Aspects of Religious Syncretism of the Goddess Isis in Graeco-Roman Egypt: A Case-Study of the Terracotta Figurines from the Collection of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts

 
PIIS032103910013528-3-1
DOI10.31857/S032103910013528-3
Publication type Article
Status Published
Authors
Occupation: Head of Department of the Ancient Orient
Affiliation:
Lomonosov Moscow State University
Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow
Occupation: Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences
Affiliation:
Lomonosov Moscow State University
Institute of Oriental Studies Russian Academy of Sciences
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow
Journal nameVestnik drevnei istorii
EditionVolume 81 Issue 1
Pages166-197
Abstract

The article provides a publication and analysis of ten Egyptian terracotta figurines of Isis from the Graeco-Roman period (collection of the Department of Ancient Orient, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow). They come from the collections of V. S. Golenischev, N. G. Ter-Mikaelian and O. V. Kovtunovich and are dated to the broad period – from the early Hellenistic age (4th–3rd cent. B.C.), to the Late Ptolemaic (1st cent. B.C.) and Roman periods (1st–3rd cent. A.D.), giving evidence of the popularity of Isis’ cult in Graeco-Roman Egypt. The images of the goddess studied in this paper have additional attributes adopted from the female deities of the Greek (Aphrodite, Demeter, Selene) and eastern pantheons. These features allow to consider the aspects of Isis’ image as a syncretic deity, embodying both of a patroness of motherhood and female attractiveness.

KeywordsGraeco-Roman Egypt, Egyptian terracottas, Isis, religious syncretism, ancient Egyptian religion, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts
AcknowledgmentThe article was prepared with the support of the Russian Science Foundation grant No. 19-18-00369 "The Classical East: culture, worldview, tradition of study in Russia (based on the collection of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts and archival sources)."
Received17.09.2020
Publication date29.03.2021
Number of characters55290
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