Heirlooms, Aphidrumata, and the Foundation of Cyrene

Among the nearly 4,500 terracotta figurines discovered in the extramural sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone at Cyrene, Libya, six fragments stand out due to their early date, placing them at the beginning of the 6th century BCE. This predates the founding of Cyrene around 631 BCE by approximately 50 years and the establishment of the extramural sanctuary around 600 BCE by about 75 years. The antiquity of these figurines raises significant questions about their origins and potential functions within the sanctuary, challenging existing assumptions about the timeline of religious practices in early Cyrene.

Uhlenbrock, Jaimee P. (2015). Heirlooms, Aphidrumata, and the Foundation of Cyrene. Figurines Grecques En Contexte, 143–156. https://doi.org/10.4000/books.septentrion.61539