John Vincent Bellezza

This book introduces for the first time pre-Buddhist Tibetan silver, gold and bronze objects and rock art with related imagery. It scours the Eurasian continent to pinpoint the sources of inspiration and technical know-how contributing to the development of Tibet's cultural heritage in the Late Prehistoric era.

Cross-cultural Reverberations on the Tibetan Plateau and Soundings from Other Parts of Eurasia

Tibetan Silver, Gold and Bronze Objects and the Aesthetics of Animals in the Era Before Empire

Bradley Mayhew

Robert Kelly

Tibet

Divine Dyads, Ancient Civilization in Tibet

Drawn and Written in Stone explores the religious history of the highest part of the TibetanPlateau through its rock art and inscriptions. It is focused on facsimiles ofritual and ceremonial monuments carved and painted on stone surfaces and rockinscriptions in the Tibetan language, vital archaeological and historicalmaterials for appraising the development of religion in Tibet, ca. 100 BCE to1400 CE. By probing the complexion of figures and letters in stone, this workconsiders how early cult traditions contributed to the establishment of TibetanBuddhism and a rival faith known as Yungdrung Bon. Outside of the Indiancultural context, relatively little has been written about the historicalantecedents of these popular Tibetan religions for a want of sources. Thismonograph helps remedy this large gap in Tibetan studies by drawing upon theauthor's surveys of rock art and rock inscriptions conducted in upmost Tibetbetween 1995 and 2013.

An Inventory of Stepped Structures and Inscriptions on Rock Surfaces in Upper Tibet (ca. 100 BCE to 1400 CE)

Drawn and Written in Stone

This unique book reveals the existence of an advanced civilization where none was known before, presenting an entirely new perspective on the culture and history of Tibet. In his groundbreaking study of an epic period in Tibet few people even knew existed, John Vincent Bellezza details the discovery of an ancient people on the most desolate reaches of the Tibetan plateau, revolutionizing our ideas about who Tibetans really are. While many associate Tibet with Buddhism, it was also once a land of warriors and chariots, whose burials included megalithic arrays and golden masks. This first Tibetan civilization, known as Zhang Zhung, was a cosmopolitan one with links extending across Eurasia, bringing it in line with many of the major cultural innovations of the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age. Based on decades of research, The Dawn of Tibet draws on a rich trove of archaeological, textual, and ethnographic materials collected and analyzed by the author. Bellezza describes the vast network of castles, temples, megaliths, necropolises, and rock art established on the highest and now depopulated part of the Tibetan plateau. He relates literary tales of priests and priestesses, horned deities, and the celestial afterlife to the actual archaeological evidence, providing a fascinating perspective on the origins and development of civilization. The story builds to the present by following the colorful culture of the herders of Upper Tibet, an ancient people whose way of life is endangered by modern development. Tracing Bellezza’s epic journeys across lands where few Westerners have ventured, this book provides a compelling window into the most inaccessible reaches of Tibet and a civilization that flourished long before Buddhism took root.

John Vincent Bellezza

Books

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