Classica Orientalia

Henryk Meyza, Iwona Zych (red.), Classica Orientalia. Essays Presented to Wiktor Andrzej Daszewski on his 75th Birthday, Warszawa: PCMA, Wydawnictwo DiG, 2011

Warszawa 2011
ISBN 978-83-7181-721-2
460 stron
Oprawa twarda

Z okazji jubileuszu 75-lecia urodzin i 50-lecia pracy naukowej ukazała się księga jubileuszowa Prof. Wiktora Andrzeja Daszewskiego: Classica Orientalia. Essays Presented to Wiktor Andrzej Daszewski on his 75th Birthday.

Classica Orientialia jest zbiorem artykułów dedykowanych Profesorowi Wiktorowi Andrzejowi Daszewskiemu przez przyjaciół, kolegów i współpracowników z okazji 75tych urodzin. Tematyka obejmuje wyniki badań archeologicznych i nauk pomocniczych archeologii, prowadzonych na stanowiskach hellenistycznych, grecko-rzymskich, bizantyjskich i islamskich w basenie Morza Śródziemnego (głównie w Egipcie, Syrii i na Cyprze).

Polskie wykopaliska i prace konserwatorskie są szczególnie dobrze reprezentowane, odzwierciedlając zainteresowania i osiągnięcia Prof. Daszewskiego, który był przez dwie dekady sekretarzem naukowym a następnie dyrektorem Centrum Archeologii Śródziemnomorskiej Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, a także szefem dwóch misji wykopaliskowych – w Nea Paphos na Cyprze oraz w Marina el-Alamein w Egipcie. Wśród autorów znaleźli się Jean-Charles Balty, Janine Balty, Giuseppina Capriotti-Vittozzi, Rafał Czerner, Piotr Dyczek, Pavlos Flourentzos, Michał Gawlikowski, Włodzimierz Godlewski, Tomasz Herbich, Maria Kaczmarek, Zsolt Kiss, Jerzy Kolendo, Barbara Lichocka, John Lund, Adam Łajtar, Adam Łukaszewicz, Grzegorz Majcherek, Henryk Meyza, Karol Myśliwiec, Zofia Sztetyłło i inni.

Podziękowanie: Księga jubileuszowa prof. Wiktor Andrzeja Daszewskiego została wydana przez Wydawnictwo DiG wspólnie z Centrum Archeologii Śródziemnomorskiej UW. Serdeczne podziękowania dla Redaktora Naczelnego dr hab. Sławomira Górzyńskiego za nieodpłatne udostępnienie wersji elektronicznej artykułów, którą prezentujemy na stronie CAŚ UW, tym samym upamiętniając śmierć Profesora w styczniu 2021 r.

Książkę można wciąż kupić na stronie wydawnictwa DiG.

Contents

Abbreviations

Wiktor Andrzej Daszewski: list of publications

Foreword, pp. 11–12

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37343/pcma.uw.dig.9788371817212.pp.11-12
Autor: Piotr Bieliński

Abstract: Foreword to the jubilar volume for Professor Wiktor Andrzej Daszewski, archaeologist and art historian, former Director of the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw and head of Polish excavations at Nea Paphos in Cyprus and Marina el-Alamein in Egypt, on his 75th birthday anniversary.

Wiktor Andrzej Daszewski: Essay presented on his 75th birthday anniversary, pp. 13–29

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37343/pcma.uw.dig.9788371817212.pp.13-42
Autor: Krystyna Polaczek and Iwona Zych

Abstract: A portrait of Professor Wiktor Andrzej Daszewski (who died on 17 January 2021), his life achievement and scientific output, presented to the jubilarian on the occasion of his 75th birthday. Daszewski directed the Polish excavations at Nea Paphos in Cyprus from 2006, continuing his studies there even when retired, discovered and excavated for 20 years the Graeco-Roman harbor site at Marina el-Alamein on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt, and published a number of books on the mosaic art. He acted as Director of the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw from 1980 to 1989, and contributed to saving and restoring the archaeological heritage of Carthage under the UNESCO umbrella.

