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The Arcesilas Cup in Context: Greek Interactions With Late Period Funerary Art

“…The words above the centre-right figures, the two workers who load the weights, are fragmentary. Both Bresson (2000, 88) and Neumann (1979, 88) were unsure on the reconstruction of the first word, [--]ẠΘΜΟΣ (also given as [ΣΤ]ΑΘΜΟΣ: De Ridder 1902, 98–100). Neumann proposed that the inscription may have originally read ΕΠΙΣΤΑΘΜΟΣ (ἐπίσταθμος), ‘quartermaster’ or ‘one who weighs out/allots’.…”

“…One explanation of the cup's decoration is that it was intended as a depiction of an event witnessed in Cyrene by the artist. Bresson's conclusion, despite his recognition of weighing of the heart scenes as the model for the cup's composition, is that the scene is an attempt to render an act of weighing witnessed by the painter in the agora (or the royal store) of Cyrene (Bresson 2000, 94). Others have similarly suggested that the cup represents exotic animals in an endeavour to capture the fauna witnessed by the painter in Cyrene, and that the overall scene corresponds to a real event, the weighing of Cyrene's silphium in the market or on a ship 21 .…”

“…Egyptian royals and elites often had their tomb walls and funerary chapels decorated with idealised depictions of the life of the deceased and illustrated extracts of funerary texts associated with a successful transition into the afterlife. The scenes used included illustrations both of the weighing of the heart, suggested here and by several other scholars to be a model for the Arcesilas Cup (Puchstein 1880; Bresson 2000; Schaus 2006; and Mei 2013) and the weighing of goods, New Kingdom examples of which Boardman (1958), and probably Lane (1933–4), linked to the Arcesilas Cup.…”

“…Wachter (2001, 160) provides a comprehensive list of scholarly interest up to the end of the twentieth century, most notable among which are d’Albert (1833), Puchstein (1880–1), Lane (1933–4), Chamoux (1953, 1966), Benton (1959), Neumann (1979), Stibbe (1972), Simon, Hirmer and Hirmer (1981) and Schaus (1983). To this list should be added Boardman (1958), Bresson (2000), Tivérios (2000 [2001]), Maffre (2004), Schaus (2006), Coudin (2009), Mei (2013) and Gönster (2015). It is notable that despite scholarly attention, most aspects of the Arcesilas Cup's decoration and inscriptions, and its place in the wider story of Laconian painted pottery, remain subject to debate.…”

The Veneration of the Owl in Græco-Roman Egypt

“…4 The shape of the owl was used as a remarkable hieroglyphic sign in the ancient Egyptian language. 5 Houlihan believes that the Eared Owl (Mabo bubo / Asio otus) is frequently found in the Hieroglyphic writings unlike the Barn Owl (Tyto alba) 7 which is commonly used as a hieroglyphic sign. 8 According to Griffith, the owl sign referred to various types of owls except the Long-eared…”