Bibliotheca Isiaca, IV, 2020, p.

00-00

A Statuette of Isis from Amphipolis in Context1

Lindsey A. Mazurek
(University of Oregon)

Résumé Summary
Cet article porte sur une statuette en marbre aujourd’hui exposée This essay examines a marble statuette now on display in the
au Musée archéologique de Kavala (inv. n° L195). Initialement publiée Kavala Archaeological Museum (inv. no. L195). First published in
en 2013, cette figurine représente une femme drapée que Dimitri 2013, the statuette depicts a draped female that Dimitri Damaskos
Damaskos avait alors identifiée à Isis. Mon objectif est de remettre identified as Isis. My goal is to set this object in its local, Macedonian,
cet objet dans son contexte local, macédonien et méditerranéen et de and Mediterranean context and consider how it may advance our
voir s’il nous permet d’affiner notre compréhension des cultes isiaques understanding of Isiac cult and material culture in the Hellenistic
et de la culture matérielle à l’époque hellénistique. J’examine ainsi period. In this essay, I set this statuette in its art historical and historical
la statuette dans son cadre historique, mais aussi du point de vue de context and provide preliminary comments on its identification, date,
l’histoire de l’art, en fournissant des commentaires préliminaires sur and use. The statue dates to the mid-2nd to the 1st cent. BCE and
son identification, sa date et son utilisation. Le monument se situe is among the first images of the goddess produced in the region.
entre le milieu du iie et le ier s. a.C. et figure parmi les premières Based on its stylistic and formal connections with contemporaneous
images de la déesse produites dans la région. Il présente des rapports island examples, I argue that this statuette suggests a new vector
stylistiques et formels avec des œuvres insulaires contemporaines et for connectivity in Hellenistic Amphipolis, pointing towards a more
suggère ainsi une nouvelle forme d’interconnectivité dans l’Amphipolis cosmopolitan cultic and artistic community than has been previously
hellénistique, faisant apparaître une communauté cultuelle et suggested.
artistique plus cosmopolite que ce qui avait été autrefois imaginé.
Keywords
Mots-clés Hellenistic sculpture - Macedonia - Amphipolis - Isis - Knotenpalla
Sculpture hellénistique - Macédoine - Amphipolis - Isis -
Knotenpalla

Introduction: Sculpture and Cult at

Hellenistic Amphipolis
This essay examines a partially preserved statuette known statue from the Eastern Mediterranean. Further,
from Amphipolis, now in the Archaeological Museum of no Isiac sanctuary has been discovered at Amphipolis,
Kavala1. Following Dimitri Damaskos, I argue that this though epigraphic evidence (discussed below) indicates
statuette represents the goddess Isis dressed in a knotted that the cults were active here as early as the 3rd cent.
costume and date it to the latter half of the Hellenistic BCE. Consequently there is little material that can
period. Though the epigraphic and historical aspects of serve as comparanda that might offer insight into key
Macedonian Isiac cults have been studied at length2, the questions of date, meaning, and use.
cults’ sculpture, particularly of the Hellenistic period, In order to understand this object more fully, it is
has not been investigated as thoroughly. necessary to contextualize the statuette on multiple
The statuette is in many ways unique and thus fronts: as an artistic product, as a historical artifact, and
presents a challenge to art historical study. It is the as part of Isiac cult’s spread across the Mediterranean.
earliest image in the round related to Egyptian cult In an article on Isiac cult at Amphipolis, Richard
from Amphipolis, and among the earliest images of Veymiers focuses on inscribed objects to argue for a
an Isiac deity in Macedonia. Though the statuette is close connection between the early Amphipolis cult
unremarkable in terms of material, technique, size, or community and other Macedonian cult centers, as well
style, its particular iconography does not copy closely any as Egypt3. While Veymiers’ arguments are correct, the
statuette suggests that the Amphipolis community may
have also looked to the same models used in the Aegean
islands and across the Mediterranean for inspiration
1/  Kavala Archaeological Museum, inv. no. L195. See Damaskos
2013, cat. 95.
2/  Dunand 1973, 52-71; Bommas 2000; Bommas 2002; Egelhaaf-
Gaiser et al. 2003; Steimle 2004; Steimle 2006; Steimle 2008; Veymiers
2009b; Christodoulou 2009. 3/  Veymiers 2009b.
86 Lindsey A. Mazurek

Fig. 1. Marble statuette of Isis in the Knotenpalla Fig. 2. Side view of the marble Isis statuette. Kavala
from Amphipolis. Mid 2nd cent. BCE. Kavala Archaeological Museum, inv. no. L195. Ph. by Stefanos
Archaeological Museum, inv. no. L195. Ph. by Stefanos Stournaras, © Ephorate of Kavala and Thasos.
Stournaras, © Ephorate of Kavala and Thasos.

