Kontextualisierung von Terrakotten im spätzeitlichen bis spätantiken Ägypten
06.12.2013Contextualising terracotta figurines during Late Period to Late antique Egypt Tagung vom 06. bis 08. Dezember 2013 im Martin von Wagner Museum, Würzburg
| Datum: | 6. bis 8. Dezember 2013 |  |
|---|---|---|
| Ort: | Martin von Wagner Museum, Residenz Würzburg | |
| Veranstalter: | Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Institut für Altertumswissenschaften: |
Tonstatuetten stellen die häufigste figürliche Fundgruppe an vielen Orten Ägyptens dar. Die große Menge dieser Terrakotten dokumentiert den Stellenwert der Gattung in der ägyptischen Kultur besonders während der Perioden der ptolemäischen und römischen Herrschaft. Sie formen als bedeutende bildliche Quelle ein wichtiges Korrelat zu anderen lokalen Quellengattungen, zu Inschriften und Papyri. Die Forschung analysierte bisher vor allem museale Terrakottabestände unter Nutzung motivischer und typologischer Fragestellungen. Herkunft und Datierung der Statuetten blieben dabei häufig unsicher. Über ihre zeitliche und räumliche Einteilung sowie über Herstellung, Verbreitung und Verwendung konnte nur vorläufig geurteilt werden.
Deswegen bietet diese Tagung einen neuen Zugang, indem Experten und dem akademischen Nachwuchs ein interdisziplinärer und internationaler Dialog über aktuelle ägyptische Terrakottafunde ermöglicht wird. Der inhaltliche Schwerpunkt liegt dabei auf der Präsentation und Auswertung von unpublizierten Material, dessen Provenienz bzw. Kontext bestimmbar ist.
Ziel ist die Synthese und Vermittlung der Erforschung ägyptischer Koroplastik, wobei die grabungsarchäologischen Daten als Ausgangspunkt dienen und mit kunst- bzw. religionshistorischen Ansätzen und Ergebnissen abgeglichen werden.
Programm
Freitag, 06. Dezember 2013
| |
| bis 17.00 | Ankunft und Anmeldung |
| 17.15 | Abendvortrag Jochen Griesbach, Würzburg: |
| 19.00 | Empfang für die Teilnehmer der Konferenz im Martin von Wagner-Museum |
| |
Samstag, 07. Dezember 2013
| |
| 09.00 | Eva Lange, Würzburg/Veit Vaelske, Berlin: Begrüßung und Einführung |
| 09.45 | Pascale Ballet, Poitiers: Figurines, settlements and contexts in Graeco-Roman Egypt. Provincial case studies: from Tell el-Herr (North-West Sinaï) to Buto |
Through recent excavations conducted in the North of Egypt (Tell el-Herr, Buto) withoutexcluding the Tell Atrib material published in 2005 by H. Szymanska, it is now possibly to renewcompletely the "classical" and former researches on Egyptian Graeco-Roman coroplastic,generally based on museums collections. This paper will focused on the new datas provided bythe studies on-going, and the emergence of the context notion. | |
| 10.30 | Kaffepause |
| 11.00 | Ahmed ‘Abd el-Fattah, Alexandria: Terracotta figurines from the Bubasteion of AlexandriaTerracotta and stone figures from Naukratis |
| A few years ago near Kom ed Dikka at Alexandria the remains of a sanctuary of the goddess Bastet/Bubastis were excavated by a team of the Ministry of State for the Antiquities of Egypt. This Bubasteion was flourishing especially during the Ptolemaic era, but all in all the findings date from the late fourth century B.C. to the Roman period. Among the numerous objects found in the sanctuary there are many figurines of cats made of clay and limestone which are typologically quite exceptional in Egypt. Some of the bear votive inscriptions. The talk will present this iconographic material, point out possible parallels and discuss the place of the Alexandrian Bubasteion in artistic and religious history. A preliminary report about the place has been published in: M. Abd el-Maksoud - A. Abd el-Fattah - M. Seif el-Din, La fouille du Boubasteion d'Alexandrie: présentation préliminaire, in: L'enfant et la mort III. Le matériel associé aux tombes d'enfants. Konferenz Aix-en-Provence 2011 (2012) 427–446. | |
| 11.45 | Marianne Bergmann, Göttingen: Terrakotten aus Schedia (Beheira)Terrakotten aus Schedia (Beheira) |
| Schedia lag am Abzweig des Kanals vom kanopischen Nilarm, der Alexandria mit dem Nil verband und die Stadt mit Trinkwasser versorgte. Als Zollstation und Warenumschlagplatz bildete es ein bedeutendes handelswirtschaftliches Zentrum in der Chora Alexandrias. Bei Notgrabungen des ägyptischen Antikendienstes in den Jahren 1982–92 in diesem Gebiet kamen zahlreiche Terrakottastatuetten zutage. Sie sind zwar unstratifiziert und können daher nur grob Zeiträumen zwischen der frühptolemäischen Zeit und der Spätantike zugewiesen werden. Sie haben aber den Vorteil gesicherter Herkunft. Besondere Beachtung verdienen überdies sechs in Schedia gefundene Negativformen. Es werden erste Ergebnisse einer typologischen Auswertung des Fundmaterials vorgestellt. Die Negativformen werfen Fragen hinsichtlich der Produktion und des Handels mit Terrakotten bzw. deren Matrizen auf. Vergleiche mit dem Fundmaterial anderer Orte bieten zudem einen Eindruck von der Produktion im Verhältnis zur Metropole Alexandria und benachbarten Orten (Tell Atrib). | |
