Ninnion Tablet

{{Short description|Clay tablet depicting Greek mysteries}}

{{Infobox artefact

|image=NAMA Mystères d'Eleusis.jpg

|created={{circa}} 370 BC

|material=Clay

|height=44.5 cm

|discovered_date=1895

|discovered_place=Elefsina, Attica, Greece

|location=Athens, Attica, Greece

|width=33 cm}}

The Ninnion Tablet, dated to approximately 370 BC, is a red clay tablet depicting the ancient Greek Eleusinian Mysteries (religious rites connected to Greek mythology). It was rediscovered in Eleusis, Attica in 1895, and is kept in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.

Content

The tablet depicts Iacchus leading a procession of initiates into the Mysteries. Receiving this group are the deities Demeter and Persephone. Above the artifact's main scene are multiple representations of The Moon. The Ninnion Tablet is the only known original representation of the Mysteries' initiation rites.

See also

References

  • {{cite book|last=Clinton|first=Kevin|editor-last=Ogden|editor-first=Daniel|title=A Companion to Greek Religion|year=2010|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |isbn=9781444334173|pages=349–353|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yOQtHNJJU9UC&pg=PA349|edition=1st|series=Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World|chapter=Chapter 22: The Mysteries of Demeter and Kore}}
  • {{cite book|last=Kerényi|first=Carl|authorlink=Károly Kerényi|title=Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter|year=1991|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton, N.J.|isbn=9780691019154|series=Volume 4 of Archetypal Images in Greek Religion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ds1Wg01wzeYC&pg=PP1}}

{{National Archaeological Museum of Athens}}

Category:Eleusinian Mysteries

Category:Ancient Greek pottery

Category:Attic pottery

Category:Clay tablets

Category:National Archaeological Museum, Athens

Category:Archaeological discoveries in Attica

Category:1895 archaeological discoveries

Category:4th-century BC works