Near Eastern and Egyptian Iconography for the Anthropomorphic Representation of Female Deities in Cypriote Iron Age Sanctuaries

Book section

Archaic and Classical anthropomorphic votive sculpture from Cypriote sanctuaries of female deities includes some figures which could represent the goddess proper. The identification of the latter, however, is often unclear and ambiguous since exclusively divine iconography and attributes are rare. This also applies to the so-called Astarteand dea tyria gravida figurines, but not to Hathor-capitals, which all are the focus of this paper. The distribution of these types in Cypriote sanctuaries, their ways of transmission, adaptation and adaption, as well as their religious meaning and social significance will be addressed in an attempt to elucidate the question whether their appearance in Cypriote sanctuaries is due to an actual import of foreign cults or whether, and by whom, they were just adopted and adapted for Cypriote cultic needs.

Authors: Ulbrich, A

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Reviewed (other)
• Publisher: Department of History and Cultures, University of Bologna/ Eisenbrauns Bologna
• Host title: 2 ICAANE - Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, 22-26 May, Copenhagen
• Place of publication: Bologna/Winona Lake
• Publication date: 2016-01-01
• DOI: 10.12878/orientlabsi2icaane-1
• ISBN: 9788861130074
• Keywords: SBTMR