Interprétation de la lettre ταῦ sur le vêtement du Christ et du geste de l’ogdoade sur la mosaïque absidiale de l’église Santa Pudenziana à Rome, 43–72

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37343/pcma.uw.dig.9788371817212.pp.43-72
Autor: Krzysztof Babraj

Abstract: The author explores the interpretation of the Greek letter tau on the robe of Christ represented on the 4th-century apsidal mosaic in the church of Santa Pudenziana in Rome, as well as the sign of the Ogdoad that Christ makes with his fingers. He discusses the ancient written sources for the symbolic meaning of the letter, as well as the letters iota and gamma, also found in similar early Christian contexts, as well as the iconographic evidence for the use of the letter tau, seen as a cross in shape, in glyptics, amulets, inscriptions and relief sculpture on sarcophagi, among others. In the context of the Santa Pudenziana mosaic, the presence of the letter is significant for the interpretation of the representation as symbolizing the redemption of man through the Passion of the Lord. The sign of the Ogdoad should be seen as evocation of the universal nature of the resurrection of Christ for all mankind, making the presence of the tau on Christ’s robes in this representation entirely comprehensible.

Le rinceau d’acanthe à fond noir dans la mosaïque syrienne : l’exemple de Mariamin, pp. 73–88

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37343/pcma.uw.dig.9788371817212.pp.73-88
Autor: Janine Balty

Abstract: The motif of masks appearing in the ornamental “inhabited” scrolling plant borders of mosaics from the 2nd and 3rd century AD, discovered in Syria (Apamea and Palmyra among others) is discussed based on the border of the Mosaic of the Musicians from Mariamin in Syria, which is one of the most complex and best preserved of its kind, dated to the close of the 2nd century AD. The origin of the motif and its significance—protection of the house and tomb offered by mythical figures like Oceanus and the Gorgons—is considered, chronological issues concerning the motif and its longevity in late antique Christian art.

Une « nouvelle » dédicace apaméenne à Cn. Marcius Rustius Rufinus, pp. 89–95

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37343/pcma.uw.dig.9788371817212.pp.89-95
Autor: Jean-Charles Balty

Abstract: The dedication to Cn. Marcius Rutius Rufinus “rediscovered” in the documentation of the Belgian team excavating Apamea in Syria lends grounds for the author to reconsider another inscription, published earlier, honoring the same man, who was a prefect of the Ravenna and Misenum fleets and at the peak of his illustrious career a praefectus vigilum urbi in Rome. The inscription in question is a dedication of the North Gate by the city boule (council), which is presumed to have been part of the rebuilding project after the earthquake of AD 47. The restitution of the text indicates that the Apameans making the dedication belonged to the Fabia, Roman citizens but not representing all of the citizens of Apamea, who honored Marcius Rutius Rufinus at the moment in his life when he left the city to command the Ravenna fleet.

Aphrodite in Egypt. Images of the goddess from Marina el-Alamein, pp. 97–114

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37343/pcma.uw.dig.9788371817212.pp.97-114
Autor: Grażyna Bąkowska-Czerner

Abstract: The author explores the images of Aphrodite—statuary in marble and bronze, oil lamp discus iconography—originating from the Polish excavations at the site of the ancient town at Marina el-Alamein on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt, tracing the religious syncretism (in Hellenistic and Roman Egypt, Aphrodite was linked with the Egyptian goddess Isis), concerning also other Greek gods, that obviously pervaded the affluent community living there. The marble head of Aphrodite and the lamp with a scene of Aphrodite with two Erotes were found in House 19 and they are dated, respectively, to the late Hellenistic/early Roman period and the second half of the 1st–2nd century AD. A bronze statuette of Aphrodite pudica came from a disturbed but apparently ritual context and is dated, like the lamp, to the second half of the 1st–2nd century AD. The evidence collected in the article shows that the goddess, depicted in different forms inspired by Hellenistic and even earlier, Classical, art, made of different materials and with apparently different purposes in mind, was very popular with the inhabitants of this small town on the Egyptian coast. The finds from Marina el-Alamein are an interesting example of syncretism developing in the Roman period.

