Inventory number
ΕΑΜ Χ 6837
Category
Bronzes
Period
Archaic Period
Date
Around 500 BC
Dimensions
Diameter: 0.106 m
Material
Bronze
Location
First Floor Case 17, Νο 8
Miniature shield with gorgoneion as emblem in its centre and a dedicatory inscription around its circumference and body. The inscription ΦΡΥΓΙΑ ⋮ ΑΝΕΘΕΚΕ ΜΕ ΤΑΘΕΝΑΙΑΙ ΗΕ ΑΡΤΟΠΟΛΙ[Σ] reads “Phrygia the bread-seller dedicated me to Athena”.
The name Phrygia denotes the dedicator’s origin from Phrygia in Asia Minor as well as her status as a metic in the city of Athens. This dedication is one of the few on the Acropolis that reveals the profession of the dedicant, let alone the fact that she is a woman.
In ancient Athens women of the poorest strata needed to work outside of the household, usually in production and trade. They sold their goods going around the city or at a stand in the market. They sold food, like bread, fruit, vegetables, legumes and honey, as well as cloth, fibres, fragrances and flowers. According to the relevant literary evidence, bread-seller had a rather bad reputation as they were vulgar and usually Athenians talked disparagingly about them. This bread-seller did not hesitate to mention her profession, perhaps because she thought that the name Phrygia directing to her home country was not enough for the goddess to recognise the dedicator.
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