Fresco of Tyche, Goddess of Fortune, Found at Sussita

From Haifa University's website
Goddess of Fortune found at Sussita
September 16, 2010

Tyche fresco.  Hmmm, those eyes - they
don't look so happy. Maybe she's seeing
bad fortune...

A wall painting (fresco) of Tyche, the Greek goddess of fortune, was exposed during the 11th season of excavation at the Sussita site, on the east shore of the Sea of Galilee, which was conducted by researchers of the University of Haifa. Another female figure was found during this season, of a maenad, one of the companions of the wine god Dionysus.

“It is interesting to see that although the private residence in which two goddesses were found was in existence during the Byzantine period, when Christianity negated and eradicated idolatrous cults, one can still find clear evidence of earlier beliefs,” said Prof. Arthur Segal and Dr. Michael Eisenberg of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology at the University of Haifa, who headed the excavation. The city of Sussita is located within the Sussita National Park under the management of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, which has accompanied and assisted the excavation teams this season in enabling the continuation of excavation work and the conservation of the archaeological finds.

During the course of the excavations conducted by the team from the University of Concordia under the direction of Prof. Mark Schuler, in a residence that appeared, by the quality and complexity of its construction, to belong to one of the city notables, the excavators reached an inner courtyard with a small fountain at its center. Near the fountain they found a fresco of Tyche, who was apparently deified as the city’s goddess of fortune. Her head is crowned, her youthful gaze is focused, and she has abundant brown hair beneath her crown. According to the researchers, artistic analysis has indicated that the wall painting may be dated to the end of the Roman period or the beginning of the Byzantine period (3rd-4th centuries C.E.).

The goddess Tyche was not the only mythological figure to be discovered in this compound. Found on a bone plate was a wonderfully etched relief of a maenad, one of a group of female followers of Dionysus, the god of wine. According to Greek mythology, the maenads accompanied Dionysus with frenzied dances while holding a thyrsus, a device symbolizing sexuality, fertility, and the male sexual organ associated with sexual pleasure. The maenad of Sussita was also depicted as being in the midst of a frenzied dance. The researchers believe that both manifestations of the cult of Graeco-Roman female goddesses can be dated to the end of the Roman period, but there is no doubt that the residence in which they were found continued to exist even after Christianity triumphed over idolatry.

Pssst - hey buddy, wanna buy a headless goddess?

From Newsantique.com
(Image: Headless Tyche sculpture for sale)

RARE ROMAN STATUE IS EXTRAORDINARY HIGHLIGHT OF CHRISTIE'S ANTIQUITIES SPRING SALE

On June 4, Christie’s New York is pleased to offer an exquisite Roman statue of the goddess Tyche (estimate on request).
Publish Date: 2008-03-04

Antiquities
June 4, 2008

New York – On June 4, Christie’s New York is pleased to offer an
exquisite Roman statue of the goddess Tyche (estimate on request). Standing 31 ½ inches high, and executed in the rarest of materials: porphyry. The statue was formerly in the private collection of Dr. Elie Borowski, collector and connoisseur of ancient art, who acquired it in 1967. It was on loan to the sculpture museum Liebighaus in Frankfurt, Germany from 1980-1986, and later exhibited at the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto from 1986-1991.

“This is the most spectacular and beautiful sculpture that I haveever had the pleasure to work with,” says G. Max Bernheimer,International Head of the Antiquities department. “The fact that it’s still in impeccable condition,makes it all the more exceptional.” [Impeccable condition - it's fricking head is missing, dude!]

Porphyry
Porphyry was highly regarded for its color, since purple was symbolic of high rank and authority.The stone was quarried in Egypt’s eastern desert, near Mons Porphyrites, known today as GebelKokham. The raw material was transported overland to Qena, ancient Kainopolis, on the Nile, andthen by boat north to Alexandria and then on to Rome. During the Roman Period, the quarrieswere traditionally understood to have been under the direct control of the emperor. The stone wasonly sporadically used during the 1st Century A.D., reaching its first peak of use during the reigns ofthe emperors Trajan 98-117 A.D. and Hadrian 117-138 A.D. and again in the 4th Century. It wasused for statuary, architectural elements including columns and floor paving, decorative urns andbasins, and for imperial sarcophagi. Most porphyry statuary, as with the present example, wasfinished as a composite work of art, with the head, hands and feet made from a contrasting material,usually white marble.

The Goddess
Tyche was a goddess who presided over the prosperity of the city, bringing its citizens, with hope,good fortune. The most renowned sculpture of Tyche from the ancient world was a colossal bronzestatue by the Greek artist Eutychides, a pupil of Lysippos, created for the city of Antioch in the early3rd century B.C. The Tyche of Antioch was a personification of the city. Although the originaldoes not survive, its existence is known from ancient literary sources and is recognized in copies invarious media, including small bronzes, reliefs, coins and gems, and most famously in marble now atthe Vatican Museum. All show the goddess seated on a rock, symbolic of Mount Silpius, with herfeet resting on the river Orontes, depicted as a swimming youth. As most cities had their ownTyche, the topographical details of Eutychides’ original could be appropriated to suit any location.On account of the material from which it is sculpted, this porphyry Tyche must have been anImperial commission, inspired by the work of Eutychides, and was perhaps a benevolent gift to oneof the great cities of the Empire or an important local leader.