The Performance of Childcare: Ambiguity and Idealization in Terracotta Figurines depicting Women with Children in Hellenistic Babylonia
This article investigates terracotta figurines representing women with children from Hellenistic Babylonia. Evidence from the objects themselves as well as their archaeological contexts suggests that these figurines were intended for use in public spaces, possibly temples, where these women were rol...
Shranjeno v:
| izdano v: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/pallas, |
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| Glavni avtor: | |
| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Jezik: | Anglais |
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Pallas
2026
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| Online dostop: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Izvleček: | This article investigates terracotta figurines representing women with children from Hellenistic Babylonia. Evidence from the objects themselves as well as their archaeological contexts suggests that these figurines were intended for use in public spaces, possibly temples, where these women were role models in the performance of ideal relationships with, and care for, children. The ambiguity inherent to miniaturization was utilized to leave the identity of the woman and child unspecified, facilitating cross-cultural dialogue and religious plurality. These figurines were diverse and experimental in the Seleucid period, but became more limited in the Parthian period, as these objects embodied a restricted ideal type of childcare performed by women. |
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