Eggs and Oonoi: Symbols of birth and rebirth in the ancient world

In many myths, ranging from Egypt to the Far East, the initial process of creation and birth begins when a cosmic egg. sometimes fertilized by a serpent but more often laid in the primeval sea by a giant bird. From these sacred eggs, the sun (the golden yolk)  is hatched leading to the division of earth and sky and the multiplicity of life, natural and supernatural. Eggs are well attested as funerary offerings—real eggs, artistic counterparts in marble and terracotta or diminutive vases of egg shape. 

Between approximately 65,000 and 55,000 years ago, African hunter-gatherers scratched on eggshells at Diepkloof Rock Shelter in South Africa.  Eggs were found in the Royal Cemetery at Ur dating to 3800 BCE. In archaeological sites of predynastic Egypt (Naqada II period - 3600-3200 BCE) ostrich eggs were found in graves, partially cut and used as containers or placed in graves whole. Many of the eggs were decorated with incised or painted designs which took the form of geometric decoration or drawings of birds and animals. Since then, evidence has been recovered illustrating not only the Egyptians, but also the Phoenicians applied artistic designs to ostrich eggs from the first millennium onwards.  Their examples, with  painted geometric designs used as cups and bowls, have been found in Carthage, Sardinia, Sicily, the Iberian Peninsula and Ibiza. Even the Greeks, Persians, Etruscans, and Romans decorated their eggs, either real or emulated in terracotta pottery, often with mythological scenes like those on black-figured ceramics. 

In Greek mythology, Helen of Troy is said to have come from an egg that had fallen from the moon or born from an egg laid by Leda, queen of Sparta, after she had coupled with Zeus, who had disguised himself as a swan.  Such scenes have been found on egg-shaped vessels called "oonoi" in a funerary context.

In the ancient world, ostrich eggs were used as containers for food and liquids such as water or milk, as drinking cups, and as bowls. The ancient Libyans offered ostrich eggs to the Egyptian pharaohs as items of tribute. Babylonian and Assyrian texts record the ostrich egg's medicinal as well as its magical values. Ostrich eggs were also used for religious purposes as symbols of fertility and prosperity. In Egyptian Coptic churches, egg iconography represented resurrection. 

In 2020,  Isotope analysis of decorated ostrich eggs in the British Museum showed that eggs from the same archaeological site had originated in different places. The studies suggested that, rather than the eggs having been laid by captive birds, almost all had most likely been collected in the wild, a potentially hazardous undertaking.

Read more about them here:

https://ticiaverveer.wordpress.com/2016/03/21/the-worlds-oldest-decorated-eggs/

Attributed to the Washing Painter, this oon (terracotta egg), depicts an abduction scene that has been interpreted as depicting Paris and Helen, 40-410 BCE, courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The shape is particularly pertinent to the subject because Helen was hatched from an egg.

An example of a Minoan ostrich egg rhyton, ca. 1600 B.C., decorated with two octopuses in red paint.

Punic ostrich egg used as a vessel, open at the top. The decoration, painted in red, is arranged in the form of a frieze composed of palmettes separated by vertical bands with interlaced lines on a white background. Necropolis of Puig des Molins. Height: 14.50 cm; maximum diameter: 12.50 cm. Inv. No. 1923/60/305. National Archaeological Museum of Spain courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Dorieo

Pottery imitation ostrich eggs painted with black-figure decorations, Greek, 5th century BCE, Kerameikos Archaeological Museum (Athens), courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Giovanni Dall'Orto.

Pottery imitation ostrich eggs painted with black-figure decorations, Greek, 5th century BCE, Kerameikos Archaeological Museum (Athens), courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Giovanni Dall'Orto.

Pottery imitation ostrich eggs painted with black-figure decorations, Greek, 5th century BCE, Kerameikos Archaeological Museum (Athens), courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Giovanni Dall'Orto.

Ostrich egg decorated with geometric motifs, from the Tomb of the Golden Breastplate at Monterozzi loc. Arcatelle, 650 BCE

An ostrich egg decorated with painted red lines. Punic artwork from the Iron Age II, Villaricos necropolis, Andalusia, Spain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Luis Garcia (Zaqarbal).

