Branko van Oppen
My research focuses on the religious identification of Ptolemaic queens with various Greek and Egyptian goddesses, such as Aphrodite, Demeter, Hathor and Isis. This research synthesizes interpretations of various schools of thought and fields of study: not only Classics, History and Egyptology, but also Anthropology, Sociology, Political Sciences, Gender Studies and Feminism, Art History and the History of Religion (Myths and Rituals). For evidence I have drawn frequently from poems by Theocritus, Callimachus and Posidippus. I have further contextualized their works using what little ancient historiography remains as well as inscriptions and papyri, in addition to reliefs, sculpture, vases, gems, coins and seals, among others. My research led me to an extensive exploration of the intersection of different cultures, namely Graeco-Macedonian, Egyptian, and Near-Eastern influences in the worship of the queens. This work fits within the wider framework of the Ptolemaic ruler-cult, royal ideology and propaganda. My research illuminates the often ignored or underestimated importance of the queens’ roles, functions and duties at court – a position unmatched in Pharaonic Egypt or elsewhere in other Hellenistic kingdoms. In short, I aim to illustrate the extent of female participation in the politics and society of Hellenistic Egypt.
Phone: +813-274-8130
Address: Tampa Museum of Art / Cornelia Corbett Center
120 W. Gasparilla Plaza / Tampa, FL 33602
Phone: +813-274-8130
Address: Tampa Museum of Art / Cornelia Corbett Center
120 W. Gasparilla Plaza / Tampa, FL 33602
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Books by Branko van Oppen
Another type of leonine head vase shows features that are so unlike that of Bes, that Robert S. Bianchi identifies the figure rather as “leonteios” and argues that such ceramic vessels were used for drinking wine. In her overview of the diffusion of Bes and other dwarfish figures across the ancient Mediterranean, Isabelle Tassignon connects that spread beyond Egypt with the westward expansion of the Phoenicians and Carthaginians. Lastly, Fabio Spadini offers the first in-depth study of the magical gemstones engraved with Bes images, which he connects with divination, the worship of Isis, and the protection of mothers from conception through pregnancy and labor through childrearing. In all, we believe that the concoction of contributions has all the ingredients to put the reader under the spell of Bes!
The theme of this Special Issue, "Animals in Ancient Material Cultures", broadly includes the Mediterranean world and the Near East, from ca. 10,000 ʙᴄᴇ to 500 ᴄᴇ (although exceptions in period or region may be considered). Approaching this subject from a broad chronological and geographical perspective allows the contributors to focus on a specific region, period, animal, and/or creature. Papers may draw on (zoo-)archaeological, physical, visual, and/or cultural material to examine the dispersal and exchange, appropriation, and acculturation of practices and beliefs. This Special Issue aims to bring together specialists from different fields of expertise, including but not limited to art history, ancient history, classics, classical archaeology, and zooarchaeology. Proposed subjects comprise topics such as pastoralism, human–animal relations, iconography, and cultic practices.
That marriage is the main subject of the second essay. After the death of her father Magas and her brief marriage to Demetrius the Fair, Berenice II namely wed Ptolemy III, and together they were proclaimed to be children of the Theoi Adelphoi (“Sibling Gods”) Ptolemy II and Arsinoe II. Exploring the course of these events is again important not only for a better understanding of early-Hellenistic chronology, genealogy and marital practices, but also for Berenice’s status and position in Cyrene and Egypt. In fact, documents such as Callimachus’ Coma Berenice and the Canopus Decree reveal (thus far unnoticed) ideological ramifications of her marriage to the Ptolemaic king. The events leading up to her marriage indeed reveal that Berenice was an assertive woman, capable both in military and political affairs from a young age.
A brief interlude presents iconographic material pertaining to the life and times of Berenice II in art and atrifacts. The evidence ranges from Cyrenean and Alexandrian coinage, portraits in sculpture and mosaics, relief scenes and an inscription, as well as Ptolemaic vases and signet rings. Additionally, two modern works of art will pass the review to illustrate Berenice’s long afterlife.
The last essay is entitled “Astronomy and Ideology in the Coma Berenices.” There have been few attempts at analysing the possible astronomical implications of Callimachus’ Coma Berenices, apart from calculating the constellation’s heliacal rising and proposing an Isiac or Hathoric symbolism. This essay places the poem as well as the catasterism in astronomical, historical, ideological and religious contexts. Connecting the Coma Berenices with Near-Eastern astrology (e.g., the Dendera zodiac) and religious symbolism will also shed more light on some poetic themes and patterns of queenship. In this chapter, I will pay particular attention to the themes of eroticism, female agency, dynastic legitimization and royal deification.
