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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GinoLR, post: 8316584, member: 128351&quot;]Great news! So this is the temple of Zeus Kasios built or enlarged in Pelusium by the emperor Hadrian! In his novel <i>The Adventures of Leucippe and Clitophon</i>, Achilles Tatius of Alexandria (2nd c. AD, or later?) describes the statue of Zeus Kasios that stood in this temple and also a diptych displayed there, representing Prometheus and Andromeda.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&quot;<font size="3">At Pelusium is the holy statue of Zeus Casius; in it the god is represented so young that he seems more like Apollo. He has one hand stretched out and holds a pomegranate in it, and this pomegranate has a mystical signification. After adoring the deity and asking for an oracle about Clinias and Satyrus (we were told that the god was willing to give prophetic answers) we went round the temple, and near the postern door we saw a double picture, signed by the artist; it had been painted by Evanthes, and represented first Andromeda, then Prometheus, both of them in chains - and this was the reason, I suppose, why the artist had associated the two subjects. In other respects too the two works were akin. In both, the chains were attached to a rock, and in both, beasts were the torturers, his from the air, and hers from the sea; their deliverers were Argives of the same family, his Hercules and hers Perseus; the one shooting Zeus&#039;s eagle and the other contending with the sea-beast of Poseidon. The former was represented aiming with his arrow on land, the latter suspended in the air on his wings.</font>&quot; (etc... follows a long detailed description of the picture). </p><p><br /></p><p>This painter Evanthes is not mentioned by any other document, so scholars are debating if it is an invention of the novelist or if he actually existed, and if this diptych was visible in the Zeus Casius temple in Pelusium. </p><p><br /></p><p>I think this painting probably existed, and Achilles Tatius drew inspiration from it for his novel. Unfortunately the masterpieces of ancient Greek painting (on wood panels or cloth) are all lost. It is very unlikely that the Egyptian archaeologists will discover any remains of pictures that were once displayed in this temple. But famous pictures were sometimes reproduced (not exactly of course) on murals or mosaics preserved to this day. The description of the original by Achilles Tatius corresponds rather well with a fresco from Boscoreale and a Syrian mosaic. </p><p><br /></p><p>Here is the fresco from Boscoreale, 1st c. AD, now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York. It may reproduce a Greek original of Hellenistic date :</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1472557[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>And this is the mosaic showing Prometheus. It is later (3rd or 4th c. AD) but may also reproduce more or less accurately the general setting of a much older hellenistic painting. This mosaic has been seized in 2016 by the FBI from a mansion in Palmdale, because it was very probably looted in North Syria. Here again, this scene corresponds well with Achilles Tatius&#039; description:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1472558[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>In the article there is a photo of a guy partially unearthing a monumental inscription. This is what we can read : </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1472553[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ (name of an emperor?) ἐκ] <b>θεμελίων τὴν</b></p><p>[ (name of a building) ἔκτισεν (?) ἐπὶ (name of a governor) ἐπάρ]<b>χου Αἰγύπτου</b> :</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;(The emperor X built?) from the foundations the ( ... under Y ) Prefect of Egypt.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>The shape of letters with Є and <font size="6">ω</font> suggest a rather late date, 2nd to 4th c. AD.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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