Tenth International Congress of Egyptologists Abstracts of Papers

XICE – Abstract of Papers
Gegensatz dazu steht die Förderung der einheimischen Tierkulte durch Griechen und
Makedonen im Lande selbst, nachdem es ein hellenistisches Königreich geworden
war. Unter den Ptolemäern erhielten diese Kulte eine bis dahin nie dagewesene
Aufmerksamkeit. Es entsteht also der Eindruck, dass die Griechen in Ägypten der
Verehrung tiergestaltiger Götter durchaus zugetan waren. Sucht man jedoch nach
konkreten Zeugnissen privater Hinwendung von Nichtägyptern zu den Tierkulten des
Landes, so ergeben sich Probleme. So lässt sich keinesfalls sagen, dass die Herrscher
selbst von den einheimischen Kulten überzeugt gewesen sein müssen —deren
Förderung könnte ebenso Ergebnis einer Innenpolitik sein, die auf eine Befriedung
der Bevölkerung abzielte. Wenn wiederum griechische Funktionäre die Tierkulte
durch Stiftungen unterstützten, dann vertritt die Forschung die Ansicht, dass sie dies
ebenfalls nicht aus Überzeugung taten, sondern um die Politik der Herrscher
weiterzutragen und um diesen Loyalität zu erweisen. In dem Vortrag soll deshalb
nach epigraphischen Zeugnissen gefragt werden, die belegen könnten, dass Griechen
sich auch in ihrer privaten Frömmigkeit der Verehrung von Tiergöttern zugewandt
haben.
Egyptian amethyst in Mycenaean Greece
Jacke S. Phillips
That Egyptian material has been imported into the Bronze Age Aegean has long been
demonstrated by the recovery of the objects themselves. Most have been found on the
island of Crete, in contexts as early as the MM IIA cultural phase (generally
contemporary with Dynasties II-IV). However, a surprising number of artefacts also
have been recovered on the Greek mainland, the earliest contexts being much later in
date. The majority of material is from the site of Mycenae in the Argolid, but others
are found in widely disparate areas of the mainland and more are recovered annually.
The present author is collating and cataloguing the Egyptian material found in the
Bronze Age mainland, and attempting to identify any ‘egyptianising’ material in the
same region and period. The latter includes both indigenous Helladic material, as well
as that produced elsewhere in the Aegean or in the Mediterranean world and then
imported to the mainland where it was ultimately found. The ultimate aim is to
consider the degree to which the mainland was influenced by Egyptian material
culture and iconography, whether first hand or through intermediaries, and what
aspects of it the Mycenaeans considered relevant to themselves.
Amethyst stone is one focus of Mycenaean attention. Considerable quantities of
the stone, both as raw material and as finished Egyptian artefacts, have been
recovered over a wide expanse of the Greek mainland, mostly as jewellery elements
of one form or another. In colour, the stone ranges from very dark purple through
near-colourless, and its quality from excellent to very poor. Both imported Egyptian
and indigenous Mycenaean artefacts have been recovered, as have also objects
originating elsewhere in the eastern Mediterranean, including Minoan Crete. The
origin of most objects, chiefly spherical beads, cannot be determined with any degree
of certainty as no direct analysis of the stone itself has attempted to pinpoint its
specific origin, although more than likely the vast majority of the amethyst stone on
mainland Greece would have originated from Egypt. Multiple individual pieces have
been recovered in the larger “elite” tombs, whilst fewer or even single examples are
found in less wealthy graves. Some pieces are not amethyst, but rather obvious
197