Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Electronic Auction 483 6 Jan 2021
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EGYPT, Alexandria. Hadrian. AD 117-138. Æ Drachm (33mm, 20.44 g, 12h). Dated RY 19 (AD 134/135). Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Isis enthroned right, crowned with horns and disk, suckling the infant Harpokrates, who is crowned with skhent and holding club; all within distyle temple, pediment decorated with horns and disk; [L ЄNN] ЄAKΔ (date) around. Köln 1189; Dattari (Savio) 1955; K&G 32.676; RPC III 6040; Emmett 998.19. Dark brown patina with a layer of lighter green, smoothed. VF. Rare.
Following Alexander's conquest of Egypt, the cult of Isis spread across the Mediterranean, with its popularity reaching its zenith in the Roman period, when the "goddess of a thousand names" became one of the Mediterranean's principal deities. It is generally recognized that the iconography of Isis nursing Harpokrates influenced Christian representations of the Madonna and Child, particularly the Virgo lactans type popular in Medieval Europe.
Following Alexander's conquest of Egypt, the cult of Isis spread across the Mediterranean, with its popularity reaching its zenith in the Roman period, when the "goddess of a thousand names" became one of the Mediterranean's principal deities. It is generally recognized that the iconography of Isis nursing Harpokrates influenced Christian representations of the Madonna and Child, particularly the Virgo lactans type popular in Medieval Europe.