attic grave reliefs that represent women in the dress of isis

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Attic Grave Reliefs That Represent Women in the Dress of IsisAuthor(s): Elizabeth J. WaltersSource: Hesperia Supplements, Vol. 22, Attic Grave Reliefs That Represent Women in theDress of Isis (1988), pp. i-iii+v+vii-xi+xiii-xvi+1-135+137-188Published by: The American School of Classical Studies at AthensStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1353990.

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HESPERIA: SUPPLEMENT XXII

A T T I C G R A V E RELIEFSTHAT REPRESENT

WOMEN N T H E D R E S S O I S I S

BYELIZABETH . WALTERS

AMERICAN SCHOOL OF CLASSICAL STUDIES AT ATHENSPRINCETON, NEW JERSEY

1988

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PREFACEThis publicationis based on my doctoraldissertation n the Departmentof Fine Arts atNew York University, acceptedin 1982. Were it not for the excellent completereliefs,particularly n Athens, and the exceptionalif brokenones fromthe excavationsthere, thisstudywould be without foundationor clue.I express here my sincere appreciationfor the assistanceand interest of my mentorProfessorEvelyn B. Harrison and ProfessorsPeter von Blanckenhagen,BernardV. Both-mer, Dietrich von Bothmer,and Gunter Kopcke,of the Institute of Fine Arts, New YorkUniversity.This studywas madepossiblethroughDr. Harrison'sencouragement, he re-sourcesof the AmericanSchoolof ClassicalStudies at Athens,and help from the staff anddirectorsof the excavationsin the Athenian Agora, Professors Homer A. Thompson andT. Leslie Shear, Jr., and the directorof the excavationsin the Kerameikos,Dr. UrsulaKnigge. I am indebtedto the GreekArchaeologicalService,especiallyto the directorsandstaff of the museums,in Athens, Piraeus, and Herakleion:Dr. Olga Tzachou-Alexandri,Dr. Dina PeppasDelmousou,Dr. BasiliosPetrakos,Dr. E. Touloupa, Dr. IannisSakella-rakis,Dr. AlcmeneDatsuli Stauridis,Dr. KaterinaTheochari,and Dr. NikolaosYalouris;in Mantua:Dr. Anna Maria Tamassia;andin Trieste:Dr. G. Bravar.The knowledgeandexperienceof Dr. ChristianHabicht, Dr. Claus Baer, Dr. and Mrs. Hellmut Hager, Dr.Marian McAllister,and Mark Rose have been of greatbenefit.I value the encouragementfrom and discussionswith Dr. Judith Perlzweig Binder, Dr. Robert S. Bianchi, Dr. andMrs. Walter A. Fairservis, Dr. Michael A. Hoffman, Beth Brown, Diane W. Larkin,Yitzhak and ConstanceMargowski,Mona MacLellan,PatriciaLloyd, JenniferAlden,andmost of all, my parents.

ELIZABETHJ. WALTERSTHEPENNSYLVANIATATE NIVERSITYUniversityPark, Pennsylvania1987



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TABLE OF CONTENTSPREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . .LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ..................SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ABBREVIATIONS .....INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .I. ICONOGRAPHY AND EGYPTIAN-PTOLEMAIC SOURCES ........II.ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE AND INTERPRETATION ........III. PRODUCTION ...................IV. STYLE AND CHRONOLOGY . ...............APPENDIXES1:Catalogueof "Isis"Reliefs Found in the AthenianAgora .....2: Types of Dress for Isis on Representations n the Roman Period .3: ChronologicalList of Attic "Isis"Reliefs ..........INDEXES

I: General. . . . . ....... . . . . . . . . .. .II: Sites and Museums . ...............III: Attic Grave Reliefs Publishedby A. Conze ..........IV: Inscriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .PLATES

~. .. . . .~ 1vii... . . . . xiii

...... 533....... 58....... 91.V67

....... 112....... 114

... . . . . 115....... 119....... 131....... 135



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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONSFIGURES N TEXT

1 The dressof Isis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Plan of the AthenianAgora .. ............................ 92PLATES

1 a Athens,E.M. 8426 (votiverelief):Isis Dikaiosyneb London,B.M. 639 (stele):Isias (Smyrna)c Oxford(stele):Demetriaand Sarapias(Smyrna)d Rhodes:Funeraryaltar2 a Athens,N.M. 1224 (stele):PompeiaIsiasb Athens (stele):Demetriac, d Naples, M.N. 6289 (head)3 a, b Piraeus Museum 223 (stele):man with sirenc, d Athens,AgoraS 2443 (relief, head)4 a 1 AgoraS 1142 (relief):Fragment, eft handwith situlab, c Boston,M.F.A. 99.347 (relief):Agrippa5 a, b Athens,N.M. 3036 (stele):Onesiphoron6 a, b Athens,N.M. Oro-. 140 (stele):Aphrodeisiac Athens,N.M. 2558 (stele):Neiked Athens,N.M. 1163 (stele):Ammia7 a Athens, Kerameikos,Riemann,no. 52 (stele):Diodotosb Munich, Glyp. 250 (colossalstatue):Isis (Rome)c Munich: Steled Naples, M.N. 6372 (statue):dark-stoneIsis8 a, b Athens,N.M. 1296 (stele)c Verona,Museo Lapidario(stele):Gaius Silios Bathyllos9 a Athens,N.M. 1250 (stele):Gaios and Hilarosb Athens,Kerameikos,Riemann,no. 70 (stele)c, d Boston,M.F.A. 01.8191 (statue)10 a Athens,N.M. 1270 (stele)b, c 2 AgoraS 2264 (relief):Fragment, ower legs11 a 3 AgoraS 1200 (relief):Fragment,righthand with sistrumb Athens, Kerameikos,Riemann,no. 58 (stelefragment)c Cambridge,Fitzwilliam Museum (stele):Tryphon12 a-c Herakleion Museum 314 (statue)13 a-d Athens,Third Ephoria(stele):Kallo and Synpheron14 a-c Eleusis: Steled Aigina (stelepediment):sistrum and situlae Syros(steletop):sistrum and situla



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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS15 a Athens,Kerameikos,Riemann,no. 57 (stele):Agathostratosand Mab, c Athens,N.M. 4915 (head):Titusd, e Athens,AgoraS 1319 (head)16 a-c 4 AgoraS 315 (relief):Fragment,headd, e Athens,N.M. 345 (head):Domitian17 a Athens,N.M. 3725 (stele):Titus FlaviusOnesiphorosb-d 5 AgoraS 847 (relief):Fragment,head18 a, b 6 AgoraS 455 (relief):Fragment,fringedmantlec 7 AgoraS 2551 (relief):Fragment,rightshoulder19 a Athens,N.M. 1233 (stele):MousaiosandAmaryllisb Eleusis (relief):Bustc, d HerakleionMuseum 260 + 259 (statues):Isis and Sarapis (Gortyna)20 a, b Athens,N.M. 420 (bust)c 8 AgoraS 202 (relief):Figurewith situlad Athens (stele):Hilara21 a, b Athens,N.M. 3724 (columnarrelief):Melisia

c PiraeusMuseum 222 (stele):ParamonosandAlexandrosd, e Athens,N.M. 3552 (relief,head)f Athens,AgoraS 1118 (relief, head)22 a Athens,PhilopapposMonument:Lictorsb Grenoble:Reliefc 9 AgoraS 437 (relief):Fragment,torsod Mantua, Ducal Palace 6677 (stele):Attikos23 a Athens,E.M. 10040 (relief,ephebicdecree)b-d Athens,Third Ephoria1160 (stele):Methe24 a, b Athens,N.M. 1193 (stele):Alexandrac Sabratha(statue):Isis (Isieion)d Athens,N.M. 1308 (stele):Epigonosand Elate25 a, b 10 AgoraS 486 (relief):Fragment,sistrumc PiraeusMuseum storeroom stele):Neikias andAristoEuphra(Oropos)d MarathonMuseum (stele):Zosasand Nostimos26 a 11 AgoraS 428 (relief):Fragment,torso with garlandb 12 AgoraS 1728 (relief):Fragment,torso27 a-c Piraeus Museum 1160 (stele):LamiaViboulliad CyreneMuseum (statue):Faustinathe Elder28 a Athens,N.M. 'ATro.37 (relief)b 13 AgoraS 2393 (relief):Fragment,torsowith garlandc Athens,N.M. 1249 (stele):Eisias29 a 14 AgoraS 2543 (relief):Fragment, egs andhandwith situlab LaurionMuseum (stele):Sosipatrosand Epiteugmac 15 AgoraS 754 (relief):Fragment,rightarmwith sistrum30 a-c Boston,M.F.A. 1971.209 (stele):Sosibiad 16 AgoraS 1920 (relief):Fragment,fringe31 a, b Rome, Museo Capitolino744 (statue):Faustinathe Youngeras Isisc-e Athens,AgoraS 2864 (statuefragment)32 a Athens,N.M. 1243 (stele):Eukarposand Philoxenosb PiraeusMuseum (relieffragment)c Athens,N.M. 1303 (stele):Neiked Athens,N.M. 1775 (stele):Telesphorose London,B.M. 630 (stele):AgathemerisandSempronius

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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS33 a-c 17 AgoraS 1584 + S 261 (relief):Fragments,right leg and left armd 18 AgoraS 2544 (relief):Fragment,torso34 a, b Naples, M.N. 124325 (Atticsarcophagus):Achillesc, d Athens,N.M. 1617 (statue):Isis35 a-c 19 AgoraS 2771 (relief):Fragments, eft shoulder and legsd 20 Athens,AgoraS 262 (relief):Fragment,torso36 a 21 AgoraS 297 (relief):Fragment, egsb Athens,N.M. 3316 (stele):Timokratesc Athens (stele):Praxitelesd Athens,E.M. 9730 (stelepediment):Cist37 a, b Athens,N.M. 'A7ro.54 + 231 (stele)c Paros (relief):Kleitomenesd Salamis (stele):Apheliaand Zosimose Athens,N.M. 1214 (stele):Sophiaand Eukarpos(Salamis)38 a Athens,N.M. 1223 (stele):Son of Soterionb Athens,N.M. 1247 (stele):Soldier