The Hague is always changing and evolving. Construction cranes seem to have become permanent residents in the city’s skyline. While The Hague has it immediately recognizable character, the different boroughs and neighborhoods each have with their own identity, too. This book therefore highlights the city architecture in its specific context.
Approximately 250 noteworthy buildings are presented with over 500 magnificent photos by professional photographers such as Rob ’t Hart, Rob Hoekstra, Luuk Kramer, Jannes Linders, Inge van Mill, Jeroen Musch, Peter de Ruig, Michael Toner and Dirk Vroemen. Besides historical monuments and modern architecture, fifteen leading architects or offices are discussed, including Aldo van Eyck, Wim Quist, Rem Koolhaas, Herman Hertzberger, Jo Coenen, Atelier PRO and Archipelontwerpers.
A must-read for everyone who loves the city, from natives to expats, visitors and foreign contact, friends and family. "
Papers by Branko van Oppen
The site of Edfu, south of Luxor and Karnak, was sacred to the falcon god Horus. Its temple, one of the best preserved sanctuaries of ancient Egypt, was built between 237 and 57 BC. The hoard of originally about 800 sealings may have been deposited after a conflagration burnt the documents to which they were attached.
They form the largest set of preserved clay seal impressions from Hellenistic Egypt. And yet, both halves have thus far not been studied and compared systematically. The Toronto half was published in two preliminary articles over a century ago; some of the Amsterdam examples have been published sporadically since the mid-1990s.
Two examples of Hellenistic clay seal impressions from Edfu: on the left the famous last queen of Egypt Cleopatra VII; and the right Julius Caesar, the Roman conqueror and dictator, who maintained a relationship with Cleopatra. (APM inv.nos. 8177-056 and 134.)
Over half of the sealings depict male or female heads or busts, the majority of which represent royal portraits from the second half of the Hellenistic period (that is, ca. 185-25 BC). This fact alone makes the Edfu sealings very important, as there are few securely identifiable portraits of the kings or queens of the Ptolemaic dynasty of the time.
Recent research has now established that all kings from Ptolemy VI through Ptolemy XII, and several of the queens from Cleopatra I through Cleopatra VII, can be recognized among the hoard. Additionally, seal impressions can be attributed to Alexander the Great, Ptolemy I and even Julius Caesar. This research project, The Edfu Connection, was made possible through generous support of the Mondriaan Fund and the Getty Research Institute.
Another type of leonine head vase shows features that are so unlike that of Bes, that Robert S. Bianchi identifies the figure rather as “leonteios” and argues that such ceramic vessels were used for drinking wine. In her overview of the diffusion of Bes and other dwarfish figures across the ancient Mediterranean, Isabelle Tassignon connects that spread beyond Egypt with the westward expansion of the Phoenicians and Carthaginians. Lastly, Fabio Spadini offers the first in-depth study of the magical gemstones engraved with Bes images, which he connects with divination, the worship of Isis, and the protection of mothers from conception through pregnancy and labor through childrearing. In all, we believe that the concoction of contributions has all the ingredients to put the reader under the spell of Bes!
The theme of this Special Issue, "Animals in Ancient Material Cultures", broadly includes the Mediterranean world and the Near East, from ca. 10,000 ʙᴄᴇ to 500 ᴄᴇ (although exceptions in period or region may be considered). Approaching this subject from a broad chronological and geographical perspective allows the contributors to focus on a specific region, period, animal, and/or creature. Papers may draw on (zoo-)archaeological, physical, visual, and/or cultural material to examine the dispersal and exchange, appropriation, and acculturation of practices and beliefs. This Special Issue aims to bring together specialists from different fields of expertise, including but not limited to art history, ancient history, classics, classical archaeology, and zooarchaeology. Proposed subjects comprise topics such as pastoralism, human–animal relations, iconography, and cultic practices.
That marriage is the main subject of the second essay. After the death of her father Magas and her brief marriage to Demetrius the Fair, Berenice II namely wed Ptolemy III, and together they were proclaimed to be children of the Theoi Adelphoi (“Sibling Gods”) Ptolemy II and Arsinoe II. Exploring the course of these events is again important not only for a better understanding of early-Hellenistic chronology, genealogy and marital practices, but also for Berenice’s status and position in Cyrene and Egypt. In fact, documents such as Callimachus’ Coma Berenice and the Canopus Decree reveal (thus far unnoticed) ideological ramifications of her marriage to the Ptolemaic king. The events leading up to her marriage indeed reveal that Berenice was an assertive woman, capable both in military and political affairs from a young age.
A brief interlude presents iconographic material pertaining to the life and times of Berenice II in art and atrifacts. The evidence ranges from Cyrenean and Alexandrian coinage, portraits in sculpture and mosaics, relief scenes and an inscription, as well as Ptolemaic vases and signet rings. Additionally, two modern works of art will pass the review to illustrate Berenice’s long afterlife.
