# data[].attributes.body
This digital exhibition, Goddesses of the Ancient Mediterranean: Cross-Cultural Dialogues, is a collaboration between Devon DeRouen, an Ancient Greek and Roman Studies master’s student, and the Brandeis University Classical Studies Artifact Research Collection (CLARC), with support from Alexandra Ratzlaff and Caitlin Gillespie, Assistant Professors of Classical and Early Mediterranean Studies. The premise of this exhibition is the representation of goddesses in the ancient Mediterranean world. In doing so, the exhibition seeks to visually address questions of cultural hybridity as it intersects with gender and religion in artifacts of the ancient Mediterranean.

Artistic approaches in the objects of this exhibition represent different mediums and materials across different times and places in the ancient Mediterranean. Moreover, the objects not only demonstrate for us how different cultures chose to represent their female deities, but also how the iconographic development of goddess representations in the ancient Mediterranean was neither linear nor isolated, geographically or culturally.

This virtual gallery exhibition and its accompanying pamphlet hopes to reveal to its viewers the complex and culturally diffusive nature of the ancient Mediterranean in the context of representations of goddesses. By showcasing these objects in conversation with one another, the exhibition seeks to demonstrate that the ancient Mediterranean was a far more culturally and racially diverse region of lands than many may realize. Through the ancient worship of goddesses, we can get a deep sense of how various peoples came together from a sense of both spiritual duty and worship.

Object photographs were taken by Devon DeRouen, with permission of the CLARC itself.

# data[].attributes.body
Date/place of the work: Egyptian, the Middle Kingdom period (c. 2055 – 1650 BCE)

CLARC Item Number: 86

Material: Black basalt stone

Dimensions: Height: 7 cm. (2.755"); Width: 3.6 cm. (1.417"); Depth: 3.1 cm. (1.22")

Description: Hathor was the Egyptian goddess of love and beauty. She was also often depicted as a cow goddess, identifiable by her distinctive headdress with a double crown and sun disk, which is visible in this object, although the plumes are now broken off. The crown appears to be over a tripartite wig, a traditional Egyptian feminine hair piece that consisted of two lappets on the chest and one at the back of the head. The object also has hallowed out eyes, where perhaps jewels would have been placed. Particular damage to the bottom of the crown perhaps indicates where a uraeus (sacred serpent) used to sit, an attribute that was often a part of Hathor's divine crown. The head is broken off at the neck, indicating it was part of a figurine. Made of black basalt stone, the back of the head is unworked.

Historical Background: Hathor was known as the "lady of the Sycamores" (one of her physical representations) and served as the goddess of love, beauty, music, and drunkenness (Tyldesley 1995: 253). She also had strong associations with nurturing and providing, exemplified in her physical manifestation as a figural cow. Already a well-established goddess in the Old Kingdom, she was greatly popular with women. Her major cult center was at Dendera in Southern Egypt. During the Ptolemaic Egyptian period, Hathor was especially assimilated to her "Greek counterpart," Aphrodite, goddess of erotic love and beauty.

# data[].attributes.body
Date/place of the work: Canaanite, Middle Bronze Age (MBA II-A – C), c. 2000 – 1550 BCE or Iron Age I, c. 1550 – 1000 BCE

CLARC Item Number: 604

Material: Ceramic

Dimensions: Height of body: 10.7 cm. (4.21"); Height with head: 14.5 cm. (5.7"); Width: 1.2 cm. (0.47"); Height of head: 4.6 cm. (1.81"); Width of head: 2.1 cm. (0.82")

Description: Astarte, a Near Eastern goddess, is depicted here in her Canaanite persona. She has with a highly stylized bird-face. According to the Israel Museum, the noses on these bird-faced Astarte statuettes were formed by pinching soft clay between the maker's fingers. The statuette has wide-hips, much like other familiar mother-goddess figures of the Bronze and Iron ages. A deep navel is also apparent. There appears to be some surviving paint, including red, white, and perhaps blue, on the figure's face. The head has been broken off, but has since been reattached easily and apparently recently.

Historical Background: Astarte figurines were frequently found in private dwellings of ancient Judah (Israel Museum). Astarte in her Canaanite form, especially in Judah, was represented in the Tanakh as a "foreign, non-Judahite goddess, the principal goddess of the Sidonians or Phoenicians, representing the productive power of nature" (Wilkinson 2003: 82). According to the Israel Museum, Astarte figurines were believed to possess magical qualities and were commonly kept in households as personal amulets to enhance a woman's fertility.