c Athens,N.M. 1266 (stele):Soldierd 22 AgoraI 4776 (stele):Pedimentfragment(Polla Zoilou)39 a 23 AgoraS 1917 (relief):Fragment,torso with garlandb 24 AgoraS 2029 (relief):Fragment,sistrumc Broom Hall (stele):Aphrodeisia40 a Athens, Kerameikos,Riemann,no. 62 (relieffragment)b Tarragona (sarcophagus):Hippolytosc 25 AgoraI 3348 + I 3532 (stele):Pedimentfragment,cist41 a Athens,AgoraS 1354 (statue)b-d Rome, Vatican,Museo GregorianoEgizio 83 (statue):Julia Maesa as Isise 26 AgoraS 2451 (relief):Fragment,torso42 a Athens,N.M. 2014 (stele)b Athens,AgoraS 2698 (relieffragment)c Brussels,Musees Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire(stele):Aphthonetosd Piraeus Museum (stele):Blastos43 a, b 27 AgoraS 2280 (relief):Fragment,kneesc Trieste, Mus.Civ. 2214 (stele)44 a, b Athens,AkropolisMuseum 3194 (relief)c Rome, Pretextatus Catacomb(sarcophagus):Balbinusd Zagreb,ArchaeologicalMuseum (statue):Isis45 a 28 AgoraS 2900 (relief):Fragment,torsob 29 AgoraS 434 (relief):Fragment,torsoc PiraeusMuseum 278 (statue):Balbinusd 30 AgoraS 984 (relief):Fragment,torsowith garland46 a Athens,N.M. 1176 (sarcophagus):Pelopsb Athens,N.M. 3256 (stele)c Athens,Kerameikos,Riemann,no. 59 (relieffragment)d Verona,Museo Lapidario:Relief47 a 31 AgoraS 2396 (relief):Fragment,torso with garlandb, c Thessaloniki,Arch.Mus. 1247 (Atticsarcophagus):Dionysiacscenes48 a Naples, M.N. (sarcophagus):"Brother"b Athens,N.M. 3669 (stele):Julios Ephebosc Athens,E.M. 10038 (relief,ephebicdecree)49 a, b 32 AgoraS 341 (two-figurerelief):Fragment, owerpartc. Rome,Piazza Venezia (colossalstatue):Isis

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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS50 a 33 AgoraS 1987 (relief):Fragment,torsob, d Athens,N.M. 1244 (stele):Parthenopec Athens,Kerameikos,Riemann,no. 61 (relieffragment)51 a 34 AgoraS 1281 (relief):Fragment,pedimentwith cistb Athens,Kerameikos,Riemann,no. 46 = N.M. 1210 (relief)

c Naples, M.N. 2929 (stele):Balullia Varillad Athens,N.M. 274 (statue):Athena(Epidauros)e Rome, Vatican,LoggiaScoperta(stele):Galateaf Palermo,M.N. 704 (statue)52 a Alexandria,Graeco-RomanMuseum 25783 (statue):Isis (Ras-el-Soda)b Tunis, BardoMuseum C 982 (statue):Isisc Naples, M.N. (statue):black-stoneIsisd Luxor, Sarapieion(statue):Isis-Fortuna(Upper Egypt)e Naples, M.N. (statue):Isis Barberini

PHOTOGRAPHIC CREDITS:Sourcesof photographicprintssuppliedfor the illustrations thephotographerwhereknown)are listedbelow.AgoraExcavations:15:d, e; 28:b;50:aVanderpool:40:cVincent:4:a; 10:b, c; ll:a; 16:a-c; 17:b, d; 18; 20:c;22:c; 25:a, b; 26:a, b; 29:a, c; 30:d;31:c-e; 33:a-d;35:b-d; 36:a; 38:d;39:a, b; 41:a, e; 42:b; 43:a, b; 45:a, b, d;47:a; 49:a, b; 51:aWalker: 35:aBritishMuseum: 1 bDAI Athens:7:a; 9:b; 1l:b; 15:a;40:a; 46:a, c; 47:c; 50:c;51:bRome:27:d;40:b; 44:c;48:a;52:b, c, eWalters:l:a; 2:c, d; 3;4 b, c;9:c, d; 12; 13:c, d; 14:a-c; 19:c, d; 21; 22:d;23; 24:a, b;25:c;27:a-c; 28:a; 30:a-c;31:a, b; 32:e; 34; 36:d; 37:a, b; 41:b-d; 44:a, b; 45:c; 47:c;48:c; 50; 51:c;52:a,dOther sourcesof photographs:W. Amelung,Die Sculpturendes VaticanischenMuseumsII, Berlin 1908, pl. 82, no. 19:51:e'ApxaLoAoyuKdE //,epL' 1939/1940, p. 12, fig. 16: 17:a1960, XpovLKd, pl. 0: 37:c'ApxaLo\oytKob AErTLov 11, 1927/1928 (1930), p. 10, fig. 17: 48:b33, 1978 (1985), pl. 155: 15:b,cAnnuariodella ScuolaArcheologicadi Atene 1-5, 1939-1943, p. 206, fig. 44: 22:aN. Bonacasa,Ritrattigreci e romani dellaSicilia, Palermo1964, pl. 58, cat. no. 128: 51:fM.-C. Budischovsky,La Diffusiondescultes siaquesautourde la Mer Adriatique,Leiden1977, pl. XXXIX:44:d;pl. LVI: 46:dA. Conze,Die attischenGrabreliefs V, Berlin/Leipzig 1911-1922: 2:a, b; 6:d; 7:c; 8:c; 9:a; ll:c; 13:a; 19:b;20:d; 22:b; 24:a;25:d; 29:b; 32:a-d; 36:c; 37:d; 38:b, c; 39:c;42:a, c, d; 43:c;46:bF. Dunand, Le Culted'lsis dans le Bassinorientalde la Mediterrane'e, eiden 1973, I, pl. XXX: 7:b.II, pl. III: 28:c;pl. VI: 38:a;pl. VIII: 24:d;pl. XL: 14:d,eJahresheftedesosterreichischenrchaologischennstituts21-22, 1922-1924, p. 175, fig. 58: 20:a,bMitteilungendes DeutschenArchdologischennstituts,RomischeAbteilung85, 1978, pl. 155: 15:aMonumentiantichi28, 1922, cols. 157-170: 52:eG. Pesce, II Tempio d'lside in Sabratha, Rome 1953, fig. 28: 24:cE. Pfuhl and H. Mobius, Die ostgriechischenGrabreliefsI, Mainz 1977, pl. 118, fig. 813: l:d; pl. 131,fig. 878: l:c

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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONSV. Tran Tam Tinh, Le Cultedes divinites orientalesen Campanie,Leiden 1972, pl. II: 7:dR. Witt, Isis in the Graeco-RomanWorld,Ithaca 1971, p. 169, fig. 32: 51:cPERMISSIONS:Permission for the publicationof certainillustrationshas beengrantedas follows:Dr. Olga Tzachou-Alexandri:13; 14:a-c;23:b-dAlexandria,Graeco-RomanMuseum: 52:aAthens,AkropolisMuseum and the GreekArchaeologicalService,Athens:44:a,bAthens,GreekArchaeologicalService:37:cAthens, National Museum and the Greek ArchaeologicalService:5; 6:a-c; 8:a, b; 10:a; 16:d,e; 17:a; 19:a;21:a, b, d, e; 24:a, b, d; 28:a, c; 34:c, d; 36:b; 37:a,b, e; 38:a;46:b; 50:b,dBoston,Museum of Fine Arts:4:b, c;9:c,d;30:a-cDAI Athens:7:a; 9:b; ll:b; 15:a;40:a; 46:a, c; 47:c; 50:c;51:bDAI Rome:27:d; 40:b; 44:c;46:a;48:a;52:b,c, eDr. Dina Peppas Delmousou (Athens, EpigraphicalMuseum) and the Greek ArchaeologicalService:l:a;23:a; 36:d;48:cLeiden,E. J. Brill:7:b,d; 14:d,e; 24:d; 28:c;38:a; 44:d;46:dLondon,Trustees of the British Museum:1:b;32:eMainz, Philipp von Zabern:1:c,dNaples, Museo Nazionale:2:c,d; 34:a,bPalermo,Bancodi Sicilia:51:fDr. BasiliosPetrakos:25:cPiraeusMuseum and the GreekArchaeologicalService:3:a,b; 21:c;27:a-c; 45:cRome, "L'Erma"di Bretschneider: 4:cRome, Museo Capitolino:31:a,bRome, Vatican, Museo GregorianoEgizio:41:b-dDr. Iannis Sakellarakis(Herakleion Museum) and the Greek ArchaeologicalService,Herakleion:12:a-c;19:c,dDr. Alcmene Datsuli Stauridis:15:b,cDr. Anna Maria Tamassia (Superintendentof Art, Mantua, Ducal Palace):22:dThessaloniki,ArchaeologicalMuseum:47:b,c

PLAN Figure 2):Drawn by John Travlos. Revisedby William B. Dinsmoor,Jr.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ABBREVIATIONSSELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adam, TechniqueAlexandri,AEAT22, B' 1Andreae,ArtofRomeARV2Bianchi,BES 2, 1980Bieber,AncientCopiesBMCBonnet,ReallexikonBothmer,ESLP

Bradeen, Agora XVIIBruckner,EridanosBudischovsky,DiffusionClinton, TAPS 64Comstockand

Vermeule,Sculpturein StoneConzeDiepolder, Die attischenGrabreliefsDarSagDow, HThR 30, 1937Dow and Vermeule,Hesperia34, 1965Dunand, Le Culted'IsisDunand, ReligionpopulaireFollet, AthenesFraser,OpusAth3, 1960

= S. Adam, The TechniqueofGreekSculpture BritishSchool of ArchaeologyatAthensSupplementaryVol.3), London 1966= O. Alexandri,


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BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ABBREVIATIONSFraser,OpusAth7, 1967Fraser,PtolemaicAlexandriaFraser,Rhodian

FuneraryMonumentsGraindor,AthenessousHadrienGrenier,L'Autel

funeraire isiaqueGriffiths,De IsideGriffiths, The Isis BookGuarducci,

Epigrafiagreca

Harrison,AgoraIHelbig4Heyob, Cult of IsisHornbostel,SarapisIGIFJohnson, CorinthIXKlebs,ZdS67, 1931Koumanoudes,AEAT25, 1970Kourouniotis,

= P. M. Fraser,"CurrentProblemsconcerning he Early History of the Cult ofSarapis,"OpusAth7, 1967, pp. 23-45= P. M. Fraser,PtolemaicAlexandria,Oxford1972= P. M. Fraser,RhodianFuneraryMonuments,Oxford1977= P. Graindor,AthenessousHadrien,Cairo 1934= J.-C. Grenier,L'Autelfuneraire siaquede FabiaStratonice,Leiden 1978= J. G. Griffiths,Plutarch'sDe Isideet Osiride,Wales 1970= Apuleius of Madauros. The Isis-Book (Metamorphoses,Book XI), J. G.Griffiths,ed., Leiden 1975= M. Guarducci,Epigrafia greca, I, Caratterie storiadella disciplina: a scrit-turagreca dalle originiall'eta imperiale,Rome 1967; II, Epigrafidi carat-terepubblico,Rome 1969; III, Epigrafi di carattereprivato, Rome 1974;IV, Epigrafisacrepagane e cristiane,Rome 1978= E. B. Harrison, The AthenianAgora,I, PortraitSculpture,Princeton1953= W. Helbig, Fiihrerdurchdie offentlichenSammlungenklassischerAltertiimerin Rom, 4th ed. supervisedby H. Speier,Tubingen 1963-1972= S. K. Heyob, The Cult of Isis Among Womenin the Graeco-RomanWorld,Leiden 1975= W. Hornbostel, Sarapis: Studien zur Uberlieferungsgeschichte, den Erschei-nungsformenund WandlungenderGestalteines Gottes,Leiden1973= Inscriptionesgraecae,II-III, editiominor,J. Kirchner,ed.= F. P. Johnson, Corinth,IX, Sculpture1896-1923, Cambridge,Mass. 1931= L. Klebs, "Die verschiedenen Formen des Sistrums," Zeitschriftfiir agyptischeSpracheund Altertumskunde 7, 1931, pp. 60-63= S. N. Koumanoudes,


