Fwd: Excavations of the sanctuary of Aphrodite in Amathous (Cyprus)

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Indo-Eurasian_research , Steve Farmer

<saf wrote:

 

Useful new Bryn Mawr Review article on the excavations of a major

sanctuary to Aphrodite in Cyprus (8th century BCE - 1st century CE).

 

Steve

 

**********

 

Sabine Fourrier, Antoine Hermary, Amathonte VI. Le sanctuaire

d'Aphrodite des origines au de/but d'e/poque impe/riale. E/tudes

Chypriotes XVII. Avec la collaboration de Philippe Columeau, Bettina

Fischer-Genz, Marie-Dominique Nenna, Martin Schmid and des

contributions de Michel Amandry, Marie-Francoise Billiot, Sandrine

Marquie/, Jean-Denis Vigne. Athens: E/cole francaise d'Athe\nes,

2006. Pp. 222; figs. 508. pls. 50; 1 plan. ISBN 2-869958-220-X.

EUR 100.00 (pb).

 

Reviewed by Anja Ulbrich, Ruprecht-Karls-Universitaet, Heidelberg,

Germany (anya_ulbrich)

Word count: 2652 words

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To read a print-formatted version of this review, see

http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2008/2008-11-30.html

To comment on this review, see

http://www.bmcreview.org/2008/11/20081130.html

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This book is meant to be the " first publication " (p. 1) of the

excavations in the sanctuary of Aphrodite on the acropolis of the

ancient city of Amathous on the southern coast of Cyprus, conducted

by

a team of the E/cole franc,aise d'Athe\nes since 1976. Its goal is to

document and discuss the development of this major urban cult-place

from its foundation in the 8th century BC until the erection of the

first monumental temple building in the 1st century AD. Thereby it

aims

to address various aspects of the site, such as its features and

components, spatial organisation, equipment, cult practice and votive

practice including animal sacrifice. In order to do so, it draws

heavily on data already published and discussed in various

preliminary

reports, articles and monographs, including the Amathonte series and

the Guide to Amathous, adds hitherto unpublished or only partly

published material, such as Archaic pottery and animal bones, and

draws

comprehensive conclusions about the complete assemblage from the

site.

 

The book is divided into a brief introduction and five main chapters,

some very short, some very extensive, complemented by two appendices,

and bibliography, index, and numerous plans, drawings and

photographs.

 

A brief introduction of 4 pages by A. Hermary addresses the goal of

the

book, the history and method of the excavation and its documentation,

its scale and limitations, and the major problems of the evidence

including poor and complicated stratigraphy (a general predicament in

Cypriot archaeology, aggravated by massive disturbances through the

erection of the monumental first temple in the 1st century AD).

 

In chapter 1 (pp. 5-13), Hermary briefly reviews the literary,

epigraphic and material evidence for the cult and the sanctuary of

Aphrodite or Venus in Amathous in chronological order from its

earliest

appearance in ancient literary sources through the first explorations

in the 17th century up to the early years of the French excavations

that began in 1976. He summarises the general setting and topography

of

the cult-place within the city on the summit of the acropolis. He

also

addresses the questions of its extent and boundaries and the location

of the entrance in any given period.

 

In chapter 2 (pp. 15-48), Hermary and various collaborators briefly

and

comprehensively present and discuss the different features and main

find contexts of the site, the nature of associated material and

finds

and their validity for chronology. These contexts are: a tomb on the

summit of the acropolis already carved into the rock in CG I

(Hermary);

the two Archaic deposits of the Bothros and the grotto (Fourrier);

the

monumental stone vases near the entrance of the 7th or 6th century BC

(Hermary); a kiln of the Hellenistic to early imperial periods

(Fischer-Genz); the Doric portico erected in the late 2nd and early

1st

century BC (Hermary, Marquie, Schmid); and other buildings south of

the

temple of the 1st century BC (Hermary, Schmid). The chronology

depends

mainly on pottery from these contexts, and in the case of the stone

vases on the iconography of the handle-decoration. The chapter ends

with a summary of the general arrangement and spatial organisation of

the sanctuary from the Archaic to the early Roman period and a short

comparison with evidence from other Cypriot temene.