| 12.30 | Mittagspause |
| 14.00 | Ross Thomas, London: Terracotta and stone figures from Naukratis |
| Amelia Edwards was the first to publish a short, two piece, article on ‘the terra-cottas of Naukratis’ (in which she includes stone and faience pieces), and stated that the pieces would ‘be distributed among various museums, and, scattered far and wide…. never again will it be possible to compare them one with another, except in photographs or engravings’ (Edwards 1995, 262). Amelia Edwards and subsequent authors however ignored a large section of the Egyptian figures, as the macrophallic male, or erotic groups, known as ‘Naukratis figures’ because of their abundance at Naukratis, were not deemed appropriate subject for scholarly or general readership at this time. Indeed subsequent excavators at Naukratis described the ‘large number of indecent types … perhaps ought to be added to the list, but a discussion of their types is profitless’ (Gutch 1899, 95, nos. 271-280). Following the Naukratis Project’s cataloguing of all >17000 known objects from Naukratis currently in >60 locations world-wide, it is indeed possible to compare all figures again, though the long years since have resulted in a number of casualties (destroyed, lost, or provenance confused). The project has now catalogued over 1600 terracotta and 400 stone figures from the site that range from the Late Period to the Roman period, both local and imported from across the Eastern Mediterranean. A discussion of the figurines in their Naukratis and broader Nile Delta context will be discussed in light of the projects recent 2012 and 2013 fieldwork seasons. | |
| 14.45 | Penelope Wilson, Durham: Function, Feel and Fragmentation: The Sais Fired Clay Cobras |
| A group of around one hundred fragments of fired clay cobra figures have been found at Sais, dating to the late New Kingdom/Early Third Intermediate Period. As part of a tradition documented throughout Egypt at this time, a wider study is underway, led by Dr Kasia Szpakowska, to understand their role in Egyptian domestic cult practice. This paper will address the Sais group in particular, taking the opportunity to discuss aspects of manufacture such as: workshop group versus individual craftsperson; the experience of the material both in raw and fired form during production and consumption; the domestic context(s) and role(s) of the cobra figurines and the way in which the study of such figurines can enable a sense of the imagined natural and divine worlds for past peoples. The latter will have implications for the way such visualisations might operate in other periods of Egyptian culture. | |
| 15.30 | Kaffeepause |
| 16.00 | James Bennett, Durham: The Terracottas from the University of Hawaii'sExcavations at Tell Timai (Thmouis) in the North Eastern Delta. Function, Dating and Provenance |
| The excavations at Tell Timai (Thmouis) by the University of Hawaii have been concentrated inthe north of the site in the area of a proposed harbor, industrial area, and a LateHellenistic/Early Roman religious district. These excavations have been ongoing since 2009,while excavations up on the main tell were conducted in 2011 in an area next to a colonnadedway. This talk discusses the figurines found during the course of these excavations. A largenumber of terracottas were found dating to the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods. This talkdiscusses the identity of the terracottas, the subject, theme or motif. Each of the terracottas willhave proposed dates based on associated stratigraphy and ceramic assemblages, along withexamples of parallel figurines from other sites in Egypt. The terracottas from Tell Timai areimportant for the understanding of Greco-Roman figurines in Egypt, not just because of thenumber and diversity of the subject matters depicted in the terracotta assemblages, but becausethey have been found in stratigraphic levels and can be given a secure provenance and location.The areas that they have been found in across the tell indicate a widespread usage across theancient city, and it also demonstrates the wide variety of forms utilized in the religions of GrecoRoman Thmouis. | |
