Two marble statue fragments of Aphrodite newly discovered at the Decapolis Gadara, north-west Jordan

Abstract

The lower part of a standing female statue (torso) and an arm fragment, both of marble, were uncovered at Gadara, Jordan. The donation inscription on the pedestal firmly names the goddess Aphrodite. This standardized iconographic scheme of Aphrodite is called ‘Type Syracuse/Landolina’. The palaeography of the Greek letters implies a date toward the end of the 2nd/beginning of the 3rd century AD, while the quality of the sculptural workmanship and the technical treatment of the drapery suggest an earlier date after the mid 2nd century AD. The older statue has been re-used as a donation by a Gadarene citizen, possibly in the context of the nymphaeum. The arm fragment, uncovered about five metres from the torso, is decorated with a piece of drapery. Initially it was suggested that the arm came from the torso. A multi-method archaeometric investigation (X-ray diffraction, petrography, trace element and isotope analysis) was undertaken to determine the quarry origins of the marble fragments. The results show the use of Greek Paros-2 (Lakkoi, Paros Island) marble for the torso, and Penteli (Mount Pentelikon, Attica) marble for the arm, refuting the argument that the arm belonged to the Aphrodite torso.

Keywords:

• Marble statue
• Aphrodite
• quarry origin
• Parian and Penteli marble
• Gadara
• Jordan

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the Department of Antiquities of Jordan for the permission to study and publish the statue. We acknowledge Professor Walter Prochaska for the chemical analysis of the samples, Professor Donato Attanasio and Professor Lorenzo Lazzarini for their helpful and valuable suggestions.

Notes

1 Weber (2002: 266, no. IS 14); for another reading of the patronyme see Gatier et al. (2017).

2 We owe thanks to Professor Julien Aliquot (Lyon) for an epigraphic rechecking of our first reading of the Greek inscription following the discovery of the fragment.

3 Weber (2002: 266, commentary to no. IS 14).

4 Beirut, National Museum, inv. 2129, found in the French excavation directed by J. Lauffray in 1940 at the nymphaeum of Byblos (Jidejian and Halard-Jidéjian, D. 1977: fig. 244); Doumet-Serhal et al. 1988: 98 Nr. 57; 178).

5 Actual location unknown, found in the hypocausts of the eastern baths at Scythopolis (Tzafrir 2008: 136–37, fig. 13).

6 Beth Shemesh, Storage of the Israel Antiquities Authority, found in a deposit of broken marble sculptures in an ashlar dump inside the entrance of a tripartite building atop the elevated terrace in the sanctuary of Pan, Stratum IX, terminus ante quem: 9th century. Friedland (2012: 98–102, no. 11 figs 38–41).

7 C. Maderna, in Bol (1998) Villa Albani V, 414–17 nr. 921 with notes 4–5 (further examples in Rome, Museo Termini, Cherchel, and the Vatican) pl. 189–190.

8 Agnello (1971: 83–109); Kaltsas (2002: 256 no. 534); LIMC II 1 (1984) 77–79 Nr. 667–686.

9 Arachne no. 18302. Objektdatenbank des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts (DAI) und des Archäologischen Instituts der Universität zu Köln, administriert von R. Foertsch: https://arachne.uni-koeln.de/drupal/

10 Beirut, National Museum, inv. 3300, found in the environment of the medieval sea castle: Doumet-Serhal et al. (1988, 96 no. 55; 178); Decrouez et al. (2010: 355–66); Ibid., inv. 2139.

11 Maderna loc. Cit. 298–299, no. 771 pl. 135.