Part 4

A marble laver (No. =82=), originally decorated with a relief of Asklepios, Hygieia and Telesphoros, has been subsequently sculptured with votive dedications for a fair voyage. On the left, Poseidon stands on a ship, with a suppliant before him, on the right is a ship running before the wind. The inscriptions invoke good voyages for Theodoulos and Pedius Psycharios.

(70) _Cat. of Vases_, II., B 436; Daremberg and Saglio, fig. 5282; (71) _Excavations in Cyprus_, p. 112, fig. 164, No. 12; (72) _ibid._; (74) _Cat. of Sculpture_, III., 2701; (75) _Cat. of Terracottas_, D 201; (76) _Cat. of Vases_, II., B 508; (77) _Cat. of Bronzes_, 830; Torr, _Ancient Ships_, pl. 8, 41; (78) Daremberg and Saglio, fig. 5277; (79) _Cat. of Lamps_, 1140; (80) _Cat. of Lamps_, 527; (81) _Cat. of Lamps_, 634.

On ancient ships generally, see Torr, _Ancient Ships_, and art. _Navis_ in Daremberg and Saglio; W. W. Tarn in _Journ. Hell. Stud._, XXV., pp. 137, 204 ff.; A. B. Cook in _Camb. Comp. to Gk. Stud._, 3 ed., p. 567 ff.

[Footnote 15: _Journ. Hell. Stud._, XIX., pl. 8.]

[Footnote 16: Thuc., i. 13.]

V.--RELIGION AND SUPERSTITION.

(Wall-Cases 98-106.)

The wide subjects of Religion and Superstition are naturally represented in a fragmentary way in the few cases devoted to them in this collection. They are roughly classified in the following description, into groups, viz.:--

(1) Implements and methods of worship. (2) Votive offerings. (3) Superstition and Magic.

=Implements and methods of worship.=

_Altars, etc._--The larger altars (and sepulchral chests of altar form) will be found in the sculpture galleries. Here we have (No. =83=) a small altar, from Dodona, inscribed as belonging to all the gods,[17] and various model altars, probably used in some cases for the burning of incense.

An interesting example (No. =84=) of the practice of dedicating altars to members of Roman Imperial houses is furnished by the inscription (fig. 29) in the lower part of Case 98. It formed the front of a marble altar, and is dedicated to the Imperial Fortune by a freedman named Antonius, who was in charge of the "Department of Petitions," for the safe return of the Emperor Septimius Severus, his wife Julia Domna, and his sons Caracalla and Geta. But so far as Geta was concerned, the Imperial Fortune was not propitious. He was murdered by his brother Caracalla, and his name was erased from this, as from all other inscriptions throughout the Roman Empire, by Caracalla's edict. The date of the inscription is about 200 A.D.

In Case 102 is an altar (No. =85=) dedicated to the Bona Dea of Anneanum (a town in Etruria) by C. Tullius Hesper and Tullia Restituta. The Bona Dea was a goddess specially invoked by women. Hence we may suppose that it was Tullia Restituta more particularly who showed her thankfulness by this dedication.

In Case 98 are two examples (Nos. =86=, =87=) of a combined lamp and altar, for use in domestic shrines, probably of late Roman date.[18] In one of these the basin for libations is supported on a pine-cone. Akin to these is the small limestone cone and altar from the Cyrenaica.

No. =88= (fig. 30) is a bronze representing an attendant leading a pig to sacrifice. The pig (as well as the sheep and the bull) was a favourite sacrificial animal among the Romans. At the lustral ceremony of the _suovetaurilia_, the bull, sheep, and pig were driven round the farmer's fields to keep them free from blight and disease. Certain deities, notably Persephone and the Bona Dea, had swine as their special victims. In Case 105 will be seen a terracotta votive pig (No. =89=) found in the precinct of Demeter and Persephone at Knidos.

