Hi, all. Here is another
tessera or
amulet from
Caesarea Maritima, unfortunately not too well preserved. At first I thought it might be a Chnoubis figure with human-head but the right
arm is pretty clear. Then I thought it could be Chnoubis with body of
Harpocrates but I have not been able to find any examples of this, even though I seem to remember seeing one once. I looked through Bonner,
BMC, and NYMMoA online
collections. The serpentine lower portion of the figure is probably just the bent knee. The possible reading of IAW (IAO) would fit well with the
type of
Harpocrates seated on lotus as an amuletic formula, but any other ideas, corrections, or parallels are welcome. Thanks, V-Drome.
BCC LT95
Lead
TesseraCaesarea Maritima
1st - 3rd century CE
Obv:
Harpocrates? seated left, knees bent,
right hand to mouth, left hand lowered behind.
In
field to right, A P? or I, in
field to left W, or M,
or Σ. If the figure is indeed
Harpocrates the
intended
inscription may well be IAW. Another
possibility is a human-headed Chnoubis figure
or some other unidentified
type.
Rev: Blank
PB 14.2 x 1.5mm. 1.54gm.
Axis: NA
Surface find
Caesarea Maritima, 1970