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BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ABBREVIATIONSMuehsam, = A. Muehsam,"AtticGraveReliefsfrom the RomanPeriod,"Berytus10,1952,

Berytus10, 1952 pp. 51-114Needler, = W. Needler,"SomePtolemaicSculptures n the Yale UniversityArt Gallery,"Berytus9, 1949 Berytus9, 1949, pp. 129-141Niemeyer,Studien = H. G. Niemeyer,Studien zur statuarischenDarstellungderromischenKaiser,Berlin 1968Ohly, AA (JdI 80), 1965 = D. Ohly, "Kerameikos-Grabung. atigkeitsbericht1956-1961,"AA (JdI80),1965, pp. 278-375Pfuhl and M6bius, Die ost- = E. Pfuhl and H. Mobius, Die ostgriechischenGrabreliefs , Mainz 1977griechischenGrabreliefsPolaschek, TrZ 35, 1972 = K. Polaschek,"Studienzu einem Frauenkopfim LandesmuseumTrier undzur weiblichenHaartrachtder iulisch-claudischenZeit,"TriererZeitschriftfur Geschichteund Kunst des TriererLandes und seiner Nachbargebiete,1972, pp. 141-210Quaegebeur, = J. Quaegebeur, "Documentsconcerninga Cult of Arsinoe Philadelphos atJNES 30, 1971 Memphis,"JNES 30, 1971, pp. 239-270Quaegebeur, =J. Quaegebeur, "PtolemeeII. en adoration devant Arsinoe II. divinisee,"BIFAO 69, 1970 BIFAO 69, 1970, pp. 191-217Quaegebeur,"Reines = J. Quaegebeur,"Reinesptolemaiqueset traditionsegyptiennes,"n Dasptole-ptolemaiques" maischeAgypten,Mainz am Rhein 1978, pp. 245-262RE = Pauly-Wissowa,Real-EncyclopidiederclassischenAltertumswissenschaftRiemann = H. Riemann, Kerameikos, I, Die Skulpturen,Berlin 1940Roullet, Monuments = A. Roullet, The Egyptian and Egyptianizing Monumentsof ImperialRome,Leiden 1972

Roussel, Cultes = P. Roussel, Les Cultes egyptiens a Delos du IIIe au Ier siecle avant J.-C.,egyptiens Nancy 1916SEG = SupplementumepigraphicumgraecumStricker, = B. H. Stricker, "Graeco-Egyptischeprivate sculptuur,"OMRL 41, 1960,OMRL 41, 1960 pp. 18-30Thompson, = D. B. Thompson,PtolemaicOinochoaiand Portraits n Faience,Oxford 1973PtolemaicOinochoaiTran Tam Tinh, = V. Tran Tam Tinh, Le Culte des divinites orientales en Campanie,LeidenCampanie 1972Tran Tam Tinh, Essai = V. Tran Tam Tinh, Essai sur le culte d'Isisa Pompe'i,Paris 1964Tran Tam Tinh, = V. Tran Tam Tinh, Isis Lactans,Leiden 1973Isis LactansTravlos, = J. Travlos,PictorialDictionaryofAncientAthens,New York1971

PictorialDictionaryVidman, = L. Vidman,Isis und Sarapisbei den GriechenundRomern,Berlin 1970Isis und SarapisVidman,Sylloge = L. Vidman,Syllogeinscriptionum eligionisIsiacae et Sarapiacae,Berlin 1969Walker,BSA 74,1979 = S. Walker,"ASanctuaryof Isis on the SouthSlopeof the AthenianAcropolis,"Annualof the BritishSchoolat Athens74, 1979, pp. 243-257Walters,AAA 12,1979 = E. J. Walters,"Two Attic GraveReliefsof the RomanPeriod,"AthensAnnalsofArchaeology12, 1979, pp. 215-221Wegner, Die = M. Wegner, Das romischeHerrscherbild,II, iv, Die Herrscherbildnisse nHerrscherbildnisse antoninischerZeit, Berlin 1939Witt, "Isis-Hellas" = R. E. Witt, "Isis-Hellas,"ProcCamPhilSoc192, 1966, pp. 48-69Witt, Isis = R. E. Witt, Isis in the Graeco-RomanWorld,Ithaca 1971

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BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ABBREVIATIONSWycherley,Stones = R. E. Wycherley,TheStonesofAthens,Princeton1978ofAthensYalouris et al., Alexander= N. Yalouris, The Searchfor Alexander (Exhibition, Washington, D.C.,November 16-San Francisco,May 16, 1981), Washington,D.C. 1980

PERIODICAL ABBREVIATIONSAA = Archdologischer nzeigerAJA = AmericanJournalofArchaeologyAM = Mitteilungendes DeutschenArchiologischen nstituts,AthenischeAbteilung'ApX' E4 = 'ApXaLtoToyLKEfrtlEplspBCH = Bulletinde correspondance elleniqueBES = Bulletinof theEgyptologicalSeminarBIFAO = Bulletinde l'Institutfranqaisd'ArcheologieOrientaleAEeAr = 'ApXa&oAoy7KOvXeAtrovJdI = Jahrbuchdes DeutschenArchiologischen nstitutsJNES = JournalofNear EasternStudiesOMRL = Oudheidkundige Mededelingen uit het Rijksmuseum van Oudheiden teLeidenOpusAth = OpusculaatheniensiaRM = Mitteilungendes DeutschenArchdologischennstituts,RomischeAbteilung

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INTRODUCTIONThere is strikingconformity n the praiseof the Egyptian goddessIsis in Egyptandbeyondto the Mediterranean.As earlyas the early 1stcenturyB.C., the hymnsof Isidorus nscribedon the antae of the temple of Isis-Hermouthis at Medinet Madi' in the Fayyumof Egypthad much in commonwith the contemporary retalogyof Isis fromthe island of Androsinthe Aegean.2Isis was consideredthe source of all good, life, and salvation.Her endlesspowerscontinued o be recordedn aretalogiesof RomandatefromIos, Kyme,andThessa-loniki.3In the MetamorphosesxI.5 by Apuleius in the 2nd centuryafter Christ, Isis an-nouncesher all-encompassingpowersandvariousidentitiesas the goddessmostreveredbyotherpeoples.4The popularityof Isis, so well attested in the Roman Empire, may well have beenestablished n the Mediterraneanas earlyas the 2nd centuryB.C.,as suggestedby Fraser.5The popularityof Isis, particularly n Athens,is of interest o us here. The inscriptions romAthensandits environs ndicate hat hercultmayhave been knownthere as earlyas the late4th centuryB.C. and that participation n it continued o the middleof the 3rdcenturyafterChrist.6Becausethe inscriptionsconcerning he cult of Isis in Athensarefew, its popularityand importancecan be betterassessed when careful consideration s also given to an im-portant groupof monuments.These aregravereliefs fromAthens that representwomeninthe dress of Isis, the subjectof this publication.Atticgravereliefsshowingwomen in the dressof Isis are of Romandate,produced romat least as earlyas the last quarterof the 1stcenturyB.C. to the beginningof the 4th centuryafter Christ.7There are 106 known, someonly by fragments,representingapproximatelyone thirdof the publishedAtticgravereliefs of the Romanperiod.Owingtothe numberandgenerally high qualityof the "Isis"reliefs,this seriesprovides he basis for a valid chronol-ogy to which the other,contemporary ravereliefsmaybe related.8Graindor is the only scholar who has recognizedthe artistic as well as the cult signi-ficance of Atticgravereliefsshowingwomen in the dress of Isis. Althoughhe includedfew

Fraser,PtolemaicAlexandria,pp. 670-671: four hymns that date to 96 B.C.are the earliest of the pre-servedpraisesof Isis;SEG VIII, pp. 536-537 and pp. 548-551; see also V. F. Vanderlip,The Four GreekHymns ofIsidorusand the CultofIsis (AmericanStudies n PapyrologyXII), Toronto 1972.2 W. Peek,Der IsishymnusvonAndrosund verwandteTexte,Berlin 1930; Fraser,PtolemaicAlexandria,pp. 670-671 and OpusAth3, 1960, p. 3, note2; Dunand,Le Culte d'Isis II, pp. 116-118.3Ibid. See also Dunand,Le Culte d'Isis II, p. 215 (Ios), p. 188 (Thessaloniki),and III, p. 86 (Kyme);forThessaloniki, see S. Pelekidis, 'A7rbrlV 7TroXirea KaLTrlVKOLvovlaT7rjapxala Oro-oaAoKvlK7ls,hessaloniki1934.4 Griffiths,The Isis Book,p. 75.5Fraser,PtolemaicAlexandria,p. 672.6 Vidman,Sylloge,nos. 1-33; Dunand, Le Culte d'Isis II, pp. 4-17, 133-153.7 See 1, 34, and ChapterIV.8 See footnote 1 below, p. 58.



