4526 - Tunisia, El Djem, a limestone stele, 2nd–3rd century CE; On this stele—a large standing stone with a triangular top—we see

Tunisia, El Djem, a limestone stele, 2nd–3rd century CE; On this stele—a large standing stone with a triangular top—we see three distinct relief scenes. In the center, standing on the ground, is a woman facing forward with a broad, flat face and hair combed tightly back. She holds a pomegranate in her left hand and three distinct objects in her right, which are difficult to identify. In Greek and Roman mythology, the pomegranate was associated with fertility and the enduring nature of marriage (Yılmaz, Akkemik, and Karagöz 2013). She is depicted wearing a tunic and mantle, their folds rendered through carved lines across the stone surface, and is adorned with earrings and a necklace. Her large, almond-shaped eyes catch the viewer’s gaze. Her nose has been damaged. To her right, in the top corner, stands a putto in a palm tree holding a wreath in his left hand. To her left, a floating putto holds palm branches. In the upper panel, above this scene, sits a male figure facing forward; he has a broad face framed by curls and a full beard, with his left hand behind his head and his right hand, possibly holding a cornucopia (a symbol of plenty consisting of a goat’s horn overflowing with flowers, fruit, and corn) resting on his knee. His upper body is nude, and a mantle is draped around the back of his head and his lower body. He is depicted seated with his legs spread apart and wearing sandals. The figure represents Saturn. A palmette appears behind his head (an ornamental motif based on the spreading fronds of the palm tree). Saturn was a particularly important deity in Roman North Africa, and his image appears on North African stelae (Schörner 2007). Saturn’s cult developed from the earlier worship of the Punic and indigenous god Baal (Wilson 2004). On either side stands a horseman holding a whip and leading his horse. They are dressed in short cloaks and pointed caps (the Dioscuri). The Dioscuri were twin demigods, protectors of sailors and patrons of horsemen and races, depicted as a pair of naked youths wearing travelers’ capes and egg-shaped caps, with a horse or horse’s head by their side (Theoi Greek Mythology, “Dioscuri Cult”). The lower scene depicts a bovine, with a boy in front holding a sheaf of grain(?) (Rijksmuseum van Oudheden 1975, object 90). Roman funerary monuments should not be understood solely as grave markers, but also as material carriers of memoria. The monument served as a means of ensuring the deceased’s continued presence among the living (Schörner 2007). h. 90, w. 33.5, and d. 10 cm. Provenance: Collection Zaadhof Sr., The Hague, Netherlands, and J. Zaadhof, The Hague, Netherlands, by descent. Published and exhibited: Rijksmuseum van Oudheden. Classical Art from Private Collections: Dutch Collections 1575–1975. Exhibition catalog no. 10. Leiden: Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, 1975, cat. 90, with photograph. Exhibited in 1975 at the Rijksmuseum voor Oudheden, Leiden, the Netherlands. [1]