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Document Details : Title: Un témoignage aussi direct qu'inattendu sur Ophellas de Cyrène Author(s): PERDU, Olivier Journal: Ancient Society Volume: 51 Date: 2021 Pages: 15-49 DOI: 10.2143/AS.51.0.3290243 Abstract : A statue base, datable to the fourth century BC thanks to epigraphic criteria, bears the name of a 'great chief of the Libyans' Awferes. One can recognize in this name and title the general Ophellas whom the satrap Ptolemy sent in 322 to Cyrene in order to take power over that area. The texts of the statue inform us that it was intended to take place in the temple of Sekhmet and Heka in Per-Manou/Kôm Firîn, on the western fringes of the Delta. Assuming that Ophellas began his travel from Memphis, we can think that the statue was dedicated on his way to Cyrenaica. The titles of Ophellas and the formula asking the deity to safeguard him in his position give details on the way this operation in Cyrenaica was carried out. In a more general perspective, the monument offers an example of the way in which a Greek immigrant might adopt a trait of Pharaonic culture at the beginning of Ptolemaic rule. |
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