Conclusions

The items found in room H of unit 409 at Karanis tell their own story. First, the artifacts can be separated into two groups: ritual and mundane. The ritual objects include a blue glazed Aphrodite, an incense burner, a bell with a broken-off handle, and a stone altar. Mundane ones include a slab of marble (potentially irrelevant), three lamps, a kohl stick, miscellaneous beads, two mirrors, and part of a bronze lock. From a spatial standpoint, the room can be conceptually reconstructed fairly easily, though not all is clear. The Aphrodite statue would have sat atop the stone altar along with the incense burner and potentially the bell; the role of the marble slab is less obvious. An engraving could have worn off over time, or it could have acted as a base for the statue. The lamps’ positions are anyone’s guess, but the mirrors and kohl stick could have been connected to the room itself; to solve this part of the room’s mystery, we must investigate the interaction between the cosmetic implements and the meaning of the statue. As indicated by the pairing of altar and statue, Aphrodite was the/a household god, so this room was dedicated to worship of her image. Her role as the goddess of beauty sheds a new light on the mirrors and kohl stick, as it’s unlikely that one would usually perform mundane actions before an altar if said actions were unrelated to the god. Rather, it can be conjectured that the act of applying kohl was itself sacred in the presence of Aphrodite’s image; not only could residents have departed to the altar room when in need of beautification, but the application of kohl could have been a form of worship itself. Therefore, the objects used in that process could themselves have been sacred. Now, rounding back to the spatial layout of the room: what does the lock mean? It could have been used on a door, but it seems more ornate than that. Rather, I would posit that the kohl stick, mirror(s), bell, and other ritual objects could have been kept under lock and key in a safe-box at the altar. Most of the items found could actually be rendered sacred due to Aphrodite’s presence, giving new context to domestic activities as related to household gods. Sanctification of self-beautification reinforces the idea that femininity and divinity were connected in Roman Egypt, and since the feminine was heavily domestic, cosmetic rituals before household gods join the two spheres of life. Room H, then, is testament to a convergence of female domesticity and worship.