Greek Myths in Funerary Contexts of the Bosporan Kingdom

Gegenstand des Aufsatzes ist die Thematisierung des Niobidenmythos in römerzeitlichen Gräbern des Bosporanischen Reiches. Es handelt sich bei den Darstellungen um einzelne Figuren und Figurengruppen, die als Ton- oder Gipsappliken ursprünglich an den Wänden von Holzsarkophagen befestigt waren. Die Kombination von Holzsarkophagen und Applikenserien mit Darstellungen fliehender und sterbender Menschen, die an den Mythos der Niobidentötung erinnern, lässt sich als lokales Phänomen für den kurzen Zeitraum vom Ende des 1. – Anfang des 2. Jh. n. Chr. fassen. Es kann gezeigt werden, dass die Verwendung des Mythos bzw. der Figuren eines Mythos im bosporanischen Grabkontext nach ganz eigenen Konventionen funktioniert und sich nicht allein auf Vorbilder aus der griechischen oder römischen Kunst beziehen lässt, wie es in der bisherigen Forschung weitestgehend gehandhabt wurde.[1]

The myth of the Niobids appears widely in ancient texts and images and takes a number of different forms, according to the purpose, medium and context of representation. Several authors provide us with variants of the myth, most well-known probably that of Ovid.[2] The basic story line of the myth can be summarized as follows: two deities, Apollo and Artemis, take revenge for the disgrace done to their mother Leto. She has been provoked by the mortal Niobe, the mother of many children, who boasts about the number of her offspring in comparison to the divine Leto. Niobe’s hybris is punished severely by Apollo and Artemis who shoot all of her children with arrows.

Famous representations of or allusions to the myth include images on Greek vases and sculpture groups.[3] The myth can also be found on Roman marble sarcophagi of the 2^nd century [4], although it is much less frequently represented than other mythical subjects.[5]

In this paper another group of images, which are often associated with the myth of the Niobids, shall be introduced. They belong to sarcophagi contemporary with the 2^nd century Roman ones but which originate in the Bosporan kingdom, a region outside the Imperium Romanum. It shall be argued that the myth of the Niobids in the Bosporan context is used in a much more abbreviated form and operates within the conventions of a local funerary tradition. This paper offers a new approach to the interpretation of Greek myths in the funerary contexts of the Bosporan kingdom.

The Bosporan kingdom, which came into existence as a league of several Greek colonies and local tribes around the Cimmerian Bosporus in the 5^th century B.C., is located in the Northern Black Sea region. More precisely, it comprised the territories of the Eastern Crimean peninsula and the Taman peninsula as well as part of the neighbouring littoral. Pantikapaion (modern Kerč) on the Crimean peninsula was the capital of the Bosporan kingdom. In the period considered here, the 1^st and 2^nd centuries, the Bosporan kingdom was a vassal state of the Roman Empire, ruled by kings of Sarmatian origin.

The research material consists of mould-made appliqués made of plaster or clay, which originally formed part of the decoration of wooden sarcophagi. Only fragments of these sarcophagi survive. The appliqués, which have been found in large numbers, were painted with bright colours, traces of which still can be perceived. Heights of individual appliqués range from 17 – 30 cm. The surface of those made from plaster differs considerably from the more detailed examples in clay which appear to be of a higher quality. A chronological determination by style, such as has previously been attempted[6], thus appears to be problematic. It is more sensible to refer to datable material from the respective tomb contexts, such as coins or glass vessels. From this external contextual evidence the appliqués can be dated between the end of the 1^st and the middle of the 2^nd century. A more detailed chronology is impossible because of the lack of information about many of the tombs.[7]

Wooden sarcophagi with applied decoration already appear in tombs of the 4^th and 3^rd centuries B.C. in this region, although the earlier appliqués are usually made of much more precious materials, such as gilded ivory. In addition, they are found in outstanding tombs only.[8] The innovative aspects of the sarcophagi of the 1^st and 2^nd centuries mainly consist in the material of the appliqués as well as in the frequency with which they appear in Bosporan tombs. Although they are different from their predecessors, the use of wooden sarcophagi with applied decoration seems to constitute a local, Bosporan tradition going back to Hellenistic times.[9]

The huge number of appliqué finds suggests that lavish decoration was widespread on Bosporan sarcophagi of the 1^st and 2^nd centuries. Predominant motifs are theatre masks, Gorgoneia, little Erotes riding on dolphins or geese, floral ornaments and huge acroterial palmettes. Against this background the comparatively small number of human-shaped figures stands out. Most of them have been read as associated with the mythological slaughter of the Niobids. These “Niobid appliqués”[10] will be considered here. Archaeologists so far have concentrated on a direct comparison of the Bosporan Niobids with representations of the myth in Greek and Roman art.[11] The effect that individual tomb contexts or the medium and quality of appliqué decoration may have on the mythological narrative rarely figures in these considerations, nor has critical analysis of the iconography of single appliqués been undertaken.[12]

