Greek Hellenistic jewelry from Delos, 1st century BCE

Gold jewelry that was found in two houses in the Insula of the Jewels, Delos, 1st century BCE.

“The island was attacked and devastated twice – first by Mithradates the King of Pontus in 88 BC and again in 69 BC by the pirates of Athenadoros. The treasure which is likely to have been imported from Egypt, was buried on one of those occasions.” [M. Jackson]

gold medallion inlaid with garnets and blue glass; diameter 2.8 cm; 2nd-1st century BCE
Delos, Insula of the jewellery.
Delos, Archaeological Museum B10412.
Complete, slightly misshapen on the circumference.
Disc-shaped pendant with a navel-like boss at the centre embellished with tiny filigree scales and a semiprecious stone set in mount with triangular finials. The boss is encircled by a band of smooth wires twisted in opposite directions.
This band is attached to a crescent [lunula]-shaped sheet of square cross-section, decorated with three mounts set with glass cabochons: one red at the base of the suspension loop and two blue on its lower part.
The pendant could be what is termed an aspidion or aspidiski (small shield), a description given to jewellery or jewellery components in the lists of votive offerings to the Delian sanctuary [Athanasoulis D. et al]

Necklace
2nd-1st c. BC
Delos, Insula of the jewellery.
Delos, Archaeological Museum B10336.
L. 43 cm., th. 0.4 cm., h. of pendant 3.1 cm.
Gold. Intact.
Composed of a chain from which hangs a lunate pendant fashioned from sheet gold of rhomboid cross-section, with globular terminals. At the centre is a suspension loop with a globule at its base.
Lunate pieces of jewellery are encountered in Greece during the seventh century BC, and were fashionable from the second half of the fourth century BC into Roman times. The crescent functioned also as an amulet, which was hung around children’s necks, as Hesychius notes in the entry for “σεληνίς” (selenis): “amulet which is worn by children”.
Delian inscriptions mention lunate ornaments made of a variety of materials: silver crescents, crescents as necklace elements along with other elements, crescents studded with stones. [Athanasoulis D. et al.]

Almost complete, slightly chipped.
Bipartite earrings. The upper part comprises a circular bezel set with a semiprecious stone and crowned by a glass Isiac crown. The bezel and the base of the crown are decorated with granulation. The suspension loop is on the back. Suspended from silver wire in the lower part are pendants in the form of Erotes/Cupids, facing in opposite directions.
The Erotes wear a Phrygian cap, a himation draped over the back and high boots (embades), in the familiar type of Eros-Attis, particularly common in this period. The first figure holds and possibly tunes a kithara. Although the object held by the second figure has not survived, a
musical instrument cannot be ruled out [Athanasoulis D. et al.]

Pair of earrings
Second half of 2nd – early 1st c. BC
Delos, Insula of the jewellery.
Delos, Archaeological Museum Β10334, Β10335.
H. 3.6 cm., max. w. 3 cm., th. of hoops 0.2 cm.
Gold, semiprecious stones, pearls, glass.

Missing from one earring is the pearl crowning the lynx.
Hoop earrings on the front terminal of which is a cast lynx head supported on a gold plaque and crowned by a pearl. The front of the hoop is set with beads of semiprecious stone and glass, framed by small and medium-size pearls affixed to gold studs, creating a multi-coloured effect. The back of the hoop is decorated with pearls, glass beads and gold discs with granulation, while a segment of it is wound
around with wire.
The use of pearls, semiprecious stones and glass beads, typical of jewellery of the period, creates a luxurious variation of the usual type of hoop earrings with animal-head terminals. Their presence in one of the hoards unearthed in the Insula of the jewellery allows us to date these securely to the late second century BC [Athanasoulis D. et al.]

Pair of earrings
Second half of 2nd c. BC
Delos, Insula of the jewellery.
Delos, Archaeological Museum Β10342, Β10343.
H. 5.5 cm., w. 2.7 cm., th. 0.3 cm.
Gold, semiprecious stones, pearls, glass.
One pearl is missing.
Bipartite earrings. Attached to the front of the hoop is a hammered horseshoe-shaped plate set with semiprecious stones framed by pearls affixed to gold studs, from which hang pendants in the form of Erotes/Cupids, in the type of Eros-Attis. The figures hold different objects: one carries an amphora and the other an animal. The use of multiple stones and various materials to create a polychrome effect is typical of the period.
Similar earrings are known from many sites, including the Antikythera shipwreck, where the Erotes hold musical instruments, and in Thessaly. The type is sometimes attributed to workshops in Syria, mainly due to the presence of Eros-Attis and his links to Eastern female deities, and sometimes to Alexandria [Athanasoulis D. et al.]

Earring
Second half of 2nd – early 1st c. BC
Delos, Theatre Quarter.
Delos, Archaeological Museum A297.
Diam. of hoop 2.9 cm., h. of figure 2.9 cm.
Gold. Intact.
Earring with suspension hoop and a miniature figure of Harpokrates. The god is represented naked, with the pschent, the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, on his head. In the right hand he holds the cornucopia filled with fruits, while the left hand is pressed to his lips in the characteristic gesture demanding silence (Plutarch, Isis and Osiris, 378 b-c). He is accompanied by a small dog and an owl. Pieces of jewellery of the same type, in gold and in silver, are known from elsewhere on Delos, as well as from Italy.
The Egyptian deity Harpokrates was very popular throughout the Hellenistic world and not least on Delos, where Egyptian cults flourished from the third and mainly during the second century BC. His figure was often used to decorate small objects, such as jewellery and amulets, which were probably of protective and apotropaic character [Athanasoulis D. et al.]