Graeco-Roman Fertility Figurines from Gayer-Anderson Museum, Cairo | ||
| International Academic Journal Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management | ||
| Article 3, Volume 5, Issue 1, 2019, Pages 52-75 PDF (540.44 K) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/ijaf.2019.95453 | ||
| Author | ||
| Noha Shalaby* | ||
| Tourism Guidance Department, Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management, Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Gayer-Anderson Museum includes a large collection of fertility figurines, most of which are not displayed. The main problem of this collection is the lack of provenance, which resulted in a difficulty of providing an accurate dating. The fertility figurines had a long tradition in Egypt. Selected for this article are six figurines dating to the Graeco-Roman period: Three Egyptian deities (Harpocrates 'on displayʼ, Bes, and Pataikos), the so-called Baubo or Hathoric Figurine that is related to both Egyptian and Greek myths, a Greek male deity (Priapus), whose cult started to be popular in Egypt in the 3rd century BC, and Symplegma or Copulating Pair. Each figurine has certain significance and/or shows a specific role in religious rituals or festivals. Both Egyptians and Greeks were acquiring such figurines mostly for protective and apotropaic purposes. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Graeco-Roman Egypt; fertility; Gayer-Anderson; Harpocrates; Baubo; Hathoric Figurines; Bes; Priapus; Pataikos; Symplegma | ||
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