BMCR 2008.11.30, Sabine Fourrier, Amathonte VI. Le sanctuaire

Sabine Fourrier, Antoine Hermary, Amathonte VI. Le sanctuaire
d'Aphrodite des origines au de/but d'e/poque impe/riale. E/tudes
Chypriotes XVII. Avec la collaboration de Philippe Columeau, Bettina
Fischer-Genz, Marie-Dominique Nenna, Martin Schmid and des
contributions de Michel Amandry, Marie-Franc,oise Billiot, Sandrine
Marquie/, Jean-Denis Vigne.  Athens:  E/cole franc,aise d'Athe\nes,
2006.  Pp. 222; figs. 508. pls. 50; 1 plan.  ISBN 2-869958-220-X.
EUR 100.00 (pb).

Reviewed by Anja Ulbrich, Ruprecht-Karls-Universitaet, Heidelberg,
Germany ([email protected])
Word count:  2652 words
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This book is meant to be the "first publication" (p. 1) of the
excavations in the sanctuary of Aphrodite on the acropolis of the
ancient city of Amathous on the southern coast of Cyprus, conducted by
a team of the E/cole franc,aise d'Athe\nes since 1976. Its goal is to
document and discuss the development of this major urban cult-place
from its foundation in the 8th century BC until the erection of the
first monumental temple building in the 1st century AD. Thereby it aims
to address various aspects of the site, such as its features and
components, spatial organisation, equipment, cult practice and votive
practice including animal sacrifice. In order to do so, it draws
heavily on data already published and discussed in various preliminary
reports, articles and monographs, including the Amathonte series and
the Guide to Amathous, adds hitherto unpublished or only partly
published material, such as Archaic pottery and animal bones, and draws
comprehensive conclusions about the complete assemblage from the site.

The book is divided into a brief introduction and five main chapters,
some very short, some very extensive, complemented by two appendices,
and bibliography, index, and numerous plans, drawings and photographs.

A brief introduction of 4 pages by A. Hermary addresses the goal of the
book, the history and method of the excavation and its documentation,
its scale and limitations, and the major problems of the evidence
including poor and complicated stratigraphy (a general predicament in
Cypriot archaeology, aggravated by massive disturbances through the
erection of the monumental first temple in the 1st century AD).

In chapter 1 (pp. 5-13), Hermary briefly reviews the literary,
epigraphic and material evidence for the cult and the sanctuary of
Aphrodite or Venus in Amathous in chronological order from its earliest
appearance in ancient literary sources through the first explorations
in the 17th century up to the early years of the French excavations
that began in 1976. He summarises the general setting and topography of
the cult-place within the city on the summit of the acropolis. He also
addresses the questions of its extent and boundaries and the location
of the entrance in any given period.

In chapter 2 (pp. 15-48), Hermary and various collaborators briefly and
comprehensively present and discuss the different features and main
find contexts of the site, the nature of associated material and finds
and their validity for chronology. These contexts are: a tomb on the
summit of the acropolis already carved into the rock in CG I (Hermary);
the two Archaic deposits of the Bothros and the grotto (Fourrier); the
monumental stone vases near the entrance of the 7th or 6th century BC
(Hermary); a kiln of the Hellenistic to early imperial periods
(Fischer-Genz); the Doric portico erected in the late 2nd and early 1st
century BC (Hermary, Marquie, Schmid); and other buildings south of the
temple of the 1st century BC (Hermary, Schmid). The chronology depends
mainly on pottery from these contexts, and in the case of the stone
vases on the iconography of the handle-decoration. The chapter ends
with a summary of the general arrangement and spatial organisation of
the sanctuary from the Archaic to the early Roman period and a short
comparison with evidence from other Cypriot temene.

