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Ptolemaic Egyptian Figure of Harpocrates browse these categories for related items... Directory: Archives:Regional Art:Ancient World:Egyptian: Pre AD 1000: Item # 613345
Janus Antiquities By Appointment New Jersey (330) 612-3957 Guest Book SOLD |
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After the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great of Macedonia, his general Ptolemy was left to govern the new province. Upon Alexander's death shortly thereafter, Ptolemy rapidly established Egypt as his own empire and established a dynasty that outlasted any of the other empires that sprang up in the wake of Alexander's death. The Ptolemies ruled as pharaohs for nearly 300 years, eventually coming under control of Rome in 30 BC after Cleopatra failed to successfully manipulate Mark Antony and Julius Caesar. A last legacy of the Ptolemaic dynasty was an integration of Egyptian and Western religion, producing an odd mixture of Westernized traditional Egyptian gods. Horus, the divine ruler of Egypt frequently seen represented as a falcon, was reinvented as Harpocrates, the child, who represented the newborn sun in the morning. Harpocrates was frequently represented in the nude, oftentimes riding a horse or a large goose, with a braided sidelock of hair and his finger held to his lips as shown here. He eventually came to be associated with silence and secrecy to the Greeks.
AGE: Ptolemaic Egyptian, c. 300-200 B.C. CONDITION: Fragmentary from a larger figure as shown, but otherwise intact and mounted on a wooden stand. The white patch is a bit of remnant slip. For many similar examples see Laszlo Torok's "Hellenistic and Roman Terracottas from Egypt." DIMENSIONS: 3" tall unmounted (7.6 cm). |
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