Pomegranates: What a Varied Voyage They Took

Webb, Virginia E. S. (2022) Pomegranates: What a Varied Voyage They Took. In: Aegyptus et Pannonia VIII. : Acta Symposii anno 2021. Magyar-Egyiptomi Baráti Társaság, Ókori Egyiptomi Bizottság, Budapest, pp. 311-347. ISBN 978-615-6571-02-1

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Abstract

As a fruit with a suggestive shape and contents, the pomegranate takes on a wide range of meanings. Its appearance in the Ancient World embodiesfertility and feminine powers. In Ancient Egypt and the Near East, and in the wider Mediterranean world – influenced by these centres – plastic forms, jewellery, vase and wall painting persistently employ the fruit as the carrier of such meanings. Later it is adopted by the Christian church, and by Islam, and becomes a powerful symbol of world domination, and the membership of the church. However, now I want to concentrate on its use and meaning in Mycenaean and Archaic Greece, the sources of its derivation, and specifically its importance in female jewellery, faience and clay containers, and in the worship of certain goddesses. Finds made at the Heraion of Samos, and the temple of Hera in Southern Italy at Foca del Sele, show that objects in clay and wood, glass and faience, in the shape of the pomegranate were offered to the deity, and at Foca del Sele the Catholic congregation still worships “La Madonna del Granato”. I hope to show how far back such usage goes and from where the influences come.

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