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INTRODUCTIONof these Attic "Isis"reliefs in his researchon Athens,9he diddrawattentionto them:

Amongthe funerarystelaiof the Romanperiodone of the richestseries isthat of the deceasedas a devoteeof Isis.... No doubt the numerousnessofthe devoteesof the Egyptiangoddesscorresponds o a periodwhen Egyptandher cult were particularly n favor.10More recently,the cult significanceof thesereliefs has been clarifiedby Dunand, the mostthoroughof the few scholars o citesomeof the Attic"Isis" eliefsin theirstudieson the cultof Isis in Athens.1In reviewingthe argumentsof Graindor and Dunand, and the less convincingones ofHeyob andVidman,12 everalquestionsarise. Who are these women in the dressof Isis onAtticgravereliefs?Priestesseshave oftenbeensuggested.What is the originof the costumeand what is its significance?Do the majorityof thesegravereliefsbelongto the 2ndcenturyafter Christ, particularlyto the reign of Hadrian (A.D. 117-138) as proposedby Grain-dor?13Few scholars have questionedthe datesofferedby Graindor,yet fromother monu-ments with inscriptionsconcerningthe cult of Isis in Athens, it is clear that it was notfosteredby any Romanemperor.14The largenumberand surprisingqualityof Attic "Isis"reliefsstronglysuggestthe im-portanceof these monuments o the individualsand families to whomthey belonged,as wellas the importanceof theirrole in the cult of Isis in Athens; his studyis the first tobe devotedto them. I have attemptedhere to define the place of the "Isis"reliefs amid contemporarysculptureas well as in the longhistoryof figuredgravereliefs from Athens. A valid chronol-ogy is essential. Informationconcerning he originalprovenience,however,is often limitedor lacking,the accompanying nscriptionsare difficult to date, and the personsnamed inthem can seldombe identified.15All these factorswill be considered,but the chronologymust be basedchieflyon style.Atticgravereliefs with women in the dressof Isis fromthe AgoraExcavationsare theheartof this study.We are fortunateto have 34 of them,cataloguedbelow in Appendix 1,amongwhich areexamplesof the earliestandlatestof this series.Althoughthe "Isis" eliefsfrom the Agoraare fragmentary, ome are of surprisinglyhigh quality. Othersare so dis-tinctive in style and executionthat closecomparisonshave been found with otherpiecesofsculpturesuggesting hepossibilityof the sameworkshopand,atthe least,contemporaneity.9 P. Graindor,AthenessousAuguste,Cairo 1972, p. 206, note7; idem,Athenesde Tiberea Trajan,Cairo1931, p. 203, notes2 and 6; and Graindor,AthenessousHadrien,p. 283.10Graindor,AthenessousHadrien,loc.cit.11Dunand,Le Culted'lIsis I, p. 145;for the opinionsof otherscholars,see pp. 54-56 and 59-60 below.

12 Graindor,AthenessousHadrien, loc. cit.;Dunand, Le Culted'lIsis I, pp. 145-149; Heyob, Cultof Isis,pp. 90-92; Vidman,Isis und Sarapis,pp. 48-49.13Graindor,AthenessousHadrien,loc.cit.14Dunand (Le Culted'IsisII, p. 152) agreeswith Dow (HThR 30, 1937,p. 232) that the inscriptionsof thecult in Athens donot indicatepatronage romany emperor.Dunand's chartof 22 "Isis" eliefs (pp. 146-148),however,has only two revisionsfor dates proposedby Graindor.Only four reliefsare citedby Vidman andHeyob, resulting in incorrect conclusions:Vidman, Sylloge, nos. 13, 18, 23, 24 and Isis und Sarapis,pp. 48-49; Heyob, Cultof Isis, pp. 90-92. See also pp. 54 and 60 below.15See footnote1below,p. 58. Most helpfularetwo cataloguescontaining"Isis" eliefs:Conze,1868, 1954-1972, 2077, 2139-2142 and Riemann,nos. 57-59, 61, and 62.

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INTRODUCTIONThe betterpreservedAttic "Isis" eliefsin the othermuseumsof Athens and the Piraeushave been essentialto reconstructinghe Agorafragments,but only togetherwith theAgoraexamples do they form a continuous series from which a valid chronologyfor Attic gravereliefsof Romandate can be determined.The Attic "Isis" reliefs in this study belong to a period of heightenedproductionoffiguredgravereliefs in Athens, from the third quarterof the 1st centuryB.C. throughthe60's of the 3rd centuryafter Christ.16A few were made after the invasion of the Heruli inA.D. 267.17These centuriesmayalso be significantfor the cult of Isis in Athens.The "Isis"grave reliefs may indicatea periodof renewed or increased nterest in thecult. It maynot be mere coincidence hat the firstappearanceof thesereliefsoccurredat thetime when the island of Delos was being abandonedby the Athenians.Delos had not onlybeen an importantcrossroads n sea trade and a possessionof Athens from166 B.C.but alsohad served as a showcasefor Athenianparticipation,oftenby membersof the mostprom-

inent families, in the cult of Isis.18With the rapiddecline of Delos in the firstcenturyB.C.,the Atheniansmayhaverenewed their attentions o local sanctuariesof Isis.The numerousand continuousseriesof "Isis" eliefs indicatesa broaderparticipationnthe cultbeginning n the late 1stcenturyB.C., ontemporarywith Roman rule.The questionof the role in the cult of the individualsdepictedon the monuments s tantalizing.It is asmuch of a problemas the identityand place of each in Atheniansociety.The informationmosthelpful for the solutionmay lie with the "Isis"reliefs themselves.Definitionof costumeand all features that permitidentificationof the oftenvery frag-mentary"Isis"reliefs arediscussed irst,establishing he Athenianarrangementof the mostpopular dress of Isis in the Roman Empire. The historyof this costume,as well as thecharacteristichairstyleand hand-heldattributes, eads back to her homelandof Egyptandto recognitionof the enrichmentof the iconographyby the Greeks andthe Romans.Archaeologicalevidenceconcerning he "Isis"reliefs,as gravemonumentsandthroughthe accompanying nscriptions,providesa basis on which to assess the importanceof thesemonuments,the status of the persons named, and finally their role in the cult of Isis inAthens. The last two chaptersare concernedwith the productionof the reliefs and thedevelopments n style which togetherestablish the chronologyfor this series.The impor-tance of these reliefsto the cult of Isis in Athens is reflected n the sculptorsandworkshopsthat createdthem.The text of this studyis followedby the catalogueof fragmentary eliefsfromthe exca-vations of the AthenianAgora(indicated n the textbyboldnumbers),a tableof theversionsof the Isis costumerepresented n sculptureof Romandate,and a chronological able of allthe "Isis"reliefs. In the text andon the plates,the sculpture s identifiedby museum inven-torynumberand inscribedname,if possible;Conzereferencesaregivenforpiecesnot illus-tratedin the plates. The concordanceof Conze numbersgiven in Index III provides oca-tions in Index II or internalreferences.

16See pp. 59-60 below.17See pp. 88-89 below.18 See pp. 61-62 below.

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4

9FIG.1. The dressof Isis



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IICONOGRAPHY AND EGYPTIAN-PTOLEMAIC

SOURCESIn seeking the significanceof the costume and hand-held cult objects displayedon Atticgravereliefs,we are ledfirstto Egypt.Costumeandcult articleswill be found to have a longand oftenseparatehistory, complicatedby developmentsn Egyptunder Greekand,finally,Roman rule. It is the EgyptiangoddessIsis whoserepresentationshave been considered hemodel for the costumeand whose cult the source forthe hand-heldarticles,but clarificationis needed to determinewhen each becameher property.COSTUMEA ratherexotic, femininecostume,thoughtto be that of the Egyptian goddessIsis, isworn by womenon gravereliefs in Athens.1It consistsof two garmentsof which the morenoticeableis the mantle with long fringe, often snugly drapedand always knotted at thechest. It is worn over a sleevedgown.This form of dress is Egyptian in origin.2It was worn by queens, noblewomen,andsome commonersat least as earlyas the New Kingdom(1570-1085 B.c.)3andcontinued obe in fashionin Egypt into the 4th centuryafterChrist.4With the seeminglyendless array of titles for the goddessIsis in the Hellenistic andRomanperiods,she was representedn the Mediterranean n a varietyof dress as well as inthe guiseof othergoddesses.5The attire for Isis included his Egyptiancostumewith fringed

Tran Tam Tinh, Essai, p. 96; V. von Gonzenbach,"Dergriechisch-r6mische cheitelschmuckund dieFunde von Thasos,"BCH 93, 1969 (pp. 885-945), p. 902, note 1; Dunand, Religion populaire, p. 21, notes41, 42 and Le Culte d'IsisII, pp. 144-149; for the reliefs,see Conze 1868, 1954-1972. On thedress of Isis, seefootnote 2 below;for this Egyptian goddess,see J. Bergmann n LexikonderAgyptologieIII, ii, Wiesbaden1978, pp. 186-204.2 H. Schafer, "Das Gewand der Isis," in Janus, I, Festschriftzu C. F. Lehmann-HauptssechzigstenGeburtstage,Vienna 1921, p. 200; Needler, Berytus 9, 1949, pp. 137-141. See also bibliography inA. Adriani,Repertoriod'artedell'Egittogreco-romano.SculturaA I, II, Palermo1961, p. 38.3Ibid. This costume servedas a ceremonialdress for queens:see Quaegebeur,"Reinesptolemaiques,"New Kingdomrelief, fig. M and Ptolemaicqueens, p. 254, figs.C and K;S. Sauneron,"Un Documentegyp-tien relatifa la divinisationde la reine ArsinoeII,"BIFAO 60, 1960, p. 85.4 In the Roman period, women are represented n this form of dress on funerarymonuments,such asnumerousmummymasks citedby Dunand, Religionpopulaire,p. 21; G. Grimm,Die romischenMumien-masken aus Agypten, Wiesbaden1974, pls. 11:2-4, 12:1, 15:1, 114:2, 116:5, 117:4and 8, 118:3. One of thelatest, probablyCoptic, is an unpublishedlimestonegrave relief, Brooklyn70.132: comparewith LouvreE 25908 (J. Vandier,"Nouvellesacquisitions,"La Revue du Louvre23, 1973, p. 250, fig. 5). A dateearlyinthe 4th centuryafterChrist is likely;fora similarhairstyleandgeometric reatmentof the figureandface,seea graverelief in the Rijksmuseum,Leiden(A. Badawy,CopticArtandArchaeology,Cambridge,Mass. 1978,pp. 129-130 and fig. 3:24) and mummy mask, Cairo CG 33281 (G. Grimm, Kunst der Ptolemier- undRomerzeitmAgyptischenMuseumKairo,MainzamRhein1975,p. 26,no.56,pl.95).5 The titlesandvarious epresentationsf Isis areoutlined yDunand,LeCulted'IsisI, pp.80-108and



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ICONOGRAPHY AND EGYPTIAN-PTOLEMAIC SOURCESmantleknottedat the chest. It was the mostpopularand distinctive orm of dress forrepre-sentationsof Isis in the RomanEmpire.6Why did Athenians wear this garbon their gravereliefs?Did they emulate the Egyp-tian goddessIsis, or was this costumeworn by women in the cult of Isis in Athens? Itsappearanceon 106 Atheniangravereliefsstronglysuggestsnotonlylocalinterest n the cultbut also use of this dressby its worshipers.ARRANGEMENTFTHEFRINGEDMANTLE

