Greco-Roman terracottas from the Egyptian Museum of Agriculture. BiGen 42.
IFAO| N° d'inventaire | 17104 |
| Format | 23.5 x 16.5 |
| Détails | 224 p., color illustrations, publisher's hardcover. |
| Publication | Cairo, 2012 |
| Etat | Nine |
| ISBN | |
The collections of the Egyptian Museum of Agriculture (Cairo) include 107 terracottas dating from the Greco-Roman period. When they entered the museum between 1932 and 1935, the statuettes were selected around four main themes, in order to illustrate a part of the collections consisting of animal and plant remains: protective deities, animal representations, plant representations and baskets. These figurines, mostly molded, are generally referred to as "Fayum terracottas" because of the large number of pieces discovered there. Mainly attested in a residential context, they have nevertheless been unearthed in many other regions, on sites in the Delta – particularly Alexandria –, in Middle and Upper Egypt, as well as in the oases and praesidia of the Eastern Desert; by no means confined to the Fayum, these terracottas bear witness to large-scale production. Drawing on data provided by recent archaeological excavations and published or unpublished museum collections, this work helps to review the dating of this documentation and allows us to broadly question the function(s) of these terracottas.
The collections of the Egyptian Museum of Agriculture (Cairo) include 107 terracottas dating from the Greco-Roman period. When they entered the museum between 1932 and 1935, the statuettes were selected around four main themes, in order to illustrate a part of the collections consisting of animal and plant remains: protective deities, animal representations, plant representations and baskets. These figurines, mostly molded, are generally referred to as "Fayum terracottas" because of the large number of pieces discovered there. Mainly attested in a residential context, they have nevertheless been unearthed in many other regions, on sites in the Delta – particularly Alexandria –, in Middle and Upper Egypt, as well as in the oases and praesidia of the Eastern Desert; by no means confined to the Fayum, these terracottas bear witness to large-scale production. Drawing on data provided by recent archaeological excavations and published or unpublished museum collections, this work helps to review the dating of this documentation and allows us to broadly question the function(s) of these terracottas.