Pottery imitation ostrich eggs painted with black-figure decorations, Greek, 5th century BCE, Kerameikos Archaeological Museum (Athens), courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Giovanni Dall'Orto.

Ostrich eggs were used as grave goods by the Punic- Phoenicians and Etruscans, symbolizing resurrection and eternal life, as well as providing “food” for the deceased. This Punic-Phoenician ostrich egg was found in the Isis Tomb at the Polledrara Cemetery of Vulci in Italy. It once had a mouthpiece and support to form a vessel. Four sphinxes are painted on the surface.

4,000-year-old Egyptian Ostrich egg decorated with spirals at the Archaeological Museum in Brussels, Belgium courtesy of ticiaverveer.wordpress.com.

Ostrich egg with animal drawing found at Naqada, Egypt, at the Asmolean Museum in Oxford courtesy of ticiaverveer.wordpress.com

Attributed to the Washing Painter, this oon (terracotta egg), depicts an abduction scene that has been interpreted as depicting Paris and Helen, 40-410 BCE, courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The shape is particularly pertinent to the subject because Helen was hatched from an egg.

Attributed to the Washing Painter, this oon (terracotta egg), depicts an abduction scene that has been interpreted as depicting Paris and Helen, 40-410 BCE, courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The shape is particularly pertinent to the subject because Helen was hatched from an egg.

Punic ostrich egg found in the phoenician necropolis of Puig des Molins. Museum of Puig des Molins in Ibiza (Spain) courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Nanosanchez.

An ostrich egg rhyton from Mycenae in Greece. The appliqué dolphins are made of faience. The underpiece attached to the base is made of gold foil over a wooden core. 1600 B.C. E. courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Schuppi

Herculaneum reopened!

I belong to the Herculaneum Society and today received a news item from them that the archaeological site of Herculaneum reopened to the public January 18!  I had the wonderful opportunity to visit the site in 2007 and I hope I'll have a chance to revisit it whenever I can travel again.  So today's featured "Antiquities Alive" virtual exhibit is a collection of my images that I took at Herculaneum during about a three hour walkthrough (the site definitely deserves much more time than that) back in 2007.  I've also included some artifacts from Herculaneum I photographed at Pompeii: The Exhibit at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle Washington, the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, California, and The Louvre in Paris.  Unfortunately, the day I visited Herculaneum the Villa dei Papiri was closed to the public.

A Roman mosaic in the House of Neptune and Amphitrite, Herculaneum, Italy

Theater mask in a bath complex in Herculaneum

Statue of Heracles or Dionysus with a wineskin in the garden of the House of the Stags in Herculaneum.

Statue of Hounds attacking a Deer in the garden of the House of the Stags in Herculaneum

Black and white mosaiced hallway in the Casa dell'Atrio a Mosaico in Herculaneum

Closeup of A Roman mosaic in the House of Neptune and Amphitrite, Herculaneum, Italy

Atrium with fountain and table in Herculaneum

Bust in the House of the Bronze Herm in Herculaneum

Amphora recovered in a storage area in Herculaneum

A Roman mosaic in the House of Neptune and Amphitrite, Herculaneum, Italy

Fourth style fresco still in situ in Herculaneum

Fresco from the House of the Stags in Herculaneum

Closeup of mosaic in the men's baths in the Terme del Foro, Herculaneum

A romantic stroll through the remains of Herculaneum

Reproduction of a relief from the Temple of the Four Gods (Sacello dei Quattro Dei) in Herculaneum

Oven and grinding mill in a bakery in Herculaneum

Peristyle garden with tondo, pool and puteal in the Casa del Rilievo di Telefo in Herculaneum

Column capital of Casa del Gran Portale in Herculaneum

Thermopolium in Herculaneum

Lernaean Hydra fountain in the Palestra in Herculaneum

Bakery in Herculaneum

Augusteum inscription

Overview of the archaeological site of Herculaneum

Terrace with a (replica) statue of Herculaneum's patron, Nonius Balbus

Herculaneum street

Herculaneum street

Overview of Herculaneum and boat houses where skeletons were found of victims of the Vesuvius eruption

Roman emperor Tiberius dressed as Pontifex Maximus found in Herculaneum 37 CE that was conserved by the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, California

Forearm of a statue of a boxer from Herculaneum Roman 1st century CE Bronze that I photographed at "Pompeii: The Exhibit" at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, Washington

Iron Gladiator Helmet from Herculaneum Roman 1st century CE that I photographed at "Pompeii: The Exhibit" at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, Washington

Myrmillo-style bronze gladiator helmet with bas-relief depicting scenes from the Trojan War from Herculaneum Roman 1st Century CE that I photographed at "Pompeii: The Exhibit" at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, Washington.