Un gruppo scultoreo da Dendera al Museo del Cairo: due fanciulli divini e i due luminari, pp. 115–127

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37343/pcma.uw.dig.9788371817212.pp.115-127
Autor: Giuseppina Capriotti-Vittozzi

Abstract: The sculptural group in stone reconsidered in this article is a representation of a couple of youthful figures, standing entwined in the coils of two large serpents, crowned with a solar disk and a lunar crescent. The statue was discovered in Dendera in 1918 and is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo (JE 46278). A hypothetical identification proposed by the author would see in the figures the twin children of Cleopatra VII and Mark Anthony, represented here as the two Egyptian astral deities. The author explores the iconographic and stylistic issues involved, arriving at a late Ptolemaic date for the sculpture, fitting for the proposed identification.

The peristyle of House H1 in the ancient town at Marina el-Alamein, pp. 129–146

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37343/pcma.uw.dig.9788371817212.pp.129-146
Autor: Rafał Czerner

Abstract: A thorough study of the architectural elements found in the ruins of House H1 in the northern part of the ancient town at the site of Marina el-Alamein led to a reconstruction of a two-storeyed portico around the inner courtyard. The upper storey of the peristyle would have accommodated the galleries from which one could enter the rooms on the first floor. The author, an architectural historian, presents the architecture and proportions of two-storeyed peristyle porticoes as they would have been implemented at this seaside town in the Mediterranean coast of Egypt, just 100 km west of Alexandria, and uses this example to review the known parallels from other regions, including the “Palazzo delle Colonne” in Ptolemais and the Meroitic Palace of Natakamani in Gebel Barkal, Sudan. He concludes that both the general layout of the house at Marina el-Alamein and the two-storeyed peristyle architectural design were hardly unique in the Hellenistic and Roman world of North Africa, but what made the Marina house different was the stateliness of its appearance.

Roman fine pottery from a cellar under Oil-press E.I at Chhim (Lebanon), pp. 147–156

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37343/pcma.uw.dig.9788371817212.pp.147-156
Autor: Krzysztof Domżalski

Abstract: The paper considers a set of surprisingly well preserved Eastern Sigillata A and Late Roman C/Phocean Red Slip Ware and D/“Cypriot” Red Sip Ware vessels from the late 1st–early 2nd century AD, found in the bedding fill of a cellar floor of an oil pres building located in the mountain village of Chhim in Lebanon. The set included plates (EAS Forms 35, 37B, 53), a jug (ESA Form 108) and dishes (LRC Form 1?, LRD Form 1). Local plain pottery was represented by Chhim Ware jugs and table amphorae. The deposit was dated contextually to the mid 1st-century AD and linked to the earliest village occupation in the area. It demonstrated that the residents of the village in the early Roman age, most probably involved in the profitable olive-oil industry of the times, had means enough to curry to a fashion for owning some of the best tableware available on the Levantine coastal market.

From the history of ancient Rhizon/Risinium: Why the Illyrian king Agron and queen Teuta came to a bad end and who was Ballaios? pp. 157–174

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37343/pcma.uw.dig.9788371817212.pp.157-174
Autor: Piotr Dyczek

Abstract: The author, who has headed the University of Warsaw excavation project in Risan/Rhizon on the Adriatic coast in Montenegro since 2001, reviews the results of excavations ten years into the project and explores the archaeological evidence for historical sources mentioning the ill-fated King Agron and Queen Teuta, the latter being the queen who faced off the Romans in the Third Illyrian War before ultimately succumbing to the invaders. Also described is a hoard of more than 4000 bronze coins of a ruler called Ballaios, forgotten by history, whose person is now slowly being reintroduced into the lineage of Illyrian dynasts, correcting the erroneous dating that Arthur Evans, who was the first to note the existence of this king, assigned to his reign.

New evidence of the aniconic iconography of Astarte-Aphrodite in Cyprus, pp. 175–182

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37343/pcma.uw.dig.9788371817212.pp.175-182
Autor: Pavlos Flourentzos

Abstract: The author considers the aniconic iconography of the goddess Astarte-Aphrodite in Cyprus/. The baetyl was venerated throughout the Levant in antiquity and its importance in the worship of this goddess on the island attests to strong Oriental influence shaping cultic practice. The new evidence for the aniconic cult presented in the paper consists of a group of three clay naiskoi coming from Amathus and two as yet unpublished portable baetyls of marble found in Kourion, similar to the image said to come from the Paphian sanctuary of Aphrodite represented on Roman coins. The conclusion is that the baetyl cult practice in Cyprus was not limited to the Paphos area and its roots can be traced to the Cypro Archaic I period, It continued to have a remarkable influence in later periods as well and its revival in the Roman period illustrated the growing popularity of cultic practices of Oriental origin.