 

In an extensive chapter 3 (pp. 49-126), Fourrier presents the Archaic

material from the bothros and the grotto, focussing on the massive

amount of local pottery from both contexts. A first short section

(pp.

49-51) discusses the methodology for pot-counting, and the validity

and

problems of the Gjerstad-system as a basis for classifying the

material. Section 2 establishes a detailed system of classification

for

the wares from both contexts. Fourrier basically draws on the

Gjerstad-system with an updated chronology (pp. 49-50 with all

relevant

references). Gjerstad distinguished seven different morphological

phases in Cypriot Iron Age pottery within its different wares, which

are defined basically by the type of decoration.[[1]] However,

Fourrier

has now rearranged the material from Amathous principally by

vessel-types or shapes and then by their subtypes and variations.

These

categories include vessels of the different wares defined by

Gjerstad,

but Fourrier also introduces locally made wares such as Black Slip

mixte including intentionally blackened Red Slip, Black-on-Red or

Bichrome Red, and thin-walled bowls. The main distinction in this

typology is between open and closed shapes, which are subdivided

according to their body profiles, rim shapes and handle types. Each

of

the types and subtypes is briefly defined and described, and

comparanda

from other Amathousian and Cypriot contexts are listed, followed by a

list of the main examples from the sanctuary proper sorted by find

context. This section ends with a concluding paragraph on the

repertoire of shapes, illustrated by statistical charts. The next two

sections deal with the complete assemblages of material from the

bothros and the grotto separately. Here, the finds -- objects of

bone,

shell, stone, faience, metal, and terracotta, the latter including

lamps, inscribed pot-sherds, and a small amount of imported pottery

from Greece and the Levant -- are published with comparanda from

Cypriot and non-Cypriot contexts. The great majority, however,

consists

of local Cypriot pottery, here documented by the same pieces as in

the

preceding typology section, but now sorted by the wares defined by

Gjerstad and presented with measurements and descriptions of the clay

and charts documenting the amount and relative proportions of each

ware

within both assemblages. The few pieces of coarse ware are also

included. All the material, particularly the local Cypriot pottery,

is

amply illustrated by drawings and photographs.

 

Chapter 4 (pp. 127-64), written mainly by Hermary with contributions

by

Fisher-Genz, Vigne and Nenna, discusses literary, epigraphic and

archaeological evidence for cult and votive practices in the

sanctuary.

Topics addressed are the literary and epigraphic evidence for a

harvest-festival for Aphrodite in Amathous (Hermary); the nature and

shape of the cult-image (Hermary); and various types of votive

offerings dating from the Archaic period to early imperial times

(Hermary et al.). These votive offerings include dedications of

statues

by king Androkles himself attested by inscriptions in the late 4th

century BC (Hermary), and other small votive objects including parts

of

jewellery in metal and precious or semi-precious stone (Hermary) and

glass (with Fischer-Genz) as well as other votive objects of gold,

ivory, bone, shell (Vigne), bronze and iron, faience and glass

(Hermay,

Nenna), stone and terracotta (Hermary), all of which are presented

here

for the first time in more or less detail followed by a brief summary

on the nature of the votive offerings. The late Hellenistic and early

Roman glass vessels are published (in greater detail than other

objects

here) by N. Nenna. Other categories, however, are only documented by

lists or a very few pieces which needed to be added to previously

published material, e.g., most of the terracottas were published in a

separate volume, but some hitherto unpublished are just listed here,

but not discussed in detail or as a group of material. A separate

section deals with the dedication of a thesaurus by king Androkles to

Aphrodite, addressing its functions in cult practice with regard to

marital rites and ritual prostitution. Another section discusses the

role of water in the sanctuary and in the general cult practice as

attested by the monumental stone vases and several fragments of stone

basins. The last paragraph concentrates on other cults in the

sanctuary, which might be attested by the cultic use of an existing

tomb on the highest ground in the temenos and a Hellenistic

dedicatory

inscription to Sarapis, Isis, Aphrodite and other gods including

Ptolemaios and Kleopatra dating from the period of 142/1-132/1 BC.