Women in the dress of Isis on Attic gravereliefs wear a fringedmantle over a sleevedgarment.The mantleis cross-draped n the back of the figurewhile thetwo ends are drawnover the shouldersandcaughtin the knotat the chest(Fig. 1,views 1-9). The cross-drapingis as follows:the end[1 of the mantle is held beforethe chestwhile the rest is drawnovertheproperleft shoulderand down the back to pass under the right arm (view 2). It passesthefrontof the figurebelow the breasts(view 3) and under the left arm to cross the back ontheopposite diagonal (views 4, 5). The mantle is then drawn over the right shoulder with thesecond end [2] held before the chest.A slip-knotis then formedby loopingthe two ends [1and 2] aroundpart of the folds [3] below the breasts,drawing up the mantle over the legswith characteristic, ftenthick,centerfolds(views 6-9).The cross-drapingof the fringedmantle follows a basicEgyptianarrangement,partic-ularlypopularin the Ptolemaicand Romanperiods.7On the Egyptian examples,the man-tle has onlyoneendcaughtin the knot at the chest while the secondend lies free over the leftshoulder.8The catchingof two ends in the knot at the chest and the fringingof these twoedgesaredistinctive o Atticmonuments; hey are due neither to a misunderstanding f theEgyptiandress nor to an artisticpreference or symmetry.The Athenianarrangementof the fringedmantleis a morepracticalway to wear thisEgyptianformof dress.To knot the endstogetheranchors he mantlesecurely.To have twofringededgeson the mantle is not difficult.A second ringefor the other end of the mantle isreadily made. One must simple loosen the strandsfrom the fabricof the mantle and tieseveralas tufts,forminga fringe.With bothedges caughtin the knot andfringed,additionalattention s givento this elegantdress.pls. X-XII, XV-XVII, XLIV; II, pls. XVI, XXII, XXIII, XXVII, XXIX, XXXII, XXXIV-XXXVIII,XLII; III, pls. I-III, V, VIII, XII, XV, XVI, XX. See alsothesummaryby Witt (Isis,pp. 111-129, figs.4-8,13-19, 24, 28); Witt, "Isis-Hellas,"pp. 48-69; Bonnet, Reallexikon,pp. 328-329; Lafaye, DarSag III, i,pp. 579-585.6 Dunand, Religionpopulaire,p. 21.7 Needler,Berytus9,1949, p. 138;Bianchi(BES2, 1980,pp.9-23) reaffirms heEgyptianoriginof thiscos-tume,buthis explanationof the draping s not valid. Otherarrangements f the fringed inenmantle arepossi-ble, such as the New Kingdomexamples:E. Riefstahl,"A Note on Ancient Fashions: Four Early EgyptianDresses in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,"BulletinoftheMuseumofFine Arts,Boston68,1970 (pp.244-259), p. 246, fig. 3 and thecoffin id of Iyanafery,New York,M.M.A. 86.1.6a from the tombof SennedjematDeir el Medineh(DynastyXIX, earlyin the reignof RamsesII) to bepublishedbyY. Margowsky.8 Needler,Berytus9, 1949, p. 138. A numberof Egyptianstatueswith this form of dressof the Ptolemaicand Romanperiodsare publishedby Stricker(OMRL 41, 1960, pp. 18-30, pls. XVII-XXII).

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ARRANGEMENT OF THE FRINGED MANTLEThe knottingof the two ends of a double-fringedEgyptianmantleseems to be exclusiveto the Athenians and is best explainedas the way in which the Egyptiandress was worn inAthens.Two ends fallingfrom the knot at the chest areclearlyshown on the mostcarefullycarvedof figureson Atticgravereliefs,as well as on a few statues from Atticworkshopsof

the Roman period.9The cross-drapingof the fringedmantle on the latter is shown in theround. Like the Egyptianversion,the fringedmantle on Attic grave reliefs was made oflinen.10Its characteristic exture is repeatedlyshown on grave-relieffiguresfromAthens,regardlessof size or workmanship.11The undergarmentworn by women in this garb is a chiton. Its fullness is seen in theloopingfolds that fall fromand framethe breasts and in the narrow folds at the feet of thefigurebelow the mantle which covers this undergownto mid-calf. The long sleeves of thechiton fit snugly and cover the wrists, usually with a cuff. The unusual effect of a secondsleeveat mid-upperarm on three relief figuresof the earlyAntonineperiod(A.D.140-160)is simplya fold fromthe fullness of the chiton that has fallen acrossthe arm.12The use of the Greekdress,thechiton,as the undergown or theknotted, ringedmantledoes occur among representationsof the goddess Isis in Egypt.13In the Mediterraneanunder Romanrule, the knotted,fringedmantlewith the chiton was the mostcharacteristiccostume for the goddessIsis.14Was it exclusive to the Egyptian goddessIsis at any time inthe long historyof Egyptandthe Mediterranean?The reason for therepresentation f non-Egyptianwomen15 n such dress on gravestones n Athens and the environsmay well de-pendon the originandhistoryof the costumeas well as on its use in Athens.

9 Athens, N.M. 1270 (PI. 10), Athens, N.M. 1214 (PI. 37), Mantua, Duc.Pal. 6677 (PI. 22), and theheavily raspedAthens, N.M. 1308 (PI. 24). The statues include Herakleion 314 (P1. 12), Rome, Mus.Cap.744 (P1. 31), Vatican,Mus.Greg.Eg. 83 (P1.41), andfromDalmatia, Zagreb,Arch.Mus.34 (P1.44).10D. B. Thompson, "ABronze Dancer fromAlexandria,"AJA54, 1950 (pp. 371-385), p. 380 andPtole-maic Oinochoai,p. 30. On the literaryreferences o linen, see footnote78 below,p. 16.11The rasp may be usedto suggestthe texture of linen, but the short slash markscuttingacross the mainfoldsrepresent ts crinkle.See 8, 9, 13, 14, 17, 28, and 31; cf. Boston,M.F.A. 1971.209 (P1.30) and London,B.M. 630 (P1.32).12 LamiaViboullia, Piraeus 1160 (P1.27), Athens,N.M. 'A7ro. 37 + 13 (P1.28), and 12 (P1.26).13 Terracottafigurines,assignedto the late Hellenistic and Romanperiods:Dunand, Religionpopulaire,pls. XV:21, XXIII, XLIV; and statuesof Isis of Ptolemaic and Romanperiods:Dunand, Le Culted'Isis I,pls. VII:2, X:1, XI:1, XVI, XXIX:1; XXXIII.14Althoughthe knotted, ringedmantle is emphasizedby Dunand (Religionpopulaire,p. 21), the chitonisevident in her examples (see footnote 13 above) and repeatedlyoccurs in examplesof Roman date, such asstatues of Isis fromthe Sarapieionat Luxor and fromthe Isieionat Ras-el-Soda(P1.52) and of Isis-FortunafromupperEgypt,Alexandria4780 (T. Kraus,"AlexandrinischeTriaden derromischenKaiserzeit,"Mittei-lungendesdeutschenarchiologischen nstituts,AbteilungKairo19, 1963 [pp.97-105], p. 100 andpl. XVI:a).Other examples of Roman date include statues from Italy and North Africa (Pls. 7 and 52); votive relief,Rome, Mus.Cap. 4371 (Hornbostel,Sarapis,pl. CXV); in Athens,Isis fromthe southslopeof the Akropolis(p. 63); from Attic workshops,see footnote9 above;fromMacedonia,two statues of Isis-Fortuna(T. Jana-kievski,MacedoniaActaArchaeologica , 1976, pp. 176 and 194).15See the discussion of the inscriptions(pp. 48-51). Only one name for an individual on an Attic "Isis"gravereliefhas beensuggestedas possibly Egyptian:"Anaitis"IG II2,10182) as the rootof the garblednameforthe woman in the dress of Isis on the BroomHall relief (P1.39).

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ICONOGRAPHY AND EGYPTIAN-PTOLEMAIC SOURCESHISTORY OF THE FRINGED MANTLE AND UNDERGARMENT

In Egypt one of two garmentsis worn under the fringedmantle: a sheathlike dresswhich has a longhistoryin Egypt16 r a Greekdress,the chiton. The sheath often has shortsleevesas seen on Egyptianstatuesof the Ptolemaic and Romanperiods.17The mantle istightlydrapedover the sheath and reveals muchof the torso.In contrast o this snug arrangement s that of the figureswho wear the fringedmantleover a Greek dress,the chiton. On Ptolemaicoinochoai,18he queens in this dress have abell-likeor pyramidalformresultingfrom the greaterfullnessof the chiton. The mantle isworn higher, drapedto mid-calfoverthe chiton rather than completelycovering he loweredge of the undergown,as seen in the traditionalEgyptianstatues19with a sheath as theundergarment.It appears that either of these versionswas appropriatefor the Ptolemaicqueens ofEgypt and that each was tied to an artistictraditionin Egypt. When the queenswear thefringedmantle over a sheath, the monument is a traditionalEgyptianwork, such as thestatues of Arsinoe II20 d templereliefsandstelaiof other Ptolemaicqueens.21Whenthesequeenswear the fringedmantleovera chiton,they arerepresentedn worksof Greekheri-tage such as the relief figureson a few oinochoaiof the secondhalf of the 3rd andearly2ndcenturiesB.C.22 These figuresappear to be essentiallyGreek in style with some influencefrom Egyptian monuments in the abstractpatterning of folds and facial features.23A

16 Needler, Berytus9, 1949, p. 138; see the statues in Stricker,OMRL 41, 1960, pp. 18-30, pls. XVII-XXII. When the sheath has sleeves, it is a bag-tunic which is known from the Middle Kingdom;see thedefinitionby Riefstahl(footnote7 above,p. 6), pp. 253-259 andfig. 8.17 Stricker,OMRL 41, 1960, pls. XVII-XXII.18 Thompson,PtolemaicOinochoai,nos. 122-124 and a fourthexample,Amsterdam7588: eadem,"MorePtolemaicQueens," n Eikones:Studien zum griechischenund rimischenBildnis (AntikeKunst Beiheft 12),Bern 1980 (pp. 181-184), pp. 182-183, pl. 61:3.19Stricker,OMRL 41, 1960, pls. XVII-XXII, particularlyXXI:1-4.20 This costume reachesthe feet of ArsinoeII on two examples:a small limestonestatue,M.M.A. 20.2.21,inscribedon the backpillar "Arsinoe,divinebrother-loving"ike the GreekOea |tAabcEAfo'sH. Kyrieleis,Bildnisse derPtolemder,Berlin 1975, pp. 82 and 178, no. J 1, pl. 71), and a fragmentof a largegranitestatue(basewith feet and lower edge of drapery)inscribed o Arsinoein hieroglyphsand Greek,ChicagoOrientalInstitute 10158 (P. M. Fraser, "Inscriptionsfrom Ptolemaic Egypt," Berytus 13, 1960 [pp. 123-161],pp. 133-134, pl. XXIX:2a and 2b).21 Berenike II on the propylonof the Temple of Khonsuat Karnak and on the stele from Kom el Hisn,Cairo CG 22186: Quaegebeur,"Reinesptolemaiques,"p. 254, fig. K andp. 247, fig. C. See alsothe relief onthe west pylon inscribed o PtolemyX at Qus:A. Kamal,"Lepylonede Qous,"Annalesdu ServicedesAnti-quitesde l'Egypte 3, 1902 (pp. 215-235), pp. 227-228. Needler (Berytus9, 1949, p. 138, note 4) cites therelief of PtolemyVII between the two Cleopatrasat Kom Ombo for a variationof the dress,but these twoqueens wear a small kerchieflikeshawl over a sheath. One example that barely shows a slight edge of thesheathbelow the lower edgeof the knottedmantleis a statue,Cairo CG 27472 (Bianchi,BES 2, 1980, p. 19,fig. 12); on this example the garmentsare abovethe ankles,higherthan the lower edgeof the two garmentsthat reach the ankleson figures n the reliefs citedhere. This Cairo statueshould beearlyPtolemaic,accordingto Bianchi,by comparisonwith Alexandria1332 (Bothmer,ESLP, no. 95).22 Thompson,PtolemaicOinochoai,nos. 122-124; eadem,"More PtolemaicQueens"(footnote18 above),pp. 182-183, pl. 61:3 (Amsterdam7583).23 Ibid.;on Egyptianelements,Thompson,PtolemaicOinochoai,pp. 104-106, 116, nos. 25, 30, 109, 118,and discussionpp. 87 and 89.