# data[].attributes.body
Date/place of the work: Cypriot or Phoenician, Larnaka, Cyprus, c. 900 – 850 BCE

CLARC Item Number: 608.2

Material: Ceramic

Dimensions: Height: 5.3 cm. (2.086"); Width: 5.7 cm. (2.224"); Depth: 3.6 cm. (1.417")

Description: This is a ceramic head of a goddess figure, perhaps a part of a figurine. Per the CLARC, the delicate and carefully incised features reveal the head to be of a "Semitic" nature, with a possible Phoenician origin. The head was apparently found in Larnaka, the modern name for the former ancient Cypriot city Kition, which has been colonized by the Phoenicians. The ancient "Semitic" religion had a number of goddesses, the most widely worshipped being Astarte, who this head possibly represents. Her hair, hanging at each side of her face, is topped with a headband, perhaps a tainia. Two impressed eyes, rounded cheeks, rather full lips, and a somewhat prominent nose fill out her face. The figure's face and neck have some erosion and chipping.

Historical Background: "Semitic" refers to ancient speakers of "Semitic" languages, a term that's derived from the Tanakh name Shem. The Phoenicians were a "Semitic" people from the Eastern Mediterranean, descended from Canaanites (Darvill 2008), and had colonized a number of cities on Cyprus, including Kition, establishing a Phoenician presence on the island. Cyprus was one of the two traditional birthplaces of Aphrodite, known frequently as Cypris ("Cyprus-born") in ancient Greek literature, and Aphrodite was syncretized with Astarte, a highly important goddess to the ancient Phoenicians.

# data[].attributes.body
Date/place of the work: Egyptian, the Late period, c. 685 – c. 525 BCE

CLARC Item Number: 660

Material: Bronze

Dimensions: Height: 15.7 cm. (6.181"); Width of head: 5.5 cm. (2.165"); Width of face: 4.8 cm. (1.889")

Description: Net (also known as Neith), was an early Egyptian deity and a warrior goddess who was patron goddess of Sais, Egypt. In this artwork, Net appears to be depicted with the tripartite wig, as was seen on the Head of Hathor. A single uraeus (sacred serpent) appears to have been on her brow before being damaged. Like other figures of goddesses, her inlaid eyes may have once had precious stones. Her elaborate collar necklace includes bead motifs with the edges of the collar perhaps suggesting wings. The winged figures sitting on her shoulders represent Horus, as does the winged figure that sits right below the neck, motifs that make sense since Net was regarded as a protector of one of the four sons of Horus, Duamutef (Wilkinson 2003: 219). A wide open hole on the goddess's head indicates where a crown would have been. Net's standard crown was the "Red" Crown of Lower (northern) Egypt known as the Deshret, a crown in the shape of a red bowl with a curlicue protruding from it. Made of a bronze material, the surface of the aegis suffers from light corrosion known as "bronze disease," although overall the figure is in remarkably good condition. According to the Metropolitan Museum, the aegis in ancient Egypt was a "collarlike necklace (often called a broad-collar) bearing a divine head as symbol of protection and fertility."

Historical Background: Net, or Neith, was an early goddess in the Egyptian pantheon whose major cult center was at Sais, an important ancient Egyptian city. As a warrior goddess, her symbols included the bow, the shield, and the crossed arrows (Wilkinson 2003: 218). But she was also a goddess of weaving and the domestic arts, serving as a protector of women and a guardian of marriage. (Wilkinson 2003: 218). Because of this, her name was popular among Egyptian royal women (Wilkinson 2003: 218), such as Neith, the wife of Pepi II, whose pyramid tomb and remains of her mummified body have survived today. As a goddess of war, she had an additional association with death, thus becoming a protector of Duamutef, the protector of the Canopic jars for mummification as well as one of the Four Sons of Horus (Wilkinson 2003: 218).