 

In chapter 5 (pp. 165-96), Hermary discusses the structures in the

sanctuary connected with animal sacrifice, and Columeau presents the

animal bones. A brief review of the scarce literary and epigraphic

evidence on animal sacrifice in Cypriot sanctuaries by Hermary is

complemented by Columeau's analysis of the animal bones from other

published Archaic and post-Archaic sacred contexts. Sheep and goat

predominate, followed by cattle; very few bones show traces of

burning,

calcination or butchery marks. Comparisons with evidence from the

Artemision at Ephesos, the Heraion on Samos and the Aphrodite

sanctuary

at Miletos show, for Amathous, a much higher proportion of sheep and

goat in relation to cattle in all periods, while -- as at Miletos --

pigs are not attested at all. Moreover, in Amathous, changes of

preference can be observed between the Archaic and later periods with

respect to the type and age of the animals sacrificed and the

body-parts kept and deposited within the sanctuary. In the next

section, Hermary discusses the Archaic or Classical structures in the

sanctuary that are associated with animal sacrifices, drawing on many

comparisons from Cyprus and the Aegean. Features at Amathous include

12

rings carved out of the bedrock most probably for tying animals

destined to be sacrificed, and various channels and round holes

carved

in the rock, possibly for posts to hang meat or smaller animals. The

structures also include an angular foundation for a fence, a

rectangular altar-bothros carved in the rock west of the sacrificial

area and a cubic gypsum offering table with several mouldings and a

circular channel around its upper surface. The concluding paragraph

summarises the results, pointing out the lack of pigs and birds among

the sacrificial animals, and the lack of evidence for burnt

sacrifice.

Hermary suggests that suitable offerings to Aphrodite were liquids,

such as wine, water and juice, as well as grain, fruit and vegetables

as recorded in some ancient Greek sources.

 

Appendix 1 (Amandry) publishes and partly illustrates 18 apparently

hitherto unpublished Hellenistic coins from the site: 12 are from the

Paphian mint, and one each from Salamis, Tyre and possibly

Alexandria.

 

Appendix 2 (Schmid) presents the late Hellenistic and Early Roman

architecture in greater detail, including possibilities for

reconstructing the Doric portico and other buildings.

 

This is a valuable book: Firstly, it pulls together and

cross-references disparately published evidence for and from the

sanctuary and presents it comprehensively by contexts and by aspects

of

cult and votive practice. Secondly, it provides a methodical analysis

and critical discussion of the different contexts, the structures in

the temenos, and the different kinds of material associated with

them.

The documentation and illustration of contexts and finds by charts,

drawings, photographs, plans, phase plans and reconstructions are

high

quality, systematic, extensive and well arranged; references to

illustrations in the text are accurate and frequent. The treatment,

documentation and discussion of material, particularly the Archaic

pottery, is excellent, and, in its extensive use of comparanda from

Cypriot and other Mediterranean contexts, exceeds the standards of

previous publications of pottery from Cypriot sites. The authors

offer

alternative interpretations for different features and aspects of the

sanctuary, debating them in the light of a vast amount of comparanda

and evidence from Amathous, Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean as a

whole. In these respects, the book goes far beyond the scope and

standard of most preliminary or even final publications of Cypriot

sanctuaries.

 

The few weaknesses of the book are partly caused by the vast amount

of

material and evidence which needed to be included in the publication.

The result is a somewhat imbalanced presentation of the different

types

of material, with very detailed treatment for instance of the Archaic

pottery and animal bones, but more general or even summary

discussions

of the votive offerings, and bare mentions of the votive sculptures,

post-Archaic pottery and incense burners. Some of this material has

been published elsewhere, such as the votive sculptures and

terracottas

presented in Amathonte V and the material from other contexts at

Amathous excavated by the French team such as the palace and the city

wall. The items from the sanctuary on the acropolis are only briefly

mentioned in the section on the nature and shape of the cult image

(p.

128) and have a short paragraph in the section on the nature of the

votive offerings (pp. 130-32). In view of the amount and chronology

far

down into the post-Archaic period, the votive sculptures and

terracottas deserve a separate comprehensive and more detailed

section

in chapter 4 on the nature of votive-offerings.

