Abstract
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.
