Women's Cultic Objects
Not only did women have their image used within cultic practices, they also played a role in those practices themselves. Archaeologists are still learning about the different roles women played in the cult, especially as some of those roles were more historically invisible; but artifacts, preserved paintings, and inscriptions help illuminate this area. Women of course had certain things unique to them for which they made supplication to ancient deities, such as fertility, pregnancy, and lactation; and we find cultic items that seemed to have been used as votives in these supplications (see artifacts #2 and 3). Aside from that, it seems likely that women played a major role in the cultic practices within the home, whether it be in caring for the household idols and altars or making food offerings. Another way in which women played a major role in cultic practices was through music. They sang, danced, and played instruments, such as the rattle on display (artifact #1) or what is seen in the pictures.
Artifacts on Display:
Rattle
Date: Iron Age (c. 1200-500 BC)
Provenance: unknown
Composition: clay
Collection: Patterson CollectionIsis and Horus Statuette
Date: Third Intermediate Period - Late Period (c. 1000-330 BC)
Provenance: Egypt
Composition: bronze
Collection: Patterson CollectionJudean Pillared Figurine
Date: Iron Age II (c. 1000-586 BC)
Provenance: unknown
Composition: clay
Collection: LCA Permanent CollectionApotropaic Mirror Plaque Shaped Like a House
Date: Byzantine Period (c. 4th - 14th centuries AD)
Provenance: unknown
Composition: alabaster and glass
Collection: Patterson CollectionBowl
Date: Early Bronze Age (c. 3700-2000 BC)
Provenance: unknown
Composition: clay
Collection: Patterson CollectionLamp
Date: Late Bronze - Iron Age I (c. 1500-1000 BC)
Provenance: unknown
Composition: clay
Collection: Campbell CollectionReplica Incense Burner
Date: modern, modeled on the type used from the Chalcolithic Period through the Iron Age (c. 5th-1st millennium BC)
Provenance: USA
Composition: clay
Collection: Ortiz Collection