DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5538#0055
THE EXPLORER IX EGYPT.
35
the deities "worshipped in these temples, while others are fash-
ioned in the likeness of their votaries. Some, again, date
from the rude archaic beginnings of the Greek school of
Naukratis, and others carry us on to the finest period of
Alexandrian art. Very interesting as an example of the
earlier school is this statuette of a man carrying a hare over
each shoulder, and a knife in his girdle. It has been sup-
posed to represent Apollo as the hunter god; but as it was
found in the ruins of the Temple of Aphrodite, it is more
probably a votive offering on the part of a sportsman -who
thus dedicates himself to the service of the goddess. The
treatment of the head and hair is distinctly Cypriote in
style, while the rigidity of the pose, and the "hieratic*' posi-
tion of the feet and arms, are as distinctly Egyptian. A
much-defaced votive inscription in archaic Greek characters
is engraved on the right leg. Found on the same site, but
widely separate in date, is the beautiful terra-cotta head of
Aphrodite, here reproduced as an example of the high degree
of perfection to which the Greek
artists of "Naukratis had attained
before the decadence of the city,
Avhen superseded by Alexandria.
The excavation of the Temple
of Aphrodite proved to be ex-
traordinarily rich in fragments of
painted and inscribed Greek ware.
A huge trench appears to have
been dug round the temple plat-
form in ancient times, and into
this trench must have been thrown
an immense store of bowls, vases,
cups, and figurines—the ceramic
treasures of the temple. The clear-
ing of this mine of precious frag-
ments occupied Mr. Gardner for
several weeks, six or seven basket-
fuls being the result of each day's
GORGOXKIA.
(From the cemetery, Nankratis.)
The Greeks of the later period
:it Nankratis were interred for
the most part in wooden coffins
ornamented with rosettes, gry-
phons, and gorgoneia in ter-'
ra-cotta, painted and gilded.
These gorgoneia are moulded
in the classic type o£ the Al-
exandrian period.
35
the deities "worshipped in these temples, while others are fash-
ioned in the likeness of their votaries. Some, again, date
from the rude archaic beginnings of the Greek school of
Naukratis, and others carry us on to the finest period of
Alexandrian art. Very interesting as an example of the
earlier school is this statuette of a man carrying a hare over
each shoulder, and a knife in his girdle. It has been sup-
posed to represent Apollo as the hunter god; but as it was
found in the ruins of the Temple of Aphrodite, it is more
probably a votive offering on the part of a sportsman -who
thus dedicates himself to the service of the goddess. The
treatment of the head and hair is distinctly Cypriote in
style, while the rigidity of the pose, and the "hieratic*' posi-
tion of the feet and arms, are as distinctly Egyptian. A
much-defaced votive inscription in archaic Greek characters
is engraved on the right leg. Found on the same site, but
widely separate in date, is the beautiful terra-cotta head of
Aphrodite, here reproduced as an example of the high degree
of perfection to which the Greek
artists of "Naukratis had attained
before the decadence of the city,
Avhen superseded by Alexandria.
The excavation of the Temple
of Aphrodite proved to be ex-
traordinarily rich in fragments of
painted and inscribed Greek ware.
A huge trench appears to have
been dug round the temple plat-
form in ancient times, and into
this trench must have been thrown
an immense store of bowls, vases,
cups, and figurines—the ceramic
treasures of the temple. The clear-
ing of this mine of precious frag-
ments occupied Mr. Gardner for
several weeks, six or seven basket-
fuls being the result of each day's
GORGOXKIA.
(From the cemetery, Nankratis.)
The Greeks of the later period
:it Nankratis were interred for
the most part in wooden coffins
ornamented with rosettes, gry-
phons, and gorgoneia in ter-'
ra-cotta, painted and gilded.
These gorgoneia are moulded
in the classic type o£ the Al-
exandrian period.