Limestone stele (shaft) with the head of Hathor - image 1

Archaic II

Limestone stele (shaft) with the head of Hathor

The lower part of the shaft has been cut off; two dowel holes on the upper surface permitted an additional element to be fastened. Stone shafts incorporating the head of the Egyptian goddess Hathor occur particularly often at Amathus. Their appearance may be connected with the advent of Egyptian rule over the island. They played a role in the cult of the Great Goddess of Cyprus who, like Hathor, afforded protection against death and harm. The shafts also occur in funerary contexts. WebPub GR 2012 Cesnola: 34 1/2 × 20 1/4 × 9 in., 220 lb. (87.6 × 51.4 cm)

Date

575 - 550 BC

Accession No.

74.51.2475

Collection

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Provenance

  • From the necropolis of Golgoi

References

  • Cesnola, Luigi Palma di. 1885. A Descriptive Atlas of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Vol. 1. pl. XVIII.27, Boston: James R. Osgood and Company.Myres, John L. 1914. Handbook of the Cesnola Collection of Antiquities from Cyprus. no. 1414, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Mercklin, Eugen von. 1962. Antike Figuralkapitelle. no. 61, p. 21, fig. 86, Berlin: W. de Gruyter & Co.Sophocleous, Sophocles. 1985. ""Atlas des représentations chypro-archaiques des divinités." Master's Diss.." Master's Diss. no. 126, p. 126, pl. XXXI.1. Paul Aströms Förlag.Hermary, Antoine. 1985. "Un nouveau chapiteau hathorique trouvé à Amathonte." Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique, 109(2): pp. 676, 678, 681, fig. 23.Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC). 1988. Vol. 4: Eros-Herakles. "Hathor," p. 454, no. 12, pl. 274, Zürich: Artemis Verlag.Karageorghis, Vassos, Joan Mertens, and Marice E. Rose. 2000. Ancient Art from Cyprus: The Cesnola Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. no. 183, p. 118, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Karageorghis, Jacqueline. 2005. Kypris: the Aphrodite of Cyprus: Ancient Sources and Archaeological Evidence. pp. 168-69, fig. 175, Nicosia, Cyprus: Foundation Anastasios G. Leventis.Stylianou, Andreas and Patrick Schollmeyer. 2007. "Der Sarkophag aus Golgoi." Dynastensarkophage mit szenischen Reliefs aus Byblos und Zypern: Der Sarkophag aus Amathous als Beispiel kontaktinduzierten Wandels, 2. p. 220 n. 213, Mainz am Rhein: Philipp von Zabern.Hermary, Antoine and Joan R. Mertens. 2013. The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art : Stone Sculpture. no. 457, pp. 59, 329-30, Online Publication, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.