Antiquities Discussion Forums > Ancient Glass

Mosaic Glass Apis Bull Caesarea Maritima

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Molinari:

--- Quote from: v-drome on October 21, 2018, 08:26:47 pm ---Hi Molinari.  Here is another photo.  I think the "nose" may be a pit left from the dissolving minerals in the glass.  I found some very close parallels searching for Apis Bull, Egyptian mosaic glass inlay.  This is part of my father's collection of surface finds from the beach near Caesarea in the 1960's and 1970's.

Best regards, Jimi



--- End quote ---

Ah, I see.  So a regular, bovine-faced Apis bull after all.

Molinari:
I think a chalice with something inside, not a mushroom.  

JBF:
Robert Wasson did research on 'magic' mushrooms, their use and role in non-western and ancient cultures.  There are some things that look like mushrooms at Eleusis.  Of course, mushrooms don't look like much, so there is room for skepticism of such artistic depictions.  Ancients almost definitely imbibed in more drugs than just wine and beer, but i think that it is accurate that our cultural bias (for certain recreational drugs and against other) biases research against looking into such things as mushrooms or the use of ergot (not 'straight' though), certain vines or ivy also have such affects.  Dionysus is the god of vines and ivy.  On the other hand, some people are enthused by the idea of ancient precedents to their own recreational drug use with a little new age mysticism thrown in.  Considering that Eleusis and Dionysus, and Apis are old age mysticism, it is not surprising that modern mystics and poets (Robert Graves) see affinity between the two.

v-drome:
Hi, Molinari and JBF.  Thank you for your comments.  I am thinking now that the object in front of the bull may be some kind of table or altar with an offering.  I did not realize how rare these were.  Also, to Nick, the man-faced bull type was unknown to me before I joined Forum.  The mythology is very interesting, and I appreciate your work on the subject.

Best regards to all, Jimi

JBF:
In Greece, a sacrificial bull would be fed grain on an altar or table so that the bull would bend over and "nod" when eating it, thus giving his assent to being sacrificed.  Of course, Apis is not a sacrificial bull.  It looks like there is some kind of headdress on the bull, is that why you think it is Apis?  I don't know how much worship of Apis extended beyond Egypt.  You have an interesting piece there.

Do you know the museum piece's provenance and information around its find?

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