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HISTORY OF THE FRINGED MANTLE AND UNDERGARMENTblendingof these two artistic traditionsdid occurin Egypt, but it seems to have been rareamongmajormonuments.To myknowledge,a mixtureseems to have occurred n six Egyp-tian monumentswhichshowthe folds of a chiton belowthemantle.24Severalof thesemonu-mentsappearto be unusual andmay havebeenmadein the Ptolemaicor Romanperiod.25It is important o observe hat none of the representations f the queens wearingfringedmantleand the traditionalEgyptiansheath bear the title of Isis.26This form of dressmayalways havebeen ceremonial,as evident fromthe templereliefs,27which may well explainwhy the queenson the oinochoaiwear the fringedmantle over a chiton. These vasesappearto havebeengifts in honor of the queensandmayhave been used in their festivals.28f bothversionsof the costumewith the knotted,fringedmantle were ceremonial, hen a precedentexisted in Egypt for the use of the knotted,fringedmantle for festivals,adoptedlater inAthens for thoseof the goddessIsis.29The Egyptianform of dressworn by women on Attic gravereliefs seems to have bor-rowedfeaturesfromboth of the Egyptianversions.The Athenians wear the fringedmantleover a chiton to mid-calf like the figureson the Ptolemaicoinochoai,but the snugnessandthe nearly symmetrical olds of the mantle are closer to the traditionalEgyptianstatuesofthe Ptolemaicand Romanperiods.30The closeresemblance o the lattermay indicatethatthe Athenians were emulatingan importantrepresentation,possiblymadein Egypt.A stat-ue or series of statuesmay haveservedas theirmodelandpossiblyas a model forstatuesofthe goddessIsis in Romantimes.If we look for a modelamongthe preservedEgyptianstatuesof Ptolemaicand Roman

24 The chiton worn by Arsinoe III has an unusual flared hem hanging below the mantle on a stele fromTanis, B.M. 1054 (W. M. FlindersPetrie, Tanis II, London1889, no. 164); it was mislabeledas Arsinoe IIby E. A. Budge (A Guideto the Egyptian Galleries,Sculpture,London1909, p. 257, no. 955), correctedbyT. G. H. James (review of B. V. Bothmer, Egyptian Sculpture of the Late Period, JEA 48, 1962[pp. 169-171], p. 171), andcitedby Quaegebeur(BIFAO69, 1970, p. 201, note2). The secondexampleis thefragmentary tatue fromTanis with unmistakablechiton folds: P. Montet, "Unchef-d'oeuvrede l'artgreco-egyptien.La statuede Panemerit,"Monuments et memoires.FondationE. Piot 50, 1955, p. 9, fig. 4; it doesnot belongwith statues of mantled men as assigned by R. S. Bianchi(The StridingMale FigureofPtolemaicEgypt, diss. Instituteof Fine Arts, New YorkUniversity 1976, pp. 130-131, no. IX E). These two monu-ments from Tanis are of Ptolemaicdate, possibly productsof a hybridart made for or influencedby Greeksettlers n the easternDelta, while two otherexamples(Vatican,Mus.Greg.Eg.107andBelgium,MariemontE 51) with exaggerated iguresmay be adaptationsmade in EgyptunderRoman rule:see pls. 109 and 112 inRoullet, Monuments,p. 94, notes 103 and 106. The last two examples,less stylized,may havebeen madeinEgypt earlyin the Romanperiod:a colossal statue fromRhacotisnear the so-calledPompey'spillar,Alexan-dria 14941 (see Bothmer,ESLP) and the small queen beside the legs of a colossalstridingPharaoh,east ofAlexandria at Ma'amra in the Delta (Bothmer, ESLP, and J. Leclant, "Fouilles et travaux en Egypte.1954-1955," Orientalia,n.s. 25, 1956 [pp.251-268], pl. LIII, fig. 22).

25 Particularlytwo statues:Vatican, Mus.Greg.Eg. 107 and Brussels,Mariemont E 51; see footnote 24above.26 The statues of Arsinoe II arethe onlyonesto preserve he nameandtitles (seefootnote20 above,p. 8 andfootnote33 below, p. 10).27 See footnote21 above,p. 8.28 Thompson,PtolemaicOinochoai,pp. 74-75, 117-119.29 The peculiarAthenianarrangementof the mantle (see pp. 6-7 above)doessuggestan actual,practicaluse of the costume;see also pp. 31-32 below.30 See footnote8 above,p. 6.

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ICONOGRAPHY AND EGYPTIAN-PTOLEMAIC SOURCESdate, difficultiesarise in trying to identifywho is represented.31f these were known torepresentIsis and could be dated,then there would be importantassistance n determiningwhen Isis firstappeared n the knotted, ringedmantle. The majorityof thesestatues,unin-scribedand headless,escapeidentification.They are so varied in style and executionthattheyhavenot been dated.32From the four statueswith inscriptionspreserved,we learnthatthey may simplyrepresent he queenor a privateperson.33It has been all too temptingto identifytheseEgyptianstatuesof Ptolemaicand Romandateas Isis or a queenin therole of Isis,34butthe inscribed tatuesmentionedabove ndicatethe needfor caution.Couldthe ceremonialuse of this knotted,fringedmantle,long impor-tant in Egypt,35be sufficientexplanationfor its popularity n representations f the goddessIsis in the RomanEmpire?The interpretationof these Egyptianstatueswith knotted,fringedmantleas queensinthe form of Isis stems from the frequent assimilationof the Ptolemaic queens to Isis.36Difficultiesrepeatedlyarisein tryingto determinewhichqueenemphasizedher roleas Isis.With which queenwas this role so important hat a costumecouldbe associatedwith it?There is little evidenceto identifyany queen who promotedherself as Isis andwore aspecificcostumefor that role. One should rememberthat in Egypt under the Ptolemiesdeificationof kings and queenswas customaryafter death.The secondqueen, ArsinoeII,was the firstqueento bedeified,afterher deathin 270 B.C.37From the inscriptions,we learnthat ArsinoeII, deadanddeified,was the first to be calledIsis.38The inscriptionspreserved

31 Ibid. The confusionconcerningthe identificationof these statues is mentionedby Dunand (Religionpopulaire, p. 21, note40) andby Bianchi(BES 2, 1980, pp. 18-19).32Stricker,OMRL 41, 1960, pp. 24-30, pls. XVII-XXII.33Two statuesbearthe nameand titles of ArsinoeII withoutany reference o Isis andshow Arsinoein theknottedmantle:Chicago Oriental Institute 10158 (Fraser, loc. cit. [footnote20 above, p. 8]) and M.M.A.20.2.21 (Bothmer,ESLP, no. 123). A third statueof a queen in this costume,M.M.A. 89.2.660 (Bothmer,ESLP, no. 113), simply has the name Cleopatrain a cartouche.The fourth statue is Leiden F 1960/3,1(Stricker,OMRL 41, 1960, p. 20, pls. XIX, XX), but it is inscribed n Greekas a dedication o Isis, not as arepresentationof Isis. It is a votivestatuegiven by a man namedDionysios in thanksto Isis forhavingheard(his prayer): "Iat8iLaKo^s AloVV'cros vos 'ATraovqppvXaprr-Tr It seems unlikely that the name of the wom-an in the knottedcostumewas to havebeen included n the inscriptionbecausethe latter,in two linescoveringthe backpillar, is complete.The Leidenvotivewould then be a statueof an unnamedwoman similarto thelate Antoninestatue given to Isis and found in the sanctuaryof Isis at Tauromenium:Palermo,M.N. 704(PI. 51).34Concerning he confusion,see footnote31 above.35See footnote21 above,p. 8.36 Fraser,PtolemaicAlexandria,pp. 221, 239, 240, chap.5, note249; Dunand,Le Culted'lsis I, pp. 36, 38,40-41.37Fraser,PtolemaicAlexandria,p. 236 and Dunand, Le Culted'IsisI, pp. 35-36. The traditionaldateforArsinoe'sdeification,270 B.C., is maintainedby Quaegebeur("Reinesptolemaiques,"p. 262 andJNES 30,1971, p. 242). Fraser (op.cit., pp. 216-217) proposesthat ArsinoeII was deifiedwith her husbandas TheoiAdelphoiin 272/1 B.C. on the basis of the Hibeh papyri 199 and99, a theoryacceptedby Thompson(Ptole-maic Oinochoai,p. 56, note 3), although Fraser'sdate is questionedby A. E. Samuel (AmericanStudiesinPapyrology,II, YalePapyri,New Haven/Toronto 1967, pp. 66-67, no. 28).38 Fraser,PtolemaicAlexandria,pp. 236-237. Thompson (PtolemaicOinochoai,pp. 58-59) drawsatten-tion to the Pithomstele (CairoCG 22183) of 264/3 B.C.(afterthe queen'sdeath),on which Arsinoeis called"(Arsinoel image of Isis and Hathor",and representsArsinoein the knottedmantle as "costumedas Isis",hence assimilatedwith the goddessIsis, but the identificationwith two goddessesagain negates the exclu-sivenessof the dressto Isis at that time.