Bagatelles épigraphiques, pp. 183–191

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37343/pcma.uw.dig.9788371817212.pp.183-191
Autor: Michał Gawlikowski

Abstract: The author revisits three different inscriptions from the ruins of Palmyra, either reused or in secondary position, providing readings and interpretation. A text on a console commemorates Marta, daughter of Nabuzabad and grandaughter of Zabdibol Simon; her statue was erected posthumously in the Great Colonnade. A block reused in the Temple of Bel propylae bears a fragment of an inscription in the Palmyrene script carved on the base of a statue with which the People’s Council commemorated Barateh son of Zebida and grandson of Zabda Borra. The third inscription is on a column drum, identifying the donor of five columns as Zabdai son of Zabadnebo Qahzan; a longer inscription to this effect is already known and is referred to the west portico of the grand courtyard of the Bel sanctuary.

Mosaic floor from the sanctuary of the EC.II cathedral in Dongola, pp. 193–198

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37343/pcma.uw.dig.9788371817212.pp.193-198
Autor: Włodzimierz Godlewski

Abstract: One of the civilizational innovations brought to Dongola, the capital of the rising Nubian Kingdom of Makuria, located in what is today central Sudan, was the art of laying mosaics. However, it seems to have been a one off undertaking, the whim of a bishop in the second half of the 7th century. Two floors have been excavated to date, both pebble mosaics with geometric black patterns against a white background (one in the eastern end of the nave of the EC.II Cathedral in the lower town and the other in a small three-aisled basilica on the outskirts, referred to as MC.II), both locally made out of stone pebbles collected locally. The art did not take root among the local craftsmen and gave way to technically easier and functionally more practical ceramic-tile pavements used prolifically in later Dongola.

Roman ceramic thymiaterion from a Coptic hermitage in Thebes, pp. 199–207

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37343/pcma.uw.dig.9788371817212.pp.199-207
Autor: Tomasz Górecki

Abstract: The rather massive and relatively well-preserved incense burner, distinguished not only by its size and weight, but also by quality of execution and elaborate painted decoration, was found in the fill of a Coptic hermitage located in a disused Pharaonic tomb at Sheikh Abd el-Gurna in West Thebes. A consideration of a limited set of known parallels for this thymiaterion, which is not a well studied form among the pottery from Roman Egypt, placed this piece between the Hellenistic and late Roman periods, more specifically, in the 3rd–4th century AD when a characteristic kind of slip started being used on the more „elegant” ceramic vessels. It must have come from either a tomb or rich residential surroundings, and found its way to the hermitage with the monks who were resourceful collecting of a whole range of „antiquarian” objects which they adapted for other uses.

Geophysics applied to the investigation of Graeco-Roman coastal towns west of Alexandria: the case of Marina el-Alamein, pp. 209–231

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37343/pcma.uw.dig.9788371817212.pp.209-231
Autor: Tomasz Herbich, Harald van der Osten-Woldenburg and Iwona Zych

Abstract: The results of a 1998 and 1999 geophysical survey conducted at the site of Marina el-Alamein, using two methods, magnetic prospection and ground-penetrating radar surveying, are discussed in the paper. Herbich and van der Osten-Woldenburg also assess the feasibility of the two methods in the specific geological (limestone bedrock and beach sand) and environmental (high ground salinity) of the site. The surveys were carried out in three different areas, chosen specifically to investigate: A – northern part of the necropolis; B – urban district among residential remains in the northern part, close to the harbor; and C – urban area on the eastern fringes of the city. The GPR method was found to be the most effective in this particular kind of setting, especially with regard to locating subterranean features like burial chambers. The magnetic method was more useful in the urban areas where higher magnetic susceptibility resulted in streets being mapped and archaeological units being traced in outline. Zych contributed a discussion of the results of archaeological truthing of the geophysical findings, including an unfinished tomb S26 and a few hypogea that were located and excavated thanks to information from the geophysical prospection.

