it did not exceed six months. In the old days, royal messengers could pay with their own lives for bad news, and therefore the work of a courier in those days was not only difficult, but also dangerous.
2. AT ancient civilization The Incas managed to keep a huge territory under a single administration thanks to excellent roads with a well-functioning courier service. Insk roads were intended for pedestrians and caravans of llamas, every 7.2 km there were distance indicators, and after 19-29 km - stations for travelers to rest. In addition, courier stations were located every 2.5 km. Couriers (chasks) transmitted news and orders by relay, and in this way information was transmitted over 2000 km in 5 days.
3. In the Ancient Roman Empire, thanks to courier delivery, residents of the country could receive up-to-date information about events political life, litigation, scandals, military campaigns and executions. Being an imperial courier was very honorable, and this activity was quite well paid.
4. AT Ancient China practiced issuing special news sheets, which were then delivered by couriers to various regions of the country. We can say that courier delivery has been an important part of the public administration system for many centuries.
5. AT Ancient Egypt Phillipides was considered the most famous courier, who, according to legend, in 490 BC. brought the message of the victory at the Battle of Marathon to Athens. He, having run about 40 km, died of exhaustion, but became the founder of the marathon race.
6. In the 13th century, the first special service for sending written messages was organized in Russia, the so-called yamskaya chase, an original Russian institution that lasted until the second half of the 19th century.
7. In the 16th century, in order to account for correspondence and increase the personal responsibility of messengers for its safety, special marks began to be made on originals or copies of documents. In the 17th century, these marks became more detailed and contained, in addition to the last name and first name of the messenger, the year, month and day of delivery of the correspondence.
8. In 1665, postal and courier routes were organized from Moscow to Riga and in 1669 to Vilnius, which made it possible to exchange correspondence, including private, with foreign countries.
9. In Russia, the courier postal service appeared in the 17th century, on November 17, 1710, Peter I signed a decree establishing a special courier route from St. Petersburg to Moscow, which was the prototype of the military field courier service, approved by the Decree of Peter I of March 30, 1716.
10. In 1783, for the first time in Russia, uniform tariffs were introduced for sending correspondence, depending on its weight and distance.
11. Since 1837, in Russia, postal and courier items began to be transported by railway. Russia is one of the first countries to organize such transportation.
12. By the beginning of the 19th century, there were about 460 postal and courier institutions in Russia, where 5,000 couriers regularly served.
13. In America, the first courier services began to be provided in 1907 by the American company UPS. This company was engaged in the delivery of flowers, postal items and small cargo.
14. In 1946, Ken Thomas founded the shipping company TNT. He made the main emphasis on the implementation of regular communication between cities. And he brought his innovations, all customers who wanted to make sure that the delivery was successful were now given a special certificate signed by the recipient.
15. In 1969, air delivery first appeared, which made it possible to

The most ancient information about mail refers to Assyria and Babylon. Assyrians back in the III millennium BC. used what can be called the precursor of the envelope. After burning the tablet with the text of the letter, it was covered with a layer of clay, on which the address of the recipient was written. Then the tablets were fired again. As a result of the release of water vapor during re-firing, the tablet-letter and the tablet-envelope did not become a single piece. The envelope was broken and the letter was read. Two such letters reached contemporaries - they are stored in the Louvre together with envelopes.

4000 YEARS AGO UNKNOWN EGYPTIAN ARTIST ON ONE OF THE WALLS of the burial cave of Pharaoh Numhoten, he painted a warrior holding a scroll in one hand, and an open letter in the other, which he gives to his boss. So material evidence of the existence of mail in those distant times has come down to us. We have also received information about postal messages from other ancient peoples. A written message could be passed from one messenger to another without fear of distorting the message. Carrier pigeons were also used to transport letters.

During the time of Cyrus and Darius in Persia (558-486 BC), the postal service was excellent. Messengers and saddled horses were constantly at the ready at the Persian postal stations. Mail was passed by relay race messengers from one to another.

The ancient Roman post was also famous, playing a huge role in the management of the vast Roman Empire. In the most important centers of the empire, special stations were maintained, equipped with horse couriers. The Romans used to say Statio posita in… (“The station is located in…”). According to experts, it was from the abbreviation of these words that the word post (Posta) appeared.

Documented information about the existence of mail in China dates back to ancient times. The State Post of China already existed during the Zhou Dynasty (1027-249 BC). She had foot and horse messengers. Emperors of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 BC) already appointed postmaster generals.

In the Arab Caliphate, by 750, the entire state was covered with a network of roads along which messengers traveled - on foot and on horseback, camels and mules. They delivered public and private mail. O great importance The postal service of the state is evidenced by the famous statement of Caliph Mansur, who founded Baghdad (762). "My throne rests on four pillars, and my power rests on four people: an impeccable qadi (judge), an energetic chief of police, an active minister of finance and a wise postmaster who informs me of everything."

IN GREECE THE POSTAL SYSTEM WAS REALLY WELL ESTABLISHED IN THE FORM OF land and sea postal communications, but it could not develop significantly due to the many warring city-states. Governments, as a rule, had at their disposal messengers on foot to convey messages. They were called hemerodromes. The runners covered 55 stadia (about 10 km) in an hour and 400-500 stadia in one flight.

The most famous of these couriers was Philippides, who, according to Plutarch, in 490 BC. brought to Athens the news of the victory at the Battle of Marathon and died of exhaustion. This run was the first marathon in history. Philippides transmitted only a verbal message. Riding messengers were sent already in antiquity to convey especially hasty messages. As Diodorus writes, one of the commanders of Alexander the Great kept messengers at his headquarters - camel riders.

