Özet:

Excavations held under the direction of Tomris Bak›r since 1988 in Daskyleion have recently provided new data which shed light on Hellenistic religious identity of the city. A number of Hellenistic figurine fragments were unearthed during the excavations of the Hellenistic terrace walls located on the south-east of the Hisartepe mound. Among these groups of finds there are female worshiper figurines, female heads with stephanes, few Kybele figurines, figurines of women carrying children, applique Satyr heads, dancers, and some pieces belong to pinakes. Almost all of them were not found in situ, but within the earth flow. The reason why all these figurines were intensively grouped in this location cannot be determined because of the limited area of excavation. However, it can be suggested that this was a cult area in the Hellenistic times as almost all the finds are cult figurines. Among these figurines the female worshipers are more dominant (totally 110 fragments) than the other types and most popular among Daskyleion Hellenistic figurines according to recent data. All worshiper figurines were represented by dressed women standing and posing with right hand saluted in the front. They can be studied under four sub-groups based on the differences of their dresses: The first (I) group of figurines carry stephanes on their heads. The himation going down from the top of the stephane moves from the right wrist leaving the saluted right hand outward to the left shoulder and surrounds the body tightly inclosing the left arm. The use of cloak worn over the head which is typical for worshiper female figurines have varied with the Daskyleion samples with stephanes. In the second (II) group of figurines, the himation on khiton is hanged down from the outward of the saluted right hand down to the waist. The third (III) group with types carrying children is less frequent among the female worshiper figurines. These types make worshiping gesture with right hand and carry a child in their left arms. On the last (IV) group of figurines, the himation hanging down from the top of the head and inclosing the right arm is pulled to the left with a straight line at the wrist level There are no examples with head preserved among the groups of II, III, and IV. However, many female heads with himations were uncovered. When the female worshiper figurines found in other ancient cities such as Troia and Pergamon are examined, it is observed that the himation was wrapped around the head and this is regarded as a characteristic for this type. The same situation can be observed in the examples from Daskyleion including small pieces by which the himation surrounding the body moves down from the top of the head (fig. 10, 11, 12-12a, 18- 18a, 19-19a). In this respect, we claim that it is possible for the Daskyleion figurines whose heads couldn’t be preserved in the II. III. and IV. groups that they can be described with himations wrapped around their heads Female worshipper figurines of Daskyleion began to appear after the 2nd century BC. and continued to be used until the end of Hellenistic period. That was the time when Hellespontos Phrygia including Daskyleion was governed by the Kingdom of Pergamon. It is known that the coroplastic masters of Pergamon during the reign of Attalid Dynasty were active to spread their artistic influence of Pergamon school which was the cultural center of the ancient world. Female worshipper figurines in Daskyleion must have been produced under these circumstances. However, these works are far behind the qualified Pergamon pioneers who presented a distinguished craft. When their simply worked dresses and frontal postures are considered, female worshipper figurines of Daskyleion seem to have an artistically poor and provincial style. Female worshipper votive figurines were found in the sanctuaries of Demeter in Troia and Pergamon. For this reason, these are considered to be dedicated to Demeter in both cases. We suggest that the examples from Daskyleion found in earth flow were also votive figurines. The Phrygians are known to be settled in Daskyleion from 8th century B.C. until the Hellenistic period. Therefore, the worship of Kybele has a long tradition in the town. The existence of the Hellenistic figurines representing Kybele among the cult figurines in Daskyleion reveals that the mother goddess cult representing fertility dates back to the earlier times and still survives in the Hellenistic period. Besides, the third group of the Daskyleion figurine types with the children show the courotrophos characteristic of the goddess and Kybele takes place among the goddesses who has a courotrophos characteristic. Thus, it is referred that the female worshipper figurines in Daskyleion were dedicated to Kybele.

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