THE NILE MOSAIC OF PALESTRINA RELIGIONS IN THE GRAECO-ROMAN WORLD FOR\IERIS f:TCDES PRELI~IINAIRES AUX RELIGIOl'\S ORIENTALES DANS L'E~lPIRE RO~lAlN EDITORS R. VAN DEN BROEK H.J.W. DRIJVERS H.S. VERSNEL VOLC~IE 121 THE NILE MOSAIC OF PALESTRINA Early Evidence of Egyptian Religion in Italy BY P.G.P. MEYBOOM EJ. BRILL LEIDEN · NEW YORK · KOLN 1995 77zis series Religions in the Graeco-Roman TI o rld presents a forum for studies in the social and cultural Junction qf religions in the Greek and the Roman u·orld, dealing with pagan religions both in their own right and in their interaction u.'ith and i1if!uence on Christianiry and Judaism during a lengthy period qf fundamental change. Special attention u•ill be given to the religious history qf regions and cities which illustrate the practical workings qf these processes. Enquiries regarding the submission qf works for publication in the series mqy be directed to Prl!ftssor H.]. II: Drijvers, FawltJ' qf utters, [ 'niversi{J' qf Groningen, 9 712 ET Groningen, 77ze Netherlands. The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and purability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book LongeYity of the Council on Library Resources. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data 94-33858 CIP Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufnahme Meyboom, Paul G.P .: The Nile mosaic of Palestrina : early eYidence of Egyptian religion in Italy I by Paul G.P. :\Ieyboom. - Leiden ; New York ; Ktiln : Brill, 1994 (Religions in the Gracco-Roman world: \'ol. 121) ISBN 90-0+-1 0137-3 NE:GT ISSN 0927-7633 ISBN 90 04 10137 3 © Copyright 1995 by EJ. Brill, LRiden, 77ze Xetherlands All rights reserved. No part qf this publication mqy be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval .rystem, or transmitted in any form or by a'!J' means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by E.]. Bn'll provided that the appropriate fies are paid direct!J to 77ze Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910 Danvers JL-1 01923, USA. Fees are sul?]ect to change. PRI:'\TED I:'\ THE :'\ETHERI.A!'iDS Piae memoriae Paul A. C. Meyboom amici optimi '0 yap o&ut&poc; lltoM:J.laioc;, . . . i:Ai<pavtac; t& CJU):VOU<; 1tOM:J.1tatac; m:p1£7totliaato Kai tO>V aJ..A.rov l;,filrov a9&roplitouc; KUl 7tapaoo~Ol><; <pua&tc; t1tOlT\O&V &ic; yvc:i:lmv i:A.9&i:v toi:c; ~EA.A.TJat. The second Ptolemy, ... not only collected great herds of war-elephants, but also brought to the knowledge of the Greeks other kinds of animals which had never before been seen and were objects of amazement. Diodorus III 36, 3. (Horus issued an order to all the townships and districts of Upper and Lower Egypt:) "Come let us make Osiris revive by means of the great funeral, in order that he makes the Nile effiux to your townships, let us sail to theAbaton, which is for ever and ever.'' (Inscription in the temple of Isis at Philae) CONTENTS Preface .................................................................. ;........................... 1x Introduction..................................................................................... 1 Chapter I The reconstruction of the original mosaic.............. 3 Chapter II The original location and the date of the mosaic.. 8 1. Function and date of the building........................ 8 2. The date of the mosaic........................................... 16 Chapter III Description.................................................................. 20 section 1 20; section 2 22; section 4 23; section 3 23; section 5 24; section 6 24; section 7 26; section 9 upper part 26; section 10 upper part 27; section 11 upper part 27; section 21 27; section 8 28; section 9 lower part 29; section 10 lower part 30; section 11 lower part 30; sections 12 + 18 31; section 15 32; section 19 33; section 13 34; section 14 37; section 20 38; section 16 38; section 17 40; Conclusion.................................................................... 41 Chapter IV Interpretation.............................................................. 43 1. The upper part........................................................... 43 2. The lower part........................................................... 50 the Nilometer and temple...................................... 51 the Egyptian temple................................................ 53 the procession........................................................... 55 the grove complex................................................... 60 the meeting before the pavilion............................ 64 the pergola scene..................................................... 70 the hippopotamus hunt........................................... 70 the festival................................................................. 71 the location ............................ ................................... 75 Conclusion.................................................................... 77 Chapter V The function of the Nile Mosaic.............................. 80 Chapter VI The workshop............................................................ 91 Chapter VII The cultural background........................................ 96