Human remains from Marina el-Alamein, pp. 233–257

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37343/pcma.uw.dig.9788371817212.pp.233-257
Autor: Maria Kaczmarek

Abstract: The aim of the paper is to draw a health profile of a past human population—the Graeco-Roman inhabitants of a harbor city at the site of Marina el-Alamein on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt—and to study levels of adaptation of this population to the environment in which it lived. The author presents her methodology: the conceptual framework, skeletal inventory and scoring procedures, the uses her data to discuss in detail the paleodemography (demographic population structure and patterns of mortality) and physiological stress (disruption of growth and maturation), which can be defined as a physical disruption resulting from unhealthy environmental conditions with deleterious effect on both the individual and population level. Life expectancy was found to be at 39.1 years for males and 33.4 years for women. Based on skeletal growth of the most vulnerable subgroups of the population, infants and children, The people who were buried in the tombs of Marina el-Alamein lived a stressful life in an impoverished environment and their diet was inadequate. Overall dental health was very poor, significantly more so among women, and the high rates of arthritis and degenerative diseases of the spine and the major joints were suggestive of heavy workloads in life.

Deux fragments de portraits funéraires romains de Deir el-Bahari, pp. 259–266

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37343/pcma.uw.dig.9788371817212.pp.259-266
Autor: Zsolt Kiss

Abstract: Two fragments of painted Roman funerary portraits on wooden panels of the Fayum type, discovered in 2001 during a revisiting of the Third Intermediate Period shaft tombs inside the Chapel of Hatshepsut in the Royal Mortuary Cult Complex at the Temple of Hatshepsut in Deir el-Bahari, come from 19th century excavations, hence are without anything but a general context. The pieces are very small—fragment of a robe, sliver of a face with one eye—but in a brilliant analysis of iconography and style Kiss identifies one as a depiction of a female, possibly a priestess of Isis, from the second half of the 2nd century AD, and the other as a male portrait from the 2nd century. The portraits may belong to what some scholars have called “Theban” painted funerary portraits and they must have come from a Roman necropolis in West Thebes, possibly Deir el-Medineh. On any case, they are proof that mummies with painted portraits of the deceased on wooden panels fitted into the cartonnages were not unknown in ancient Thebes.

Zita, une ville oubliée de Tripolitaine, pp. 267–275

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37343/pcma.uw.dig.9788371817212.pp.267-275
Autor: Jerzy Kolendo

The paper presents some general historical considerations on the margin of François Queyel’s excellent archaeological study of the late 19th-century discoveries made in the forum of the city of Zita on the Zarzis peninsula in Tripolitania, including marble sculptures and inscriptions. The considerations amplify the interpretation of specific archaeological finds, leading to the conclusion that the rapid evolution and romanization of the ancient Punic city took place shortly after the failed revolt of the Numidian Berber leader Tacfarinas (AD 14–37).

Glass medallion in the shape of a lion’s head mask, pp. 277–285

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37343/pcma.uw.dig.9788371817212.pp.277-285
Autor: Renata Kucharczyk

Abstract: A glass appliqué in the shape a lion’s head mask is an example of applied decoration found on late Roman glasses, which may have actually seen extended use as a keepsake or amulet, long after the vessel itself, presumably a globular or conical handled jug or bulbous flagon, had been broken. The medallion in high relief was found during Polish excavations on Kom el-Dikka in 2007, in a cut from the early Islamic period containing fill of mixed date, from late Roman to early Islamic. The paper considers parallels for the piece, both published and unpublished, from excavations in Egypt as well as museum collections worldwide. All are considered to be made in Egyptian workshops and representing traditional “Egyptian” themes, although the idea of decorating glass vessels with applied medallions was hardly a novel idea in the late Roman period and was a continuation of a tradition from Imperial times, but with a different range of motifs. Glass masks of this kind appeared also on other vessels, like glass cinerary urns, for example, and continued to be applied as decoration on late Sassanian and early Islamic products.

