statue
- Museum number
- 1873,0320.20
- Description
-
Head of a limestone statue of a male wearing laurel wreath, a worshipper or possibly an image of the god Apollo.
- Production date
- 325 BC-250 BC
- Dimensions
-
Height: 13 centimetres (max)
- Curator's comments
- The general features of a young man, combined with the curly hair at the back, may reflect the typical iconography of the god Apollo who is mentioned - in associated with Phoenician Reshef - in inscriptions from this sanctuary dating from the earlier fourth century BC. Both deities were assimilated with an earlier god of hunting and the countryside - the local Great God - who in this part of Cyprus is represented in the form of Cypriot Herakles/Master of the Animals, a combination of Greek Herakles and Phoenician Reshef. The imagery of the god Apollo, already used on Cyprus - including at Idalion - from the fifth century BC, appears to replace the older Master of the Animals from the later fourth century, a process accelerated during the Hellenistic period when actual Greek cults become widespread on the island for the first time along with Greek religious iconography and art styles generally. The imagery of the Greek god Pan is also incorporated into local cultic iconograpy at the same time. However, the presence of a wreath might alos indicate simply a worshipper taking part in a religious ceremony (albeit in honour of one of the aforementioned gods).
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1873
- Department
- Greek and Roman
- Registration number
- 1873,0320.20
- Additional IDs
-
Miscellaneous number: 1917,0701.205