Egyptian deities in colchis
Journal Title: Pro Georgia. Journal of Kartvelological Studies - Year 2016, Vol 0, Issue 26
Abstract
Sphere of our interest lies in clearing up an issue as to how widespread Egyptian deities were on the eastern Black Sea coastal territory in the period of the late antiquity and to what extent Georgian coastal area was a part of the common religious context, existing in the Roman Empire. As it is known, the Georgian Black Sea coastal cities Apsaros, Phasis, Sebastopolis, Pitiunt (from II c A.D.) used to be a constituent part of the Roman strategic defence system in I-IV cc A.D., as well as a certain part of Cappadocia province. Roman garrisons were stationd in coastal cities of Colchida. Notices preserved by Herodotus have determined the interest towards the issue, who, back in V c B.C., told us about the unity of Colchis and Egyptians (Herod. II, 105), which has become an object of studies not once. As a result of archaeological digs only three cases of uncovering of Egyptian deities have been recorded on the territory of Black Sea coastal area. Namely gem with the image of Serapis (III-IV cc, A.D. fot. 1) has been uncovered in the so called `Ureki treasure~ (1942), a small bronze statue of Serapis (II-III cc, A.D. fot. 2), on the territory of Gonio-Apsaros and a gem with the image of Harpocrates (III c. A.D. fot. 3) found in the tomb #6 on the territory of Makho village of Khelvachauri municipality. The deities in all three cases are represented in hellenized form, which is determined by the changes, taking place within the religion of the Roman Empire. Eastern cults start to spread in Rome from the Hellenistic period, Egyptian deities among them, which, before appearing in Rome have passed through the Greek world. Rome got acquainted with these deities in the form which they acquired in the Greek world. After studying the Artefakts, we may conclude that, despite the fact that eastern Black Sea coastal area was an integral part of the Roman empire, where Egyptian deities were widely spread, we encounter a different situation from the main provinces of Rome. For the Eastern Black Sea coastal population Egyptian deities were not alien, although their popularity is not proved on the basis of archaeological materials.
Authors and Affiliations
Marika Mchvildadze
Keywords
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