The Aspects of Animal Sanctification in the Graeco-Roman Monuments in Egypt.(Study in Classical Influences)

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explore the relation between the Greeks, Romans and the sacred animals in ancient Egypt. It investigates the classical elements relating to this theme in arts during the Graeco-Roman Periods, and provides artistic and archaeological proofs for the existence of this sanctification among the Greeks and Romans. This aim has been achieved through answering a number of questions: Did the Greeks and Romans believe in the idea of the animal sanctification and participate in it? How can one account for the classical elements that appeared in the representations of the animals in art? Were there stelae, statues and dedications made for the sacred animals by the Greeks and Romans? Thus, I have provided a comprehensive study of one of the most important phenomenon in ancient Egypt, the sanctification of the animal. Many Greek dedications were made to the sacred animals during the Greco-Roman period, especially to the crocodile in El-Fayoum. These dedications are considered an aspect of the animal sanctification. I have investigated in this study the dedications on the temples, the stelae and also the statuettes group of military figures with animal heads as ex-votos. The study explores the classical elements and the influences that appear in the representations of the tombstones of the Graeco-Roman period which carry the shapes of the sacred animals accompanying the deceased. This has been done through studying many stelae from Kom Abou Bellou and Alexandria to prove that the representation of the sacred animals on those stelae was one of the aspects of animal sanctification