The Helgö Treasure: Bronze Buddha Statue, Coptic Scoop And A Crozier Depicting Biblical Tale Of Jonah

A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com - A remarkable collection of religious items from diverse lands was unearthed during archaeological excavations on the Swedish island of Helgö in 1954.

Located in Lake Mälaren (Malaren), west of Stockholm, the island was an important Viking trading and manufacturing center (6th-11th centuries AD. The first archaeological dig uncovered the remains of the early settlement, including a workshop area.

Credit: Swedish History Museum

An extensive collection of artifacts –Helgö Treasures - includes Arabic coins, Frankish glass, and metalwork across western Europe. Still, the most notable finds from these excavations included a small Buddha figurine from North India, the Coptic scoop from North Africa dating to the 6th century, and a crozier.

The figure of Buddha is slim, with his legs crossed, and he sits on a throne shaped like a double lotus flower. His right hand rests on his knee, and his left is slightly stretched.

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