Chapter One: Ancient Eleon in Boeotia: An Overview of the Greek–Canadian Excavations

The first phase of Greek–Canadian excavations at the site of ancient Eleon in eastern Boeotia was conducted from 2011 to 2015. Fieldwork on the elevated plateau located between Thebes and the Euboean Gulf provided new evidence for occupation of Bronze Age and historical periods. Tombs of the early Mycenaean period have been found within and around a funerary structure known as the Blue Stone Structure. By the later Mycenaean period, settlement deposits dating to the Late Helladic IIIA and IIIB periods include evidence for participation in regional economic and crafting networks. Substantial Postpalatial settlement remains allow a better understanding of domestic architecture through several phases of reconstruction in the Late Helladic IIIC period, as well as industrial and ceremonial practices. Excavations have yet to locate evidence for domestic activity on the acropolis during the Iron Age, but the site is renewed in the Archaic period by the construction of the a major polygonal wall and associated entryway on the east side. Deposits here of fineware ceramics and figurines suggest that a cult focused on female divinity was active throughout the fifth century bc.

Conclusion

Chapter Eleven briefly articulates the contents of the core chapters. The volume was intentional in restricting its treatment of divinity to El and Yahweh—with minimal coverage of female divinity, the plurality of divinity and the preternatural (angelic and demonic)—for pragmatic reasons. These topics, especially Levantine goddesses, deserve full scale treatments. To illustrate this (as an apology), Chapter Eleven has a lengthy excursus detailing what a full treatment of just a single goddess (ʿAštart = Astarte) would entail using the same parameters espoused in the current volume (e.g. text, iconography, ancient Near Eastern comparanda). The volume concludes with comments about how humans (modern and ancient alike) privilege certain divine attributes in their conceptualizations of divinity. Yet overall, ancient Israel’s wedded traditions argue that God cannot be reduced to a single attribute, a single explanation. God’s traits do not sit in isolation from one another. They are holistic and integrated.

STRAY FINDS OF TERRACOTTA STATUETTES FROM THE REPUBLIC OF TAJIKISTAN

The paper presents two terracotta statuettes from the Republic of Tajikistan. One of them was found in the course of archaeological reconnaissance works in the Vakhsh valley in 1971. The time and place of discovery of the second statuette are unknown. The first statuette is a slab with relief depicting a female divinity dressed in a long robe with a necklace (fig. 1, 1), while the second rep- resents what appears to be a horseman image (fig. 1, 2). Both statuettes find numerous analogies in the materials of antique settlements of Central Asia, but have also some local specific traits.

Tueris-Oxirrinco. La diosa protectora de Per-Medyed

"The ancient city of Per-Medyed, located in the 19th nome of Upper Egypt, was called Oxyrhynchus in Greek times. During the GraecoRoman period, the main female divinity of this locality was the goddess Taweret , who was associated with the arrival of the flood and was represented by two fishes, the oxyrhynchus (Mormyridae family), with whom she was linked, and the lepidot. On this site, the oxyrhynchus fish always appears adorned with a Hathor crown, the symbol of feminine divinity, and closely related to the goddess Taweret. Iconographically, it is represented in tombs, temples, cartonnage, stelae, sarcophagi and also in small bronze sculptures, which very often appear arranged on a sledge. Although these statuettes are usually anepigraphic, sometimes they have a demotic inscription on the plinth, on which the sledge rests, which always alludes to the goddessTaweret , for the purpose of protection and rebirth to a new life. The oldest attestations we have of the cult of this oxyrhynchus fish in Oxyrhynchus, comes from classical authors such as Strabo, Herodotus or Plutarch. The papyri found on the site mention the existence of one main temple as well as a secondary temple dedicated to Taweret, and another one, dedicated to the oxyrhynchus, and they even refer to a congregation of priests who fulfilled the specific rituals of this cult."

Introduction

Beginning by recognizing that the idea of female divinity in Hinduism has been a mystery from the inception of Hindu theology, this Introduction proceeds to an overview of the contents of this volume. Presenting the chapters, arranged thematically and historically into four related parts, this Introduction shows how Hindu philosophy and worship practices have expounded the idea of the divine feminine by conceptualizing it as a personified goddess at once singular and manifested in multiple forms. Drawing upon a variety of Hindu philosophical traditions, the authors relate the goddess as an abstraction to belief systems that render the goddess as humanized figures. In both formal theology and popular belief, this conception has resulted in an emotional and spiritual closeness to goddesses that continues deeply to influence Hindu social life and its cultural expressions, especially in its impact on the lives of women.