School of Archaeology, History and Anthropology

It has been suggested by several scholars that the rosette motif represented the sun, although no clear explanation has been made for these suggestions. There is, however, some evidence of the motif in association with solar imagery.
In this paper I examine the motif in iconographic imagery in which it is depicted as a direct symbol of the sun; for example, incorporated into winged sun-discs on Near Eastern derivation or the sun-disc of Egyptian belief systems. In two subsequent papers, to be presented in the next few months, I will also examine and analyse the rosette in association with cosmic symbolism and solar mythology, and further, in its association with other symbols which are accepted as solar symbols - in this aspect, the rosette itself not being the solar symbol itself but being commonly incorporated into other solar iconographic depictions.
Throughout all these analyses, I clearly state that I do not accept solar symbolism to be the definitive role or function of the rosette motif; however, I believe that this solar aspect may have a significant conceptual relevance to what I perceive as the far more complex issue surrounding the rosette motif in its role as a vehicle for non-verbal communication.

This paper is the second in a themed series of three in which I examine the rosette motif as a potential visual element of solar symbolism. It has been claimed, by various scholars, that the rosette motif can be associated symbolically with the sun; further hypotheses linking the motif with goddess Inanna-Ishtar, the Queen of Heaven. This paper will examine and analyse the rosette motif from the perspective of its association with cosmic symbolism and solar mythology. Within this particular contextual analysis, I will further discuss the incorporation of the rosette motif into royal regalia and the cosmology of divine kingship, such rulers being closely associated with sun-gods.
Throughout this analysis, as too the other two of this themes series, I clearly state that I do not accept solar symbolism to be the definitive role or function of the rosette motif; however, I believe that this solar aspect may have a significant conceptual relevance to what I perceive as the far more complex issue surrounding the rosette motif in its role as a vehicle for non-verbal communication.

This paper is the third and final one of a themed series relating to the rosette motif and its association with solar symbolism. To bring my analysis of this particular contextual aspect of the rosette motif to a close, this paper will examine the role of the motif in visual depictions in which, rather than being itself the solar symbol, it appears in association with a variety of other images and symbols which are claimed by various scholars to have solar significance. Although, in these instances, the rosette is not being used as a solar symbol itself, it may have a wider conceptual role to play.

The inspiration for this paper came from an exhibition held at The Cyprus Museum in Nicosia in 2014 entitled ‘The Body – Lived Experiences in Ancient Cyprus’.  The theoretical perspective underpinning the exhibition influenced me to apply similar concepts to aspects of my own research, in particular those of the rosette motif as an element of bodily adornment. This paper is, thus, an initial exploration of themes relating to the Lived Body and the Embodiment of Lived Experiences with emphasis on the incorporation of the rosette motif as an iconographic element of such embodiment.

As the holder of the ASOR/CAARI Anita Cecil O’Donovan Fellowship 2014-2015, I was honoured to be able to conduct an extensive period of primary research in Cyprus in 2014. Whilst working in the archives of The Cyprus Museum, Nicosia I was able to carry out a detailed examination of a pictorial kalathos (Kouklia T.9/7) dating to the Eleventh Century BC. This vessel featured some unusual and somewhat intriguing iconographic design elements, together with a single rosette motif. In this paper I will analyse the iconography of this vessel from the perspective of its role as a means of non-verbal communication. By utilising a critical visual methodology the paper offers a unique interpretation of this vessel in light of cultural, social and political events subsequent to the Bronze –Iron Age transition.

This paper is a revised version of that given at the Sophia Centre Conference in Bath in June 2014.
Although still discussing the rosette motif within the contexts of cosmic symbolism and solar mythology, there is a deeper focus on parallels between re-actualisations or re-enactment of cosmogonic acts and legitimisation of kingship, together with that of the assimilation of terrestrial structures and cosmic prototypes.

This paper discusses aspects in which the rosette motif is incorporated into serving and drinking vessels used in elite feasting; what Dietler terms 'Diacritical Feasting'. I argue that there are anomalies in the way that the rosette motif is portrayed in certain vessels which leads to questions, both of the motif's role as a means of non-verbal communication and of its intended audience.

My PhD research comprises a detailed analysis of the rosette motif within the iconographic repertoire of the Eastern Mediterranean region during the Fourth to First Millennia BC.  Being under-pinned primarily by semiotic theory, my research utilises a multi-disciplinary approach to the visual interpretation of the motif, encompassing archaeology, art history, anthropology, and even studies into human perception and cognition, in order to examine the role of this particular motif from a broad contextual and conceptual background.
From the perspective of the conference theme ‘Transition and Bridging the Divide’, my particular research highlights all the major aspects: that is, temporal transitions over four millennia, in particular, the major transition between the Bronze and Iron Ages; geographic transitions from the Aegean to the Near East and Egypt; and also multi-disciplinary theoretical transitions. In this paper, I intend to raise some of the potential issues which derive from such an approach, whilst simultaneously highlighting the benefits – both to my own research and scholarship in general.

In this paper, I will focus on the prolific use of the rosette at Persepolis, and analyse such usage in association with the relief scenes which the motif overwhelmingly borders. In particular, I will examine the scenes featuring lion/bull combat  – iconographic motifs of lions and bulls often cited as being symbolic representations of kingship and power  -  and question whether the motif in these particular scenes held the same semiotic value as it did in similar scenes in the wider Near East. Through such analysis I aim to show that the iconography of certain scenes at Persepolis was contradictory; thus, raising the question of the ‘message’ being communicated to those who viewed these reliefs.

This paper focuses on an analysis of the role of the rosette motif in ancient Egyptian funerary beliefs; more specifically on artefactual evidence in which the rosette appears as an inherent artistic element of iconographic depictions portraying the journey of the deceased to the afterlife. From this perspective, I will discuss the wider significance of the motif as a means of non-verbal communication, and question its significance within the Egyptian mortuary sphere. Comparative data from the ancient Near East, Aegean and Cyprus is used to highlight significant similarities, both in the use of the rosette within this context and also in aspects of the underlying funerary beliefs of the wider Eastern Mediterranean region.

This paper discusses an examination and analysis of the use of the rosette motif as depicted on the breasts of the statues of several Egyptian goddesses, royal and elite women, and also on coffins, mummy boards, and masks. Although such depictions may imply a fertility aspect, the paper raises contradictions by highlighting similar rosette imagery on the breasts of some male mummies and masks.
Examination of comparanda from the Aegean, Greek mainland, and Cyprus reveals similar use of the rosette motif, albeit in non-mortuary contexts, leading to questions regarding the symbolic role of the motif in these depictions, and also its semiotic value.