Znaleziska zabytków egipskich na terenie Polski

Abstrakt

Zagadnienie znalezisk egipskich z terenów Polski było przedmiotem zainteresowań badaczy - amatorów jeszcze na początku bieżącego wieku, z czasem stając się dziedziną badań specjalistów zajmujących się oddziaływaniem kultów orientalnych poza granicami Imperium Romanum, czy też przebiegiem starożytnych szlaków handlowych. Parę dziesiątków lat upłynęło już od etapu bezkrytycznego podejścia do każdego „znaleziska" aż po bardziej racjonalną analizę przedmiotów spotykanych w tak znacznej odległości od ośrodków orientalnych. W tym kontekście aktualny stan tzw. bazy źródłowej jest całkowicie odmienny w porównaniu ze stanem z lat 50- tych i 60-tych, gdy tworzone były klasyczne zestawienia importów z naszych terenów.1<br>FINDS OF EGYPTIAN SCRABS IN POLAND. This article discusses the Egyptian artefacts found in Poland, mainly scarabaei. Rendering of all the findings is naturalistic. The division line of the back is marked: elytra and protonum are clearly visible. In all the cases the surface of elytra is covered with parallel slits. Protonum is thickened in a characteristic way, especially in the objects found in Zadowice and Leśno. The details of the heads and clypei are now rubbed off, nonetheless, they were probably also painted in a naturalistic way. The flat, distinct bases were surrounded by engraved circles (the scarabaei from Zadowice and Sadzarzewice). On the surface of both scarabaei mentioned above were engraved marks, most probably representing the outline of a stretched cobra. The base of the scarabaeus from Leśna, however, was totally flat and without any marks. Basing on these characteristics (dimensions, material, a colour of glaze, a character of rendering, marks on the bases) some of the artefacts mentioned above may be classified as belonging to the group close to the faience scarabaei common on the northern coast of the Black Sea. Our findings belong to the type 50 c, singled out by E.M. Alekseieva and dating back to the period from the 1st century B.C. to the 2nd century A.D., although the objects found in this area are often dated to the 1st century A.D. The scarabaei in question come from northern and western areas occupied by the cultures of the Roman Period and were found on the cemeteries of the Przeworsk culture (both artefacts from Zadowice), the Wielbark culture (the scarabaeus from Leśno) and the Luboszyce culture (the scarabaeus from Sadzarzewice). All the findings were dated to the period from the second half of the 1st century A.D. to the first half of the 2nd century A.D. (from the phase B1 to the developed phase B2 of the Roman Period). The scarabaei with similar features (with the base ornamented with the analogous mark) are known from the peripheral territories of the Roman Empire, where they were produced as very popular copies of Egyptian articles. They found their way to our country as barter, most probably through the amber route in the first centuries A.D.