In Case 98 is an elaborate model in terracotta of a temple laver from Cyprus (No. =90=). In Case 100 is a terracotta model of a sacred table (No. =91=, fig. 31), set with a service of vessels for the sanctuary.

_Bronze Implements._--A series of early Italic bronze implements (No. =92=), may have been used in sacrifice. Those with the curved claws were probably used for taking boiled meats out of a caldron. They remind us of the five-pronged sacrificial forks mentioned in Homer, and of the custom of the Jewish priests' servants as described in the Book of Samuel: "The priest's servant came, while the flesh was in seething, with a fleshhook of three teeth in his hand; and he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fleshhook brought up the priest took therewith."[19] On the right are three bronze gridirons. These, like the fleshhooks, originally had wooden handles inserted into their sockets. The meat was spitted upon hooks, which only remain in one instance.

A series of implements terminating in a hand bent at the knuckles (No. =93=), and a pair of tongs on wheels (No. =94=), are probably meant for manipulating embers.

_Miscellaneous._--A small silver model of a temple key is shown in Case 100. The small alabaster statuette of a goddess with turreted crown (No. =95=) is of special interest from the fact that her mouth and breasts are pierced, evidently with the object of allowing some fluid, such as milk or wine, to flow from them for the edification of her votaries. A jar (No. =96=) contained perhaps the honey syrup, used in Egypt for feeding the sacred crocodiles.

_Religious Rites._--_Prayer._--The fifth century kylix (No. =97=) shows the gesture of the raised right hand, often used in prayer. The young athlete, whose oil-flask hangs behind him, is probably praying before the altar. That athletes entered upon their tasks with extreme seriousness is clear from the oath taken by them before the image of Zeus in the Council House at Olympia, when they swore upon the cut pieces of a boar that they would be guilty of no foul play. In the Greek view athletics and religion were very closely connected.

_The Lectisternium_, or Theoxenia, was the ceremony in which a banquet was set, and the gods were invited to attend. It is illustrated by the drawing of a lekythos (No. =98=) from Kameiros in Rhodes (about 500 B.C.), which represents the two gods Castor and Pollux descending from heaven on horseback to take part in the festival of the Theoxenia (fig. 32). This feast, indicated by the couch on which they were to recline, was given in honour of the twin gods. Such a festival well illustrates the perfectly human interests which the Greeks attributed to their deities.

Compare with this vase the cast (No. =99=) of a relief in the Louvre, from Larissa. A man and his wife, the dedicators of the relief, are represented as having set out a couch, a banquet of cakes, and an altar. The Twins descend, heralded by Victory. Beside the relief is a fragment of a lamp (No. =100=) incised with a dedication to the Dioscuri, that is, to Castor and Pollux. Here also is the inscribed base (No. =101=) of a statuette dedicated to the Dioscuri by Euarchos (sixth century B.C.).

_Augury._--Passing now to Italic religious ceremonies, we may notice the archaic bronze statuette of an augur (No. =102=), whose function it was to draw omens from the aspect of the heavens or the flight and cries of birds. He wears a cloak drawn veil-wise over his head, a common religious garb, and in his right hand holds the _lituus_ or curved wand used for the ceremonial dividing of the heavens into quarters. In connection with this statuette mention should be made of an early Greek inscription (No. =103=) in the bottom of Cases 95-96. It was found at Ephesus, and is probably of about the same period as the statuette, the sixth century B.C. It gives rules for drawing lucky or unlucky omens from the flight of birds. The principal signs are the flight from right to left or _vice versa_, and the raising or lowering of the bird's wing.