| 16.45 | Veit Vaelske, Berlin: Bastet, Bes and Persian Riders. Terracotta figurines from Tell Basta |
| Since 2008 the terracotta material from Bubastos is grown by nearly 700 figurines andfragments found by the Tell Basta Project (Joint Mission of the University Würzburg, the EgyptExploration Society, and the Egyptian Ministry of State for Antiquities). In contrast to similarobjects collected by earlier travellers from the top surface of the Tell Basta area these terracottascan be related to strata with findings of pre-hellenistic and Ptolemaic origin. The talk will displaythe most important iconographic groups and their chronology - i.e. Bes, Harpocrates, so-called'Naked Goddess' and 'Persian Rider'. So far, no clear evidence could be established that Bastet ascat-goddess was depicted in local coroplastic art. | |
| 17.30 | Schlussdiskussion des ersten Tages |
| |
Sonntag, 08. Dezember 2013
| |
| 09.00 | Sergej Ivanov, Kairo: Terracotta Objects from Memphis |
| Starting from 2001 the Center for Egyptological Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences is carrying out archaeological excavations in Memphis. The area of concession includes the sites of Kom Tuman, Tell Aziz and Kom Dafbabi, it is bordered by the Temple of Ptah on the south and the Palace of Apries on the west. According to results of surveys, this area was inhabited starting from at least the Old Kingdom till the Roman period. By present, the excavations revealed a number of Ptolemaic buildings, which were constructed upon the Late Period structures; the latter could be related to the Palace of Apries complex. One of the most interesting finds was an industrial zone, comprising several furnaces of various types and periods, used for production of Egyptian blue, metal smelting, lime burning, etc. During excavations hundreds of pottery objects and their fragments were discovered. They include figurines, pottery plaques, and household/production implements. Most of them date to the late Ptolemaic–Roman time. Unfortunately, with a few exceptions, all of the finds come from layers of mixed soil. The goal of this paper is to give an overview of pottery objects found at Kom Tuman, and an attempt to reconstruct their meaning and original context. | |
| 09.45 | Esther Pons Mellado, Barcelona: The Egyptian Terracottas of the Graeco-Roman Period in the National Archaeological Museum of Madrid |
| The National Archaeological Museum of Madrid has an interesting collection of Egyptian Terracottas of the Graeco-Roman Period. One part of this collection, a group of 52 pieces, comes from the private collection of Mr. Tomás Asensi and it was acquired in 1876. But the bigger, more or less 200 pieces, originates from the Spanish excavations at Herakleopolis Magna in 1968/1969, as a result of the agreed division of findings. Styles and subjects of these coroplastic items are, with exception of deities such Harpocrates, Isis, Osiris, Bes or Serapis, adapted from Egyptian everyday experience: They include figures of animals as dogs, horses, bulls, crocodiles, lions, camels or fishes; women’s heads, people of the spectacle, caricatures, etc. The extensive list also includes lamps, Baubos, and female figures bearing amphorae or baskets full of fruit, or dancing and playing musical instruments (small drums, flutes, harps, etc.). | |
| 10.30 | Kaffeepause |
| 11.00 | Nahla Mohammed Ahmed Hussein, Berlin - Kairo: Terrakotten aus Kiman Faris/Krokodilopolis, Fayum |
| Während der Ausgrabungen bei der Hauptstadt der Fayum-Oase entdeckte das "Supreme Council of Antiquities" im Jahr 1965 unter anderem 156 Tonstatuetten und ihre Fragmente. Im Rahmen meiner Dissertation an der Freien Universität Berlin bearbeite ich diese Konvolut, zu dem Darstellungen ägyptischer und griechischer Gottheiten ebenso gehören wie Fruchtbarkeitspersonifikationen, Darstellungen von Ritualen, Tiere oder Negativformen. Die Statuetten werdem hinsichtlich ikonographischer und stilistischer Fragen mit dem publizierten Material verglichen. Ein weiterer Schwerpunkt liegt aber auf den Fundumständen: Auch wenn die Provenienz der Sammlung eindeutlich identifiziert ist, bedarf es weiterer und genauerer Informationen hinsichtlich eines präzisen Fundorts innerhalb der Ortschaft Kiman Fares. Dabei geht es etwa um die Frage, ob die Terrakotten in , Häusern oder in Gräbern gefunden wurden. | |
| 11.45 | Martin Fink, Kempten - Würzburg: An Outpost of Western Culture in Egypt, or a Last Blossom of Egyptian Religion? An Investigation of a Find of Terracotta Figurines from Aswan. |