The last essay is entitled “Astronomy and Ideology in the Coma Berenices.” There have been few attempts at analysing the possible astronomical implications of Callimachus’ Coma Berenices, apart from calculating the constellation’s heliacal rising and proposing an Isiac or Hathoric symbolism. This essay places the poem as well as the catasterism in astronomical, historical, ideological and religious contexts. Connecting the Coma Berenices with Near-Eastern astrology (e.g., the Dendera zodiac) and religious symbolism will also shed more light on some poetic themes and patterns of queenship. In this chapter, I will pay particular attention to the themes of eroticism, female agency, dynastic legitimization and royal deification.
The Hague is always changing and evolving. Construction cranes seem to have become permanent residents in the city’s skyline. While The Hague has it immediately recognizable character, the different boroughs and neighborhoods each have with their own identity, too. This book therefore highlights the city architecture in its specific context.
Approximately 250 noteworthy buildings are presented with over 500 magnificent photos by professional photographers such as Rob ’t Hart, Rob Hoekstra, Luuk Kramer, Jannes Linders, Inge van Mill, Jeroen Musch, Peter de Ruig, Michael Toner and Dirk Vroemen. Besides historical monuments and modern architecture, fifteen leading architects or offices are discussed, including Aldo van Eyck, Wim Quist, Rem Koolhaas, Herman Hertzberger, Jo Coenen, Atelier PRO and Archipelontwerpers.
A must-read for everyone who loves the city, from natives to expats, visitors and foreign contact, friends and family. "
The site of Edfu, south of Luxor and Karnak, was sacred to the falcon god Horus. Its temple, one of the best preserved sanctuaries of ancient Egypt, was built between 237 and 57 BC. The hoard of originally about 800 sealings may have been deposited after a conflagration burnt the documents to which they were attached.
They form the largest set of preserved clay seal impressions from Hellenistic Egypt. And yet, both halves have thus far not been studied and compared systematically. The Toronto half was published in two preliminary articles over a century ago; some of the Amsterdam examples have been published sporadically since the mid-1990s.
Two examples of Hellenistic clay seal impressions from Edfu: on the left the famous last queen of Egypt Cleopatra VII; and the right Julius Caesar, the Roman conqueror and dictator, who maintained a relationship with Cleopatra. (APM inv.nos. 8177-056 and 134.)
Over half of the sealings depict male or female heads or busts, the majority of which represent royal portraits from the second half of the Hellenistic period (that is, ca. 185-25 BC). This fact alone makes the Edfu sealings very important, as there are few securely identifiable portraits of the kings or queens of the Ptolemaic dynasty of the time.
Recent research has now established that all kings from Ptolemy VI through Ptolemy XII, and several of the queens from Cleopatra I through Cleopatra VII, can be recognized among the hoard. Additionally, seal impressions can be attributed to Alexander the Great, Ptolemy I and even Julius Caesar. This research project, The Edfu Connection, was made possible through generous support of the Mondriaan Fund and the Getty Research Institute.
University of St Andrews, 11-14th July 2018.
Organized by Eran Almagor, Timothy Howe & B. Antela-Bernárdez
Please circulate widely.
Amastris rose to power and prominence in the early third century and was in a sense the first true Hellenistic queen. Other royal women received the title basilissa before her, perhaps – notably Phila and Apama. No other Hellenistic queen founded cities or issued coins before her, and none were of Persian descent. Yet modern scholarship has mostly ignored Amastris and left the few known details of her life as contradictory as the ancient sources present them.
This paper intends to review the surviving evidence with the aim of reappraising the life of Amastris. Rather than present her as a pawn in dynastic marital games, I will focus on the extent of her agency in her remarkable career, her invaluable roles for the men she married, and reevaluate the circumstances of her death. Lysimachus, whose royal aim certainly was to enlarge his kingdom as far as possible, more generally employed his queens as representatives of his power. Amastris, moreover, seems to have promoted her Persian heritage with pride.
The multifunctional SigNet web-platform will allow users with different backgrounds and interests to browse the aggregated repositories of images and metadata. Users can store and share the results of their, collect statistical data and add or enrich metadata, select favorite items, and/or build a virtual exhibition with their own narratives; registered users will be able the future to upload collections of related material. Crowdsourcing and Wikimedia initiatives are envisioned for community outreach programs, knowledge dissemination and citizen engagement. Museum visitor experiences can be enhanced with the use of digital applications. Miniature artifacts such as sealings and coins can come to life, for instance, through high-resolution interactive 3D imagery offering zooming and rotating options. Digital hotspots in the museum can offer additional background information to the physical exhibition, provide access to the online portal, showcase items not currently on display, and make the entire repository of 100,000+ objects available to the viewer. The SigNet project thus aims to let small objects tell big stories.
