Nile landscape
The term Nile landscape denotes a genre of Roman art . The subject is depictions of the Nile at the time of the flood with its typical flora and fauna, the inhabitants of the banks of the Nile and their activities. The best-known example is the so-called Nile mosaic of Palestrina found in ancient Praeneste (today's Palestrina ) .
Research history
As Versluys describes in his monograph, the focus of scientific interest on the goddess Isis and her cult meant that all depictions with recognizable Egyptian references, e.g. B. found numerous in the Pompeian frescoes in the 18th century , were placed in the context of the Isis cult. This means that wherever representations with elements typical of the Nile (e.g. lotus blossoms ) were found, one tended to assume that they were dealing with an Isis sanctuary or at least the place of residence of an Isis worshiper.
This assumption only began to be questioned in the 1970s. With the detailed study by Paul GP Meyboom on the Nile mosaic from Palestrina (1995), one went over to seeing the Nile landscapes in a decorative function, detached from direct cultic references. This is the case with Rauch, who also speaks of “Egyptian fashion”: The subject of the Nile landscapes reflects a country idealized by its exoticism.
subjects
- Nile flood and lotus
- Characteristic for the genre is of course the representation of the Nile, especially at the time of the annual flooding. In smaller depictions or where technology makes it difficult to depict water (e.g. in black and white mosaics), the presence of water is often indicated by the lotus flowers. At the height of the flood, the innumerable seeds of the lotus, carried with water and mud, germinated, the flowers of which soon covered the water in huge quantities. After the tide receded, the plants slowly died. As a result, the lotus became a symbol of the Nile and the Nile flood, in ancient Egypt the symbol of the Nile god Hapi and in Hellenistic-Roman times an attribute of the gods Isis and Osiris associated with the Nile flood .
- Animals
- Four animal species are typical components of the Nile landscapes: crocodile , hippopotamus , duck and ibis . The first two in particular are often depicted fighting pygmies. The sole representation of such battles can be seen as a subgenre of the Nile landscape. Ducks and duck hunting were popular subjects in ancient Egypt . Some stylistic peculiarities from this period were also retained in the Nile landscapes. Finally, the ibis was not only the sacred bird and symbol of the god Thoth , but also typical of the time of the Nile Flood, during which it formed large breeding colonies on the banks of the river. The species shown is mostly the sacred ibis ( Threskiornis aethiopicus ).
- Pygmies
- As mentioned above, pygmies (by which we mean small, dark-skinned and stocky-looking figures) are often shown fighting with crocodiles and hippos, and sometimes with birds. Many of the scenes have comical or grotesque elements, including the fact that the pygmies were often depicted ithyphallically - i.e. with oversized penises .
- Alexandria
- Numerous motifs refer to Alexandria and its surroundings, especially the one on the marshy, reed-lined banks of the then much larger Mareotis lake with the typical for the poor people of the area of reed and reed boats , on the other, the easternmost of Alexandria Canopus , before especially in the eyes of the Romans the epitome of luxury and vice, represented by feasts and sexual encounters that took place on ships and in arbours , which were neither limited to heterosexual pairings nor to couples.
Nile mosaics
The following list is an extract from the 130-number catalog contained in the Versluys monograph. Many works have only survived in fragments. In the numerous frescoes with Nile themes, the weathering and fading of the colors mean that details that have only survived in watercolors and drawings (mainly from the 19th century) can hardly be made out. Works that are relatively well preserved and in which the Nile theme is central were therefore included in the selection. The mosaics are due to the technology.
| Location | today | Emergence | comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Israel, Sepphoris (Diokaisarea) | in situ | 500-600 | Late mosaic. Four-part mosaic with personifications of Egypt and the Nile in the two upper fields, the city of Alexandria and numerous animals in the lower area. The ground could be flooded. |
| Italy, Collemancio (district of Cannara ) (Urbinum Hortense) | Museo Nazionale Romano , Rome, 124698 | 100-200 | Large mosaic (62 m 2 ). A central emblem with fishing pygmies (in the middle of which there is a water drain) is surrounded by a landscape of the Nile, in which pygmies hunt and fight with hippos and crocodiles. |
| Italy, Palestrina , Sanctuary of Fortuna | Museo Nazionale Praenestino, Palestrina | 110-120 BC Chr. | The most important preserved Nile landscape, see Nile mosaic from Palestrina |
| Italy, Pompeii , House of the Faun , Summer Triclinium | National Archaeological Museum of Naples , Naples, 10323 | 90-80 BC Chr. | Nile fauna (ducks, hippopotamus, cobra) |
| Italy, Rome , Region XII, Vigna Maccarani, opposite S. Saba | Museo Nazionale Romano , Rome, 171, formerly Museo Kircheriano | 200-300 | Nile landscape with hippopotamus, crocodile and pygmies |
| Italy, Tivoli , Villa di Cassio (?) | National Museum of Wales , Cardiff, 32.93 | 150-200 | A sailboat ran aground on a rock. The occupants try to make the ship clear again and at the same time fend off a hippopotamus and a crocodile. |
| Libya, Leptis Magna , Villa del Nilo | Archaeological Museum, Tripoli | 250-300 | Allegory of the god of the Nile riding a hippopotamus |
literature
- MJ Versluys: Aegyptiaca Romana. Nilotic scenes and the Roman views of Egypt. Religions in the Graeco-Roman world vol. 144. Brill, Leiden et al. 2002, ISBN 90-04-12440-3
- Paul GP Meyboom: The Nile mosaic of Palestrina. Early evidence of Egyptian religion in Italy. Religions in the Graeco-Roman world vol. 121. Brill, Leiden u. a. 1995, ISBN 90-04-10137-3 . [1]
- Bernard Andreae : Nile landscapes. In: ders .: Antique picture mosaics. Mainz 2003, pp. 78–109 (with bibliography of older literature)
- Marion Rauch: Bacchic themes and Nile images on Campana reliefs. Leidorf, Rahden / Westfalen 1999, ISBN 3-89646-324-1 .
- Alexandra Cappel: Investigations into pygmy representations in the Roman decorative art. Dissertation Würzburg 1992.
- Helen Whitehouse: A catalog of Nilotic landscapes in Roman art. Dissertation, Oxford 1980
- Jean Leclant : Un aspect de des influences Alexandrines en Gaule: les scènes nilotiques exhumées en France. In: Alessandria e il mondo ellenistico-romano vol. 3, Rome 1984, pp. 440-444
Individual evidence
- ↑ Versluys Aegyptiaca Romana p. 17ff.
- ^ For example in Michel Malaise: Inventaire préliminaire des documents égyptiens découverts en Italie. Brill, Leiden et al. 1972.
- ^ Rauch: Bacchic themes and Nile images on Campanareliefs 1999. p. 252 (quoted in Versluys p. 34).
- ↑ Versluys Aegyptiaca Romana p. 263.
- ^ Cappel: Investigations on pygmy representations in Roman decorative art 1992
- ↑ Versluys Aegyptiaca Romana p. 266 with reference to A. Hermann: The motif of the duck with the head turned back in the Egyptian arts and crafts. In: Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde 68 (1932) pp. 86-105.
- ↑ Versluys: Aegyptiaca Romana pp. 39-236.