Social Identity as Constructed and Expressed on Funerary Stelae from Terenouthis

Abstract

This thesis analyses the corpus of funerary stelae from the western Delta site of Kom Abu Billou, which mostly dates to the Roman period, and examines how the iconography and epigraphy construct and express ethnic, gendered and religious identities. The thesis analyses how linguistic interference from the Egyptian language impacts the Greek orthography in the corpus, and the existence of a Greek creole in this community is proposed. Examining onomastic patterns in the corpus, it is concluded that naming practices were largely driven by indigenous traditions and the local cult. It is also concluded that the scarcity of Latin names and epitaphs in the corpus indicates that the inhabitants of Terenouthis did not self-define as Romans by default. The iconography in the corpus represents a hybrid of Egyptian and Graeco-Roman artistic conventions; however, it is concluded here that the iconography predominantly expresses indigenous religious beliefs, with Greek deities absorbed into and syncretised with the existing local pantheon. It is shown here that the so-called Totenmahl-motif was adopted from eastern Mediterranean iconography and adapted to express local religious beliefs and gender roles; in contrast with examples from Byzantion and Palmyra, female figures in Terenouthis were depicted reclining with drinking cups. This suggests rhetorical gender ideals in which women in Roman Terenouthis were able to navigate social spaces without a male guardian, and that there was no social taboo on women’s consumption of alcohol. It is also demonstrated here that the orant-motif, which has previously been linked to the emergence of Christianity, reflects indigenous Egyptian ideas about the Ka; for this reason, the motif was favoured for the depiction of children. The Greek epigraphy allowed the inhabitants of Terenouthis to simultaneously demonstrate Hellenic cultural competency whilst maintaining indigenous religious traditions. In Roman Terenouthis, ethnic identity comprised Greek, Egyptian and unique local elements, and thus defies simple classification.

Date of Award	4 Feb 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Supervisor	Silke Knippschild (Supervisor) & Shelley J Hales (Supervisor)