In an extensive chapter 3 (pp. 49-126), Fourrier presents the Archaic
material from the bothros and the grotto, focussing on the massive
amount of local pottery from both contexts. A first short section (pp.
49-51) discusses the methodology for pot-counting, and the validity and
problems of the Gjerstad-system as a basis for classifying the
material. Section 2 establishes a detailed system of classification for
the wares from both contexts. Fourrier basically draws on the
Gjerstad-system with an updated chronology (pp. 49-50 with all relevant
references). Gjerstad distinguished seven different morphological
phases in Cypriot Iron Age pottery within its different wares, which
are defined basically by the type of decoration.[[1]] However, Fourrier
has now rearranged the material from Amathous principally by
vessel-types or shapes and then by their subtypes and variations. These
categories include vessels of the different wares defined by Gjerstad,
but Fourrier also introduces locally made wares such as Black Slip
mixte including intentionally blackened Red Slip, Black-on-Red or
Bichrome Red, and thin-walled bowls. The main distinction in this
typology is between open and closed shapes, which are subdivided
according to their body profiles, rim shapes and handle types. Each of
the types and subtypes is briefly defined and described, and comparanda
from other Amathousian and Cypriot contexts are listed, followed by a
list of the main examples from the sanctuary proper sorted by find
context. This section ends with a concluding paragraph on the
repertoire of shapes, illustrated by statistical charts. The next two
sections deal with the complete assemblages of material from the
bothros and the grotto separately. Here, the finds -- objects of bone,
shell, stone, faience, metal, and terracotta, the latter including
lamps, inscribed pot-sherds, and a small amount of imported pottery
from Greece and the Levant -- are published with comparanda from
Cypriot and non-Cypriot contexts. The great majority, however, consists
of local Cypriot pottery, here documented by the same pieces as in the
preceding typology section, but now sorted by the wares defined by
Gjerstad and presented with measurements and descriptions of the clay
and charts documenting the amount and relative proportions of each ware
within both assemblages. The few pieces of coarse ware are also
included. All the material, particularly the local Cypriot pottery, is
amply illustrated by drawings and photographs.

Chapter 4 (pp. 127-64), written mainly by Hermary with contributions by
Fisher-Genz, Vigne and Nenna, discusses literary, epigraphic and
archaeological evidence for cult and votive practices in the sanctuary.
Topics addressed are the literary and epigraphic evidence for a
harvest-festival for Aphrodite in Amathous (Hermary); the nature and
shape of the cult-image (Hermary); and various types of votive
offerings dating from the Archaic period to early imperial times
(Hermary et al.). These votive offerings include dedications of statues
by king Androkles himself attested by inscriptions in the late 4th
century BC (Hermary), and other small votive objects including parts of
jewellery in metal and precious or semi-precious stone (Hermary) and
glass (with Fischer-Genz) as well as other votive objects of gold,
ivory, bone, shell (Vigne), bronze and iron, faience and glass (Hermay,
Nenna), stone and terracotta (Hermary), all of which are presented here
for the first time in more or less detail followed by a brief summary
on the nature of the votive offerings. The late Hellenistic and early
Roman glass vessels are published (in greater detail than other objects
here) by N. Nenna.  Other categories, however, are only documented by
lists or a very few pieces which needed to be added to previously
published material, e.g., most of the terracottas were published in a
separate volume, but some hitherto unpublished are just listed here,
but not discussed in detail or as a group of material. A separate
section deals with the dedication of a thesaurus by king Androkles to
Aphrodite, addressing its functions in cult practice with regard to
marital rites and ritual prostitution. Another section discusses the
role of water in the sanctuary and in the general cult practice as
attested by the monumental stone vases and several fragments of stone
basins. The last paragraph concentrates on other cults in the
sanctuary, which might be attested by the cultic use of an existing
tomb on the highest ground in the temenos and a Hellenistic dedicatory
inscription to Sarapis, Isis, Aphrodite and other gods including
Ptolemaios and Kleopatra dating from the period of 142/1-132/1 BC.