as they decided how to visualize a new goddess. has been abraded. Over the chiton, she also wears a light
Consequently, its design has significant implications mantle that ends just around the ankles. Completing
on our understanding of Isiac cult’s early history in the ensemble is a heavy hip mantle, rolled at the top and
Macedonia. draped across her thighs, that hangs down the left side.
While the stone has not been tested scientifically,
The Statuette it appears to be a white, large-grained marble typical
of local Macedonian stone. As is characteristic of
Discovered by Dimitri Lazarides in 1957 in the plot Hellenistic sculpture produced in Macedonia, there
of Ioannis Konstantinides, the white marble statuette is very little evidence of drilling. Instead, most of the
preserves only the bottom half of the body (figs. 1-2)4. surface is worked with a chisel to render drapery in a
Broken at the natural waist, the head, arms, feet, plinth linear fashion. The sculptor, however, took care to
are missing. The statuette stands about 35 cm tall and render the three separate garments clearly, allowing the
depicts a female standing in a contrapposto stance, with viewer to see the chiton through the mantle in a series
her weight on the left leg and right leg bent. She wears of fine lines under the right knee, for example. While
three distinct pieces of draped clothing. Closest to the the front of the statuette is carved with some care,
skin, the figure wears a thin chiton that flows to the including areas of light drilling in the drapery folds and
plinth, with delicate drapery folds whose fine texture some texture and tension between the three garments,
the sculptor left the back mostly unfinished. Fine rasp
marks are visible on the surface, and little indication of
any anatomy underneath the drapery appears, resulting
4/  The precise location of the Lazarides plot is not known (D. in a single plane of representation.
Damaskos, pers. comm. 6/17).
 A Statuette of Isis from Amphipolis in Context 87

Though the area above the waist is lost, the statuette

preserves the lower part of the torso. A central wide
fold in the drapery runs downward from the area of
the break down to the hip mantle. Around this fold, a
nested set of diagonal folds extends from the lost upper
torso down to the hips. Beneath the bottom of the hip
mantle, there is evidence of two garments delineated by
a horizontal hem. The thicker garment, probably part of
a mantle, features naturalistic renderings of the drapery,
echoed by the finer folds in the chiton underneath.
These features in the drapery, particularly the central
fold, lead Damaskos to reconstruct the costume as a
mantle knotted between the breasts over a chiton, a
variation on one of Isis’ characteristic costumes.

Identification and Comparison

The statue’s costume, particularly its large central
fold that hangs down from the center of the chest,
suggests that it should be identified as an image of the
goddess Isis. Though the body above the waist is not
preserved, the triangular pattern of drapery folds visible
above the hip mantle’s rolled band is characteristic of a
particular type that Johannes Eingartner has called the
Knotenpalla. In these images, Isis wears a large knotted
mantle over a chiton. There is considerable variety in Fig. 3. Marble statue of Isis of Mt. Kynthos from
the placement of the knot and other aspects of how the Sarapieion C, Delos. © D-DAI-ROM-62.1990.
garments are draped and tied5, but nearly all examples
share a similar pattern: a cascading set of drapery folds
that fall from the area of the chest, caused by the way
the knot bunches the mantle. This statue type is the
emphasized Isis’ own assimilation with Greek aesthetics
most commonly used method for representing Isis in
and culture9.
Greece and elsewhere in the Mediterranean6.
Because the Amphipolis statuette wears a hip
The precise meanings and origins of this costume
mantle, a feature not found in most Knotenpalla statues,
are complex. The Knotenpalla has its roots in pharaonic
it is difficult to date this statuette precisely. In his
Egyptian art, but underwent some form of mediation
catalogue, Damaskos looks south to the Aegean islands
and adaptation before it spread throughout the
for comparanda, a region where several Hellenistic
Mediterranean. Though the form of the costume
small-scale marble statuettes of Isis in the Knotenpalla
remained generally consistent, each region must have
have been found. On Delos the type seems to have been
had its own vectors of transmission. For Greece,
in use by the third quarter of the 2nd cent. BCE, though
Dimitri Plantzos has argued that Ptolemaic portraits
some examples may have been produced earlier. The
of queens popularized the type early in the Hellenistic
closest comparandum for the Amphipolis statuette is an
period7. Consequently, for many Hellenistic-period
over life-sized statue of Isis from Sarapieion C on Delos,
viewers living in Greece, it is likely that the Knotenpalla’s
often referred to as the Isis du Cynthe (hereafter the “Isis
pharaonic history was less significant than its more
of Mt. Kynthos”) in scholarly literature. This image
general associations with the Ptolemies and their plays
depicts the goddess in a subtler version of a similar
on foreignness8. These allusions may have helped Greek
costume (fig. 3)10. Though worn from its many years
viewers build a sense of connection with Egypt and

9/  Nagel 2015, 199-201, 205-211.