Fresco of a man reading a scroll, 1st century CE, from Herculaneum now in the collections of the National Archaeological Museum, Naples.

 

Anthesteria: a precursor to Roman Saturnalia?

The three-day festival of the Anthesteria was celebrated around the time of the full moon in January or February.  It celebrated the beginning of spring, particularly the maturing of the wine stored at the previous vintage, whose pithoi were now ceremoniously opened. During the feast, small gifts were exchanged and social order was interrupted or inverted, much like Roman Saturnalia, with the household slaves allowed to participate. The Anthesteria also had aspects of a festival of the dead.  Both the Keres, female spirits who bewailed violent death on the battlefield, or the Carians were ritually entertained and thought to roam the city until they were expelled at the conclusion of the festival.  A Greek proverb, said of those who pestered for continued favors,  "Out of doors, Keres! It is no longer Anthesteria!"

On day one of the festival, known as Pithoigia, the jars of wine from the previous year were opened, libations offered to Dionysus, and the entire household (including the slaves) joining in the festivities. Spring flowers were used to decorate the rooms of the house, the home's drinking vessels, and any children over three years of age.

On day two of the festival, known as Choes, merrymaking continued: people dressed themselves gaily, some in the figures of Dionysus's entourage, and paid a round of visits to their acquaintances. Drinking clubs held contests to see who could drain their cups the most rapidly. Others poured libations on the tombs of deceased relatives. The day also marked a state occasion: a peculiarly solemn and secret ceremony in the sanctuary of Dionysus 'in the marshes' which was closed throughout the rest of the year. Despite the name, there were no actual marshes in the immediate surroundings of Athens and the sanctuary was located in the Bouleuterion in the Athenian Agora. Athens' ritual queen, the basilinna, underwent a ceremony of marriage to the god. Precisely what this entailed, and how physical was the public union, remain matters of discussion, but it may have involved intercourse. She was assisted by the gerarai, 14 Athenian matrons chosen by her husband the archon basileus, who were sworn to secrecy. Burkert regarded the ceremony as a recreation of the yielding of Ariadne to Dionysus by Theseus during their escape from Minoan Crete.

On day three, the Chytroi, considered a festival of the dead, fruit or cooked pulse was offered to Hermes in his capacity as Hermes Chthonios, an underworld figure, and to the souls of the dead, who were then bidden to depart. None of the Olympians were included and no one tasted the pottage, which was food of the dead. Celebration continued and games were held. Although no performances were allowed at the theater, a sort of rehearsal took place, at which the players for the ensuing dramatic festival were selected.

Terracotta oinochoe: chous (jug), Greek, attributed to the Meidias Painter, 420-410 BCE.  The scene depicts two women in festive dress perfuming garments. A stool suspended by chords is piled with folded clothing. On the ground below, there is a pile of wood shavings and twigs from which smoke rises. One woman carefully empties an oinochoe onto the fire. The other woman surveys the "swing" and stands beside a stately chair with a footstool over which more clothes are slung. At the far left is a wreathed boy wearing a himation (cloak). The shape of the vase associates it with the Anthesteria.  Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

This small "chous," a vessel for wine, would have been given as a gift to a young boy during the Athenian festival known as the Anthesteria, celebrating the new wine. Such vessels depict children at play, often imitating adults. Here, a chubby Eros runs, pulling a child's toy cart behind him. He wears a wreath, a spiked headdress, and a string of amulets across his chest.  Courtesy of the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.

A red-figured chous depicting Dionysus and a satyr recalling drunken festivities of the first two days of the Anthesteria, 430-420 BCE, courtesy of the Ancient History Encyclopedia.

Oinochoe with Anthesteria scene, Athens, 460-450 BCE in the Martin von Wagner Museum - Würzburg, Germany. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Daderot.