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Message:: [QUOTE="SeptimusT, post: 3874580, member: 91240"]I have lately been studying the book <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/water-in-the-cultic-worship-of-isis-and-sarapis/oclc/320235107&referer=brief_results" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/water-in-the-cultic-worship-of-isis-and-sarapis/oclc/320235107&referer=brief_results" rel="nofollow">Water in the Cultic Worship of Isis and Sarapis</a>, by Robert Wild. It is not particularly thrilling reading, but has immensely enhanced my understanding of the cult of Isis during Roman times, and I think an understanding of his study is an absolute necessity to understanding the iconography on the Roman coinage of Alexandria. Whereas other references give only vague descriptions for some of the more obscure objects depicted on those coins (‘jars,’ ‘pitchers,’ ‘canopic jar,’ etc.), Wild’s synthesis of the extant evidence gives more satisfying answers for what the iconography on these coins meant. I think it is worth reproducing some of what he wrote here, specifically as it relates to the coinage. In the process I will share some of my favorite coins exemplifying this iconography, and I really hope that others will feel inclined to highlight their own coins as well. [ATTACH=full]1023552[/ATTACH] (An image of Horus, Osiris, and Isis from Pharonic times) The Osiris myth was at the center of Egyptian religious practice by Roman times, and had spread throughout the Roman Empire. At the same time, the figure of Sarapis had become conflated with that of Osiris in his role as the spouse of Isis. Although the course of the Osiris myth is well known (Osiris is murdered by the evil god Set, his body dismembered, he is revived briefly by Isis and impregnates her with Horus, who eventually avenges Osiris by killing Set; Osiris in turn becomes the god of the underworld), its symbolic representation in Roman times is less well understood. Osiris’ resurrection became associated with the annual flooding and retreating of the Nile, which enabled the birth, death, and resurrection of Egypt’s agriculture. In turn, the waters of the Nile became associated with the afterlife for some, assuming a central part of their religious practice. It was Isis who revived Osiris, and it was Isis who “brings back the Nile over the whole land.” [ATTACH=full]1023553[/ATTACH] A procession of Isis devotees, as depicted in a fresco at Pompeii; the figures on the far sides hold urnulae, while the three men in the center each hold a sistrum and situla For worshippers in late Ptolemaic to Roman times, the waters of the Nile became spiritually essential, and tended to be held in different types of small, portable vessels, as opposed to the larger, fixed position vessels of the Hellenistic period. The significance and meaning of the Nile water by Roman times is up for debate, but it certainly held great meaning to adherents, and may have been associated with the prospect of eternal life. In Pharonic times, and in some Roman period inscriptions, Osiris offers the prospect of ‘cool water’ for the deceased. For others, it may have been that the power of Osiris, resurrectory or otherwise, was literally in the Nile water. [ATTACH=full]1023557[/ATTACH]  Isis is shown here (RPC 5815) nursing the infant Harpocrates (Horus); she is flanked on the left by a urnula, and on the right by a palm branch; the palm branch in the right field was also used in Isiac processions, according to Apuleius, probably associated with the afterlife, and is often an attribute of Hermanubis Apuleius describes a pitcher containing Nile water as the image of Osiris, which is taken to mean a vessel in which his essence – the Nile water itself – was contained. It was “a small vessel,” Apuleius wrote, “hollowed out with considerable craftsmanship, with a quite round bottom… adorned with marvelous images of Egyptian objects. Its mouth was not raised very high but in extending forth to form a channel, it jutted out in a long spout. On its other side was fastened a handle which goes out some distance from the vessel in a sweeping curve. On top of this sat, entwined like a knot, a uraeus serpent.” The vessel he was describing is sometimes called an urnula, and is a common motif on Alexandrian coinage, which seems to have been the central object of adoration in Isiac processions. Nile water from this vessel was also used in libations, perhaps transferred to a situla (less commonly seen on Alexandrian coinage, but appearing with Isis on some Imperial issues) first. [ATTACH=full]1023560[/ATTACH]  The situla is less commonly portrayed on Alexandrian coinage; here it is seen on an Imperial issue of Claudius Gothicus, held in the left hand of Isis (right side of the coin) along with a sistrum in the other – it ain’t pretty but it’s mine More perplexing is the figure often described as ‘Osiris Canopus’ or simply as a ‘canopic jar,’ which takes the form of a large urn terminating in a human head. Wild refers to this form as ‘Osiris Hydreios’ (Osiris jar). These figures may wear various crowns and have different details (such as funerary iconography on their body, or the presence or absence of a beard). These have often been interpreted as canopic jars, used to hold the viscera of the mummified dead, or as their ritual descendants; others have considered them a peculiar form of Osiris worshipped at Canopus, or perhaps different forms of Osiris worshipped in this form (to account for the varied details). By the late 1st century AD, these figures were being depicted on Alexandrian coinage, and appears earlier in the century on other media, and probably originated in Egypt. Like the urnula, these figures were carried in Isiac processions, often rested on pillows, and were garlanded around their base with flowers. In some iconography, their position appears to be interchangeable. [ATTACH=full]1023564[/ATTACH] This 'Osiris-Canopus' statue was found at Hadrian's Villa, and demonstrates in great detail the typical iconography of these pieces. Wild refers to these figures by the more neutral term of Osiris Hydreios (Osiris jar). Some have interpreted this image as originating from depictions of Osiris as a mummy, although it is usually interpreted as a vessel, even if statues of this type are almost invariably hollow. Following Wilhelm Weber’s theories, Wild interprets Osiris taking the form of a vessel as being related to his association with the sacred Nile water, while the iconography often depicted on the figure is taken to resemble that placed on mummy cases, reflecting Osiris’ position as lord of the dead. This image may have been drawn from the figural viscera jars used in earlier times, but for Hellenistic audiences it had lost this function and meaning. Wild divides this form into three types, Type A (with bodies decorated by reliefs) and Type B (with a U-neck garment and an open neck) and Type B’ (body decorated with spiral fluting). The significance of these different types, as well as the different crowns they wear, is obscure, but both appear simultaneously on some coin types and in some temples. [ATTACH=full]1023556[/ATTACH] Two Osiris-Hydreios type jars are shown here (RPC 5917) within the confines of an Egyptian temple (note the domed roof and lotus-type pillars). The one on the left is Wild's Type B, while the one on the right is Type A, closely mirroring the above example from Hadrian's villa. Osiris Hydreios often appears in funerary contexts, along with inscriptions beseeching that Osiris deliver ‘cool water’ to the deceased. The urnula, on the other hand, never appears in funerary contexts. Wild therefore proposes that Osiris Hydreios was used as a symbolic representation of the cool Nile water that Osiris would provide the deceased with in the afterlife, while the urnula was a functional implementation of the same concept for use in ritual by the living. Grave goods, after all, are often symbolic, as opposed to functional, but may mimic objects used in life. This explanation is perhaps not entirely satisfactory, but it is certainly better than that provided in some other sources I’ve seen. The important point to be made is that imagery on ancient coins communicated things which were, generally, understood and meaningful to their intended audiences. While this iconography was sometimes motivated by personal gain (such as some of the obscure types seen on Roman Republican coinage, depicting individuals or favored subjects from the moneyer’s family), it was also sometimes motivated by popular iconography reflective of the religious customs of its users, as is the case here. Understanding this context, rather than making assumptions, will lead to a much deeper appreciation of our coins when we realize the complex layers of meaning present on them.[/QUOTE]

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