# data[].attributes.headline
Figurine of Aphrodite in Praxitelean Pose

# data[].attributes.subject
Figurine of Aphrodite in Praxitelean Pose

# data[].attributes.body
Date/place of the work: Hellenistic Greek (323 – 31 BCE)

CLARC Item Number: 90

Material: Stone

Dimensions: Height: 5.6 cm. (2.204"); Width: 2 cm. (0.787"); Depth: 1.2 cm. (0.472")

Description: Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of erotic love and beauty, is depicted here in the leaning Praxitelean pose, an iconographic concept famously developed by the Greek sculptor Praxiteles (fl. 4th century BCE). Although the head and feet are missing, the pose is quintessentially Aphrodite, with the nude female figure covering her hand over her genitalia. Aphrodite's discarded robe hangs over her left-arm as she leans. The stone figurine is possibility made of green schist.

Historical Background: Although popularly known as the goddess of erotic love and beauty, Aphrodite--one of the Olympians--also had a fertility character, as exemplified by her origin in sexual origans and of the sea, the latter suggestive of a womb's amniotic fluid (Pomeroy 1994: 6). During the Hellenistic period, the time period this figurine is dated to, Aphrodite had not only gained widespread popularity throughout the ancient Mediterranean, but had achieved immeasurable syncretism with goddesses from other pantheons, including the Egyptian goddesses Isis and Hathor, the Anatolian goddess Cybele, the Canaanite goddess Astarte, and, of course, Aphrodite's traditional Roman counterpart, Venus. Hellenistic era queens, including the Ptolemaic Egyptian women, had assimilated themselves to Aphrodite as well as other goddesses. Aphrodite's role as protectress of seafarers, Aphrodite Pelagia ("of the sea"), was especially popular in the Hellenistic Greek period.

# data[].attributes.body
Date/place of the work: Greek, c. fourth century BCE

CLARC Item Number: 503

Material: Metal

Dimensions: Height: 8.26 cm. (3.251"); Width at arms: 2.5 cm. (0.984"); Width: 1.9 cm. (0.748"); Base diameter: 3.81 cm. (1.5"); Circumference at base: 11.963 cm. (4.709")

Description: Cybele, great mother-goddess of Anatolia (located in modern-day Turkey), originated in Phrygia, a kingdom in the the west-central part of ancient Anatolia. Through Greek colonization in Asia Minor, Cybele's cult was transported to the Greek world by the fifth century BCE. The iconographic elements on the figurine portrays the goddess Cybele in her Greek persona. The goddess wears the polos crown, a high cylindrical crown, over her bound hair, a popular symbol in Cybele's Greek-style iconography. She also wears a flowing chiton, a traditional form of ancient Greek dress. The remains of her arms are at both sides, with the left arm appearing to hold an object, perhaps a phiale libations bowl or tympanon hand drum, standard iconographic elements of Greek Cybele. Much of the metal figurine's other details are worn off, with her facial expression only indicated by her raised nose and a single impressed right eye. She stands on a circular base, with her head tilted slightly to the right shoulder. It is quite possible that this figurine is a votive offering for a sacred space.

Historical Background: Cybele was primarily a fertility goddess, but she also took on other divine roles, such as a divine protectress of cities and her peoples in wartime; healer; giver of oracles; mistress of the mountains and wild nature. During the Greek colonization of Anatolia, Cybele gained popularity with Greek colonists, and her cult spread throughout the Greek world. While past scholars have described her adoption into Greek rites as "Hellenization," this term has recently fallen out of favor, and it is more accurate to say that Greek-style representations of Cybele, such as this figurine, represent cultural hybridity, with Cybele becoming assimilated with Demeter, the Greek goddess of fertility and the harvest.

# data[].attributes.body
Bartman, Elizabeth. Portraits of Livia: Imaging the Imperial Woman in Augustan Rome. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999.

Classical Studies Artifact Research Collection (CLARC) - Digital Collection.

Darvill, Timothy. "Phoenicians." In The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology: Oxford University Press, 2008. https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199534043.001.0001/acref-9780199534043-e-3106.

Healey, John F. "Semitic." In The Oxford Classical Dictionary: Oxford University Press, 2005. https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198606413.001.0001/acref-9780198606413-e-5806.

The Israel Museum, Jerusalem. “Astarte Figurines.” Accessed April 23, 2024. https://www.imj.org.il/en/collections/198066-0.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art. “Aegis of Sakhmet or Bastet." Accessed May 4th, 2024. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/548215.

Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, And Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken Books, 1994 [1975].

