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An Alexandrian tet with an Isis/infant Horus (Harpokrates) reverse
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<p>[QUOTE="DonnaML, post: 4958960, member: 110350"]Thanks for looking it up, [USER=104887]@Broucheion[/USER]. I took a look in Emmett at the specific coins on which the theme appears, and it seems that all of the approximately 20 Alexandrian coins -- with more than 60 varieties, according to RPC Online -- depicting Isis seated nursing (or about to nurse) Harpokrates (within a temple or otherwise), beginning with Trajan, were bronze drachms or smaller bronze coins, except for my Antoninus Pius type. That type, issued in AP's Year 23, was apparently the only time the theme ever appeared on a tetradrachm. The last time the theme was depicted inside a temple on any kind of Alexandrian coin was on a bronze drachm of Lucilla [Lucius Verus's empress], Year 9, and the last time the theme was depicted without a temple was on a bronze drachm of Caracalla, Year 22.</p><p><br /></p><p>As far as Imperial coins are concerned, I did searches on OCRE for Isis, Horus, and Harpocrates/Harpokrates. Although Isis appears on quite a few coins beginning with Hadrian, the first time she was depicted seated with infant Horus (as OCRE refers to him) on her lap was the Julia Domna type I posted above, which was issued as an aureus as well as a denarius. The theme was not depicted again on an Imperial coin until it appeared on two coins of Julian II, and again on two coins of Jovian. Nothing thereafter.</p><p><br /></p><p>I found only one example of the theme on RPC Online outside Egypt: an AE23 of Argos in Achaea, issued under Hadrian (see RPC III Online 363, at <a href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/363" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/363" rel="nofollow">https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/363</a>).</p><p><br /></p><p>I haven't checked to see if the theme appears on any Ptolemaic coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>Of course, there are many examples of Ancient Egyptian bronze statuettes or figurines depicting the theme, largely from the Late Period. See these examples from the Brooklyn Museum, the Louvre, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art: <a href="https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/117027" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/117027" rel="nofollow">https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/117027</a>; <a href="https://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/statuette-isis-nursing-horus" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/statuette-isis-nursing-horus" rel="nofollow">https://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/statuette-isis-nursing-horus</a>; and <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/545969" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/545969" rel="nofollow">https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/545969</a> . To quote from the Met's description:</p><p><br /></p><p>"In the Late Period, the popularity of this important goddess dramatically increased. She is nearly always depicted in anthropomorphic form, standing or seated on a throne. This statuette shows the goddess in her most beloved pose, nursing her son Horus (known also as the lactans pose). Other goddesses sometimes nurse Horus or other child gods, but Isis is preeminent among them in this role. She wears the horned crown that by the Late Period she had adopted from the goddess Hathor, as well as the vulture headdress that emphasized the role of goddesses as royal mothers. Horus, meanwhile, wears an amulet on his chest, a common feature for child gods.</p><p><br /></p><p>The large number of Isis statuettes in this particular pose demonstrate some of the qualities for which Isis was most valued in the first millennium BC: her role as a life-giver and protector. These types of statuettes were very common, dedicated not just to Isis cults, but seemingly to many temples and shrines, usually in association with Osiris and the child god Horus."</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/api/collection/v1/iiif/545969/1214191/main-image" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/" rel="nofollow">Public Domain</a></p><p><br /></p><p>From the Louvre:</p><p><br /></p><p>"During later periods, Egyptians produced many small bronze statuettes of their deities, which they then gave as tributes during pilgrimages to holy sites. Thousands of them have been found in concealed areas, where they were placed to make room for others. This image of Isis nursing her child only appeared during the last millennium BC. Prior to this time, this role was attributed to other goddesses, such as Mut and Hathor, the Celestial Cow, also called the Temple of Horus, whose cow horns were usually attributed to Isis at the time. This is a good example of a common image that was reproduced in varying degrees of craftsmanship. It is difficult to accurately determine the geographical provenance or the precise date for most of these objects, as Isis was viewed as the universal mother from an early time. During the Christian era, the Virgin assumed this role, although in a much different style."</p><p><br /></p><p>As the Louvre points out, although it should be pretty obvious, the theme was eventually continued in a different form, and entirely replaced, by depictions of the Virgin and Child.</p><p><br /></p><p>I can't think of an explanation for why the theme appeared on Alexandrian coinage only once on a tetradrachm, and the rest of the time on "lesser" denominations (even though the bronze drachms seem to have been generally larger in diameter than the tetradrachms). Nor can I explain why the theme appears on so few Imperial coins, despite Isis's growing popularity throughout the Empire. Any speculations would be welcome!