5/  Tran tam Tinh 1990, sections 1, 2a-f, with accompanying plates. 10/  Statue of the so-called Isis of Mt. Kynthos, standing in situ in
6/  Eingartner 1991, 8-12. Sarapieion C. About 2.5 m tall. See Marcadé 1969, pl. LVII; Hermary
7/  The origins of the costume are contested. Several scholars 1996, 81, cat. 30. Marcadé 1969, 429, dates the statue on the basis of
have tried to untangle the costume’s early history in pharaonic its dedicatory inscription (ID 2044 = RICIS 202/0247) to 128/127 BCE,
Egyptian iconography, including Bianchi 1980; Malaise 1992; Malaise but Damaskos 1999, 99, n. 157 (with accompanying bibliography),
1994; Eingartner 1991, 10-12; Albersmeier 2002, 91-92; Albersmeier argues for a date of 129/128 BCE based on revised dates for Ammonios’
2005. Plantzos 2011, however, suggests that Greek audiences may not tenure as epimelete and Euthymachos’ priesthood (mentioned in the
have been interested in the costume’s pharaonic history, but rather same inscription) suggested in Bringmann & Steuben 1995, 89. Bricault
associated the costume with Isis and Ptolemaic queens. Also in this 1996b prefers the traditional date for Euthymachos’ priesthood (and
vein, see Albersmeier 2004 and Bianchi 2007. thus the statue’s dedication) of 128/127 BCE based on the name’s
8/  Mazurek 2016a, 72-80. Nagel 2015, 202-204, argues that the placement in the inscribed list of Delian priests (ID 2610 = RICIS
knot emphasizes Isis’ transculturality. 202/0203). Bricault has cross-referenced these priests throughout
88 Lindsey A. Mazurek

standing exposed to the elements, there are several the edge of the fabric, indicated by its fringe, and the
noticeable parallels. The Delos statue depicts the Isis central vertical fold of fabric created by the knot is less
standing in a contrapposto stance, with a thin mantle pronounced than in the Amphipolis statuette. Further,
over a chiton delineated by a horizontal hem that hits in the Salamis example, the hip mantle rises above the
at the center of the shin. Over these two garments left knee and reveals part of the thigh, which is covered
she wears a heavy and narrow mantle draped across in the Amphipolis example. The vague similarities
the hips and tops of the thighs. Despite the statue’s between the Salaminian and Amphipolitan examples
abraded surface, indications of nested chevron folds underscore the much closer connections between the
surrounding a central vertical fold are still visible above Isis of Mt. Kynthos and the Amphipolitan statuette.
the hip mantle. This characteristic pattern, along with The connection between the hip-mantle and
the statue’s association with a platform at the rear of a Knotenpalla in these later images raises the possibility
naos clearly connected to Isis11, identifies the image as that the Amphipolis statuette refers formally to
the goddess in the Knotenpalla. images of Tyche or perhaps even represented Isis-
Because this statue represents Isis in the Knotenpalla Tyche specifically. Though there is no indication of a
wearing the hip mantle, a version of the costume not cornucopia preserved in the Amphipolis statuette, the
known elsewhere in the Hellenistic period, it offers gathered fabric and hanging edge of the drapery along
the best comparison for the Amphipolis example. The the left leg appears frequently in Hellenistic (and later)
two statues are not close enough to describe them images of Tyche. In a 1st cent. BCE or 1st cent. CE
as copies, however, and a more nuanced reading is statue found at Ancona, Tyche wears a similarly rolled
required. There are significant stylistic and technical hip mantle gathered on the left side, with a small curtain
differences, including the precise arrangement of the of drapery hanging along the left leg16. This pattern of
folds, the relative size of the hip mantle, and methods drapery generally corresponds to the garments that
of representing the drapery. The Isis of Mt. Kynthos the Amphipolis example wears, though again the
depicts a more deeply carved and ideal version of relationship between these two statues is general and
female drapery, a more baroque sculptural technique does not indicate a copy-prototype relationship.
used throughout Delian sculpture12. The Amphipolitan The connection with Tyche is even more interesting
example, on the other hand, is rendered more simply, given the relative prevalence of Isis-Tyche statuettes
with fewer details and less interest in the interplay dressed in the Knotenpalla on Hellenistic Delos. Though
between light and shadow. Still, the use of the hip the Delian examples share the free and more naturalistic
mantle is unusual for the Knotenpalla, though it appears manner of rendering the drapery seen in the Isis of Mt.
frequently in other representations of Isis, particularly Kynthos17, they lack the mantle draped across the hips
Isis lactans13. Rather than copies, the two seem to follow found in the Amphipolis statuette. In all cases, the
a similar model of representing Isis that was not widely statuettes are small scale, and while their archaeological
used in the Hellenistic period14. contexts are not secure, it is likely they served as votives
Remarkably, there are several examples of Isis and or cult images in one of Delos’ sanctuaries or a domestic
Isis-Tyche from the 2nd cent. CE that combine the structure. Delos Museum A2255, which Damaskos cites
hip mantle with the Knotenpalla costume. These may as a possible point of comparison, features a thin chiton
have drawn from a similar model as the Amphipolis and a large heavy mantle knotted between the breasts,
statuette. One example from Salamis on Cyprus depicts producing a simpler garment with fewer planes, and no
Isis or Isis-Tyche with a knot between the breasts and a hip mantle (fig. 4)18. Delos Museum A378 depicts Isis
mantle draped over the left elbow, which also preserves dressed in the same costume, but with a raised right
remnants of a cornucopia fig. 5)15. In this example, arm, probably to hold a different kind of attribute, and
however, the pattern of drapery above the hip mantle no hip mantle19. While these statuettes are not helpful
is not similar enough to draw a direct comparison: for dating the Amphipolis statuette, they attest to the

