Hi all. I am working to
complete my
catalog of lead
tesserae from
Caesarea Maritima, surface finds from the sand dunes in the 1970's. Here is a typically very tiny but fascinating example with what I believe is Venus/Aphrodite on one
side, and a winged
Eros with crossed
leg leaning on torch, on the other. The pairing of Aphrodite and
Eros is well attested in Bonner's magical
amulets and in Anit
Hamburger's
collection, but so far I have not seen these exact
types in combination. This representative
style of
Eros has sometimes been suggested as possibly related to
Thanatos, or
Nemesis, but I think the association here with Venus/Aphrodite is a strong argument to the contrary. I am including a photo of a
gem in our
collection that more clearly shows the features of the
Eros figure. As always, any other ideas or corrections are most welcome. Here is also a link to my
tessera gallery, below. Many of the identifications are, by necessity, tentative. I have around 20-25 more pieces I will be adding soon, though many of them are very difficult to photograph and properly interpret. Thanks, V-drome
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=lastup&cat=-5157BCC LT93
Lead
TesseraCaesarea Maritima
1st - 3rd century CE
Obv: Venus/Aphrodite standing to right,
(drying hair and holding mirror?)
Rev: Winged
Eros standing to right, left
leg crossed over, leaning on inverted torch
or staff.
PB 9 x 8 x 1.25mm. (11.0mm Diagonally) 0.54gm.
cf. BCC LT57, BCC LT18, and BCC G28 Gemstone.
Surface find
Caesarea Maritima, 1974.