Une grande reine et deesse

Abstract

During the research led by the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology at Heracleion a huge statue of black diorite was found on the site of the Temple. Preserved in four parts, the sculpture is nearly complete (2.20m). It represents a woman standing, with arms on her sides down and slightly forward. In her left hand she hold the sign ankh and on the chest of her garment she bears the ‘knot of Isis’. Also the hair, arranged in long, rolled-up curls, are characteristic for the goddess. But the broad flat diadem is clearly a royal one, therefore it is possible to see in this sculpture an image of a ptolemaic queen assimilated with Isis. Certain is that Berenice II, the wife of Ptolemy III, wore on some portraits this kind of ‘isiac’ hairdress. Close to the Heracleion statue are portraits of Cleopatra II, sister-wife of Ptolemy VI, and of her daughter – Cleopatra III. Distinction of the portraits of the mother and daughter is difficult, but considering the long reign of the last one, the Heracleion statue seems more probably an image of Cleopatra III as Isis.

Authors and Affiliations

Zsolt Kiss

Keywords

Related Articles

Petempamentes, Petensetis, Petensenis – Their Portraits on Elephantine

The article is a publication of the decoration fragment coming from an unknown sacral building from Elephantine. The scene preserved in the lower register represents Ptolemy VI Philometor making and offering to Petempame...

A Fragmentary Carrying Chair Scene in Salt Lake City, Utah

In the collections of the Utah Museum of Fine Arts in Salt Lake City is a fragmentary limestone relief of a chair carrying scene. The relief fragment in Salt Lake City was a gift to the museum from Natacha Rambova (née S...

Aegyptiaca Vespasiani Notes on Vespasian’s presence on Elephantine

The article reviews the share that Vespasian had in the decoration of the Temple of Osiris Nesmeti on Elephantine. It is considered in the context of a report of Cassius Dio (LXVI 8, 1) who associated that ruler’s entry...

Of Men and Equids Piecing the Clay Images from Tell Arbid Back Together

This paper aims at analyzing relations between different types of clay figurines and models found at Tell Arbid, a site in northern Mesopotamia, in the Khabur region. Starting with a presentation of a set of third millen...

Early Dynastic Bead Workshops at the Central Kom of Tell el-Farkha

In 2002, specialized workshops with micro-perforators (microdrills) were found at Tell el-Farkha. The material was well described as seven separate units. Further analysis shows that originally they formed only two separ...

Download PDF file
  • EP ID EP165138
  • DOI -
  • Views 91
  • Downloads 0

How To Cite

Zsolt Kiss (2014). Une grande reine et deesse. Études et Travaux (Institut des Cultures Méditerranéennes et Orientales de l’Académie Polonaise des Sciences), 0(), 185-194. https://europub.co.uk/articles/-A-165138