Delian prosopography and is able to propose several fixed points that

reconcile his dating with other inscriptions from the site. 16/  Fot. Soprintendenza Archeologica di Ancona, inv. no. 16289.
11/  Mylonopoulos 2016, 122-123. Preserved height: 1.3 m. See Guerrini 1987, 242, fig. 18, and Favaretto
12/  Marcadé 1969, 494-495, on some of the characteristic traits of & Traversari 1993, fig. 33. The statue is dated on technical grounds, but
Hellenistic sculpture from Delos. Guerrini argues that the statue is a generalized copy of a 2nd cent.
13/  Isis lactans often has a piece of drapery pulled across her lap in BCE statue from Samothrace (initially published in Lehmann 1950,
a manner reminiscent of a hip mantle, though in many cases this is the 129, pl. XXV). Because of significant differences in the pattern of
same mantle knotted between the breast and worn hanging over the drapery folds, I do not find the parallel compelling.
back like a cape, as in the case of the examples from Perge (Antalya 17/  There are also two bases found in Sarapieion C that
Archaeological Museum, inv. nos. A3279+A3070, 2nd cent. CE; see Tran preserve dedications to Isis Tyche Protogeneia: RICIS 202/0283
tam Tinh 1973, I, 53-54, no. A-A, figs. 15-16) and Messene (Messene (Delos Museum, inv. no. E413; 115/114 BCE), RICIS 202/0284 (Delos
Archaeological Museum, inv. no. 13545, 2nd cent. CE; see Themelis Museum, inv. no. E462; 115/114 BCE). Epithets are not common in the
2011, 106-108, figs. 17a-e). sanctuary’s epigraphy.
14/  It is also possible that other examples of this type existed but 18/  Marcadé 1969, 430, n. 8, pl. LVII. It is possible but unclear
have yet to be found. whether this statuette comes from Sarapieion C. See further Hermary
15/  Still in situ in the gymnasium. See Karageorghis & Vermeule 1996, 172, cat. 76, and Zapheiropoulou 1998, cat. 188.
1964, no. 16, pl. XXIII, 1-2. 19/  Marcadé 1969, 429-430, pl. LVII.
 A Statuette of Isis from Amphipolis in Context 89

Fig. 4. Marble statuette of Isis-Tyche from Delos. Fig. 5. Marble statue of Isis-Tyche from the gymnasium
Delos Archaeological Museum, inv. no. A2255. of Salamis on Cyprus. © D-DAI-ROM-74.473.
After Zapheiropoulou 1998, no. 188.

version of Isis dressed in the Knotenpalla’s popularity on folds over the lower body, and part of a knot centered
Delos. over the stomach instead of the breasts. While the left
In his study of the island’s Hellenistic sculpture, knee is bent, the body is positioned frontally, with no
J.  Marcadé cites these two as examples of a “Greek” sense of weight shifted onto either leg. Clearly, the
mode of representing Isis, but also suggests the image refers to the contrapposto seen in the other statues
existence of Egyptian models in wood for some of the but does not execute the posture fully, perhaps evidence
less “canonical” images of Isis. For example, he cites that Delian sculptors are experimenting with Egyptian
Delos Museum A5370 as a potential copy of an imported subjects and finding appropriate ways to represent them
Egyptian statue20. This statue uses the Knotenpalla in more familiar media21.
costume and a central drapery fold, cascading chevron Based on these comparisons, I argue that the
Amphipolis statuette and the Delian cult statue allude
to a similar type of image, perhaps even a particular
type or version of Isis-Tyche, whose popularity during
20/  Delos Museum, inv. no. A 5370: Marcadé 1969, 431-432, pl.
LVII. Marcadé 1969, 431, also references the imported Egyptian
statuette Delos Museum, inv. no. A 379, which is made of Egyptian
stone and must have been imported after an initial use period in 21/  On this phenomenon in terracotta figurine production, see
Egypt. See further Marcadé 1969, 409. Barrett 2011, 109-118, 421-425.
90 Lindsey A. Mazurek

the Hellenistic period seems to have been limited in

comparison to the Isis-Tyche without a hip mantle.
Still, none of these comparisons are exact, and future
excavations may reveal better comparanda that would
clarify these typologies and their significance.

