The terracotta statuettes and religious private practices in Graeco-Roman

Abstract

The terracotta statuettes constitute an important material documentation for the study of the religion in Graeco-Roman Egypt. Produced in series, through molds, they were intended, above all, to domestic cult and private religious practices. We will deal in this article with some representations of Isis and of Harpocrates, that are directly related to the subject of the fertility, either human or agrarian. Our aim is to show that these representations, their outward expression in Greek artistic forms nothwithstanding, are supported by native religious tradition, being a focus of resistance of the traditional Egyptian culture, and working as propitiatory illustrations of abundance and prosperity as much in this world as in the Beyond.