Though this paper will not be able to address all categories equally, I will argue that Bes transcends definition by combining human and animal, demonic and divine traits – and because of this multivalence was highly suitable for popular religious beliefs. Apart from his own physical appearance, animals and deities will pass the review with whom Bes was closely associated: such as felines and primates, as well as Hathor and Ihy, Ptah and Sechmet, Bastet and Horus, Thouëris and Tithoës. An examination of animalistic aspects that Bes has in common with others will bring notable dualities to the fore which will help to illuminate this lovely ugly character.
After a brief sketch of the historical and religious background, I will discuss several selected themes associated with ritual lamentation in early-Hellenistic Egypt. In brief, these themes include apotheotic ascension, wings of death, eroticism and luxury, as well as funerary rites of tearing / cutting hair, beating / baring breasts, and voicing grievances. The paper will address the religious identification of kings and queens with Greek and Egyptian deities, public /communal participation in the Ptolemaic cult, and the roles played by queens in this context. Though the scant evidence precludes broad generalizations, the paper will illuminate aspects of Ptolemaic ideology, representation and deification.
Met de komst van de Grieken in Egypte, vooral in de tijd van Alexander de Grote tot Cleopatra, kwam ook de Egyptische kunst in beweging. Dit geldt niet alleen voor kunstwerken in de Hellenistische stijl. Het beroemde bronzen beeldje van de danseres in New York (hiernaast) toont dat op schitterende wijze. Ook in ogenschijnlijk traditioneel Egyptische afbeeldingen doet de dynamiek echter zijn intrede. Reliëf scenes van de Slag bij Raphia (217 v.Chr.), bijvoorbeeld, verraden een Griekse invloed in de suggestie van beweging.
De spreker zal aan de hand van een aantal representatieve voorbeelden uit de grote en de kleine kunst zien hoe Griekse technieken voor het uitbeelden van illusionaire dynamiek de Egyptische kunst beïnvloedden. Omgekeerd geldt dat de Macedonische heersers van Egypte om zich te laten afbeelden ook graag aansluiting zochten bij eeuwenoude Faraonische tradities.
beïnvloeding van de verschillende segmenten van de bevolking.
On the grounds of the Latin inscription it is plausible that this silver skyphos was made in Italy, probably in Campania. Its early date and finding place indicate a military connection; the inscription could point to a gift to or from an army commander in the emperor’s circle. The finding place also proves that luxury goods were traded over long distances. It remains unclear if this cup was lost by accident, deposited as a sacrifice, or hidden as a treasure.
We also know mother goddesses from Italy, but is unclear whether these Italian Matres were identified with the Germanic Matronae. Since the latter ones wear Ubian attire, they appear to belong to native religion. We cannot exclude, however, that Romanised Ubians adopted a Gallic tradition and adapted it to their own custom. The Ubian terracottas were manufactured near Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (present-day Cologne, Germany) and principally occur in the west of the Low Countries. Furthermore it is not improbable that ‘Roman’ terracottas of e.g. Diana, Fortuna, Minerva or Venus in fact represent native deities. It is remarkable that most terracottas depict goddesses, while statuettes of male deities were usually made of bronze.
The miniature mask was a burial gift, perhaps a souvenir for the deceased. This and similar terracottas illustrate the easy adaptation to Roman theatre culture on the one hand, and the endurance of strong local characteristics on the other.
The queens’ religious identification, I argue, contributed to the popularization, legitimization and sacralization of Lagid rule in Egypt. The phenomenon offered a framework through which the queens. Authority and influence, power and prestige could be comprehended. Of course, the queen’s position depended first of all on her status as the king’s wife, as well as the mother of the crown prince. The remarkable paired representations of royal couples and her role in the transmission of divine kingship emphasize the ideological importance of the queen’s presence at court. It was, moreover, considered imperative that she participate in religious and/or royal ceremonies, such as the dynastic cult and the royal jubilee. Several Ptolemaic queens became so powerful that they actually reigned independently or as regent over their children. The worship of Ptolemaic Queens was not a simple side-effect of the cults established for Ptolemaic Kings. Neither in Pharaonic Egypt nor in other Hellenistic kingdoms were female members of the royal house honored on a par with their spouses. I contend that individual queens did derive personal prestige from their deification, and that at least in the case of some of the later queens this prestige corresponds to their exercise of actual political power. In their exemplary position at the Alexandrian palace the queens thus encouraged female participation in Hellenistic Egypt.