|
" The religious identification of Ptolemaic queens with Aphrodite, Demeter, Hathor and Isis "
Branko Fredde van Oppen de Ruiter
J. T. Roberts
| Document Type
|
:
|
Latin Dissertation
|
| Language of Document
|
:
|
English
|
| Record Number
|
:
|
55363
|
| Doc. No
|
:
|
TL25317
|
| Call number
|
:
|
3245073
|
| Main Entry
|
:
|
Branko Fredde van Oppen de Ruiter
|
| Title & Author
|
:
|
The religious identification of Ptolemaic queens with Aphrodite, Demeter, Hathor and Isis\ Branko Fredde van Oppen de Ruiter
|
| College
|
:
|
City University of New York
|
| Date
|
:
|
2007
|
| Degree
|
:
|
Ph.D.
|
| student score
|
:
|
2007
|
| Page No
|
:
|
627
|
| Abstract
|
:
|
The religious identification of Ptolemaic Queens with Greek and Egyptian deities has thus far received rather marginal attention in studies of Hellenistic ruler cults. This dissertation presents an interpretation of the ideological importance and symbolic significance of the queens’' identifications particularly with Aphrodite, Demeter, Hathor and Isis. Four thematic case studies on matrimony, incest, lamentation and jubilation reveal various related religious motifs, such as prosperity, fecundity, reincarnation, sacralization and victory. They bear out the notion that the Lagids' marriages were presented in a wide range of media as (consanguineous) hieroi gamoi, and that mourning, immortalization, triumph and elation were part and parcel of royal ideology. In this context, my research underscores the amalgamation of Hellenistic and Pharaonic concepts of royalty particularly in terms of the idealized functions and duties of monarchy. 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.
|
| Subject
|
:
|
Social sciences; Language, literature and linguistics; Aphrodite; Demeter; Egypt; Hathor; Isis; Ptolemaic; Queens; Religious identification; Classical studies; Womens studies; Ancient civilizations; 0579:Ancient civilizations; 0453:Womens studies; 0294:Classical studies
|
| Added Entry
|
:
|
J. T. Roberts
|
| Added Entry
|
:
|
City University of New York
|
| |