In chapter 5 (pp. 165-96), Hermary discusses the structures in the
sanctuary connected with animal sacrifice, and Columeau presents the
animal bones. A brief review of the scarce literary and epigraphic
evidence on animal sacrifice in Cypriot sanctuaries by Hermary is
complemented by Columeau's analysis of the animal bones from other
published Archaic and post-Archaic sacred contexts. Sheep and goat
predominate, followed by cattle; very few bones show traces of burning,
calcination or butchery marks. Comparisons with evidence from the
Artemision at Ephesos, the Heraion on Samos and the Aphrodite sanctuary
at Miletos show, for Amathous, a much higher proportion of sheep and
goat in relation to cattle in all periods, while -- as at Miletos --
pigs are not attested at all. Moreover, in Amathous, changes of
preference can be observed between the Archaic and later periods with
respect to the type and age of the animals sacrificed and the
body-parts kept and deposited within the sanctuary. In the next
section, Hermary discusses the Archaic or Classical structures in the
sanctuary that are associated with animal sacrifices, drawing on many
comparisons from Cyprus and the Aegean. Features at Amathous include 12
rings carved out of the bedrock most probably for tying animals
destined to be sacrificed, and various channels and round holes carved
in the rock, possibly for posts to hang meat or smaller animals. The
structures also include an angular foundation for a fence, a
rectangular altar-bothros carved in the rock west of the sacrificial
area and a cubic gypsum offering table with several mouldings and a
circular channel around its upper surface. The concluding paragraph
summarises the results, pointing out the lack of pigs and birds among
the sacrificial animals, and the lack of evidence for burnt sacrifice.
Hermary suggests that suitable offerings to Aphrodite were liquids,
such as wine, water and juice, as well as grain, fruit and vegetables
as recorded in some ancient Greek sources.

Appendix 1 (Amandry) publishes and partly illustrates 18 apparently
hitherto unpublished Hellenistic coins from the site: 12 are from the
Paphian mint, and one each from Salamis, Tyre and possibly Alexandria.

Appendix 2 (Schmid) presents the late Hellenistic and Early Roman
architecture in greater detail, including possibilities for
reconstructing the Doric portico and other buildings.

This is a valuable book: Firstly, it pulls together and
cross-references disparately published evidence for and from the
sanctuary and presents it comprehensively by contexts and by aspects of
cult and votive practice. Secondly, it provides a methodical analysis
and critical discussion of the different contexts, the structures in
the temenos, and the different kinds of material associated with them.
The documentation and illustration of contexts and finds by charts,
drawings, photographs, plans, phase plans and reconstructions are high
quality, systematic, extensive and well arranged; references to
illustrations in the text are accurate and frequent. The treatment,
documentation and discussion of material, particularly the Archaic
pottery, is excellent, and, in its extensive use of comparanda from
Cypriot and other Mediterranean contexts, exceeds the standards of
previous publications of pottery from Cypriot sites. The authors offer
alternative interpretations for different features and aspects of the
sanctuary, debating them in the light of a vast amount of comparanda
and evidence from Amathous, Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean as a
whole. In these respects, the book goes far beyond the scope and
standard of most preliminary or even final publications of Cypriot
sanctuaries.

The few weaknesses of the book are partly caused by the vast amount of
material and evidence which needed to be included in the publication.
The result is a somewhat imbalanced presentation of the different types
of material, with very detailed treatment for instance of the Archaic
pottery and animal bones, but more general or even summary discussions
of the votive offerings, and bare mentions of the votive sculptures,
post-Archaic pottery and incense burners. Some of this material has
been published elsewhere, such as the votive sculptures and terracottas
presented in Amathonte V and the material from other contexts at
Amathous excavated by the French team such as the palace and the city
wall. The items from the sanctuary on the acropolis are only briefly
mentioned in the section on the nature and shape of the cult image (p.
128) and have a short paragraph in the section on the nature of the
votive offerings (pp. 130-32). In view of the amount and chronology far
down into the post-Archaic period, the votive sculptures and
terracottas deserve a separate comprehensive and more detailed section
in chapter 4 on the nature of votive-offerings.