Date and Use

Because its best comparanda (the Delian statues
and statuettes of Isis and Isis-Tyche, particularly the
Isis of Mt. Kynthos) date to the Hellenistic period, the
Amphipolis example should date to this general period,
as Damaskos has suggested22. It may be possible to
date the image more precisely to the second half of the
Hellenistic period. The lack of good comparanda for the
Amphipolis statuette from other sites strengthens its
connection with the Isis of Mt. Kynthos, and the two may
have been produced and used in the same time period.
The dedicatory inscription for the Isis of Mt. Kynthos
has been preserved and dates that image securely to the
120s BCE23. If we consider how the Isis of Mt. Kynthos
was used and certain technical features of the
Amphipolis statuette, however, a date into the 1st cent.
BCE remains possible24. Though the area of Sarapieion
C where the Isis of Mt. Kynthos was displayed belongs
to an earlier phase, the allée des sphinx and most of the
South Terrace of Sarapieion C was not constructed until
about 90 BCE25. This indicates the cult was still active
and continued to engage in construction and sculptural
dedication. More importantly for our purposes, this
suggests that the sanctuary’s cult sculpture, including
the Isis of Mt. Kynthos probably continued to be used
into the 1st cent. BCE and could have helped popularize
the type of Isis in the Knotenpalla with a hip mantle in
this period.
Further, none of examples from the Eastern
Mediterranean can be dated securely prior to the 2nd
Fig. 6. Marble statuette of Isis in the Knotenpalla from
cent. BCE. From Rhodes, we have three small statuettes the Sanctuary of Isis in Rhodes. Rhodes Museum, inv.
representing Isis in the Knotenpalla that date to the no. G2765. After Fantaoutsaki 2011, 57, fig. 13.
Hellenistic period, and scholars have proposed dates
or comparisons that would locate them generally to
the 2nd cent. BCE or later (fig. 6)26. Most of these dates
have been determined by comparison with examples
from Cyrene or Delos, which may have skewed these
arguments towards these well-known and well-dated
22/  Damaskos 2013, 99. groups of sculpture. When taken in concert with the
23/  See supra, n. 10. Isis of Mt. Kynthos’ lifespan, these Rhodian examples
24/  I thank François Queyrel for this observation.
25/  Siard 2003; Siard 2009.
may further support an argument for a date for in the
26/  Fantaoutsaki 2011, fig. 13 (Rhodes Archaeological Museum, last half of the Hellenistic period for this image.
inv. no. G2675); Gualandi 1976, no. 160, fig. 199 (Rhodes Arceological Turning to the question of use, it is unlikely that this
Museum, inv. no. E425). Fantaoutsaki 2011, 56, n. 46, compares the image acted as a portrait. Both Isis and her devotees
Rhodian statuette to an example from Cyrene that Gualandi 1976, 166,
dates to the end of the 2nd cent. BCE based on comparison with Delos
use the knot costume, though in the early Hellenistic
Museum, inv. no. A2255 and the statue of Isis of Mt. Kynthos from period the type is used mostly for images of the
Sarapieion C, discussed above. A third with no context (Rhodes, Palace goddess. During the Hellenistic period, the costume
of the Grand Master, inv. no. G58) has not been published, but I viewed appears in two examples, both from Smyrna27. There
it on display in April 2014. Museum displays dated this example to the
2nd cent. BCE. All the Delian statuettes are given general Hellenistic
dates: Marcadé 1969, 431-432, pl. LVII, (Delos Museum, inv. no. A378);
Marcadé 1969, 430, pl. LVII, and Zaphiropoulou 1998, 281, cat. 188
(Delos Museum, inv. no. A2255). It is worth noting here the perhaps 27/  Ashmolean Museum, inv. no. G 1171 (RICIS 304/0203, dated
outsized influence that the Delian corpus has played in the study of to the end of the 2nd cent. or beginning of the 1st cent. BCE; Pfuhl &
Isiac sculpture in the Hellenistic period and in the study of Hellenistic Möbius 1977, no. 878, pl. 131; Walters 1988, pl. 1c), and British Museum,
sculpture more generally. inv. no. SC. 639 (RICIS 304/0202, dated to the beginning of the 2nd
 A Statuette of Isis from Amphipolis in Context 91

