Description
Marble statue of Isis from Halikarnassos Museum: Archaeological Museum, Istanbul, Turkey Date: 2nd century Period: Hellenistic – Roman Imperial Isis is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs and is celebrated in their mythology as the ideal mother and wife, patron of nature and magic; friend of slaves, sinners, artisans, the downtrodden, as well as listening to the prayers of the wealthy, maidens, aristocrats. and rulers. Cultures leaving evidence of religious beliefs in images, existed in many parts of what became unified as Ancient Egypt for almost 10,000 years. The myths about deities changed over time during the thousands of years of Egyptian culture. Records exist that go back to approximately 3,000 B.C. Many are graphic and some are written in one of two scripts that have been deciphered. The worship of Isis eventually spread throughout the Graeco-Roman world, continuing until the suppression of paganism in the Christian era. Following the conquest of Egypt by Alexander of Macedon the worship of Isis spread throughout the Graeco-Roman world. Tacitus writes that after Julius Caesar’s assassination, a temple in honour of Isis had been decreed; Augustus suspended this, and tried to turn Romans back to the Roman deities who were closely associated with the state. Eventually the Roman emperor Caligula abandoned the Augustan wariness toward what was described as oriental cults, and it was in his reign that the Isiac festival was established in Rome. According to Josephus, Caligula donned female garb and took part in the mysteries he instituted, and in the Hellenistic age Isis acquired a “new rank as a leading goddess of the Mediterranean world.” Vespasian, along with Titus, practised incubation in the Roman Iseum. Domitian built another Iseum along with a Serapeum. Trajan appears before Isis and Horus, presenting them with votive offerings of wine, in a bas-relief on his triumphal arch in Rome. Hadrian decorated his villa at Tibur with Isaic scenes. Galerius regarded Isis as his protectress. Roman perspectives on cults were syncretic, seeing in new deities, merely local aspects of a familiar one. For many Romans, Egyptian Isis was an aspect of Phrygian Cybele, whose orgiastic rites were long-naturalized at Rome, indeed, she was known as Isis of Ten Thousand Names. Among these names of Roman Isis, Queen of Heaven is outstanding for its long and continuous history. Herodotus identified Isis with the Greek and Roman goddesses of agriculture, Demeter and Ceres. The sculpture is identical reproduction of the original ancient masterpiece, now housed by the prominent museum. The statue is composed from mold made from the original, thus guaranteeing the highest accuracy of identical reproduction. The reproduction pictured here is made of cast marble, and is extremely heavy and strong, having a real ancient feel. An ancient patina finishing gives it an additional historical value (you can choose not to have patina applied and keep it all white if you like). The statue can be displayed both inside and out, it is weatherproofed.