Another group of neglected material is the Classical, Hellenistic and
early Roman pottery, which reflects both votive practice and ritual --
including drinking and/or dining -- even if the evidence is mostly from
disturbed levels or late fills. Only part of this has been published
elsewhere, such as some Hellenistic pottery (pp. 45-46).[[2]]
Post-Archaic pottery is only mentioned briefly in the discussion of the
stratigraphy of certain contexts, such as the kiln (p. 35), the
Hellenistic portico (p. 40-41) and the later pre-imperial buildings (p.
46). However, there is no comprehensive or statistical information on
local wares, shapes, imports and contexts including disturbed layers,
which are all indispensable for a publication aiming to document the
development of the site and its cult-practice up till the early
imperial period. This stands in marked contrast to the excellent
publication of the Archaic pottery (see above) which, however, also has
its weaknesses. One of them lies in the nature of the material,
displaying a great variety of shapes, sizes and other details all
freely combined, which make consistent and strict classifications
difficult: this is a general problem in Cypriot archaeology. Thus, the
distinction between some of the deep bowls (figs. 205-218) and jars
(figs. 383-388) does not seem clear. Unfortunately, a few shapes are
not documented by drawings at all, such as big bowls or basins (p. 63
D), amphorae with knob-shaped bases (p. 79 D), and jars with folded rim
(p. 81, C.2). One also wonders whether the bowls in figs. 168 and 169,
only decorated outside, might not actually be lids as shown in figs.
395-96 and 398. The fact that the author does not distinguish the
different types of Black slip mixte, as explained on p. 51, in her
coded catalogue-numbers for individual pieces and their drawings, but
invariably names them bs is a bit confusing. As regards these
catalogue-numbers, it would also have been more user-friendly, if their
composition had been explained briefly in an introductory sentence in
the typology, or in a footnote or even in the list of abbreviations at
the end of the book (p. 205). One has to infer from the text that,
apparently, those numbers are made up of abbreviations for contexts,
shape, ware -- in Gjerstad-abbreviations -- and a running number for
the series of a certain type. However, the abbreviation co for the
fine-walled bowls remains enigmatic (perhaps it stands for coloured
rim-zone?).

The same problem of unexplained abbreviations appears in the charts of
the bone analysis, which refer to earlier studies of other
international specialists and earlier publications of the author. The
abbreviations are not at all evident to an archaeologist who is not
specialised in this field and not French. This critique applies also to
the very short and patchy list of abbreviations (p. 205) which only
lists the more common internationally known or, by textual context,
easily understandable abbreviations for Cypriot wares and periods in
English and French, but not the more specialised ones used in this
publication for the material, e.g. glass (ve), torpedo amphora (t),
small object (po) etc.

Finally, the complete and extensive bibliography is a slightly
inconsistent mixture of   Harvard-type and title abbreviations, e.g.
listing Amathonte I-III under that rubric, but Amathonte IV and V under
the name of Queyrel or Hermary, respectively.

The values and merits of Amathonte VI, however, exceed its relatively
minor weaknesses by far. The book is a highly satisfactory publication
of the sanctuary of     Aphrodite at Amathous, and convincing in its
systematic, comprehensive and, in places, detailed and extensive
treatment of the evidence and material by addressing important  aspects
of Cypriot religion and cult practice within its Mediterranean context.
Thus, Amathonte VI sets new standards for the publication of, and
research on, Cypriot sanctuaries and contributes greatly to the study
of Cypriot religion and cult.


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Notes:


1.   For the classification and chronology of Cypriot pottery
established by Gjerstad see E. Gjerstad, The Swedish Cyprus Expedition
IV.2., The Cypro-Geometric,          Cypro-Archaic and Cypro-Classical
periods (Stockholm 1948), 48-91 figs. I-LXXI (pottery); 184-427,
summarised on p. 427 (chronology). The system was further elaborated in
E. Gjerstad, Pottery Types, Cypro-Geometric to Cypro-Classical,
Opuscula Atheniensia III, Lund 1960, 106-122 with figs.

2.   F. Burkhalter, La ce/ramique helle/nistique et romaine du
sanctuaire d'Aphrodite a\ Amathonte, BCH 111, pp.353-391.