• [1] An earlier version of this paper was presented at the International Spring School in Erfurt, March 2008. A more detailed article will be published later, probably in 2009. It is based on the author’s Magister thesis, „Der Niobidenmythos als Thema römischer Sarkophage im Bosporanischen Reich“, University of Leipzig, May 2004. Thanks go both to the organizers of the Spring School who provided the opportunity to present this paper, and to “Archaeologie Online” for subsequently publishing it. I would also like to express my thanks to U. Sternbach, M. C. Füchsle and F. Köhler, who read through the draft and made useful suggestions. For the finishing touch to the English text I want to thank R. Harman.
  [2] Ov. Met. 6, 146–312.
  [3] Well-known examples are the name vase of the Niobid painter: M. Denoyelle, Le cratère des Niobides (Paris 1997); the group of Niobe and her children which was brought to the Uffizi in the 18^th century (so-called Florentine Niobids): W. Geominy, Die Florentiner Niobiden (Diss. Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn 1982). Roman mythological sarcophagi with the subject of the Niobids: K. Fittschen, Der Tod der Kreusa und der Niobiden. Überlegungen zur Deutung griechischer Mythen auf römischen Sarkophagen, in: StItFilCl 10, 1992, 1046–1059; P. Zanker – B. C. Ewald, Mit Mythen leben. Die Bilderwelt der römischen Sarkophage (München 2004) 76–80. 355–359.
  [4] If not stated otherwise, all dates are A. D.
  [5] For a detailed discussion on the question of why obviously death-related topics such as the myth of the Niobids played only a minor role on Roman sarcophagi, cf. P. Zanker – B. C. Ewald, Mit Mythen leben. Die Bilderwelt der römischen Sarkophage (München 2004) 110–115. 255–256.
  [6] To the late Classical and Hellenistic period: L. Stephani, in: CRPétersbourg 1863 (St.-Pétersbourg 1864) 166; C. Watzinger, Griechische Holzsarkophage aus der Zeit Alexanders des Grossen (Leipzig 1905).
  [7] Most of the Niobid appliqués are kept in museums without archaeological passport: cf. the collections of the Antikensammlung in Berlin, Louvre, Archaeological Museum in Odessa, National Museum in Warsaw etc.
  [8] Such as the well-known sarcophagus with gilded wooden carvings from Gorgippia / Anapa, which is dated to the 3^rd century B. C.: V. F. Gajdukevič, Das Bosporanische Reich ²(Berlin 1971) 294 fig. 87–88. For another sarcophagus with gilded ivory inlays and painted decoration from the Zmejnyj kurgan, Juz-Oba (4th century B. C.): V. F. Gajdukevič, Das Bosporanische Reich ²(Berlin 1971) 295 fig. 89. Both sarcophagi are kept in the Hermitage.
  [9] Wooden sarcophagi with applied decoration have also been found in Egypt. However, these belong to the Hellenistic period, the measurements of the appliqués are much smaller, and there are other differences. The range of motifs is not comparable to the Bosporan variety. Cf. K. Parlasca, Zur griechischen Grabkunst Ägyptens in hellenistischer Zeit, in: U. Höckmann – D. Kreikenbom (ed.), Naukratis: Die Beziehungen zu Ostgriechenland, Ägypten und Zypern in archaischer Zeit. Akten der Table Ronde in Mainz, 25.-27. November 1999 (Möhnesee 2001) 175–182 pl. 24–28. Apart from Egypt, terracotta appliqués as part of sarcophagus decoration are recorded for the 4^th century B. C. necropolis of Taranto. They are bigger in size than the Egyptian appliqués, but show a similar range of motifs and are gilded. Cf. R. Lullies, Vergoldete Terrakotta-Appliken aus Tarent, RM Ergh. 7 (Heidelberg 1962).
  [10] For practical reasons this term will be used throughout the essay, although I argue for an ambiguous perception of the identity of the figures.
  [11] Cf. W. Geominy, Die Florentiner Niobiden (Diss. Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn 1982) 302; H. Schulze, Ammen und Pädagogen. Sklavinnen und Sklaven als Erzieher in der antiken Kunst und Gesellschaft (Mainz am Rhein 1998) 84–85 with fn. 565; T. Harten, Paidagogos. Der Pädagoge in der griechischen Kunst (Kiel 1999) 361. Harten and Geominy suggest that the style of the Bosporan appliqués combines elements of several earlier Greek representations of the Niobids. Pinelli and Wasowicz [P. Pinelli – A. Wasowicz, Musée du Louvre. Catalogue des bois et stucs grecs et romains provenant de Kertch (Paris 1986) 66–83] consistently assume that the “Florentine Niobids” functioned as models.
  [12] Cf. W. Geominy, Die Florentiner Niobiden (Diss. Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn 1982) 302; H. Schulze, Ammen und Pädagogen. Sklavinnen und Sklaven als Erzieher in der antiken Kunst und Gesellschaft (Mainz am Rhein 1998) 84–85 with fn. 565; T. Harten, Paidagogos. Der Pädagoge in der griechischen Kunst (Kiel 1999) 361. Harten and Geominy suggest that the style of the Bosporan appliqués combines elements of several earlier Greek representations of the Niobids. Pinelli and Wasowicz [P. Pinelli – A. Wasowicz, Musée du Louvre. Catalogue des bois et stucs grecs et romains provenant de Kertch (Paris 1986) 66–83] consistently assume that the “Florentine Niobids” functioned as models.