Delta–epsilon issues of Elagabalus and Severus Alexander, pp. 287–323

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37343/pcma.uw.dig.9788371817212.pp.287-323
Autor: Barbara Lichocka

Abstract: The paper sums up the discoveries of delta–epsilon issues of the Roman emperors Elagabalus and Severus Alexander, altogether 102 coins representing small and medium change (a detailed tabular catalogue is attached), from excavations at various sites in Cyprus, as well as several dozen coins of unknown provenance in museum collections. There is sound reason to believe that this type was a local issue struck in Cyprus for use in the province and not for distribution outside it. However, it is equally possible that the coins were struck in Syria and coin flow between Cyprus and Syria and Palestine on both directions has been confirmed for the times of the Severan dynasty by finds belonging to different issues. The paper considers other possible reasons for the concentration of coin finds of this type in Cyprus, especially Kourion, as well as a similar large group found at Dura Europos in Syria. One possible reason was ensuring that enough small and medium change was in local supply to cover soldiers’ pay, a requirement that was as much political as economic. The coins of Elagabalus could have been minted at Laodicea ad Mare, but they could also have been produced in Cyprus from Cypriot copper and sent out to Syria. With regard to the coins struck for Severus Alexander, they seem to have been made in Cyprus, but the variations in fabric, inscriptions, lettering and details of design indicate more than one workshop involved in this production, while the specimens of low weight and minuscule dimensions even suggest that this production not always took place in the official mints.

Head vases of the Magenta Group from Cyprus, pp. 325–340

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37343/pcma.uw.dig.9788371817212.pp.325-340
Autor: John Lund

Abstract: The paper deals with a sub-species of the so-called “Magenta Group” of plastic pottery vessels, that is, handled flasks in the shape of a human head, developing an idea voiced by Demetrios Michaelidis in an authoritative study of the vases known from Cyprus, that at least these vessels could have been produced on the island. The head vases fall into two broad categories: displaying Egyptian stylistic traits (Category I) and in Greek style (Category II). Upon review of the evidence, it seems that the Cypriot workshops producing such vases (pending petrographic analyses of the clay fabric) were located somewhere in the central part of southern Cyprus, from at least the last quarter of the 3rd century BC most probably through the 1st century AD. The earliest vases display Egyptian stylistic traits; later specimens in the Greek style, which emerged in the (second half?) 2nd century BC, represent figures associated with wine consumption, which may suggest their production for a special occasion like a cultic feast.

Divus Probus(?) in a fragmentary building(?) inscription in Latin found in Kato (Nea) Paphos, Cyprus, pp. 341–352

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37343/pcma.uw.dig.9788371817212.pp.341-352
Autor: Adam Łajtar

Abstract: The paper concerns a fragmentary Latin inscription on a broken slab of marble, found in secondary fill in the residential villa excavated by the Polish team in Nea Paphos. It is dated by the type of script to the second half of the 3rd or the first half of the 4th century AD. A review of an updated collection of Latin texts (including some bilingual inscriptions in Latin and Greek) discovered in Cyprus demonstrated that they are either directly or indirectly connected with the Roman state and Roman institutions. The juncture cum porticibus indicates that it was either a building inscription or a honorific inscription for someone, possibly Divus Probus (although the text could be supplemented with the names of other divine or divinized figures), who was involved in some kind of building activity, either by giving money for the construction or by consecrating it. The commemoration could have concerned the construction of an important administrative building (praetorium), military installation, road station etc. or a municipal structure founded by a Roman or consecrated by a Roman state official and incorporating a portico (bath, market place, theater, temple, etc.).

A fish from the sea, pp. 353–356

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37343/pcma.uw.dig.9788371817212.pp.353-356
Autor: Adam Łukaszewicz

Abstract: The author uses the vehicle of a jubilar text to explore fish transport in antiquity looking at the issue from the point of view of Egyptian Alexandria. For instance, the appearance of Pontic salted fish on the Alexandrian market is testimony of far-flung trade. Papyri bring several mentions of such salted fish of superior quality (tarichos leptos) being sent to enrich the staple diet of the Oxyrhynchite elite. The fish that reached Oxyrhynchus could have also come from the Red Sea, taking advantage of fairly regular communication in the Roman period. Salted fish were also produced locally in Egypt, mostly from river fish, by the fishermen, but also by professional taricheutae, who were also the embalmers preparing the mummies.

