Asseria, Vol. 2 No. 2, 2004.
Original scientific paper
CEILING RELIEF SLAB FROM ASSERIA
Nenad Cambi
; University of Zadar
Abstract
In the Late Antique ramparts (a kind of reinforcement of the town fortifications of ancient Asseria) a fragment of the ceiling slab was found (154 cm long, 89.5 cm wide, and 23.8 cm thick). It shows the Gorgon head with snakes in her hair in the central tondo (fig. 1). The first snake’s head is on the top, while the other is below the chin where the snakes were bound in a Heracles’ knot. Eight panels (each containing a flower) are radially arranged around the central tondo. The original appearance of the slab is easy to reconstruct, especially its decoration. The only problem is whether the slab was square (fig. 2) or rectangular (fig. 3). But its shape must have been square since three slabs were the segments of the same ceiling. It measures 2.70 x 2.70 m and covers the surface of 7.29 square metres. Bearing in mind that the Gorgon head was a prominent funerary motif, the slab must have been a part of a Roman aedicula or some other type of monumental grave. Two fragments from Istria in the Archaeological Museum of Istria in Pula bear also similar decoration of ceiling. They show only square or rhombic panels in the centre. There are disputes in scholarly literature concerning the meaning of Gorgon masks in funerary context. Some scholars believe that Gorgon was a symbol of the moon-light in the underground world, while the others assume that it was the sun light in the same world. However, Gorgon was so widely spread funerary motif that it might have only simple apothropaic meaning. [...]
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
24533
URI
Publication date:
26.2.2004.
Visits: 2.112 *