 

Another group of neglected material is the Classical, Hellenistic and

early Roman pottery, which reflects both votive practice and ritual -

-

including drinking and/or dining -- even if the evidence is mostly

from

disturbed levels or late fills. Only part of this has been published

elsewhere, such as some Hellenistic pottery (pp. 45-46).[[2]]

Post-Archaic pottery is only mentioned briefly in the discussion of

the

stratigraphy of certain contexts, such as the kiln (p. 35), the

Hellenistic portico (p. 40-41) and the later pre-imperial buildings

(p.

46). However, there is no comprehensive or statistical information on

local wares, shapes, imports and contexts including disturbed layers,

which are all indispensable for a publication aiming to document the

development of the site and its cult-practice up till the early

imperial period. This stands in marked contrast to the excellent

publication of the Archaic pottery (see above) which, however, also

has

its weaknesses. One of them lies in the nature of the material,

displaying a great variety of shapes, sizes and other details all

freely combined, which make consistent and strict classifications

difficult: this is a general problem in Cypriot archaeology. Thus,

the

distinction between some of the deep bowls (figs. 205-218) and jars

(figs. 383-388) does not seem clear. Unfortunately, a few shapes are

not documented by drawings at all, such as big bowls or basins (p. 63

D), amphorae with knob-shaped bases (p. 79 D), and jars with folded

rim

(p. 81, C.2). One also wonders whether the bowls in figs. 168 and

169,

only decorated outside, might not actually be lids as shown in figs.

395-96 and 398. The fact that the author does not distinguish the

different types of Black slip mixte, as explained on p. 51, in her

coded catalogue-numbers for individual pieces and their drawings, but

invariably names them bs is a bit confusing. As regards these

catalogue-numbers, it would also have been more user-friendly, if

their

composition had been explained briefly in an introductory sentence in

the typology, or in a footnote or even in the list of abbreviations

at

the end of the book (p. 205). One has to infer from the text that,

apparently, those numbers are made up of abbreviations for contexts,

shape, ware -- in Gjerstad-abbreviations -- and a running number for

the series of a certain type. However, the abbreviation co for the

fine-walled bowls remains enigmatic (perhaps it stands for coloured

rim-zone?).

 

The same problem of unexplained abbreviations appears in the charts

of

the bone analysis, which refer to earlier studies of other

international specialists and earlier publications of the author. The

abbreviations are not at all evident to an archaeologist who is not

specialised in this field and not French. This critique applies also

to

the very short and patchy list of abbreviations (p. 205) which only

lists the more common internationally known or, by textual context,

easily understandable abbreviations for Cypriot wares and periods in

English and French, but not the more specialised ones used in this

publication for the material, e.g. glass (ve), torpedo amphora (t),

small object (po) etc.

 

Finally, the complete and extensive bibliography is a slightly

inconsistent mixture of Harvard-type and title abbreviations, e.g.

listing Amathonte I-III under that rubric, but Amathonte IV and V

under

the name of Queyrel or Hermary, respectively.

 

The values and merits of Amathonte VI, however, exceed its relatively

minor weaknesses by far. The book is a highly satisfactory

publication

of the sanctuary of Aphrodite at Amathous, and convincing in its

systematic, comprehensive and, in places, detailed and extensive

treatment of the evidence and material by addressing important

aspects

of Cypriot religion and cult practice within its Mediterranean

context.

Thus, Amathonte VI sets new standards for the publication of, and

research on, Cypriot sanctuaries and contributes greatly to the study

of Cypriot religion and cult.

 

 

------------------

Notes:

 

 

1. For the classification and chronology of Cypriot pottery

established by Gjerstad see E. Gjerstad, The Swedish Cyprus

Expedition

IV.2., The Cypro-Geometric, Cypro-Archaic and Cypro-

Classical

periods (Stockholm 1948), 48-91 figs. I-LXXI (pottery); 184-427,

summarised on p. 427 (chronology). The system was further elaborated

in

E. Gjerstad, Pottery Types, Cypro-Geometric to Cypro-Classical,

Opuscula Atheniensia III, Lund 1960, 106-122 with figs.

 

2. F. Burkhalter, La ce/ramique helle/nistique et romaine du

sanctuaire d'Aphrodite a\ Amathonte, BCH 111, pp.353-391.

 

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