| More than three hundred fragments of terracotta figurines from from the Greco-Roman period came to light in a closed context during the excavations of ancient Syene (modern Aswan), conducted since the year 2000 by the Swiss Institute of Architectural and Archaeological Research on Ancient Egypt. For this region it was possible for the first time ever to make a profound stylistic investigation about terracotta figurines, as well as to shed light on their development and production techniques over the course of several centuries: From the age of the Ptolemies up to Late Antiquity the figurines mirror the religious and cultural background of the different rulers and dwellers of a small Egyptian border town. Likewise the finds sugg suggest strongly that Syene was not just a small and insignificant neighbour of the larger Elefantine, but rather a complex urban system with an autonomous religious life. | |
| 12.30 | Mittagspause |
| 14.00 | Jutta Fischer, Rostock: Die chronologische Entwicklung der griechisch-römischen Terrakotten. Typ und Stil als nützliche Kriterien ihrer Erforschung? |
| Wenngleich die überwiegend hellenistischen Funde aus Athribis unser Wissen über die griechisch-römischen Terrakotten wesentlich bereichert haben, sind viele Fragen der Chronologie noch ungeklärt. Gemessen an den Zehntausenden der erhaltenen Figuren ist die Zahl, die durch einen klaren stratifizierten Befund datiert werden kann, immer noch gering. Da fast sämtliche Fragen der Interpretation, etwa die des Wandels religiöser Vorstellungen, ohne Kenntnis der Chronologie nicht hinreichend beantwortet werden können, wird die Erarbeitung eines tragfähigen chronologischen Gerüsts immer ein Ziel bleiben müssen. Es gilt erneut zu fragen, inwieweit die in der Klassischen Archäologie bewährte, wenn auch häufig als subjektiv kritisierte Methode der Bildung von relativchronologischen Reihen hier dienlich sein kann. Tatsächlich eignen sich Qualität und Erhaltungszustand vieler Terrakotten nur bedingt, um stilistische Kriterien zu erarbeiten. Die Weiterentwicklung von Typen ist aber, zumindest punktuell, gut zu fassen. Anhand einiger unpublizierter Statuetten der Sammlung Golenischev aus dem Puschkin-Museum für Bildende Künste in Moskau werden Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der stilistisch-typologischen Methode zur Diskussion gestellt. | |
| 14.45 | Olga A. Vassilieva, Moskau: An Isis figurine from the Golenishev Collection of Egyptian Terracottas |
| This paper deals with the collection of Egyptian terracotta from Moscow Pushkin Museum (Department of Ancient Orient). This collection consists of about 200 pieces: statuettes, figurines, vessels and different fragmental objects. Most of these terracottas originate from the famous Golenishev’ gathering of Egyptian Antiquities. Vladimir Golenishev (1856-1947) was Russian and European Egyptologist and also a millionaire, a rare amalgam among the researchers. Golenishev bought different kinds of terracotta figurines, the Egyptian as well as the Greek Tanagra. Unfortunately most of the objects acquired by Golenishev lack the provenance. We only know that he was travelling through Egypt and that he obtained the majority of his collection in Cairo, Alexandria and Luxor. Many types of terracotta from this collection are distinguished by their interesting iconography and very good preservation (all colours are lost, only traces remained). A sample of such an interesting object is a figurine No. 2903 with hieroglyphic inscription. It comes very probably from Roman Fayum and depicts the enthroned Isis. Special attention deserves the pose and some iconographical features of Isis’ image which seems to have no strict parallels. | |
| 15.30 | Kaffeepause |
| 16.00 | Sandra Sandri, Mainz: Old-fashioned? - Der Wert ikonographischer Untersuchungen in der rezenten Terrakotten-Forschung. |
| Da der überwiegende Teil der unzähligen gräko-ägyptischen Terrakotten, die sich heute in Museen in der ganzen Welt befinden, aus dem Kunsthandel oder unzureichend dokumentierten Grabungen stammt, war es nicht einfach, Erkenntnisse zu Datierung, Funktion und Kontext der kleinformatigen Objekte zu gewinnen. Diese Situation hat sich in den letzten Jahren aufgrund zahlreicher Terrakottenfunde im Rahmen rezenter Grabungen besonders im ägyptischen Delta deutlich verbessert. Am Beispiel einiger ausgewählter Exemplare der sogenannten Harpokrates-Terrakotten soll aber gezeigt werden, dass auch ikonographische Studien ihren Wert nicht verloren haben und neue Erkenntnisse erbringen können, indem nicht nur das neu gewonnene Material, sondern auch die Fülle der lange bekannten Tonfiguren in die Untersuchungen mit einbezogen wird. | |
| 16.45 | Abschlußdiskussion |
