Antiquities from Cyrenaica in the Stanisław Tekieli Collection at the National Museum in Warsaw

Abstract

The Stanisław Tekieli collection from the National Museum in Warsaw is exceptional for its artefacts from Cyernaica – a great rarity in Polish museums. Comprising the set are 27 objects, among which clay wares form a decided majority. The terracotta figurines constituting the collection’s most interesting component include figurines of women – seated or standing (some headless), as well as heads or upper bodies alone. Though the context of their discovery and acquisition remains uncertain, their characteristics point to a provenance at the extramural sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone at Cyrene. These as well as the other artefacts are likely connected with rituals performed by women in honour of the two goddesses during the annual festival of Thesmophoria. All of the discussed antiquities, those imported as well as those produced locally, attest to the vast trade network that connected Cyrenaica with other Mediterranean regions from the Archaic period to the era of Roman rule.