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Melita and the sad & bizarre lack of Egyptian iconography on ancient coinage+ luv letter to ancients
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<p>[QUOTE="Ryro, post: 4893784, member: 91461"]I cannot, straight faced, tell you that I do not owe a huge thanks to [USER=56859]@TIF[/USER] and her truly exceptional article and dazzling video:</p><p><a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancient-coins-of-melita.342722/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancient-coins-of-melita.342722/">https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancient-coins-of-melita.342722/</a></p><p> for shining as much light on Melita's unique ancient coinage as one could shine without borrowing Doc Brown's time machine.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1181056[/ATTACH]</p><p>First, the iconography:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1181065[/ATTACH]</p><p>(A mummy rests on a sacred boat guarded by Anubis. Above, figures of Osiris, Isis, and Nephthys. Sandstone stela. From Egypt, 332 BCE to 395 CE. Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow, UK)</p><p><br /></p><p>Getting you up to date, Set has just tricked and murdered his own brother, Osiris, and scattered his body parts across the land.</p><p>Osiris wife, Isis, puts all the pieces back together to rebuild her husband (awkwardly unable to find his dismembered phallus uses a massive golden phallus as a replacement).</p><p>Through her magical abilities and the help of Thoth, Isis revived Osiris with her sister Nephthys.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1181067[/ATTACH]</p><p>(<i>Outer coffin of Taywheryt depicting Osiris, Isis, and Nephthys. (CESRAS/ <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/horemachet/2890825304" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/horemachet/2890825304" rel="nofollow">CC BY NC SA 2.0 </a>))</i></p><p><br /></p><p>Then, the coin (their pic):</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1181057[/ATTACH]</p><p>(My pic):</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1181058[/ATTACH]</p><p>Melita - Mummy of Osiris Bronze</p><p>218-175 BC Obv: veiled and diademed female head right, wearing earring. Rev: Mummy of Osiris standing facing, head left, holding flail and sceptre, between winged figures of Isis and Nephtys, each with sun disk on their heads and one wing angled inwards; Punic ‘NN above. 12.78 grams. Fair.</p><p>Provenance</p><p>Property of a Hertfordshire, UK gentleman; with old envelope.</p><p>Literature CNS 2; SG Cop (Vol. 8) 458-459; Mayr 2; Sear 6584.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1181062[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Timeline even included the old British gentleman's tag... from who knows when???</p><p>A lover letter from decades ago to a coin that was a love letter to a civilization that existed thousands upon thousands of years before!</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1181079[/ATTACH]</p><p>(I'd make fun of the handwriting... buuuut it's still better then mine)</p><p><br /></p><p>The most obvious question on my coin might be, "how did Egyptian gods, motifs and iconography get all the way to modern Malta?"</p><p>But I believe the larger question is, "why didn't more ancient cultures latch on to and utilize those Egyptians artistry??"</p><p>The answer, I believe, lies between them being an isolationist state. To the point that, if you died off of Egyptian soil they believed your spirit ceased to exist! And the fact that they themselves simply never relied on coinage, even to catch up with the outside world.</p><p>Sadly, other than gold coinage (so rare that I only know of one CT pal who has one, [USER=44357]@AncientJoe[/USER] ) minted just after the third intermediate period, it wasn't till Alexander the great followed by general (and probable cousin) Ptolemy,</p><p><br /></p><p>(Always happy to show this beast off):</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1181085[/ATTACH]</p><p>Ptolemy I Soter</p><p>305-282 BCE. Æ (15mm, 3.85 g, 12h). Tyre mint. Struck after 294 or 289/8 BC. Diademed head of Alexander the Great right / Eagle standing left on thunderbolt, wings displayed.</p><p><br /></p><p>that ancient Egypt started utilizing coins for trade and barter (much like coinage from the provinces is considered Roman provincial as opposed to the Greek coinage under Roman rule that it is, I consider ptolemaic money as Macedonian over actually Egyptian).</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1181088[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Though, there are some coins out there with Egyptian iconography if you're willing to look.</p><p>This coin must've always filled Hadrian with sadness. But nevertheless, it still is part of Hadrian's travels, series and shows some fun ancient iconography:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1181083[/ATTACH]</p><p>HADRIAN</p><p><br /></p><p>117-138 AD. AR Denarius (19mm, 2.77gm). Struck 134-138 AD. Head right / Egypt reclining against basket left, holding sistrum, ibis at feet. RIC II 297; RSC 99.