Tyldesley, Joyce A. Daughters of Isis: Women of Ancient Egypt. New York, N.Y., USA: Penguin, 1995.

Walton, Francis Redding and John Scheid. "Cybele." In The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 4th ed.: Oxford University Press, 2012. https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199545568.001.0001/acref-9780199545568-e-1970.

Wilkinson, Richard H. The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2003.

Winder, Stephanie, and Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones. “The Hathoric Model of Queenship in Early Ptolemaic Egypt: The Case of Berenike's Lock.” In Greco-Egyptian Interactions: Literature, Translation, and Culture, 500 BC–AD 300, edited by Ian Rutherford, 138-162. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016.

# data[].attributes.body
Date/place of the work: Rome, 2nd century BCE

CLARC Item Number: 89

Material: Stone

Dimensions: Height: 4.6 cm. (1.811"); Width: 2.6 cm. (1.023"); Depth: 3.3 cm. (1.299")

Description: The Anatolian mother goddess Cybele was known in Rome as the Magna Mater ("Great Mother"). She is identifiable in this portrait especially by her mural crown, an iconographic element popular in her Anatolian and Roman-style representations. The mural crown represented city walls, an appropriate iconographic element for Cybele/Magna Mater, who was seen as a protectress of cities. The mural crown is set over highly stylized hair that is tied at the back of the head. The head's facial features are somewhat apparent, with impressed eyes, a slightly shaved off nose, and a smiling mouth. The head is broken at the neck, suggesting it may have been part of a fuller figurine, perhaps even a votive offering.

Historical Background: The cult of Magna Mater (Roman Cybele) was one of the popular mystery religions in ancient Rome. Cybele was co-opted by the Roman state during the war against Hannibal as Magna Mater and developed into a powerful Roman religious cult. During the second Punic War (218 – 201 BCE), the patrician Claudia Quinta used the stone representing the Magna Mater to prove her chastity against accusations of promiscuity. As Sarah Pomeroy writes, “Her success in moving the stone was considered the testimony to Claudia’s chastity.” (Pomeroy 1994: 179.) This particular head is estimated to have been created in the 2nd century BCE, perhaps even contemporaneous to the famous Second Punic Wars.

# data[].attributes.body
Date/place of the work: Roman, perhaps the Julio-Claudian period (27 BCE - CE 68)

CLARC Item Number: 83

Material: Bronze

Dimensions: Height: 6.2 cm. (2.44"); Width: 2.9 cm. (1.141"); Depth: 1.6 cm. (0.629")

Description: A bronze Roman depiction of a woman, or perhaps a goddess. She wears heavy drapery, with a palla female mantle over her shoulders. The palla was worn by respectable Roman women of high social standing. Her right arm is lifted up, while her left hand clutches a staff. The position of her left-hand may indicate the woman was holding an item in her hand, perhaps wheat or grain, a popular motif for the Roman goddesses Ceres, to whom Julio-Claudian women were associated. The staff the figure holds is popular in general depictions of Roman goddesses. Notably, the figure is also wearing a veil over her hair, a symbol of divinity and royalty in classical antiquity. Roman priestesses also donned the veil, and images of Julio-Claudian women as priestesses of the Imperial Cult and other cults, especially to Ceres, were also quite popular. The lower part of the figure's right arm is missing as is the right foot, while her left foot pokes out of the heavy drapery. Damage is especially apparent on the back.

Historical Background: Dated broadly to the time period of "ancient Rome" (traditionally 753 BCE - CE 476), the figure resembles portraits of women in the Julio-Claudian period in the guises of goddesses and priestesses, hence my very tentative suggestion of a Julio-Claudian periodization (27 BCE - CE 68). During the Julio-Claudian period, women of the first imperial dynasty began to be associated with Roman goddesses, especially the agricultural and "hearth and home" goddesses like Ceres and Vesta. Livia Drusilla (59 BCE - CE 29), the wife of Emperor Augustus, was portrayed in the guise of Ceres, as well as in the guise of the chief priestess of the Julio-Claudian Imperial Cult after her husband's death in CE 14. This usually included a veil, a palla, and heavy drapery. She also oftentimes held items in her goddess or priestess iconography, like wheat, or the mask of her deified husband. Livia was upheld as the ideal Roman woman, and this figurine possibly represents the concept of the well-respected upper-class Roman matrona, if not a figural representation of a Roman goddess.