Naville Numismatics Ltd.
Auction 36 3 Dec 2017
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Egypt, Alexandria. Dattari. Trajan, 98-117 Drachm circa 109-110 (year 13), 34.5mm., 21.04g. Laureate and draped bust r. Rev. Sphinx with crown of disc, horns and feathers, with crocodile emerging from chest, walking, r. on serpent; in field, LI. RPC 4432.2.2 (this coin). Dattari-Savio Pl. 60, 1180 (this coin).
Very rare and interesting. Lovely brown-green patina, Good Very Fine.
From the Dattari collection.
The Sphinx was a monstrous creature with the face of a woman, the body of a lion, and had a significant role in both in Egypt and in Greece.The word sphinx comes from the verb sphingein ( tighten up, squeeze), probably because the lionesses kill their prey by strangulation.The most known Sphinx is the Great Sphinx of Giza whose face is believed to be the one of Pharaoh Khafre.In the early Dynastic period, the sphinx was associated with the solar worship before the Giza Plateau turned into a necropolis in the Old Kingdom.The lion has for quite some time been an image linked to the sun in old Near Eastern communities. Pictures portraying the Egyptian lord as a lion destroying his foes date as far back as the Early Dynastic Period.
Very rare and interesting. Lovely brown-green patina, Good Very Fine.
From the Dattari collection.
The Sphinx was a monstrous creature with the face of a woman, the body of a lion, and had a significant role in both in Egypt and in Greece.The word sphinx comes from the verb sphingein ( tighten up, squeeze), probably because the lionesses kill their prey by strangulation.The most known Sphinx is the Great Sphinx of Giza whose face is believed to be the one of Pharaoh Khafre.In the early Dynastic period, the sphinx was associated with the solar worship before the Giza Plateau turned into a necropolis in the Old Kingdom.The lion has for quite some time been an image linked to the sun in old Near Eastern communities. Pictures portraying the Egyptian lord as a lion destroying his foes date as far back as the Early Dynastic Period.