This paper aims to highlight methodological shortcomings in existing approaches to the interpretation of Egyptian and Egyptianizing objects, or aegyptiaca, deposited at Aegean sites during the Early Iron Age and Archaic period. Primarily, it does so through the lens of a single, substantial case study, the more than 900 aegyptiaca found among the assemblage of the sanctuary of Hera at Perachora. In presenting some of the challenges that Perachora’s assemblage can pose for two dominant interpretations of Aegean aegyptiaca, as offerings for fertility rituals or by sailors, the paper sets out a case for the closer use of contextual information and for more varied approaches to the value of aegyptiaca. It argues that adopting such approaches may lead those studying Aegean aegyptiaca to take overdue steps beyond existing paradigms and reconcile this material with broader discussions of Greek material practice, cultural interactions, and the critical study of cultural taxonomies.
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