figure
- Museum number
- 1899,1229.3
- Description
-
Terracotta female figure with arms raised, possibly a goddess or a priestess; wheel-made tubular body, with applied breasts and arms (head missing); made of buff clay decorated with black and red paint: parallel bands on the lower body probably representing drapery, the top end of a maniple-like sash is just visible; armlets and bracelets along both arms are shown as parallel bands of paint; a loose chain or string hangs between the breasts, at the end of which are several pendants, probably seals (very worn); surface is very worn and the lower part of the body is restored with plaster.
- Production date
- 700 BC-600 BC
- Dimensions
-
Height: 28.50 centimetres (max)
- Curator's comments
- This item and GR 1899,12-29.1-2 are said to have been found in the same tomb. The '4' pencilled on the upper and lower fragments does not represent a tomb number however - this is an error made by Walters in his vase catalgue where he interepreted the pencilled numbers on some of the vessels as referring to tombs. Archival sources suggest that no tomb inventory was made by Welch or Christian when they conducted their excavations. The three statuettes of this type actually bear different numbers, and one - GR 1899,12-29.2 - has two (21 and 9).
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 1899,1229.1-3) (Karageorghis 2005, 34-55; 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
- 1899,1229.3
