Antiquities Discussion Forums > Seals and Tesserae
An Alexandrian Lead Tessera from Mareotes Nome
antoninus1:
Together with the Traian diobol I also bought this lead tessera which I am not able to find a reference for.
Neither am I able to identify the illustrated figure.
It shows a "person" directed to left and the greek letters MAP. I think that the letters stand or the Mareotes nome of Lower Egypt.
Concerning the person I am really unsure.
It seems to point with its right hand towards its mouth. Again Harpokrates?
But what is at the base of the figure?
An animal? Or has he a crocodile´s body?
The reverse is blank. Weight is 1,8 g, dimensions are 14 x 10 mm.
Has anyone any idea?
iwaniw:
antoninus1:
The type is Harpokrates or Horus holding a cornucopiae?. I think the figure to the left is perhaps a ram. I have an Artemis lead type and the deer on the coin is also very crude. Inscriptions on lead coins are hard to make out, even on the best preserved coins
On the lead tokens, often one sees a small standing figure of Pan, or an altar in front of Harpokrates.
Finding an exact match for a lead token and even more so, a uniface item is like looking for a needle in a hay stack. That's not to say that one can not be found.
It's a very nice token.
Iwaniw
antoninus1:
iwaniw: thank you for your comments.
How do you mean that the figure to the left is a ram? Do you mean the figure on the bottom at the feet of the standing figure (which I hold for Harpokrates)?
I think there are no cornucopiae. One hand is raised towards the mouth, the other is pointing downwards.
iwaniw:
Antoninus1:
The hair curl and finger to the mouth suggests Harpokrates/Horus. I thought the "X" to the right was a stylized cornucopiae, extending down to the arm pointing down.
On second thought, the small figure at his feet might be a vase?
There was a Harpokrates of Canopus lead issue auctioned by Stacks in January 2008 (along with other lead tokens), which you might want to search for.
Iwaniw
antoninus1:
Ah, I see.
There is no X to the right, it is clearly the A from MAP for Mareotes.
There is the M to the left and AP to the right.
The object on base remains a riddle. I don´t think it´s a vase. It might be an animal. A cat? I think I can see a long tail.
I am trying to get a picture of the Stacks coin.
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