_Shrines._--In Cases 100, 101 a series of terracotta shrines is exhibited. They were doubtless for household use, employed in much the same way as modern images of the Madonna. No. =104= (fig. 33), from the early Greek settlement of Naukratis, in the Nile Delta, shows Aphrodite within a shrine supported by figures of the Egyptian god Bes, a characteristic combination of Greek and Egyptian elements. No. =105=, from Amathus, in Cyprus, is also semi-Egyptian in character, and shows a deity surmounted by a winged solar disk. Another shrine from Naukratis (No. =106=) contains the sacred Apis-bull of the Egyptians. No. =107= is an example of a shrine containing a baetylic image, that is, a stone worshipped as sacred. A cone resembling the one here shown was worshipped in the temple of Aphrodite at Paphos in Cyprus. In front, a small lead model shrine (No. =108=) of later date, from Sardinia, represents Aphrodite just risen from the sea-foam and wringing out her hair. The circular shrine (No. =109=; fig. 34) is of Roman date, from Eretria in Euboea. Its form and more especially the indication of overlapping scale-plates on the roof remind us strongly of the famous temple of Vesta at Rome.

In Case 101 is a bronze tablet with an iron chain and staple (No. =110=). The tablet, apparently of about 200 B.C., is inscribed on both sides, and seems to give a list of statues of deities, some, such as Vezkei, peculiar to the Samnites, others, such as Ceres and Hermes, of widely spread worship. It is a most important monument of the Oscan dialect, a language spoken by the early Italic tribes whose chief centre was the mountainous country above Campania. It was found at Agnone (Bovianum Vetus) in the Samnite territory.

=Votive Offerings.=

A votive offering is a present made to a deity, in order to secure some favour for the future, to avert anger for a past offence, or to express gratitude for a favour received. This last purpose includes offerings made in fulfilment of a vow, the vow being a kind of contract between the individual and the god. This comes out most clearly in the Roman expression _voti reus_--"condemned to pay a vow"--applied to those whose prayer had been granted, and who now had to fulfil their promise made in time of stress and difficulty. Votive offerings cover the whole field of life, and may include persons, lands, buildings, or objects specially appropriate either to the god or to the person who makes the dedication.

Very frequently the vow was made by some person stricken with disease, and it is to such a cause that we owe the numerous votive offerings representing some part of the human body.

The constant streams of these offerings made the ancient temples depositories of all kinds of objects, ranging from jewels of great price and high artistic merit to the roughest terracotta figure. In the Gold Ornament Room (Case 19) is a magnificent gold pin of the Ptolemaic period inscribed with a dedication to Aphrodite of Paphos, showing that the offering was the result of a vow made by Eubule, the wife of Aratos, and one Tamisa. Overcrowding led to periodical clearances of objects of the least intrinsic value. To prevent things dedicated returning to the uses of common life, they were frequently broken and thrown into heaps. This accounts for the masses of _débris_, consisting chiefly of terracottas and vases, which have been found within the precincts of great sanctuaries.

The vast accumulations of treasure in the various temples naturally demanded careful cataloguing, labelling and supervision on the part of the temple officials (see examples of marble labels from the sacred enclosure of Demeter at Cnidos). From time to time elaborate inventories were drawn up, and (after the manner of ancient documents) inscribed on stone. Such inventories have been discovered in large numbers at Delos, Athens, and elsewhere. An example is shown in the lower part of Case 97, being an inventory (No. =111=) of various garments dedicated to Artemis Brauronia, who had a shrine upon the acropolis of Athens. We know that it was the custom of women after childbirth to dedicate garments to Artemis, and in particular to Artemis Brauronia. That the garments were often anything but new is shown by the fact that several are described as "in rags." A typical extract from the inscription may be given: "A purple dress, with variegated chequer pattern. Dedicated by Thyaene and Malthake." The entries range in date from 350 to 344 B.C.

The principal objects here exhibited as illustrating the ancient custom of dedication may now be mentioned. In Wall-Case 96 is an inscription of the fifth century B.C. (No. =112=) found in the ruins of the temple of Poseidon on Cape Taenaron in Lakonia. It records the dedication by one Theares of a slave named Kleogenes to the temple-service of Poseidon. The names of an _ephoros_, probably an official of the temple, and of a witness are added. In some cases the dedication of a slave to a god is equivalent to enfranchisement.

