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Abstract

The article publishes two terracotta statuettes of Demeter from the Egyptian collection of V.S. Golenishchev (inv. No. Pushkin Museum I, 1a 2867 and I, 1a 2899). Numerous analogies are known to them; the closest ones come from the poleis of Ionia and the Northern Black Sea region. In addition, Golenishchev’s terracottas have obvious similarities with the archaic terracotta statuettes of Demeter from Rhodes. Terracotta figurines of Demeter from the Pushkin Museum apparently date back to the first half of the 6th century. BC. They are not made from Egyptian clay and are clearly imported; hence the author believes that they were brought to Egypt, most likely through Naucratis. The possible localization of their production is Ionia or the Eastern Mediterranean, where Greek trading posts appeared in Archaic and Classical times, for example, in the town of Al-Mina in Syria.

Keywords

Collection of V.S. Golenishchev, Pushkin Museum, terracotta figurines, Demeter, Egypt, Greece, Ionia, Northern Black Sea region, Naucratis.

Sergey V. Obukhov

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia

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