DOI Heft:
Egypt
DOI Artikel:Myśliwiec, Karol: Excavations 1995
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26390#0061
first took over the area of a temple, presumably that of Horns
Chenti Cheti, and who were later removed from there by Djet-Hor
as recorded in the inscription on the statue of this dignitary.
Together with the figurines of Macedonian soldiers, there
was a terracotta representation of a fbmale with prominent pubes
and spread legs (pseudo-Baubo). It is one of the figures of an
erotic nature found in the layer from the turn of the Dynastic
period. Another figurine, primitive m style and made of coarse-
grained, badly fired clay, shows a reclining man with a gigantic
phallus and female(?) breasts (hermaphrodite?). Similar clay was
used for a figurine of a woman presumably shown giving birth in a
sitting position. The series of vota connected with a fertility cult,
featuring clearly emphasized erotic aspects, is supplemented by two
objects of limestone: A stele with a typical relief representation of a
standing naked woman and a figurine showing a crouching man
with large phallus. The style and iconography of these
representations reveal influences that are both Old Egyptian and
Greek. The figurines are proof that already at the beginning of the
Ptolemaic period there was a developed local fertility cult which
could have served as grounds for a cult of Dionysos with its
specific character emphasizing the erotic aspects of this mythical
progenitor of the Ptolemaic dynasty. Evidence of this is to be
observed m the local terracotta production and relief vessel
decorations from the 2"^ century B.C.
An interesting object with hieroglyphic inscription was discovered
in the deepest layer that was excavated this year and found to
correspond to the second half of the 4^ century B.C. It is a seal of
limestone with the flat side in the form of a simplified cartouche
crowned with two feathers from the crown of Osiris. The
cartouche contains a number of hieroglyphic signs carved in sunk
relief; the signs can be read as the name of a dead person who was
presumably a member of the royal family. A seal of this shape
could have served to stamp bricks used to build the tomb or
59
Chenti Cheti, and who were later removed from there by Djet-Hor
as recorded in the inscription on the statue of this dignitary.
Together with the figurines of Macedonian soldiers, there
was a terracotta representation of a fbmale with prominent pubes
and spread legs (pseudo-Baubo). It is one of the figures of an
erotic nature found in the layer from the turn of the Dynastic
period. Another figurine, primitive m style and made of coarse-
grained, badly fired clay, shows a reclining man with a gigantic
phallus and female(?) breasts (hermaphrodite?). Similar clay was
used for a figurine of a woman presumably shown giving birth in a
sitting position. The series of vota connected with a fertility cult,
featuring clearly emphasized erotic aspects, is supplemented by two
objects of limestone: A stele with a typical relief representation of a
standing naked woman and a figurine showing a crouching man
with large phallus. The style and iconography of these
representations reveal influences that are both Old Egyptian and
Greek. The figurines are proof that already at the beginning of the
Ptolemaic period there was a developed local fertility cult which
could have served as grounds for a cult of Dionysos with its
specific character emphasizing the erotic aspects of this mythical
progenitor of the Ptolemaic dynasty. Evidence of this is to be
observed m the local terracotta production and relief vessel
decorations from the 2"^ century B.C.
An interesting object with hieroglyphic inscription was discovered
in the deepest layer that was excavated this year and found to
correspond to the second half of the 4^ century B.C. It is a seal of
limestone with the flat side in the form of a simplified cartouche
crowned with two feathers from the crown of Osiris. The
cartouche contains a number of hieroglyphic signs carved in sunk
relief; the signs can be read as the name of a dead person who was
presumably a member of the royal family. A seal of this shape
could have served to stamp bricks used to build the tomb or
59