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POPULAR DIVINE IMAGERY IN HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN ALEXANDRIA. THE TERRACOTTA FIGURINES COLLECTION OF THE PATRIARCHAL SACRISTY IN ALEXANDRIA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 September 2019

Kyriakos Savvopoulos
Kyriakos Savvopoulos*
Affiliation:
Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents, University of Oxford
*
[email protected]
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Abstract

Terracotta figurines represent one of the most fascinating categories of material evidence from Hellenistic (Ptolemaic) and Roman Egypt relating to the domestic aspects of religious life. They include deities, ordinary humans, animals and sacred symbols, represented in exhaustive variety, both in terms of content and form. The group of terracotta figurines presented in this paper are no exception. It is drawn from the collection of the Sacristy of the Greek-Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa, exhibited in a most impressive Roman cistern, which was discovered during the recent renovation of the Patriarchate premises. The catalogue will be accompanied by a concise overview of the nature and role of the main divine protagonists in comparison to other types of material evidence such as statuary, architecture, coinage and epigraphy, focusing on Alexandria, the capital of Egypt during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods.

Δημοφιλείς «ιερές» απεικονίσεις στην ελληνιστική και ρωμαϊκή Αλεξάνδρεια. Η συλλογή πήλινων ειδωλίων του Πατριαρχικού Σκευοφυλακίου στην Αλεξάνδρεια

Τα πήλινα ειδώλια αποτελούν μια από τις πιο ενδιαφέρουσες κατηγορίες υλικού πολιτισμού της ελληνιστικής (πτολεμαϊκής) και ρωμαϊκής Αιγύπτου, η οποία συσχετίζεται κυρίως με την ιδιωτική (ενδο-οικιακή) σφαίρα της θρησκευτική ζωής. Το ρεπερτόριο συμπεριλαμβάνει πληθώρα θεμάτων, όπως θεότητες, «κοινούς» θνητούς, ιερά σύμβολα και ζώα, σε εξαντλητική ποικιλία ως προς το περιεχόμενο και τη μορφή. Η συλλογή των ειδωλίων που παρουσιάζεται σε αυτό το άρθρο αποτελεί χαρακτηριστικό παράδειγμα του είδους. Ανήκει στο Σκευοφυλάκιο του Πατριαρχείου Αλεξανδρείας και Πάσης Αφρικής, το οποίο φιλοξενείται σε μια εντυπωσιακή δεξαμενή συλλογής όμβριων υδάτων της Ρωμαϊκής περιόδου, στα υπόγεια του Πατριαρχείου. Ο κατάλογος συνοδεύεται από μια σύντομη επισκόπηση του ρόλου των κυρίων πρωταγωνιστών του ρεπερτορίου σε συνδυασμό με άλλους τύπους δεδομένων όπως γλυπτική, αρχιτεκτονική, νομισματική και επιγραφική, εστιάζοντας στην Αλεξάνδρεια, την πρωτεύουσα της Αιγύπτου κατά την ελληνιστική και ρωμαϊκή περίοδο.

Type
Articles
Information
Annual of the British School at Athens , Volume 114 , November 2019 , pp. 317 - 368
Copyright
Copyright © The Council, British School at Athens 2019 

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