Among votive offerings specially appropriate to the god, we have already mentioned the reliefs dedicated for a good voyage (No. =82=) and the Theoxenia relief (No. =99=). The pedestal (No. =112*=), with an inscription that it was restored "whether sacred to god or goddess," is a parallel to the altar inscribed with a dedication "to an unknown god," which caught the eye of St. Paul when he was viewing the antiquities of Athens.

In the bottom of Case 102 is the base of a statuette (No. =113=; fig. 35) found at Curium in Cyprus. It bears an inscription, written both in Greek and in the native Cypriote syllabic characters: "Ellooikos, the son of Poteisis, dedicated this as a vow to Demeter and the Maid." The inscription is of the fourth century B.C., and is of special interest on account of its bilingual character. Two other large objects in marble of a votive character are exhibited in the bottom of Cases 103 and 104 respectively. The chest-like stool (No. =114=) was offered by a priestess named Philis to Persephone, the basket (No. =115=) by one Xeno to Demeter and Persephone. The basket is dedicated with peculiar fitness to the goddesses of corn and fruit, for it was in such woven baskets that the ears of corn were ingathered, while the chest is also closely associated with Demeter and Persephone, who are frequently represented seated on it. Both of these last objects were found by Sir Charles Newton in the precinct of Demeter at Knidos in Asia Minor.

We now turn to the votive offerings personal to the donor, and we find that not infrequently, where the object itself is perishable, or otherwise unsuitable as an offering, a sculptured representation takes its place.

Two curious examples of such dedicatory tablets (Nos. =116=, =117=) are seen in the casts placed in the upper and lower parts respectively of Case 101. The originals, from Slavochori, probably the site of the ancient Amyklae near Sparta, are in the Hall of Inscriptions. The first was dedicated by Anthusa, daughter of Damaenetos, a [Greek: hypostatria] or under-tirewoman in the service of a temple, possibly that of Dionysos, for we know that this god had a temple near Amyklae, which none but women might enter. On the relief is a series of objects connected with the toilet, such as a mirror, a comb, a box of cosmetics, a case containing a sponge, a pair of slippers, etc. Possibly the dedicator was in charge of objects of this nature. The other relief, from the same place, was dedicated by a priestess named Claudia Ageta, daughter of Antipater, and shows a very similar series of objects. Both these reliefs are of Imperial date.

A similar substitution of a representation for the object is found in the series of offerings which commemorate recovery from disease or bodily injury. The upper part of Cases 103-106 contains a set of marble reliefs (No. =118=) found at the foot of the Pnyx at Athens, the rocky semicircular meeting-place of the Athenian people. They are dedicated by women--Eutychis, Isias, Olympias, and others--to Zeus the Highest, and have representations of various parts of the human body, such as eyes, breasts, arms, etc. These reliefs, which are of Roman date, are clearly thank-offerings for recovery from disease. There must have been a regular trade in these models, for Clement of Alexandria, writing about 200 A.D., talks of "those who manufacture ears and eyes of precious wood and dedicate them to the gods, setting them up in their temples."[20] No. =119=, from a shrine of Asklepios in Melos, is a relief representing a left leg, dedicated, as the inscription shows, by way of thank-offering to the deities of healing, Asklepios and Hygieia. Next it is a small relief from Cyrene (No. =120=), showing a right ear. There are several other objects here exhibited which were probably offered by grateful votaries in return for healing mercies. Such are the bronze ticket with a bronze leg suspended from it (No. =121=), inscribed with the name of the donor Caledus, and two arms with a chain for suspension. In Cases 105 and 106 a whole series of terracotta votive hands, feet, eyes, breasts, etc., doubtless represents the thank-offerings of the poorer classes. With these is a curious terracotta model (No =122=; fig. 36) of the lungs (A), heart (B), liver (C), kidneys (D), spleen (E), and other internal organs of the human body. Though primarily of a votive character, it is of considerable interest to the student of ancient anatomy. A votive relief of rather different character is placed on the upper shelf. It represents two plaited locks of hair dedicated (as the inscription records) by Philombrotos and Aphthonetos, sons of Deinomachos, to Poseidon, god of the sea (No. =123=; fig. 37). It was a common custom in Greece to dedicate hair at important crises of life, particularly to deities connected with water. Achilles, on the death of Patroklos, shore off for him the hair he was growing long as an offering to the river Spercheios.[21]

