Description

Our artifact is a bust of a male figure with thick hair, a full beard, and a cylindrical headdress on top of his head. The face of the man is expressionless, a common feature of the divine. His hair is thick and curly and appears to be wind-swept (Figure 1d). The headdress is large; it is about one-third of the height of the artifact. It is narrow at the base and tapers outward at the top. Our artifact is a portion of some larger object due to the clear breaking from the underside of the head (Figure 1e).

Based upon our research, we have narrowed the date of our artifact between the first and third centuries CE. During this time, bronze was frequently used to craft detailed objects and was an inexpensive metal. Bronze is a mixture between roughly two-thirds copper and one-third tin lead. This mixture became common in Egypt in the fourth century BCE. Bronze statuary was created using the lost-wax casting method. For this technique, a model was developed with solid wax. The wax was then covered in clay and heated. The heat melted the wax and hardened the clay. Molten bronze was then poured into the clay mold and hardened to take shape.

The face is likely a depiction of the god Serapis. Serapis originated in third century BCE by Ptolemy I Soter of Egypt as a way to unify Greek and Egyptian cultures. Serapis was considered King of the gods. The true representation of Serapis was argued throughout early history. In four-hundred CE, Cyril of Alexandria recalls the debate, “Some do not think he is Pluto, but rather Osiris, or according to others, Apis; as there was a great deal of contention about this matter, they erected the image, they say, when they had come to an agreement, ‘Osirapis,’ as if to form a single compound, so that both Osiris and Apis would be thought of in the same deity” (Cyril, Against Julian, quoted in Stambaugh 1972). The cult of Serapis gained momentum from his origin. In the third century BCE Ptolemy III Euergetes constructed a Serapeum, a temple dedicated to Serapis. Within the temple a large statue of Serapis was found and described by Rufinus, a fourth century CE monk remarking, “there was a statue of Serapis so large that its right hand touched one wall and its left the other” (Rufinus, Church History, quoted in Amidon 1997).

The headdress on the figure is likely an Egyptian modius, a tool used to measure grain. Serapis was often depicted this way to allude to the abundance he provided to his worshippers in the way of fertility. See comparanda 1-8, exclude comparanda 4. In Roman culture Serapis was commonly depicted under the guise of Jupiter. The erosion of details and lack of inscription will make it impossible to be certain which God is depicted. The artifact is in fair condition as it remains a recognizable face, however the head is detached from a larger whole. This is likely due to the damnation of polytheistic religions upon the beginning of Christian emperors in the fourth century. Rufinus recalls the destruction of a Serapis statue at the Serapeum of Alexandria, a temple dedicated to Serapis, “The head was wrenched from the neck [...] and dragged off; then the feet and others members were chopped of” (Rufinus, Church History quoted in Amidon 1997). As for what is missing, we believe the head was previously attached to a bust with a stand. See visual aid and comparanda 5-7. It is also difficult to tell whether there are more details on the modius or if the markings just come from erosion. Based on comparanda, this artifact may have come from a small statue bust representing this divine figure.