</p><p>Ex-Savoca</p><p>This coin commemorates Hadrian's visit to Egypt in 130-131 AD. It was while Hadrian was on tour in Egypt that his favorite, Antinoüs, "mysteriously" drowned in the Nile. So great was the emperor's grief that he commanded a series of religious rituals to be performed in the young man's honor, and, on the site where the body was recovered, Hadrian ordered the construction of a city called Antinöopolis in honor of the young man.</p><p><br /></p><p>Please post those coins that remind one of the GREATEST civilization. Coins of or that remind of ancient Egypt, thoughts or whatever mumiphies your Osiris <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Ryro, post: 4893784, member: 91461"]I cannot, straight faced, tell you that I do not owe a huge thanks to [USER=56859]@TIF[/USER] and her truly exceptional article and dazzling video: [URL]https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancient-coins-of-melita.342722/[/URL] for shining as much light on Melita's unique ancient coinage as one could shine without borrowing Doc Brown's time machine. [ATTACH=full]1181056[/ATTACH] First, the iconography: [ATTACH=full]1181065[/ATTACH] (A mummy rests on a sacred boat guarded by Anubis. Above, figures of Osiris, Isis, and Nephthys. Sandstone stela. From Egypt, 332 BCE to 395 CE. Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow, UK) Getting you up to date, Set has just tricked and murdered his own brother, Osiris, and scattered his body parts across the land. Osiris wife, Isis, puts all the pieces back together to rebuild her husband (awkwardly unable to find his dismembered phallus uses a massive golden phallus as a replacement). Through her magical abilities and the help of Thoth, Isis revived Osiris with her sister Nephthys. [ATTACH=full]1181067[/ATTACH] ([I]Outer coffin of Taywheryt depicting Osiris, Isis, and Nephthys. (CESRAS/ [URL='https://www.flickr.com/photos/horemachet/2890825304']CC BY NC SA 2.0 [/URL]))[/I] Then, the coin (their pic): [ATTACH=full]1181057[/ATTACH] (My pic): [ATTACH=full]1181058[/ATTACH] Melita - Mummy of Osiris Bronze 218-175 BC Obv: veiled and diademed female head right, wearing earring. Rev: Mummy of Osiris standing facing, head left, holding flail and sceptre, between winged figures of Isis and Nephtys, each with sun disk on their heads and one wing angled inwards; Punic ‘NN above. 12.78 grams. Fair. Provenance Property of a Hertfordshire, UK gentleman; with old envelope. Literature CNS 2; SG Cop (Vol. 8) 458-459; Mayr 2; Sear 6584. [ATTACH=full]1181062[/ATTACH] Timeline even included the old British gentleman's tag... from who knows when??? A lover letter from decades ago to a coin that was a love letter to a civilization that existed thousands upon thousands of years before! [ATTACH=full]1181079[/ATTACH] (I'd make fun of the handwriting... buuuut it's still better then mine) The most obvious question on my coin might be, "how did Egyptian gods, motifs and iconography get all the way to modern Malta?" But I believe the larger question is, "why didn't more ancient cultures latch on to and utilize those Egyptians artistry??" The answer, I believe, lies between them being an isolationist state. To the point that, if you died off of Egyptian soil they believed your spirit ceased to exist! And the fact that they themselves simply never relied on coinage, even to catch up with the outside world. Sadly, other than gold coinage (so rare that I only know of one CT pal who has one, [USER=44357]@AncientJoe[/USER] ) minted just after the third intermediate period, it wasn't till Alexander the great followed by general (and probable cousin) Ptolemy, (Always happy to show this beast off): [ATTACH=full]1181085[/ATTACH] Ptolemy I Soter 305-282 BCE. Æ (15mm, 3.85 g, 12h). Tyre mint. Struck after 294 or 289/8 BC. Diademed head of Alexander the Great right / Eagle standing left on thunderbolt, wings displayed. that ancient Egypt started utilizing coins for trade and barter (much like coinage from the provinces is considered Roman provincial as opposed to the Greek coinage under Roman rule that it is, I consider ptolemaic money as Macedonian over actually Egyptian). [ATTACH=full]1181088[/ATTACH] Though, there are some coins out there with Egyptian iconography if you're willing to look. This coin must've always filled Hadrian with sadness. But nevertheless, it still is part of Hadrian's travels, series and shows some fun ancient iconography: [ATTACH=full]1181083[/ATTACH] HADRIAN 117-138 AD. AR Denarius (19mm, 2.77gm). Struck 134-138 AD. Head right / Egypt reclining against basket left, holding sistrum, ibis at feet. RIC II 297; RSC 99. Ex-Savoca This coin commemorates Hadrian's visit to Egypt in 130-131 AD. It was while Hadrian was on tour in Egypt that his favorite, Antinoüs, "mysteriously" drowned in the Nile. So great was the emperor's grief that he commanded a series of religious rituals to be performed in the young man's honor, and, on the site where the body was recovered, Hadrian ordered the construction of a city called Antinöopolis in honor of the young man. Please post those coins that remind one of the GREATEST civilization. Coins of or that remind of ancient Egypt, thoughts or whatever mumiphies your Osiris :)[/QUOTE]
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Melita and the sad & bizarre lack of Egyptian iconography on ancient coinage+ luv letter to ancients
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