The Evolving Image of the Patron-Goddess on the Coins of Cyrene
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The Evolving Image of the Patron-Goddess on the Coins of Cyrene
Annotation
PII
S207987840012751-5-1
Publication type
Article
Status
Published
Authors
Larisa Selivanova 
Affiliation: Institute of World History RAS
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow
Abstract

The article focuses on the visualization of the image of the ancient goddess Cyrene, the patron deity of the northern African city under the same name, located in present-day eastern Libya. The author applies the comparative-historical and typological methods for dating and explaining the origins of her image as well as tracing its evolution and eventual decline on the basis of written texts and archaeological data, with the special emphasis on evidence from coins. The author’s analysis of the iconography of the goddess in visual arts and on city coinage establishes the typology of her image and stages of its transformation since the sixth century BCE The author concludes that the image of Cyrene as a local deity began to be gradually squeezed out in the early Hellenistic period and eventually became completely replaced in Roman times by that of Libya, a mythological figure who gave her name to that country. The results of this work will be useful for college instructors in general surveys on ancient history and in specialized courses on the history of ancient culture and on auxiliary historical disciplines.

Keywords
Cyrene, silphium, visualization, iconography, colonies, emblematics, numismatics, Libya, Northern Africa, antiquity
Received
13.07.2020
Publication date
30.11.2020
Number of characters
23336
Number of purchasers
16
Views
1865
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0.0 (0 votes)
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