The Queen of the Kings: The Cults of Seleucid and Ptolemaic Queens and their Role in the Development of the Hellenistic Prototype of Mother-Goddess

This presentation hypothesizes that the religious and broader policies of the Diadochi courts, grounded in strong ties between the dynastic court and local/regional religious elites, are directly responsible for the increased fluidity of religious systems and practices, contributing to the hybridization, syncretization, glocalization, and globalization of religions in the Hellenistic period. Given the vastness and complexity of the archaeological and historical material from the Hellenistic oikoumene across the ancient world, the lecture focuses on the particularly intriguing element of female leadership in the Hellenistic period, applying its hypothesis to the relationship between the cult of queens and the transformation of religious and cult practices and iconography of the predominantly present female deities.