CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.

The goddess is depicted standing on a spool-shaped base with her weight on the left leg and wearing a diaphanous chiton buttoned along the sleeve and leaving her left shoulder bare. A himation is draped around the lower part of her body, held in her right hand, and falling in long cascading folds down to her feet. Her centrally parted wavy hair is surmounted by the vulture headdress and a crown of uraei supporting the horned sun disc and feathers flanked by ears of grain. For a similar figure of Isis-Aphrodite but with different headdress see the bronze in the Louvre inv. no. MND 2331.

Isis-Aphrodite is a syncretic figure that combines elements of both the Egyptian goddess Isis and the Greek goddess Aphrodite. In the Hellenistic period, as Greek and Egyptian cultures blended, some deities were merged to reflect shared characteristics. Isis, a goddess of motherhood, magic, and fertility, was associated with Aphrodite, the goddess of love, beauty, and desire. This fusion emphasized their shared powers over life, fertility, and the human condition, particularly in areas of love and protection. Temples and cults honoring this combined deity could be found across the Mediterranean world.