Female figurines in early Christian Egypt: reconstructing lost practices and meanings

This paper addresses the great diversity of female figurines produced during the Christian period (iv-vii ce) in Egypt, from Aswan to Karanis to the Abu Mina pilgrimage city. While not documented in any texts, by their sheer number the figurines offer important evidence of local religious practices...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Frankfurter, David 1961- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Taylor & Francis [2015]
In: Material religion
Year: 2015, Volume: 11, Issue: 2, Pages: 190-223
Further subjects:B votive
B Pilgrimage
B Abu Mina
B workshop
B Egypt
B female figurine
B early Christian art
B Karanis
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Description
Summary:This paper addresses the great diversity of female figurines produced during the Christian period (iv-vii ce) in Egypt, from Aswan to Karanis to the Abu Mina pilgrimage city. While not documented in any texts, by their sheer number the figurines offer important evidence of local religious practices performed under the aegis of Christianity (e.g., at saints' shrines) yet without any ostensible connection to Christian liturgy or mythology. Their usage seems to have been predominantly votive, signifying a desired procreative body to deposit in hope, while the diversity of figurines points to an autochthonous, rather than imported or imposed, ritual tradition. The paper, part of a larger project on the local sites of Christianization, uses these figurines and their forms to reconstruct the iconographic strategies of the workshop, the ritual procedures of the client or ritual subject (at shrine or tomb), and the nature of domestic altars as stages for images.
ISSN:1751-8342
Contains:Enthalten in: Material religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/17432200.2015.1059129