Female Figurines from the Mut Precinct: Context and Ritual Function

Abstract

frequently overlooked by archaeologists, art historians, and social historians because they lack the aesthetic qualities usually associated with Egyptian art. However, the Hopkinsexcavated figurines display features that mark them as standardized ritual objects. I argue that ceramic female figurines were produced in workshops, utilized by magician/physicians in healing rituals, and snapped and discarded at the end of their effective 'lives.' This is a new interpretation for objects that have previously been labeled votive and relegated to the sphere of women.Chapter 1 presents a brief history of the Mut Precinct and summarizes the work of Johns Hopkins at the site. It also addresses the current state of figurine studies in Egyptology, including a critique of the "fertility figurine" theory. Finally, I present a typology for the Mut Precinct figurines.Chapter 2 is a detailed study of the materials and manufacture of ceramic female figurines. I suggest that the figurines were manufactured by craftsmen in state-sponsored workshops, and that the red hue of many figures signals that the objects were malevolent and ultimately to be destroyed. Chapter 4 reviews the salient conclusions of the thesis, and discusses the use of ceramic female figurines at the Mut Precinct specifically.This new interpretation of Egyptian female figurines broadens our understanding of objects often called "crude" and placed in the realm of women by demonstrating that ceramic female figurines were manufactured and acquired by men, and manipulated to heal a variety of patients. This thesis will undoubtedly encourage future studies of archaeological finds in concert with magico-medical texts.Principal Advisers: Professor Betsy M. Bryan, Professor Richard Jasnow Readers: Professor Theodore J. Lewis, Professor H. Alan Shapiro, Dr. Emily Teeter iv Tables Table 1: The Kushite ruler Taharqa of Dynasty 25 made major changes to the Mut Precinct. He constructed a new sandstone gateway in the northwest area of the site, the axis of which leads directly to Temple A, which he likely rebuilt at this time. History of Visitors, Expeditions to the Mut PrecinctThe temples and sacred lake of the Mut Precinct at Karnak were never completely lost from view in the centuries following its demise as a religious site. Today, the precinct remains defined by the massive mud brick enclosure wall believed to be of 30 th Dynasty construction,20 and is closed to the public. , 1975-1977 IFAO, 1961. 60, 68-69, 218, 223. 20 Fazzini, "Mut Precinct," 456; Fazzini, "Karnak, precinct of Mut," 399; Fazzini, "Some Aspects," 70. 5The Mut Precinct was visited by a number of early travelers and missions between AD 1799 and 1845, and their diaries, plans, and photographs provide valuable information about the state of the precinct's structures at the time when Egyptology was just emerging as a scholarly discipline. Recent excavations have shown that some of the early drawings were indeed quite accurate. Figurines of nude females exist for all periods of ancient Egyptia...

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