Sacred Shields: The Material, Religious and Cultural Significance of Persian Ashkelon's Egyptianizing Amulets
Sarah McCully, 2016
After two seasons of digging in Ashkelon, Israel, a southern site popularly identified as one of the five Biblical Philistine cities, I am writing a senior thesis about some of the results of those excavations. In this project, I will attempt to assess the significance of Egyptian and Egyptianizing amulets and figurines excavated from the Persian period occupation of the site, specifically in regards to the religious or cultural significance that the Egyptian deities and charms had in this portion of the Near East. My initial catalogue of Egyptianizing amulets and figurines contains a wide array of Egyptian style and symbolism, particularly likenesses of Egyptian deities, such as multiple Eyes of Horus and anthropomorphic figurines of Isis and Bes. Additionally, this assemblage will include Greek and Phoenician figurines. I will examine the artistic representation of these deities or other religious symbols in these amulets and figurines, as well as their excavated contexts, to determine the nature of the relationship between these objects in Ashkelon and their original religious connotations.