</p><p><br /></p><p>Leaving all that aside, it seems that I couldn't have better examples of the theme than the two coins I posted above. Unless I could afford an aureus of Julia Domna -- or $14,500 for an Ancient Egyptian bronze (see <a href="https://howardnowes.com/gallery/detail.cfm?itemnum=13668" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://howardnowes.com/gallery/detail.cfm?itemnum=13668" rel="nofollow">https://howardnowes.com/gallery/detail.cfm?itemnum=13668</a>) -- which I certainly can't![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="DonnaML, post: 4958960, member: 110350"]Thanks for looking it up, [USER=104887]@Broucheion[/USER]. I took a look in Emmett at the specific coins on which the theme appears, and it seems that all of the approximately 20 Alexandrian coins -- with more than 60 varieties, according to RPC Online -- depicting Isis seated nursing (or about to nurse) Harpokrates (within a temple or otherwise), beginning with Trajan, were bronze drachms or smaller bronze coins, except for my Antoninus Pius type. That type, issued in AP's Year 23, was apparently the only time the theme ever appeared on a tetradrachm. The last time the theme was depicted inside a temple on any kind of Alexandrian coin was on a bronze drachm of Lucilla [Lucius Verus's empress], Year 9, and the last time the theme was depicted without a temple was on a bronze drachm of Caracalla, Year 22. As far as Imperial coins are concerned, I did searches on OCRE for Isis, Horus, and Harpocrates/Harpokrates. Although Isis appears on quite a few coins beginning with Hadrian, the first time she was depicted seated with infant Horus (as OCRE refers to him) on her lap was the Julia Domna type I posted above, which was issued as an aureus as well as a denarius. The theme was not depicted again on an Imperial coin until it appeared on two coins of Julian II, and again on two coins of Jovian. Nothing thereafter. I found only one example of the theme on RPC Online outside Egypt: an AE23 of Argos in Achaea, issued under Hadrian (see RPC III Online 363, at [URL]https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/363[/URL]). I haven't checked to see if the theme appears on any Ptolemaic coins. Of course, there are many examples of Ancient Egyptian bronze statuettes or figurines depicting the theme, largely from the Late Period. See these examples from the Brooklyn Museum, the Louvre, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art: [URL]https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/117027[/URL]; [URL]https://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/statuette-isis-nursing-horus[/URL]; and [URL]https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/545969[/URL] . To quote from the Met's description: "In the Late Period, the popularity of this important goddess dramatically increased. She is nearly always depicted in anthropomorphic form, standing or seated on a throne. This statuette shows the goddess in her most beloved pose, nursing her son Horus (known also as the lactans pose). Other goddesses sometimes nurse Horus or other child gods, but Isis is preeminent among them in this role. She wears the horned crown that by the Late Period she had adopted from the goddess Hathor, as well as the vulture headdress that emphasized the role of goddesses as royal mothers. Horus, meanwhile, wears an amulet on his chest, a common feature for child gods. The large number of Isis statuettes in this particular pose demonstrate some of the qualities for which Isis was most valued in the first millennium BC: her role as a life-giver and protector. These types of statuettes were very common, dedicated not just to Isis cults, but seemingly to many temples and shrines, usually in association with Osiris and the child god Horus." [IMG]https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/api/collection/v1/iiif/545969/1214191/main-image[/IMG] [URL='https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/']Public Domain[/URL] From the Louvre: "During later periods, Egyptians produced many small bronze statuettes of their deities, which they then gave as tributes during pilgrimages to holy sites. Thousands of them have been found in concealed areas, where they were placed to make room for others. This image of Isis nursing her child only appeared during the last millennium BC. Prior to this time, this role was attributed to other goddesses, such as Mut and Hathor, the Celestial Cow, also called the Temple of Horus, whose cow horns were usually attributed to Isis at the time. This is a good example of a common image that was reproduced in varying degrees of craftsmanship. It is difficult to accurately determine the geographical provenance or the precise date for most of these objects, as Isis was viewed as the universal mother from an early time. During the Christian era, the Virgin assumed this role, although in a much different style." As the Louvre points out, although it should be pretty obvious, the theme was eventually continued in a different form, and entirely replaced, by depictions of the Virgin and Child. I can't think of an explanation for why the theme appeared on Alexandrian coinage only once on a tetradrachm, and the rest of the time on "lesser" denominations (even though the bronze drachms seem to have been generally larger in diameter than the tetradrachms). Nor can I explain why the theme appears on so few Imperial coins, despite Isis's growing popularity throughout the Empire. Any speculations would be welcome! Leaving all that aside, it seems that I couldn't have better examples of the theme than the two coins I posted above. Unless I could afford an aureus of Julia Domna -- or $14,500 for an Ancient Egyptian bronze (see [URL]https://howardnowes.com/gallery/detail.cfm?itemnum=13668[/URL]) -- which I certainly can't![/QUOTE]
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An Alexandrian tet with an Isis/infant Horus (Harpokrates) reverse
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