Statue of a priestess
Archaeological museum of ancient Messene
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Statue of a priestess
3rd century
Archaeological museum of ancient Messene
Asclepieion, Oikos of Artemis Phosphoros (Oikos Κ), ancient Messene
Statue
MarbleHeight: 84 cm
Marble statue of a priestess, standing on an integrated oval plinth. She wears a long girded chiton, with a deep fold and a himation over it. The head and arms are missing, having probably been inset, as shown by the sockets and bronze joints. The figure has been attributed to the type of the Deomeni (the supplicant). A roman, 3rd cent. CE, copy of a 5th cent. BCE prototype in the type of Nemesis from Ramnous, Attica. Three statues of priestesses of Orthia were found in 1962/1963 in the Artemision of the Asclepieion . They are 2nd cent. CE copies of common statue types of the 4th cent. BCE. According to the inscriptions on the cylindrical bases (preserved in situ in the sanctuary) they depict Kallida daughter of Aristocles, Eirana, daughter of Nymphodotos and Claudia Sitiris. They wear a foot-long chiton and a himation and were holding boxes of incense in their outstretched left hand. The statues of the priestesses were dedicated in the temple (after they had successfully completed their service) by the “holy elders of Oupesia”, a council of elders responsible for running the sanctuary and organising the rituals.