Released: November 1, 2011
Lincoln, Neb. - The Lincoln-Omaha Society of the Archaeological Institute of America's next lecture on archaeology for the 2011-2012 season is Nancy Serwint, professor of art history at Arizona State University. Serwint's lecture, entitled "Aphrodite and Her Near Eastern Sisters: The Generation of the Goddess on the Island of Cyprus," will take place on Monday, Nov. 7 at 7:30 p.m. in Richards Hall Rm. 15. The lecture is free and open to the public.
The lecture will discuss how the inhabitants of ancient Cyprus worshipped Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of sexuality.
The goddess worshipped in Cyprus, variously known from inscriptional sources as "Wanassa" or "Paphia," is linked by Homer to a Greek tradition of the divinity who explicitly embodied sexuality and sensual pleasures. In the Greek world, the goddess is known as the powerful Aphrodite. The character of the Cypriot goddess, however, was of abundant complexity and the various aspects of her persona argue for influence from Near Eastern sources-primarily the Sumerian Inanna and her subsequent manifestations as Ishtar and the Canaanite/Phoenician goddesses Astarte, Anat, and even Asherah.
Examination of textual material as well as select iconographic representations suggest three primary spheres of influence which these goddesses encompassed: sexuality, fertility, and ferocity. Though decidedly female in the Near Eastern literary and artistic tradition, these goddesses reflected a gamut of roles associated with women and engendered the Cypriot goddess with a spectrum of qualities through which she could be revered for her infinite variety.
Serwint teaches ancient art and archaeology with a focus on the cultures of the eastern Mediterranean basin. She received her Ph.D. in Classical Archaeology from Princeton University in 1987. As a classical archaeologist, she has worked on excavations in Sicily (Morgantina), in the Athenian Agora, at ancient Corinth, and since 1983 at ancient Marion/Arsinoe in Cyprus. Her research focus has been varied with investigation and publications dealing with ancient athleticism and athletic representations in the Greek sculptural repertoire and gender issues in Cyprus and the ancient Near East.
Serwint's lecture is sponsored by the University of NebraskaÂLincoln, the Department of Art and Art History at UNL and the Lincoln-Omaha Society of the Archaeological Institute of America.
Richards Hall is located at Stadium Drive and T sts. on the UNL city campus. Public parking is available in the parking garage just west of Memorial Stadium.
Future AIA lectures
- March 12 - Jane Carter, Tulane University
Mon., 7:30 p.m. - Richards Hall, Lincoln
"Ancient Paros and the Emergent Polis: Evidence for Societal Change from Material Culture" - April 15 - Corine Wegener, Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Sun., 2:00 p.m. - Joslyn Art Museum, 2200 Dodge St., Omaha
"Hell Hath No Fury: How the Looting of the Iraq Museum Changed the Way Archaeologists Think About Armed Conflict"