The Masks of Ortheia

Abstract

Almost all the terracotta masks excavated from the Sanctuary of Ortheia at Sparta can be assigned to two types: grotesquely furrowed demons and idealized heroes. The prototypes for these two categories are traced through Old Babylonian, Canaanite, Cypriot, Phoenician, and Punic examples. The contexts of the Near Eastern and Punic masks, mostly sanctuaries, show that the deities associated with masks are a female fertility goddess and her consort. This goddess may be identified as a West Semitic goddess named Asherah or Tanit. Similarities between the Near Eastern and Punic cults and the Spartan cult suggest that the cult of this goddess may have been established at Sparta by Phoenicians. Ortheia may be the Greek name for Asherah-Tanit.