The first representative of the Egyptian god found in Anatolia –

A necklace with the statue of the Egyptian god Pataikos was unearthed during the excavation of the ancient city of Perre in southeastern Türkiye. Gospel amulets are the largest works on necklaces or bead bracelets, including other symbols of deformity, such as glass evil eyes. It was found in a 2,100-year-old indoor tomb in the Greek period and was the first representative of Pataikos found in Anatolia.

Pataikos is a patron god, portrayed as a bald, bow-legged dwarf, often standing on crocodiles and handling snakes. He blocked evil to help the souls of the dead go to the afterlife. He is a little god, not part of the elite cadres of the propaganda gods of states such as Osiris, Isis and Horus. He has some literal quotes, mainly on wall inscriptions and some surviving papyrus, but most quotes to Pataikos are statues and amulets. We don’t even know his Egyptian name, so there’s hardly any written about his name in Egyptian sources. His palm to figures were found outside Egypt, dating back to the late Bronze Age (1300 BCE), first appearing in Syria/Palestine, then spreading to the Mediterranean Islands and finally to the Greek and Italian continents. According to Herodotus, the Phoenicians spread worship of Pataikos around the trade route, using him as a portrait on the ship.

Perre is one of the largest cities in the European Kingdom (163 BC). It is located on the road connecting the Malataya and the Samosata, one of the other millennials, and it is a rest and supply point for travelers. Commagene’s culture is a mixture of Greek, Persian, and local Anatolian influences. Religious synthesis is part of this diversity, as seen in the funeral appearance of the tombs, many of the gods of the pantheon are worshipped.

The Pataikos figure is found in a chamber tomb called the Eternal Staircase. At the bottom of the leading underground rock steps, the tomb is built in the Hypogeus (underground) style and contains the remains of 14 people, including members of Commagene’s elite family. One of the buried walls is a carved rectangular pilaster, a rare feature that is not found in other tombs in Perrey’s cemetery.