Hellenistic

Limestone votive relief

Above is a figure, identified as Apollo, seated before an altar or baetyl (sacred stone), and below is a scene interpreted as showing workers in a mine or quarry. The inscription, in Cyprio-syllabic script, reads, "Diaithemis dedicated [this] to the god Apollo in good fortune." Such inscriptions show that in the Hellenistic period, while Greek became the dominant language used in Cyprus, the local script continued to play a part, especially in religious rites and for dedications to the gods. WebPub GR 2012 Cesnola: 8 × 12 1/4 × 1 1/4 in., 4 lb. (20.3 × 31.1 × 3.2 cm, 1.8 kg)

Date

299 - 200 BC

Accession No.

74.51.2372

Collection

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Provenance

Said to be from Golgoi, Cyprus

References

Doell, Johannes. 1873. Die Sammlung Cesnola. no. 767, p. 49, pl. XI.2, St. Petersburg: L’Académie Impérial des Sciences.Hall, Isaac H. 1874. "Cypriote Inscriptions of the Di Cesnola Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art." Journal of the American Oriental Society, 10: no. 9, p. 208, pl. II.Cesnola, Luigi Palma di. 1877. Cyprus: Its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples. A Narrative of Researches and Excavations During Ten Years' Residence in That Island. pl. XLVIII.2, London: John Murray.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. LXXXV.556, Boston: James R. Osgood and Company.Cesnola, Luigi Palma di. 1903. A Descriptive Atlas of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Vol. 3. pl. CXXXIII.1, Boston: James R. Osgood and Company.Myres, John L. 1914. Handbook of the Cesnola Collection of Antiquities from Cyprus. no. 1873, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Masson, Olivier. 1961. Les Inscriptions Chypriotes Syllabiques: Recueil Critique et Commenté. no. 266, pl. XLVIII.1, Paris: E. de Boccard.Tatton-Brown, Veronica. 1984. "Sculptors at Golgoi." Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus (RDAC) p. 173, n. 40, pl. XXXIII:7.Karageorghis, Vassos. 1998. Greek God and Heroes in Ancient Cyprus. pp. 186-7, fig. 136, Athens: Commerical Bank of Greece.Karageorghis, Vassos, Joan Mertens, and Marice E. Rose. 2000. Ancient Art from Cyprus: The Cesnola Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. no. 416, p. 257, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Karageorghis, Vassos. 2006. Aspects of Everyday Life in Cyprus: Iconographic Representations. no. 212, pp. 214-5, Nicosia: Foundation Anastasios G. Leventis.Hermary, Antoine and Joan R. Mertens. 2013. The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art : Stone Sculpture. no. 451, pp. 323-24, Online Publication, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.