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Marble statue of Egyptian god

Γ1140
Stone (White marble)
Head missing from base of neck. Mechanical damage to parts of chest of figure and head and body of snake. Bird head broken. Scattered smaller chipping and accretions in places.
Height: 108.5 cm. Width: 39.5 cm. Thickness: 26 cm. Height of pedestal: 9 cm.
Unknown (Gournes Heraklion?)
Roman period:
100-150 AD:
Gallery:
XXVII
Case:
Not in case
Exhibition thematic unit:
Sculpture. Hellenistic period (3rd-2nd c. BC) Roman period (1st c. BC-3rd c. AD)
Statues of gods
Description
Headless statue of an Egyptian male deity combining features of the gods Osiris, Sarapis and Imhotep. An alternative interpretation is that this is a statue of Isis in the extremely unusual form of Panthea. The figure is standing rigidly, feet together like a mummy, on an oval base. The whole body is clad in a tight ankle-length garment with long sleeves and relief stars. The hands on the breast are holding two diagonal sceptres decorated with lotus buds, while there is a scribal palette on the left shoulder and a snake coiling around the lower body. The sculpture is supported by another attribute of the deity, a chest on the right adorned with pomegranates, on which stands a human-headed bird. In an original expression of syncretism, a Greek-style statue condenses symbols and characteristics of the Egyptian deities Osiris-Sarapis (mummy pose, sceptres, chest with bird, stars), Imhotep (palette, stars), Asklepios (serpent), Aion, the personification of Time, and the serpent Agathodaimon. Adding the solar disc that probably rose behind the head, referring to both Helios and Isis, one understands the theological range of the statue, which includes deities of the Sky, Earth and Underworld: the quintessence of the epithet Panthea, if it indeed depicts Isis.
Bibliography:
Karetsou, A., M. Andreadaki-Vlazaki, N. Papadakis (eds). Κρήτη-Αίγυπτος. Πολιτιστικοί δεσμοί τριών χιλιετιών. Κατάλογος έκθεσης in Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Ηρακλείου. Heraklion, 2000, 444-5 (contribution by Ε. Vassilika). Vassilika, Ε. "A new Egyptian god in Roman Crete". In A. Di Vita et alii (eds), Creta romana e protobizantina: atti del congresso internazionale (Iraklion, 23-30 settembre 2000), Padova, 2004, vol. IΙΙ,2, 1083-7. Trianti, S. "Ανατολικές Θεότητες στη Νότια Κλιτύ της Ακρόπολης". In S. Vlizos (ed.), Η Αθήνα κατά τη ρωμαϊκή εποχή. Πρόσφατες ανακαλύψεις, νέες έρευνες, Athens, 2008, 396-400.
Author:
K. S.


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