AN EGYPTIAN LIMESTONE VOTIVE RELIEF

ROMAN IMPERIAL PERIOD, CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.

Details

AN EGYPTIAN LIMESTONE VOTIVE RELIEF
ROMAN IMPERIAL PERIOD, CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.
Depicting Agathos Daimon and his consort Isis-Thermouthis, Agathos Daimon as a bearded serpent to the left, wearing the Double Crown with sheaths of wheat rising from the coils, Isis-Thermouthis as a cobra to the right, crowned with a solar disk and cow horns, a sheath of wheat and a poppy in the coils, their tails intertwined below a papyrus umbel supporting a vessel, or cista mystica, with a serpent handle, all enclosed within a raised frame
19 1/16 in. (48.4 cm.) wide

Provenance

French Private Collection, 1960s.

Lot Essay

In the Greco-Roman Period, Agathos Daimon was locally worshipped in the area of Alexandria. Known as a god of fortune and a friendly household guardian, he is frequently paired with his consort Isis-Thermouthis. For similar limestone reliefs see nos. 13-22 in Dunand, "Agathodaimon" in LIMC.

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