The states of the Incas in Peru and the Aztecs in Mexico even before 1500 had regular mail. The Inca and Aztec mail used only messengers on foot. The point is that horses South America brought by Europeans - the conquerors only in the sixteenth century. The distance between neighboring stations did not exceed three kilometers. Therefore, it was quickly overcome by the messenger. The peculiarity of the mail of the Incas and Aztecs was that in addition to mail, the messengers had to deliver fresh fish to the emperor's table. The fish was delivered from the coast to the capital within 48 hours (500 km). Estimate the speed of delivery. Modern mail is hardly faster, although it has cars, trains, and planes at its disposal. During the heyday of the Mayan culture, there was also a developed messenger service, but little is known about it.

Both in antiquity and in the Middle Ages, the post office served only rulers and high officials. Other segments of the population did not use mail.

For ordinary people and international relations

Meanwhile simple people also wanted to use mail for their own purposes. At first, their messages were transmitted privately through merchants, itinerant monks, and university mail messengers. The rapid development of crafts and trade in feudal Europe contributed to the organization of regular postal exchange between cities.

THERE ARE DOCUMENTS CONFIRMING THE PRESENCE OF CITY MESSENGERS already in the fourteenth century. The most famous postal service Hanseatic League. Hanse - a trade and political union of North German cities in the 14th-17th centuries. With the entry into the Hansa of the Confederation of the Rhine, the first postal network arose, which, bypassing the borders of cities and small principalities, delivered mail throughout Germany. Further, through Nuremberg, the mail went to Italy and Venice, and through Leipzig - to Prague, Vienna and other cities. This is how international mail was born.

The next notable achievement is the postal service. noble family Turn and Taxis. The first mention of the Thurn und Taxis post dates back to 1451, when Roger Taxis organized a courier line through Tyrol and Steiermark. Further, the descendants of the Taxis house make a swift career in the post office.

In 1501 Franz Taxis becomes postmaster general of the Netherlands. Until the beginning of the sixteenth century. the Taxis postal service was built on the basis of feudal privileges to the Taxis house. The postal business became profitable, and Taxis had competitors. First of all, this is the post of cities. In 1615, another Taxis - Lamoral becomes the imperial postmaster general. By imperial decree, this position was declared for life and hereditary for the Taxis family. By the way, the Taxis added the prefix "Turn" to their surname in 1650, having received it as an award from the king. Lamoral Taxis, the new postmaster general, was forced to ask the emperor for a new decree against additional mails and additional lines served by messengers. All this marked the beginning of the struggle of the mail of Thurn and Taxis with competitors, which lasted for centuries. The Taxis Post held out and won. Accuracy, speed and honesty - this was the motto of the Thurn and Taxis post, which was strictly observed in practice. For the first time, merchants and bankers, common people and government officials could be sure that letters, documents, money would quickly reach the addressee, and they would soon receive an answer.

In 1850, the Thurn und Taxis joined the German-Austrian alliance. By that time, postage stamps had already been issued in many countries. The rules of the German-Austrian Postal Union provided for its participants the obligation to issue postage stamps. That is why on January 1, 1852, the first postage stamps of the Thurn und Taxis were issued. In total, the Thurn and Taxis Post issued 54 postage stamps. This post also issued stamped envelopes. The postal history of Thurn und Taxis ends only in 1867, when Prussia acquired the rights to all post offices of the House of Thurn und Taxis.

Postman is a dangerous profession

In the seventeenth century Sweden became a great power, and there was a need for regular communication with her possessions across the Baltic Sea. The first postmen were royal couriers. Then the correspondence was delivered by the so-called postal peasants. They lived near the main roads, were exempted from various kinds of duties, for example, military, but were obliged to transport state mail.

THEY WERE USUALLY SENT A HANDHOLDER WHO RUN BLOWING THE HORN, kilometers for 20-30 to a neighbor. Having handed over his mail and received another in exchange, he went home. If the letters were late, he was threatened with punishment. Correspondence was also delivered by sea, for example, by boat from Sweden to the Åland Islands and further to Finland and St. Petersburg. "Post peasants" worked all year round regardless of the weather. The crossing was especially dangerous in spring and autumn, when they either dragged the boat across the ice, then set the sails, then took up the oars. Many people died during the storm.

Russian post is one of the oldest in Europe. The first mention of it in chronicles dates back to the 10th century. AT Kievan Rus there was a duty of the population with the name "cart". This duty was to provide horses for the prince's messengers and his servants.

However, a clear postal service in Russia appeared only under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The organizer of the "correct" mail chase in Russia was the head of the then Russian government, the boyar Afanasy Ordin-Nashchokin (1605-1681). He is also the initiator of the creation of foreign mail in Russia (postal line Moscow - Vilna).

Since 1677, an international postal service began to operate in Russia. The first lines of public mail went beyond the borders of the Russian state to the "German" countries - as the Russian people called the lands where they spoke incomprehensible "dumb" languages. In addition to international shipments, the "German Post" delivered both merchant letters and government papers throughout Russia. Thanks to the "German post", mail exchange points were organized in the postal service and rules were introduced to ensure the regular delivery of mail.

The Florentine tamburi, public boxes that were installed near the walls of churches and cathedrals, served as the prototype of the mailbox familiar to us; the first mailbox was installed in the 17th century. in France.

Based on materials livejournal prepared by Zara GEVORKYAN