Other objects illustrating the frequency and variety of Greek and Roman dedications may best be described in approximately chronological order. Two objects, which are more fully dealt with in other sections, may here be mentioned. In the sixth century B.C. the athlete Exoidas dedicated to the Dioscuri, patrons of athletic exercise, the bronze diskos (fig. 50; No. =157=) with which he had conquered "the high-souled" Kephallenians in athletic contest. The helmet, dedicated by Hieron after his naval victory off Kyme, has been already described (p. 8). Other votive helmets are shown in Cases 114-5. For the votive spearheads (?) see p. 9. The huntsman, no less than the athlete and the warrior, felt that the gods took an intimate part in his successes. This is illustrated by the inscribed bronze model of a hare in Case 103, with its head thrown back in the death agony (No. =124=; fig. 38). The Ionic letters, of about 480 B.C., read: "Hephaestion dedicated me to Apollo of Priene."[22] This offering reminds us of another exhibited in the left-hand wall-case in the Greek Ante-Room downstairs. A small limestone statuette, found on the site of the Greek settlement of Naukratis in Egypt, represents a young huntsman with two boars and two hares slung over his shoulders. It is inscribed "A dedication by Kallias"--probably to Aphrodite, since it was found within her precinct (_Cat. of Sculpt._, I., 118).

Other interesting Greek dedications of an early date are the bronze tablet (Case 105: No. =125=; fig. 39) found in Corfu, with an inscription showing it to be an offering by one Lophios[23]; the silver ingot (No. =126=) dedicated to Zeus Lykaeos (Zeus "the wolf-god") by Trygon; and the elaborate axe-head (No. =127=; fig. 40), found in Calabria, which bears an inscription recording that it was vowed to Hera of the Plain by Kyniskos, a "cook," as a tenth of his earnings (sixth century B.C.).[24]

The two bronze bulls (Nos. =128= and =129=) are offerings made by Greeks to an Egyptian deity. They were dedicated by Greeks named respectively Sokydes and Theodoros, and represent the sacred bull Apis, worshipped at Memphis in Egypt as an incarnation of the god Ptah. The offering of Sokydes is here illustrated (Fig. 41).[25] Notice the elaborate saddle-cloth, and the wings of the Egyptian scarabaeus and hawk engraved on the bull's back. The date of these bronzes is the late sixth or early fifth century B.C. The Greeks must have become acquainted with the worship of Apis in the seventh century B.C., when they served King Psammetichos I. as mercenaries. That monarch was a fervent worshipper of the god, and built a great temple for him at Memphis. Herodotus[26] mentions the courts where the bull was kept, and says that the Greeks called him "Epaphos." The bull dedicated by Sokydes was found in the Nile Delta, that dedicated by Theodoros at Athens.

The two bronze wheels in Case 103 each bear a votive inscription. The earlier (No. =130=), said to have been found near Argos, was perhaps an offering to the Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux, the divine patrons of athletic contests) by Eudamos, a victor in a chariot race. The other (No. =131=; fig. 42) comes from the temple of the Kabeiri at Thebes, and is dedicated by Xenon and Pyrrhippa to Kabeiros and the Child. The bronze bell (No. =132=, fig. 43) is from the same temple, and was likewise offered by one Pyrrhias to Kabeiros and the Child. The Kabeiri were deities of a mystic and subterranean character, who at Thebes apparently became closely connected with Dionysos, the wine-god. That a large element of burlesque entered into their worship can be seen from the vases discovered on the site of their shrine (Second Vase Room, B 77 and 78).