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THE HELLENISTICCOSTUMEAND HAIRSTYLEOF ISISforArsinoeII are notonlyextensivebut alsoclearlyindicate hat the epithetIsis was simplyone of this queen's titles, appropriatein sanctuaries sacred to Isis and rarely used else-where.39From PtolemyIII on, after 243/2 B.C.,queens were regularlydeified with theirhusbandsshortlyafter accession o the throne.40The names of numerousdivinities usedforArsinoeII maywell have continuedas customary itles forfollowing generations.If assimilation to the goddessIsis was an importantandnoteworthystep forthe Ptole-maicqueens,then it maynothave occurreduntil late.41Onepossiblecandidate or theeventis CleopatraIII (bornca. 160-155 B.C.),who in the inscriptionsand papyriseems to havehadthe greatestaccumulationof titles of Isis.42A secondpossibility s the last queen,Cleo-patra VII (69-30 B.C.).According to Plutarch, this one, the famous Cleopatra, called herselfthe New Isis and wore the dress of Isis on severaloccasions.43This flamboyantruler mayseem to be the most likely to have been responsiblefor the promotionand establishmentofthe knotted,fringedmantle as the dress of Isis. Plutarch,however,writing in the 2nd cen-turyafterChrist,does notdescribe he dress of Isis wornby Cleopatra.Unfortunately, hereare no statuespreserved hat are inscribedto this or any Ptolemaicqueenwhich show herwearingthe knotted,fringedmantle and also giveher the nameof Isis.44THE HELLENISTIC COSTUME AND HAIRSTYLE OF ISIS

It is difficult to assess the frequencyand importanceof the variouscostumes worn byIsis priorto the Roman Empire,either within or beyond Egypt in the 3rdthrough1st cen-turies B.C., when the cult of Isis was being established in the Mediterranean.There are Greek (Hellenistic) monumentsin Egypt which, for the purpose of thisstudy, should be consideredfirst. The diversityof artisticstyles represented ncreases thedifficulties in assessing this material. Under the Ptolemies, the monuments of Egypt in-cludedthose reflectingtheir Greek heritageor Hellenistic art, variousmixtures of Greek

39 Isis was one of the epithetsof ArsinoeII. Her variousepithetscorrespondo the queenas "artvvaosOea",sharingaltar and sanctuarywith othergods:Quaegebeur,JNES 30, 1971, pp. 242-243 and "Reinesptole-maiques," pp. 249-254; Fraser, Ptolemaic Alexandria, pp. 235-243; Thompson, Ptolemaic Oinochoai,pp. 58-59. Four of the 61 hieroglyphicinscriptionswhich include the name of Isis vary in formula: "Isis(Arsinoel "on the naos fromSais, LouvreC 123 (Quaegaebeur,BIFAO69, 1970, pp. 202 and212, doc. 19);"(Isis-Arsinoel "on a Ma'sara relief (ibid.,p. 212, doc.20); "(Arsinoel theaphiladelphos,Isis"on a Mem-phis stele, B.M. 379 (ibid.,p. 210, doc. 17);"CArsinoelimageof Isis and Hathor"on the Pithomstele,CairoCG 22183 (ibid.,p. 210, doc.9); stele of priestof Isis andArsinoe at Memphis, LouvreC 124 (Quaegebeur,JNES 30, 1971, pp. 254-256). Similarlythere are only four Greek inscriptions o Isis-Arsinoe from Egypt:Orientisgraeci inscriptiones electae31, SB 601 and 602; and one fromCanopus(Dunand, Le Culte d'IsisI,p. 35, note6, p. 113, note4 andII, p. 33; Quaegebeur,BIFAO69,1970, p. 202). On theoinochoai nscribed o"AgatheTyche, ArsinoePhiladelphos,Isis",Arsinoeappearsto havebeenrepresentedn the commondressofchiton andplain mantle (Thompson,PtolemaicOinochoai,pp. 142-149, no. 1).

40 Fraser,PtolemaicAlexandria,pp. 219-220.41 Ibid.,p. 244.42 Ibid.43 Ibid.;Plutarch,Antonius,54; Dunand,Le Culted'IsisI, pp. 42-43; Heyob, Cultof Isis, p. 20.44 One should note that a fragmentary tatue in a finely pleatedlinen dress at Karnak,a queenof the NewKingdom,is reinscribed o CleopatraII in a cartouche;no reference o Isis was made. See Bianchi,BES 2,1980, p. 11;J. Lauffray,"Rapportsur les travaux de Karnak,"Kemi 20, 1970, p. 71, fig. 13, pl. XV; idem,"Communication:es activitesdu Centrefranco-egyptiendes Temples de Karnak en 1969,"Comptesrendusdesseancesde l'AcademiedesInscriptionset Belles-lettres,1970, p. 142, fig. 1.

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ICONOGRAPHY AND EGYPTIAN-PTOLEMAIC SOURCESand Egyptian,and traditionalEgyptianworksof art. Little is knownconcerning he Hel-lenistic Isis in Egypt. The earliest securely dated representationof Isis is on coins ofPtolemyV (221-204 B.C.);here the head of her consort,Sarapis, overlapsthat of Isis andpermitsonlyherprofile(withthehairpartedover the forehead)and the emblemof Isis to beseen.45The emblemof Isis and the corkscrewhairstyleare the only features characteristicofthe Hellenistic Isis in Egypt. The former,a sun disk framedby horns and topped by twofeathers,is a crownworn by severalEgyptian goddessesand queens from the New King-domon;46t seems, however,to have been used to designateIsis in Hellenistic representa-tions from Egypt and is a feature exclusive to Isis in the Mediterranean under Romanrule.47The second featurespecificto Isis is the hairstylewith thick corkscrew ocksset intiers.48 It is also of Egyptian origin, recalling the various Egyptian ceremonial wigs.49Thesetwo features are known froma few monumentsof the 2nd and 1st centuriesB.C., such as aseal impression rom Edfu and threemarbleheadsof Isis in Alexandriaand Cairo.50Unfor-tunatelythese monumentspreserveonly the headof Isis.

45 Hornbostel,Sarapis,pp. 141-142, pl. XLIII, fig. 68; this type also appearson the coinsof PtolemyVI:see E. Breccia,Alexandreaad Aegyptum,Bergamo1922, p. 303, fig. 218.46 M. Miinster ("Untersuchungenzur Gottin Isis vom Alten Reich bis zum Ende des Neuen Reiches,"Miinchner gyptologischeStudien11, 1968, pp. 118-119) observes hat the Hathoremblemof disk andhornsis also wornby Isis in the Middle Kingdom; he crownof disk, horns,and feathers s wornbyseveralgoddessesand queens in the New Kingdom,but they remainseparateunless inscriptionsor literaryevidenceindicatethat they have been assimilated o one another(p. 146). The latter crownis wornby all the PtolemaicqueensexceptArsinoeII: Quaegebeur,"Reinesptolemaiques,"p. 257, note85.47For Hellenisticexamples,see footnote64 below,p. 14. For representations f Isis in the RomanEmpire,see imperialcoinsfrom Alexandria:R. S. Poole,BMC Alexandria,pls. XIV andXVI; see Dunand, Le Culted'Isis I, pp. 80-81 and II, p. 148 for a discussionof the emblemof Isis. A lotus is worn on archaizingrepre-sentationsof Isis in the Romanperiod,suchas the terracottaplaquefrom the site of the Temple of Apolloonthe Palatine in Rome (W. von Sydow, "ArchaologischeFunde und Forschungenim Bereichder Soprin-tendenz Rom 1957-1973," AA [JdI 88], 1973 [pp. 521-647], p. 605, fig. 50) and datedby Andreae(ArtofRome,pp. 39-40) to ca. 28 B.C.A feather s the most whimsicalIsiacemblem;see the contemporarypaintingsand stuccoceilingreliefsfrom the villa found belowthe Farnesina n Rome: bid.,p. 379, fig.286 andfigs.281,282.48 The long corkscrew ocksare thoughtto be naturalhair worn by Egyptianwomen:Needler,Berytus9,1949, pp. 138-139. On the otherhand,the traditionalceremonialwigs (that fall deepoverthe shouldersandoften havetinycorkscrewocks set in tiers)arethe bestprototype orthe tieredhairstylepopularforPtolemaicqueensandHellenisticrepresentations f Isis: see a statueof Ptolemaicor Roman datein Amsterdam Strick-

er, OMRL 41, 1960, pp. 25 and 27, pl. XXI, fig. 1) and the New Kingdomexamples,Nefertiti on a relieffromTell el Amarna,CG 54517 (C. Aldred,Art in AncientEgypt, London 1972, fig. 110) and a statue ofqueenTiye, CairoJE 38257 (ibid., figs. 83 and 84).49See the imperial coins from Alexandria,Poole (footnote47 above), pls. XIV and XVI. See statues ofIsis throughoutthe Roman Empire, such as that from the south slope of the Akropolis(see p. 63 below),fromGortyna,Crete (P1.19), fromRas-el-Soda,Egypt (P1.52), and fromLaodiceaad Lycum,Asia Minor(L. Kahil in J. des Gagnierset al., Laodiceedu Lycos,Paris 1969 [pp. 187-244], pp. 189-192, pls. LXI-LXIII).50 Edfu seal: Kyrieleis (footnote20 above, p. 8), pp. 115-117, pi. 100, fig. 3. The marbleheads of Isis,Hellenistic in style and execution,are brieflydiscussedby A. Adriani, Testimonianzee momentidi sculturaalessandrina,Rome 1948, p. 14, pls. IV-VI (Alexandria);p. 26, pi. X:2 (Alexandria25724); pl. X:3,4 (CairoJE 39517). On the latter,see Grimm(footnote4 above,p. 5), p. 18, no. 10, pl. 11. The first head has a dowel

hole for the attachmentof a diademand a secondhole forthe emblemof Isis, while the othershavea hole forthe emblembut the diademcarved;Alexandria25724, however,has not beenfullydescribedor photographed.

