Egypt in the Roman imagination: A study of <italic>aegyptiaca</italic> from Pompeii.

Abstract

This thesis develops the concept of <italic>aegyptiaca</italic> as a framework for interpreting both Egyptian objects imported to Roman Italy and objects of Roman manufacture in styles that were perceived to be Egyptian by their creators. This framework enables me to study both categories of material together within their Roman contexts, recognizing that for their viewers both imported objects and those made in Italy catered to the same taste for the exotic and foreign. By avoiding the existing problem of treating Roman-made objects primarily as poor quality imitation of Egyptian materials, the thesis examines the broader significance of both kinds of objects for a viewership composed of men and women of a wide range of social stations. I begin by uncovering Roman attitudes toward Egypt, as evidenced by literature relating to Roman tourism in Egypt. I then define and develop the concept of <italic>aegyptiaca</italic>, looking at ways in which it can help refine our understanding of how Romans in Italy, and specifically in Pompeii, would have understood and engaged with artifacts they believed to exhibit and Egyptian style. I examine the display of <italic>aegyptiaca</italic> I a range of contexts, from private gardens to public temples. I then focus on especially informative context, the Temple of Isis in Pompeii, from which there is rich evidence for the display of aegyptiaca to male and female viewers of different social classes. I conclude that Romans in Italy embraced seemingly inconsistent notions about the land of Egypt, their understandings largely created from their own imaginations. Egypt was admired for its antiquity, yet reputed to harbor fantastic animals and barbaric peoples. In keeping with such, often contradictory, preconceptions, Egyptian imports and objects made in Italy in Egyptian styles were inherently multivalent for their diverse viewers. As the decorative scheme of the Temple of Isis shows, both types of aegyptiaca engaged in a subtle dialogue with each other, drawing on and reinforcing Roman preconceptions of an imagined Egypt.