are not enough known examples of this type with ideal sculpture, Rachel Kousser has argued that one
secure context, however, to determine definitively of the primary purposes of Hellenistic statuettes and
whether mortal women used the Knotenpalla regularly figurines is to provide new, more creative adaptations of
in portraiture in the 2nd cent. BCE28. Women frequently known types suitable for local audiences33. Perhaps the
used divine costumes and types as part of their self- Amphipolis statuette operated in this vein by alluding
representations, and Hellenistic female portraits tend to a particular type of Isis in the Knotenpalla that held
to display little of the individuation necessary to clearly particular importance to part of the Amphipolitan cult
divide portrait from ideal image29. The few examples community.
with secure archaeological context, however, suggest
that female portraits dedicated in Isiac sanctuaries of the Isis in Macedonia
3rd and 2nd cents. BCE tended to follow Greco-Roman
norms of portraiture. For example, the portrait statue of Already in the mid 2nd cent. BCE, Isiac cults
Diodora set up in Sarapieion C on Delos, dated securely had spread throughout the major urban centers of
to the 130s BCE, relies on the pudicitia format used Macedonia. During the Hellenistic period, a regional
throughout the Mediterranean: instead of employing network of Isiac cults thrived, with nodes in Amphipolis,
an identifiable Isiac garment, Diodora wears a simple Thessalonike, Beroia, Thasos, Dion, and, just outside
chiton and mantle pulled close to her body to emphasize Macedonia’s borders, Gonnoi to the south and Maroneia
her close relationship with normative modes of Greek to the east34. The region’s Isiac communities seem to have
femininity.30 Further, the Amphipolis statuette’s small embraced Isis and Sarapis enthusiastically, constructing
scale (pres. height 0.35 m) makes identification as a public and private shrines and relying on particularly
portrait even less likely. While ideal sculptures are close ties with Egypt35. During the late Hellenistic and
often rendered at a small scale, freestanding portraits early Imperial periods, an influx of new Isis devotees
are usually carved at anywhere from 2/3 to full life size31. from Delos broadened the cultic communities in
Consequently, Damaskos’ identification of the image as Macedonian port cities, particularly in Thessalonike36.
an ideal image of Isis should stand. The epigraphic evidence, however, does not provide
As an ideal image, however, it is impossible to direct evidence for transmission of this sculptural type
determine with certainty whether the Amphipolis from Delos to Macedonia. Rather, it is better to assume
statue acted as a votive or as a cult image in its own that there existed a more complex relationship between
right. Indeed, since nearly every ideal image in the round these emerging cultic communities.
could receive cultic veneration, Ioannis Mylonopoulos While archaeologists have yet to identify an
has doubted whether this is a useful distinction to Isiac sanctuary at Amphipolis, epigraphic evidence
make32. Its small size, however, does not preclude its indicates the city adopted Isiac cult as early as the 3rd
use as a primary recipient of veneration, particularly in cent. BCE, placing the site among the earliest-known
a potential domestic context. As an object, the statuette Isiac communities in Greece. The earliest evidence is
may have also served as a way to disseminate or allude to a funerary stela with an inscription commemorating a
a valued version of a cult image. In her study of female Greek female priestess of Isis and dates to the very early
Hellenistic period37. As reconstructed by L. Robert,

cent. BCE; Pfuhl & Möbius 1977, no. 376, pl. 61; Walters 1988 pl. 1b;
Eingartner 1991, no. 98, pl. LXII). These types of funerary reliefs do 33/  Kousser 2008, 34-40.
not appear before the 1st cent. BCE in Athens, though the large size 34/  Based on epigraphic evidence, the cults of Isis and Sarapis
of this corpus may not be representative of the type’s use in antiquity. are established at Beroia (RICIS 113/0301: 2nd cent. BCE) Dion (RICIS
The type reaches the height of its popularity in the 3rd cent. CE. See 113/0213-0214: 3rd cent. BCE), Thasos (RICIS 201/0102: 3rd cent. BCE;
Walters 1988, 67-89 (relying primarily on stylistic analysis for dating), RICIS 201/0101: 2nd cent. BCE), Gonnoi (RICIS 112/0801: 2nd-3rd
Eingartner 1991, and the relevant entries in Moock 1998. Based on cents. BCE), Maroneia (RICIS 114/0201: 2nd cent. BCE [Maroneia
this evidence, I have argued that it is likely the Knotenpalla does not Lapidarium, inv. no. 146]) during the early to mid. Hellenistic period.
become a popular part of Greek Isiac devotees’ self-representation The sanctuary at Thessalonike, founded in the Hellenistic period as
before the Roman period, but the evidence is too scant to support well (RICIS 113/0503, which describes Philip V’s regulation of the
a strong chronological division (see Mazurek 2016a, 65-102). On this sanctuary’s treasury, dates to 187 BCE), lasts into the high Imperial
theomorphic mode of representation, see also Malaise & Veymiers period. The statuette from Veria discussed above, along with a marble
2018. plaque depicting a sistrum in relief (RICIS 113/0301: 2nd cent. BCE
28/  Though the evidence is very scant and analysis preliminary, [Archaeological Museum of Veria L313]) and a marble footprint relief
it does not seem like the dedicatory practices for portraits in Isiac (Tzanavari 1993, 1673, fig. 1; RICIS 113/0303: 1st cent. BCE) indicates
sanctuaries were different than those in more normative sanctuaries. that there was a cultic community active at Beroia during the mid-
For a preliminary study of Sarapieion C, see Brun-Kyriakidis 2016. to-late Hellenistic period, though no sanctuary has yet been found.
29/  Connelly 2007, 85-115; Dillon 2010, 60-102. Wrede 1981, On Isiac priests active in this area during the Hellenistic period, see
44‑64, examines male and female examples across the Mediterranean Christodoulou 2009, esp. 327-330, 335-430, 344, fig. 4.
produced in the Roman period. 35/  Bommas 2002, 127-129, relying particularly on P.Oxy. 1380.
30/  See Dillon 2010, 87-92; Brun-Kyriakidis 2016, 70, 82. 36/  Martzavou 2010, 187-189, suggests that some of these Delians
31/  Funerary reliefs can depict the deceased at a smaller scale may have gone to Amphipolis. RICIS 119/0908, which records a
appropriate to the rest of the monument. In Macedonia, these images crown given to Aulus Anthestius in 67/66 BCE in recognition of his
are normally rendered in lower relief with little drilling on a flat stele. excellent service as trierarch, provides a more direct link between the
See Kalaitzi 2016, 58-82. One notable exception is an Ionian-style Anthestii known from the Isiac cults of Delos and the cult community
naiskos monument found at Pella (Kalaitzi 2016, 200, cat. Pella 70, fig. at Amphipolis. See Veymiers 2009b, 485-489.
Pella 70a, 70b, with accompanying bibliography). 37/  Kavala Archaeological Museum, L770. See RICIS
32/  Mylonopoulos 2016, 108-110. 113/0901 = Veymiers 2009b, 476-478, figs. 4-5, and 512, App. 1. On the
92 Lindsey A. Mazurek