The Cretan presence in Marina el-Alamein, pp. 357–378

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37343/pcma.uw.dig.9788371817212.pp.357-378
Autor: Grzegorz Majcherek and Iwona Zych

Abstract: The purpose of the article is to examine the surprisingly extensive and varied evidence of Cretan finds in the archaeological record of the PCMA UW excavations at the site of the ancient Graeco-Roman harbor in Marina el-Alamein on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt and to propose an interpretation going beyond the usual and obvious, for this period and place, trade exchange. The evidence includes pottery, mainly amphorae, a numerous group of so-called Cretan or Ivy-leaf terracotta oil lamps, a tentative Cretan-sourced custom of using gold plaques with Orphic symbolism placed into the mouths of initiates in preparation for burial, as well as a female name in Doric Greek carved on one of the pillar tombs, which could have belonged to a woman of Cretan origin. The distribution of the Cretan amphora in Egypt, as reviewed by Majcherek, merits attention in the light of what it says about consumers and their individual and collective preferences. In turn, the Cretan lamps, which are otherwise not found in Egypt and the bulk of which were found as grave goods in burials, were most probably valued possessions of a specific group, a mark of cultural belonging, a memento of home, perhaps even a religious attribute. The finds from Marina el-Alamein must be considered in the context of Crete’s bilateral relations with Egypt—political, cultural and commercial—and the integration of Crete in the pan-Mediterranean economic system of Roman times. The conclusion is that the assemblage in question rests well within the frame of this overall picture of mutual contacts, but one could go further and propose to view the finds as proof of tentative Cretan colony, whether mercenaries/veterans with their families or merchants and their agents.

A mask of ἡγεμών θεράπων with ὄγκος(?) from Paphos, pp. 379–386

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37343/pcma.uw.dig.9788371817212.pp.379-386
Autor: Henryk Meyza

Abstract: A marble fragment of a large statue from the ’Hellenistic House’ turned out to have been  remodelled on the back side to the likeness of a theatrical mask. This representation is unfinished and it is not certain what was the purpose of such reuse. Masks were initially related to the cult of Dionysus. The apotropaic and soteriadic character of masks was reflected in their funerary use, and has developed into symbolism of peace, well-being and abundance. As a symbol of Dionysus, they were used as decoration in various circumstances, with whole sets of dramatic and comedy personages put on display in the peristyles of the wealthy. Whole sets were shown in galleries of theatrical personages as stocks available for actors, helping also spectators in the identification of characters, as those listed in the Onomastikon of the lexicographer Pollux. Representations of masks, and the descriptions, transcend types and are in many cases difficult to identify with a specific mask in such lists. In the case of the Paphos find, the asymmetric rendering of the features of this small, unfinished piece makes it half-angry and half-prying, somewhere between the Principal Slave and some other New Comedy persona.

L’acquis des fouilles de Tell Atrib pour la connaissance de l’époque ptolémaïque, pp. 387–398

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37343/pcma.uw.dig.9788371817212.pp.387-398
Autor: Karol Myśliwiec

Abstract: The article gives a brief overview of the archaeological evidence for the Ptolemaic phase in the existence of ancient Athribis, a site located in modern Benha in the Nile delta in Egypt. Excavation of the part of the site around Kom Sidi Youssouf revealed a sequence of layers dated as follows: the earliest from the beginning of the Ptolemaic period through the reign of Ptolemy V (a); essentially the reign of Ptolemy VI through the second half of the 2nd century BC (b); and the later Ptolemaic period through the beginning of the Roman period, the latter phase largely disturbed by later activities at the site. The investigated quarter was not settled before the second half of the 4th century BC  and later developed into a vibrant workshop quarter producing pottery and terracottas, stone figurines, faience vessels, gold jewelry and sundry other objects. Many of the artifacts, a selection of which is presented in the paper, were most certainly produced as devotional objects for sale and use in the numerous shrines and temples that appear to have existed in this part of the ancient city. The assemblage is characterized by a high quality of execution and iconographic originality, showing that the artists—assumedly Egyptian, Greek and Oriental—reached for the best Hellenistic models for their craftwork.

