Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (11.1999(2000))

TELL ATRIB

EGYPT

This deposit included statuettes of Isis-
Aphrodite, broken and discarded in antiq-
uity. Five of these figurines were recon-
structed. Two are interpreted as "concu-
bines", that is, frontal representations of
a standing naked goddess with straight
legs and arms, and head crowned with two
wreaths of flowers decorated with long rib-
bons and ivy leaves. A long filament across
the breast of one of these two figurines
protects her nudity against the evil eye.
The other one carries a tall kalathos on her
head. Two other terracottas of the Isis-
Aphrodite anasyromenai type (Fig. 3) lift
chitons to expose their genitalia in front of
a newborn Apis bull, to believe the testi-
mony of Diodorus Siculus (I, 85). All of
them are thought to be connected with
a fertility cult. Traces of polychromy are
still preserved on the surface of several
fragments. A terracotta head of Dionysos
found among the broken pieces is note-
worthy. The god is depicted as an old man
with thick beard and mustache, crowned
with vine leaves. It recalls some of the best
Tell Atrib findings connected with the
Dionysiac thiasos.
Between rooms 265 and 267, as well as
on the two edges of the cellars 269 and
270, walls with an E-W orientation were
discovered, running under the Middle
Ptolemaic walls. The date of the first one,
based on finds of coins and pottery, could
be fixed in the end of the 3rd and the
beginning of the 2nd century BC. The
other walls, lying 70 cm below, are dated
by two coins of Ptolemy II to the first half
of the 3rd century BC. In some of the walls
the bond is quite distinct. The size of the
mudbricks used in their construction,
varying between 31 x 12 x 16 and 31 x 16
x 9 cm, is characteristic of Early Ptolemaic
domestic architecture. In the lowest stra-
tum in room 270 a fine faience jar was
brought to light.


Fig. 3- Terracotta statuette of Isis-Aphrodite

anasyromene. H. 24 cm
(Drawing M. Puszkarski)

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