followed by R. Veymiers, the inscription reads ≤H≥rathsçw Though the statuette reconciles well with the
ô Nikçandrou ô &içereia t)hj ô E(isisj38. Krateso is a common known history of Isiac cult in Hellenistic Amphipolis,
female name found throughout Hellenistic Greece, and it has little in common with the only other Hellenistic
the priestess named here is probably of Greek origin39. statuette of Isis from Macedonia. Two terracotta
More importantly, this inscription indicates the statuettes from Beroia depict Isis in the Knotenpalla
existence of a sanctuary active at Amphipolis in the costume. The first, which dates to the 1st cent. CE,
early Hellenistic period40. A now-lost base, dedicated depicts the goddess in the Knotenpalla costume and
to Sarapis, Isis, and Philip (very likely Philip V) from is missing only the left arm (fig. 7)46. A second, more
around 200 BCE suggests that at least one sanctuary fragmentary statuette preserves the head, the legs, the
to the Egyptian gods in Amphipolis may have been back, and the base (fig. 8)47. The two are quite similar,
patronized by the Macedonian kings41. It is possible that and Tsakalou-Tzanavari suggests that the two could
the statuette under discussion was associated with the have come from the same worn mold48. In both, Isis
cult group active in this sanctuary, but it is not possible stands on a small base and wears a large plain crown
to link them conclusively. Isiac sanctuaries from around over a simple classicizing hairstyle. She wears a heavy
the Hellenistic Mediterranean, including Sarapeion A on mantle, knotted between the breasts in a characteristic
Delos, frequently included small niches for the display X pattern, over a chiton that is barely indicated. The
and veneration of small- and mid-scale divine images42. drapery folds are heavy and doughy, but follow a regular
The sanctuary at Amphipolis may have had similar pattern of cascading chevrons arranged around a central
types of display contexts to hold the statuette under vertical fold that characterize the Knotenpalla type.
discussion, whose roughly finished back suggests display The connection between this example and the
against a wall or in a niche. Amphipolis one, however, are quite general. The
Other dedications indicate an active Isiac cultic two share only the most basic characteristics of the
community existed into the latter half of the Hellenistic Knotenpalla, and the Beroia examples lack the hip
period when the statuette was made. A marble naiskos mantle that makes the Amphipolis statuette unusual.
stele was found reused in as a drain cover in a room to
the south of the atrium of Basilica Δ in Amphipolis’
Acropolis. Alongside a relief depicting Herakles
reclining upon his lion skin on a rock is a dedication
to Sarapis, Isis, and Herakles by Lysistratos, son of
Apollodoros43. Veymiers argues that the letter-forms
suggest a date prior to Aemilius’ Paullus’ invasions in
168 BCE. Another partial inscription, a marble base
reused in the gymnasium’s palaestra, seems to refer
to Sarapis, Isis, and Anubis and dates to the 2nd or
1st cent. BCE44. Though these are likely only a small
handful of the dedications to the Egyptian gods that
were dedicated at Amphipolis in the Hellenistic period,
these inscriptions describe an active cult community or
communities whose dedicatory patterns seem to reflect
close connections with other Macedonian cult sites and
the Antigonid kings who ruled the region45.

reconstruction of R. Veymiers argues that the letter forms suggest the

inscription should not predate the 2nd quarter of the 3rd cent., a date
that Bricault accepts in RICIS Suppl. III, 143.
38/  Veymiers 2009b, 476-478. Another woman named Krathsçw
appears in roughly contemporaneous dedications at the Isiac sanctuary
of Thessalonike (RICIS 113/0548-0549).
39/  Veymiers 2009b, 476.
40/  Christodoulou 2009, 329; Veymiers 2009b, 478. Fig. 7. Terracotta statuette of Isis in the Knotenpalla
41/  RICIS 113/0902 = Veymiers 2009b, 478-481, fig. 3, 513, App. from Beroia. Veria Archaeological Museum, inv. no.
2. It is not clear whether this inscription refers to the same sanctuary P4069. After Tsakalou-Tzanavari 2002, pl. 82, no. 276.
where Krateso would have served as a priestess. The cult community
at Thessalonike came under royal control in the early Hellenistic
period: RICIS 113/0503; Voutiras 2005, 281.
42/  Bruneau & Ducat [1965] 2005, 267-272; Kleibl 2009, 90-93,
211-218. 46/  Veria Archaeological Museum, inv. no. Π4069. See Tzanavari
43/  Amphipolis Archaeological Museum, inv. no. L111. See RICIS 1993, 1671-1676, fig. 2; Tsakalou-Tzanavari 2002, 174-176, 263, n° 276,
113/0906 = Veymiers 2009b, 481-484, figs. 6-7, App. 3. pl. 82.
44/  Amphipolis Archaeological Museum, inv. no. E20. See RICIS 47/  Veria Archaeological Museum, inv. no. Π4092. See Tsakalou-
113/0909 = Veymiers 2009b, 485, App. 4. Tzanavari 2002, 506, no. 277, pl. 82.
45/  Veymiers 2009b, 511. 48/  Tsakalou-Tzanavari 2002, 174.
 A Statuette of Isis from Amphipolis in Context 93

