The manufactured nature of Ptolemaic royal representation and the question of agency : an analysis of the portraiture of Queen ArsinoĂ" II
This thesis examines the portraiture of the Ptolemaic queen ArsinoĂ" II (lived ca. 318- 268 BC), which appears on a variety of media including: coinage, intaglios, oinochoai (a type of wine jug), statuettes, sculpture-in-the-round, relief stelai, and temple reliefs. The overall aim of this study is to reveal the agency behind the portraiture of ArsinoĂ" (labelled the âqueen-imageâ) so as to show that her image was a fabrication of the Ptolemaic administration. In order to demonstrate this, a unique methodological approach is used that comprises elements from semiotics, Alfred Gellâs agency theory, and Richard Dyerâs star theory. This new theory is applied to the media portraying the queen that is collected into an accompanying catalogue composed of eighty-one entries, which includes both Greek and Egyptian-style representations for a holistic approach to the evidence. The material depicting the queen-image encompasses a large span of time: from the early 3rd into the 1st century BC. The first two chapters focus on the iconographic components making up ArsinoĂ"âs portraits and categorise these elements based on the type of information â personal or public â that they convey about the queen. The
Newman, Alana Nicole
ArsinoĂ« II ; portraiture ; Ptolemaic dynasty ; Hellenistic queens ; Egypt
The manufactured nature of Ptolemaic royal representation and the question of agency : an analysis of the portraiture of Queen ArsinoĂ" II. This thesis examines the portraiture of the Ptolemaic queen ArsinoĂ" II (lived ca. 318- 268 BC), which appears on a variety of media including: coinage, intaglios, oinochoai (a type of wine jug), statuettes, sculpture-in-the-round, relief stelai, and temple reliefs. The overall aim of this study is to reveal the agency behind the portraiture of ArsinoĂ" (labelled the âqueen-imageâ) so as to show that her image was a fabrication of the Ptolemaic administration. In order to demonstrate this, a unique methodological approach is used that comprises elements from semiotics, Alfred Gellâs agency theory, and Richard Dyerâs star theory. This new theory is applied to the media portraying the queen that is collected into an accompanying catalogue composed of eighty-one entries, which includes both Greek and Egyptian-style representations for a holistic approach to the evidence. The material depicting the queen-image encompasses a large span of time: from the early 3rd into the 1st century BC. The first two chapters focus on the iconographic components making up ArsinoĂ"âs portraits and categorise these elements based on the type of information â personal or public â that they convey about the queen. The
nature ptolemaic royal representation question agency analysis portraiture queen examine portraiture ptolemaic queen live appear variety medium include coinage type wine sculpture the round relief temple relief overall_aim study reveal agency behind portraiture label queen image show image ptolemaic administration order unique methodological use comprise element semiotics agency theory star theory new theory_apply medium portray queen collect accompany catalogue compose eighty entry include greek egyptian style representation holistic evidence material depict queen image encompasses large span_time first_two focus iconographic component make portrait categorise element base type information personal public convey queen