Numism > Reading For the Advanced Ancient Coin Collector
Isis
Robert_Brenchley:
London had a Temple of Isis, attested by an altar which mentions a 3rd Century rebuilding.
archivum:
Considering how many Isis issues there were from the Balkans, it's surprising how scarce most of those types are now:
-- Commodus laur. head r., AY KAI MAR AYRH KOMODOS / Isis standing l. with sistrum and situla, Philippopolis, Thrace, AE 24, not in RPC or in Varbanov;
-- Commodus laur. head r., [AYT K]AI KOMODOS / Isis standing l. with sistrum and situla, NEIKOPOLITWN PROS ISS [sic], Nikopolis ad Istrum, Moesia Inferior, AE 18, not in RPC or Varbanov;
-- Commodus radiate head r., [KAI AYRHLI] KOMODOS A / Isis standing l. with sistrum and situla, ADR[IANOPOLEITWN], Hadrianopolis, Thrace, AE 22, RPC http://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/10569 (not pictured), Varbanov (Bulg.) 1675, prob. same reverse die;
-- Septimius Severus laureate head r., AYT K L SEP SEYHROS PER / Isis Pharia sailing r., E in field, KALLATIANWN, Kallatis, Moesia Inferior, AE 26, Varbanov (Bulg.) 421, same dies
* Compare similar, but larger, Nikopolis reverse from A. Pius (coinarchives) here pictured in Congius message above.
slokind:
Her barque being late Antonine and Severan patronage of the cult, I think. Not that it was new. But I have the impression of its prevalence--in the century, say, from c. 160 to c. 240? Perhaps I should make that a bit longer, from late Hadrianic on. Pat L.
archivum:
With the growing syncretism of 1st-2nd c. writers like Plutarch I suspect it was tempting to start to treat Isis as a more wholesome version of Kybele; anyway we can see from this 17th-c. print how far such syncretism went eventually (from Athanasius Kircher, Oedipus Aegyptiacus [Rome, 1652]; Isis' titles as gathered by Kircher equate her with the Mother of the Gods or Kybele, Minerva, Venus, Juno, Proserpina, Ceres, Diana, Mother Earth or Rhea, war-goddess Bellona, Hecate, the Moon, and the "polymorphous Daemon").
Heliodromus:
Just adding a specimen picture, from Sulla80 on CoinTalk, to this archive since it clarifies a couple of details.
- The figure on Isis's knee has wings confirming the identification as Horus (Harpocrates)
- The object that Isis is holding is very clearly just a wreath
- As is common on these, but made more clear here by the clean engraving of the wreath and Isis's torso, Horus does not appear to be breast feeding (i.e this is not a depiction of Isis Lactans), but rather reaching up towards Isis's face
Ben
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version