Fig. 8. Terracotta statuette of Isis exceptional preservation, Delos still provides the best
in the Knotenpalla from Beroia.
Veria Archaeological Museum, comparandum for the Amphipolis statuette’s unusual
inv. no. P4092. After Tsakalou- hip mantle. Looking south to the Mediterranean sets
Tzanavari 2002, pl. 82, no. 277. the Amphipolis statuette alongside other mid-to-late
Hellenistic marble statuettes of Isis and Isis-Tyche in
the Knotenpalla. These connections may indicate that
these early Isiac communities, though spread across
There is no reason to argue for the Mediterranean basin, are sharing general types and
an especially close connection methods of representing Isis.
between the two images. Unlike The statuette’s material also demonstrates another
the inscriptions Veymiers key feature of artistic production in the region.
analyzed, which suggest a close Rather than importing an image from elsewhere,
interrelationship between cult the Amphipolis community adapted this type to
communities in the region49, local materials and techniques. Consequently, the
these examples, though few, statuette suggests that during the mid-2nd or 1st cent.
suggest Macedonian cult BCE, at least one sculptural workshop in the region
communities had some choice produced small-scale statuettes that follow the general
in how they represented patterns of representing Isis observable throughout
the goddess. Again, future the Mediterranean. The statuette’s iconographic and
excavations could reveal more technical idiosyncrasies, however, may indicate that
examples that might nuance or these artisans felt comfortable adapting and improvising
alter the relationship between on this known type.
these three examples, but The Veria statuettes, which date to a similar period
as the evidence stands, the but takes a different approach to the Knotenpalla
Amphipolis statuette points costume, emphasizes the similarities between the
to a closer aesthetic and Amphipolitan and Aegean examples further. Much of
iconographic relationship with the region’s sculpture has been lost, and it is impossible
Aegean Isiac communities. to draw definite conclusions about how and where
different communities in Hellenistic Macedonia chose
to represent Isis. Still, the present evidence indicates
Conclusions:
that Amphipolitans employed a form of Isis Knotenpalla
The Amphipolis Statuette in Context
favored by some in the Aegean islands. Though it is
In this essay, I have argued that the statuette from not yet possible to say where the type originated51,
Amphipolis represents Isis or Isis-Tyche and dates the iconographic and stylistic similarities between the
to the Hellenistic period, though a date in the mid to Amphipolis, Delian, and Rhodian examples suggest
late Hellenistic period seems more likely. Set within that the Amphipolis community may not have chosen
its historical and art historical context, this statuette not to imitate the cult images of its closer neighbor
integrates with several key features of cultic activity but rather to employ a sculptural type popular across
at the site. From a historical perspective, the statue the Mediterranean. Because of the very small number
reinforces our understanding of Amphipolis as an active of early Hellenistic images of Isis known from this
and vibrant cultic community in the latter half of the region, future excavations and research may shift
Hellenistic period. Many Hellenistic inscriptions related our understanding, but we can go forward with our
to Egyptian cults from Amphipolis mention Isis50, and studies of Isiac sculpture in Hellenistic Greece with
it is not surprising that a marble image of her would be the assumption that Isiac cult served as a vector of
found at this site. connectivity even at this early stage. Most importantly,
Set within its Mediterranean context, this statuette the statuette indicates that adopting the Knotenpalla is
indicates that the cult community participated in a elective. At this early stage in the cult’s history, cultic
network of religious and artistic connectivity that communities are still figuring out who Isis is and
included the Aegean islands. Though modern scholarship negotiating around what she should look like.
has perhaps over-emphasized the importance of
Delian sculpture in the Hellenistic period due to its

49/  Bommas 2002 has also used Macedonia as an example for

regionalism in Isiac cult.
50/  In addition to the 3rd and 2nd cents. BCE inscriptions
discussed above, see RICIS 113/0907 = Veymiers 2009b, 489-490, figs.
9-10, App. 6 (1st cent. BCE, dedication to Sarapis, Isis, and Anubis by
a man named Pantaretos, son of Dalon [Amphipolis Archaeological
Museum, inv. no. L 172]), and Veymiers 2009b, 492-493, fig. 13, App. 7 =
RICIS Suppl. II 113/0911 (1st cent. BCE, dedication to Sarapis, Isis, and 51/  I plan to explore the type’s early history and spread in a future
Anubis [Amphipolis Archaeological Museum, inv. no. L770]). essay.