Najwcześniejsza polska wzmianka o sycylijskich antiquitates (with summary in English), pp. 399–411

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37343/pcma.uw.dig.9788371817212.pp.399-411
Autor: Janusz A. Ostrowski

Abstract: The earliest Polish record of Sicilian antiquities, dated to 1595, was given by a traveler on his way to the Holy Land, not a clergyman and not a scholar, but a strong and resilient middle-aged man given to long walks in the countryside. A surviving fragment of the diary written by this man, whose name has not been preserved, was published in 1925. It is unique in Old Polish literature with regard to Sicily, its towns and monuments, erudite in knowledge of ancient literary sources. The paper reviews (in Polish) this report.

The contribution of Kraków archaeologists to excavating Nea Paphos, the ancient capital of Cyprus, pp. 413–424

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37343/pcma.uw.dig.9788371817212.pp.413-424
Autor: Ewdoksia Papuci-Władyka

Abstract: The author presents the contribution of archaeologists from the Jagiellonian University in Kraków to the excavation project conducted by Wiktor Andrzej Daszewski for the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology of the University of Warsaw in Nea Paphos on Cyprus. A brief general description of the Warsaw project is given in lieu of an introduction. Describing the Kraków contribution, the author discusses the results of her ceramological studies on pottery of Hellenistic date, which produced data in support of some of architectural hypotheses, while revising others, notably introducing a new five-phase chronology. The author goes on to discuss other accomplishments of the expedition, including celebrations of the 40th anniversary of Daszewski’s excavations in Paphos, and announces the launching of the Paphos Agora Project under her direction.

“Megarian” bowls from Tell Atrib, pp. 425–445

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37343/pcma.uw.dig.9788371817212.pp.425-440
Autor: Anna Południkiewicz

Abstract: Hemispherical “Megarian” bowls, produced from the 3rd to the 1st century BC, were an imported luxury ware common on the tables of the Ptolemaic/Hellenistic elite in Egypt. The collection of 16 vessels of this kind from the Polish excavations at Tell Atrib/Athribis, discovered between 1969 and 1999, is for the most part well stratified, dated contextually by coins and amphora stamp handles to two broader horizons: second half of the 3rd and first half of the 2nd century BC, and the turn of the 2nd century BC. Three variants were distinguished by the author, differentiated by details of the relief decoration. The group of vessels catalogued in this article originated probably from Ionian workshops in Asia Minor.

Amphoras on Knidian amphoras, pp. 441–450

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37343/pcma.uw.dig.9788371817212.pp.441-450
Autor: Zofia Sztetyłło

Abstract: The article traces the motif of an amphora in the iconography of Knidian amphora stamps in an effort to date with greater precision a Knidian amphora with two stamped handles discovered in the excavations at Marina el-Alamein. In effect, the handleless amphora stamp on the container from Marina was assigned to Period VII and dates most probably to the end of the 1st century AD. Additionally, the author discusses other motifs occurring on Knidian amphora stamps, including a bucranium, prora, anchor, oar and rudder, bee, bunch of grapes, and heroes and deities, such as Poseidon represented by a dolphin and trident, Dionysus related to the thyrsus amd Hermes seen in a caduceus and herm.

Two “armed” terracottas from Athribis, pp. 451–459

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37343/pcma.uw.dig.9788371817212.pp.451-459
Autor: Hanna Szymańska

Abstract: Two terracotta figurines, identified as Athena and as an armed Eros, found in layers from the 2nd century BC at the ancient site of Athribis in the Egyptian Nile Delta, count among the hugely popular pieces of the coroplastic arts drawing stylistic inspiration from Ptolemaic art. Athribian craftsmen were masters at depicting characteristic human types and imitating models from other craft centers, like Alexandria. The Athena figurine (only head preserved) appears to be a unique representation of the goddess crafted out of local clay in a clay workshop by a craftsman inspired by the physiognomy of the reigning Ptolemaic queens. The Eros figurine, depicted in an “Italic” muscle cuirass extremely rare in Egyptian artifacts and holding a Gaulish thureos shield, confirms the exceptional character of the Athribian coroplastic workshops.