figure
- Museum number
- 1899,1229.2
- Description
-
Terracotta female figure with upraised arms, possibly of a votary or a goddess; wheel-made cylindrical body tapering outwards at the bottom; arms at right angles to the body; head missing and left arm; schematic pellet breasts; buff clay decorated with red and black paint: traces of her hair are visible as a black mass on her shoulders; triple bands on the arms may represent bracelets; she wears a long robe extending to her feet (not depicted), while four bands on the lower body (quite worn) may be part of the dress of the female; around the neck hangs a double cord which extends below the breasts, ending in tassels in the form of flowers; an elaborate fringed sash decorated with swastikas at the lower ends hangs from the waist.
- Production date
- 700BC-650BC
- Dimensions
-
Height: 33 centimetres (max)
- Curator's comments
- This item and GR 1899,12-29.1 and 3 are said to have been found in the same tomb. The numbers pencilled on the material from the 1899 excavations were interpreted by Walters in his vase catalgue as tomb numbers, but three statuettes bear different numbers and the present example has two, '21' on the upper body fragment, and 9 on the lower. Archival sources suggest that no tomb inventory was made by Welch or Christian when they conducted their excavations.
The iconographic type known as the 'goddess with uplifted arms' may have originated in Crete and found its way to Cyprus at the end of the Late Bronze Age (12th-11th centuries BC). This figure may represent either a divinity - the Great Goddess of Cyprus later assimilated with Phoenician Astarte and Greek - or else an elite worshipper or priestess (perhaps in the Sanctuary of Palaepaphos near where it was found along with GR 1899,1229.1 and 3) (Karageorghis 2005, 34-5; also Karageorghis 1977, 141).
Bibliography:
Karageorghis J. Kypris. The Aphrodite of Cyprus. Ancient sources and archaeological evidence (Nicosia).
Karageorghis J. 1977, La Grande Déesse de Chypre et son culte (Lyon).
- Location
- On display (G72/dc3)
- Acquisition date
- 1899
- Department
- Greek and Roman
- Registration number
- 1899,1229.2
