<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?><pres:item xmlns:pres="http://kulturarvsdata.se/presentation#"><pres:version>1.3.0</pres:version><pres:buildDate>2026-06-21</pres:buildDate><pres:itemLabel>sculpture, fragment, skulptur</pres:itemLabel><pres:dataQuality>Rådata</pres:dataQuality><pres:id>3205525</pres:id><pres:service>objekt</pres:service><pres:organization xml:lang="en">Statens museer för världskultur - Medelhavsmuseet</pres:organization><pres:organizationShort>SMVK-MM</pres:organizationShort><pres:type xml:lang="en">Föremål</pres:type><pres:entityUri>http://kulturarvsdata.se/SMVK-MM/objekt/3205525</pres:entityUri><pres:idLabel>So. 0602</pres:idLabel><pres:description xml:lang="en">Female terracotta head. Blurred facial features and no visible mouth. Head wearing a polos, round ear rings and a plain veil without any folding.</pres:description><pres:content>So. 0602, SCE 1930., Previously unpublished. Inventory number given by Anna Abenius during her work with her paper Ten terracotta heads from Soloi in Cyprus. Description and Analysis, C-uppsats, Stockholms universitet 2001., Broken off below the neck. Broken polos., H. 3.8 cm, W. 2.6 cm., Afrodite 1, room 49. Found in a pit under the floor., https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/JAFrAnAAlpDlCQ?childAssetId=bAGceX5jocYXXg, Cyprus, Antika mysterier, Litet huvud i terrakotta., Cypern, Kybele 1, Text kommer, The cult of Meter was introduced to Athens either at the end of the sixth century or, more probably, in the later fifth century BCE. The temple of Meter, the Metroon, was established in the Athenian Agora and became the location of the city archive. The cult statue in Athens depicted the goddess seated with a lion and holding a tympanum, both symbols of her connections to the wild and to noisy worship. There was an Athenian festival in honour of her, called the Galaxia, named after a kind of porridge made from barley that was eaten during the festivities. It is not known how the Galaxia was celebrated, but there are scenes on Attic vases from the early fifth century BCE that appear to depict a small-scale ecstatic cult of Meter. One of the scenes seemingly depicts Meter, seated in front of worshippers dancing wildly to the sound of music.

These worshippers are possibly a depiction of the Corybantes, members of an ecstatic cult associated with Meter. They are mentioned quite frequently in Athenian literature from the fifth and fourth centuries BCE, suggesting that the cult was well established. Plato describes the performance of a thronesis (enthronement) around a person about to be initiated into the cult, along with dancing and music. The Corybantes are sometimes associated with madness, but more often, however, the verb korybantizo (‘acting the Corybant’), is used simply to mean wild dancing. It is unknown where Corybantic rites took place in Athens, although they appear to have been held in private rather than in public.

This terracotta head probably belongs to a votive figurine depicting the Mother, with traces of a polos and a plain veil. The head was recovered from Temple A of Soli during the Swedish Cyprus Expedition in 1930.</pres:content><pres:context><pres:event xml:lang="en">Brukad</pres:event><pres:timeLabel xml:lang="en">C.H. (325-50 BC)</pres:timeLabel></pres:context><pres:context><pres:event xml:lang="en">Funnen</pres:event><pres:placeLabel xml:lang="en">Europa, Cypern, Soli</pres:placeLabel></pres:context><pres:image><pres:mediaType>image/jpeg</pres:mediaType><pres:src type="thumbnail">https://collections.smvk.se/carlotta-mhm/web/image/tn/3960097/image.jpg</pres:src><pres:src type="lowres">https://collections.smvk.se/carlotta-mhm/web/image/zoom/3960096/image.jpg</pres:src><pres:mediaLicense>http://kulturarvsdata.se/resurser/License#by</pres:mediaLicense><pres:byline xml:lang="en">Kaneberg, Ove</pres:byline><pres:copyright xml:lang="en">Statens museer för världskultur</pres:copyright></pres:image><pres:image><pres:mediaType>image/jpeg</pres:mediaType><pres:src type="thumbnail">https://collections.smvk.se/carlotta-mhm/web/image/tn/3960101/image.jpg</pres:src><pres:src type="lowres">https://collections.smvk.se/carlotta-mhm/web/image/zoom/3960100/image.jpg</pres:src><pres:mediaLicense>http://kulturarvsdata.se/resurser/License#by</pres:mediaLicense><pres:byline xml:lang="en">Kaneberg, Ove</pres:byline><pres:copyright xml:lang="en">Statens museer för världskultur</pres:copyright></pres:image><pres:image><pres:mediaType>image/jpeg</pres:mediaType><pres:src type="thumbnail">https://collections.smvk.se/carlotta-mhm/web/image/tn/3960105/image.jpg</pres:src><pres:src type="lowres">https://collections.smvk.se/carlotta-mhm/web/image/zoom/3960104/image.jpg</pres:src><pres:mediaLicense>http://kulturarvsdata.se/resurser/License#by</pres:mediaLicense><pres:byline xml:lang="en">Kaneberg, Ove</pres:byline><pres:copyright xml:lang="en">Statens museer för världskultur</pres:copyright></pres:image><pres:image><pres:mediaType>image/jpeg</pres:mediaType><pres:src type="thumbnail">https://collections.smvk.se/carlotta-mhm/web/image/tn/3960109/image.jpg</pres:src><pres:src type="lowres">https://collections.smvk.se/carlotta-mhm/web/image/zoom/3960108/image.jpg</pres:src><pres:mediaLicense>http://kulturarvsdata.se/resurser/License#by</pres:mediaLicense><pres:byline xml:lang="en">Kaneberg, Ove</pres:byline><pres:copyright xml:lang="en">Statens museer för världskultur</pres:copyright></pres:image><pres:references><pres:reference>http://kulturarvsdata.se/SMVK-MM/Photograph/3912132</pres:reference><pres:reference>http://kulturarvsdata.se/SMVK-MM/Photograph/3912133</pres:reference><pres:reference>http://kulturarvsdata.se/SMVK-MM/Photograph/3912134</pres:reference><pres:reference>http://kulturarvsdata.se/SMVK-MM/Photograph/3912135</pres:reference><pres:reference>http://kulturarvsdata.se/SMVK-MM/exhibition/4318491</pres:reference><pres:reference>http://kulturarvsdata.se/SMVK-MM/showcase/4318501</pres:reference><pres:reference>https://kulturnav.org/16157368-3e27-43f9-9e5b-94f195e5345e</pres:reference><pres:reference>https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/JAFrAnAAlpDlCQ?childAssetId=bAGceX5jocYXXg</pres:reference></pres:references><pres:representations><pres:representation format="HTML">http://kulturarvsdata.se/SMVK-MM/objekt/html/3205525</pres:representation><pres:representation format="XML">http://kulturarvsdata.se/SMVK-MM/objekt/xml/3205525</pres:representation><pres:representation format="RDF">http://kulturarvsdata.se/SMVK-MM/objekt/rdf/3205525</pres:representation></pres:representations></pres:item>