Victoria I. Yarmolovich

Figure vessel in shape of a rooster from Kom Tuman (Egypt): technological and iconographical study

The article is devoted to the study of a figure vessel made in shape of a rooster. It was discovered in 2001 during the archaeological excavations of the Centre for Egyptological Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (CES RAS) in Memphis. Lack of its original context and small quantity of analogies complicated its dating.
The study of depictions and mentions of roosters in Ancient Egyptian sources has shown that this bird was not widely distributed in comparison with other poultry. Its depictions increased in number in the Greco-Roman period, and it can be ascribed to intensive penetration of Ancient Greek culture into Egypt. Technological features and clay analysis also have analogies among material of the Roman period. All these data let us to suggest that the vessel from Memphis dates to the end of Ptolemaic dynasty — III century AD.

Keywords:
rooster, figure vessel, Kom Tuman, Memphis, ancient pottery, Ancient Egypt, Ptolemaic period, Roman Period.

Original language — Russian.

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