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THE HELLENISTIC COSTUME AND HAIRSTYLE OF ISISFor the poseand dress of Isis, we must lookto the baffling arrayof terracotta igurinesfrom Egypt.51Becausethese figurineshave not been datedindividually, t is hard to deter-mine which is the mostpopular type of Isis in Egypteitherpriorto or duringRomanrule.They have been considered o have been madeat the earliest in the 1st centuryB.C.and tohavebeenproduced n greatestnumber in the 1stthrough3rd centuriesafter Christ.52In Egyptunder the Ptolemies,theremayhavebeen a cult statueof Isis as a companionto that of her consortSarapis.According o literarytradition,the statue of Sarapiswas thework of an Atheniansculptor,Bryaxis,activein the 4th centuryB.C.53 AlthoughFraser andHornbostel discredit this attribution,they convincinglyargue for a date in the early 3rdcenturyB.C. for the commissionand creation of the cult statue of the god Sarapis for theSarapieionin Alexandria.54Miiller suggestedthat the companionstatue to Sarapis mayhave been of Isis seated and breastfeedingher child Harpokrates.55His suggestionseemsunlikelyas the only representationof this type of Isis with Sarapisis found on a goldreliefplaque in the Louvre,a late and obviouslyeclectic work.56Wheneverthe two deities areshowntogether,Isis is standing.57t maybe that if there was a companionstatue,it was an

51See Dunand, Religionpopulaire,pp. 18-29 and Le Culted'lIsis , pls. XVII-XXIX, XXXIV-XLIV;Tran Tam Tinh, Isis Lactans,pp. 31-35; Hornbostel,Sarapis,p. 254. Althoughthe chronologyof these fig-urinesis poorlydefinedowing in partto the fact that few are fromdatedcontexts,the varietyis amazing,andonly a few repeattypes foundelsewhere,such as Isis-Demeter(Dunand,Religionpopulaire, pl. XXVI:41) orIsis-Fortuna(pl. XXX:48). Isis breastfeedingHarpokrates s particularlynumerous:see Tran Tam Tinh,Isis Lactans.52 Ibid.53 This attributionwas madeby Athenodorosof Tarsus, citedby Clementof Alexandria,Protrepticusv.8;on this sculptor,see Hornbostel,Sarapis, pp. 36-58, 103-126 and G. M. A. Richter, The SculptureandSculptorsof the Greeks,New Haven 1941, pp. 279-281.54Fraser,OpusAth7, 1967, pp. 23-35 and p. 36, note 55 on the establishmentof the cult in Egypt;Horn-bostel, Sarapis,pp. 35-59 and 103-126.55 H. W. Miller, "Isis mit dem Horuskinde,"Miinchner Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst 14, 1963(pp. 7-38), p. 13. Tran Tam Tinh (IsisLactans,pp. 31-35) considers he originalof this Isis to be of the 3rdcenturyB.C.; rtist and place of the original are unknownto him. Joint dedications ound in foundationde-positsof the Sarapieionsuggestthat statues of Sarapisand Isis were in this temple:Fraser,OpusAth7, 1967,p. 38 and PtolemaicAlexandria,pp. 267-268.56 LouvreE 14.268 is placedin the early3rdcenturyafter Christby Muller (op.cit., pp. 31-32, fig. 27). A2nd-centurydategiven byTran Tam Tinh (IsisLactans,pp. 68-70, pl. XXXVII) is unlikely,considering hebroadfiguresandparatacticarrangementpopularin the 3rdcentury,e.g., a relief of Alexandriangods,Rome,Mus.Cap. 4371 (Hornbostel,Sarapis, pl. CXV) and the Capitoline godson the arch of SeptimiusSeverusat

LepcisMagna (A. M. McCann, ThePortraitsofSeptimiusSeverus[A.D. 193-211] [MemoirsoftheAmeri-canAcademy n RomeXXX], 1968, pl. XX:1).57Hellenisticreliefs:Hornbostel,Sarapis,pl. CCVI, fig. 355 (Rhodes)andfig. 356 (Erythai);Dunand,LeCulted'IsisII, pl. XXXVII (Delos) andIII, pl. I (Xanthos).On theimperialcoinsfromAlexandriaof thereignof Trajan,Isis andSarapisstand(Poole[footnote47 above,p. 12],pl. XIV, no.448); Isis standsbesideSarapisenthroned ibid.,no. 449); andSarapis s enthronedandflankedbystanding iguresof Demeter andTychein anaos(G. Dattari,Monete mperialiGrechenumiAugg.Alexandrini.CatalogodellacollezioneG.Dattari,com-pilatodalproprietario,Cairo1901, nos. 1152-1154). Imperialcoins from Asia Minor:W. Drexler,"DerIsis-und Sarapis-cultusin Kleinasien,"NumismatischeZeitschrift11, 1889, pp. 1-234; D. Magie, "EgyptianDeitiesinAsiaMinorin Inscriptionsand onCoins,"AJA57,1953 (pp. 163-187), p. 181.ReliefsofRomandatefromEgyptshowan enthronedSarapis lankedby Demeterand Isisstanding:Hornbostel,Sarapis,pl. CXCIV,figs.319, 320 andpl. CCXX, fig. 373. A lamp from Athens of the 3rdcenturyafterChrist showsIsis in chitonand mantlestandingbeside an enthronedSarapisin a templefacade:J. Perlzweig, TheAthenianAgora,VII,LampsoftheRomanPeriod,Princeton1961,no. 805, pp. 121-122, pl. 18.

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ICONOGRAPHY AND EGYPTIAN-PTOLEMAIC SOURCESIsis distinguishedonly by emblem andhairstyle.The lattersuggestionseemslikely,tojudgefromthe numerousandvaried terracotta igurinesof Isis fromEgypt,which haveonlybeenassignedto the time between the 1stcenturyB.C.(?)andthe 3rdcenturyafterChrist.58BeyondEgypt,the Hellenisticrepresentations f Isis in the Mediterraneanalsopresenta wide varietyof dressandhairstyle.59The few that wearthe knottedmantleneed not havethe distinctivecorkscrew ocks nor the mosthelpfulfeature foridentification,he emblemofIsis atop the head.60The variety correspondswell to the wide range of epithets for Isispopularin the Hellenisticperiod.61Local iconographicnventions orthe differenttypesofIsis, suchas Isis-Aphroditeand Isis-Nike, seem to explainthe diversityof and few parallelsfor terracottafigurinesof Isis fromthe islands of Thera and Delos and from the cities ofPriene andMyrina,whichat the earliestshould bedatedto the end of the 2ndcenturyB.C.62It maynot be coincidental hatthe earliestpreserved epresentations f Isis in the Medi-terranean are from the island of Rhodes,a majorsea power in Hellenistic times.63Theyshouldbe datedto thethirdquarterof the 2ndcenturyB.C. and arefollowedby slightlylaterreplicasfrom the islandsof Kos andDelos and fromtheportcitiesof Cyrene n NorthAfricaand Corinth on the Greek mainland.64This majesticfigurewith arms set outwardslike a

58 Few are from datedcontexts,and no chronologyhas thus far been determined; ee footnote51 above,p. 13.59See Dunand, Le Culte d'lIsisII, pls. XXXII, XXXIV-XXXVII (Delos), XLII (Thera); III, pls. V(Rhodes);VIII (Priene);XII (Myrina).60 For the corkscrew ocks andthe emblemof Isis, see p. 12 above.For the varioustypesof the HellenisticIsis, see Dunand, Le Culted'IsisII, pl. XLII (Thera), III, pi. VII (Priene);fromDelos, see Marcade,Delos,pl. LVII: A 378, A 2255, A 5370, A 5373; fromKos, see L. Laurenzi,"Sculture neditedel Museo di Coo,"Annuario dellaScuolaArcheologicodi Atene 17-18, 1955-1956 (1957; pp. 59-156), pp. 92-93, no. 48; fromwesternCrete,AthensN.M. 224 (R. Horn, StehendeweiblicheGewandstatuenn der hellenistischenPlastik,RM, Erganzungsheft I, 1931, p. 40, pi. 17:1).There is an unusual statuette rom Rhodes:see G. Kostantino-poulos,


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THE HELLENISTIC COSTUME AND HAIRSTYLE OF ISISHellenistic rulermayhaveoriginatedon Rhodes,as suggestedby Laurenzi,65 nd wouldbeappropriatefor Isis in her role as mistressof the sea.66Isis is known frominscriptionsasprotectress O-(rErpa) on Rhodesand Delos, as providerof goodsailing (Evi'rAoia), and asmistressof the open sea (Treaayia)at Corinth.67

The few representationsof cult statuesof Isis that have come down to us are not veryhelpfulconcerninga possibleprototype orthe Isis popularin the RomanEmpire.The cultstatue seems to have been a conservative mage hardly distinguishablefrom other Greekgoddesses. The fragmentary, colossal statue of Isis occupying the Isieion on Delos,128/7 B.C.,has the appearanceof Aphrodite, eaningto her left and dressed n a chitonwitha heavymantledraped ow about herhips.68Apparently,a commoncult imageof Isis was astanding figure in chiton and plain mantle,diagonally drapedfromher left shoulder. Thistype is known as early as 117/6 B.C., tojudge from the representationof Isis on coins fromAthens,69and as late as the emperorVespasian (A.D. 69-79), on coins from Rome.70Thelatter show the cult statueforthe IseumCampense n Rome,the mostimportantsanctuaryof Isis in the RomanEmpire.71The earliestpreservedexamplesof Isis in the Romanperiod,which show the goddess nher mostpopulardress with knotandfringeandcorkscrewwig, are threestatues in Rome,pp. 92-93, no. 48; Marcade,Delos, pl. LVII: A 378; E. Paribeni,Catalogodelle Sculturedi Cirene,Rome1959, p. 143, pl. 180, fig. 414. The fragmentfrom Corinthhas not been dated(Johnson, CorinthIX, p. 68,no. 123) butmaybelongto the Romanperiod.None of the otherIsis typesareearlier thanthose from Rhodes.The statuette fromCrete, Athens, N.M. 224, shouldbe of the late 2nd centuryB.C.by closecomparisonwiththe Muse relief of Archelaos(Pinkwart[footnote62 above,p. 14]pp. 55-56, pls. 28-35) andnot of the late 3rdcenturyB.C. as suggestedby Thompson(PtolemaicOinochoai,pp. 88 and 113).65 Laurenzi(footnote63 above,p. 14), pp. 44-50.66 The conceptof mistressof the sea is explainedby Dunand,Le Culted'IsisII, pp. 118, 120; III, pp. 110,116, 256.

67 Inscriptions:Rhodes, Dunand, Le Culte d'Isis III, p. 24 andVidman,Sylloge,no. 198;Delos, Dunand,Le Culted'lsis II, pp. 113-114 and Roussel,Cultesegyptiens,nos. 147 and 194;Corinth, Dunand, Le Culted'IsisII, pp. 156-157 andVidman,Sylloge,no. 34. ConcerningCorinth,Pausanias(11.4.6)n the 2ndcenturyafter Christ mentions a sanctuaryof Isis Pelagiaand one of the EgyptianIsis, but what is meantby the latterand where thesesanctuarieswere is unknown(Dunand,Le Culte d'IsisII, p. 18). The Isis fromRhodeshas acommanding,regal pose and is not holdingforth the sails as foundon representationsof Isis Pelagia;for thelatter,see P. Bruneau,"IsisPelagiaa Delos,"BCH 85, 1961,pp. 435-446 and"IsisPelagiaa Delos (Comple-ments),"BCH 87, 1963, pp. 301-308; E. R. Williams, "IsisPelagia and a Roman Marble Matrix fromtheAthenian Agora," Hesperia 54, 1985, pp. 109-119. Isis Pelagia is a title that may be of the early 1st cen-tury B.C.at the earliest (Dunand, Le Culte d'Isis III, p. 98, note 5). Dunand (Le Culted'Isis I, pp. 94-95)suggeststhat Isis as mistressof the sea may be the harborgoddessof Alexandria n Egypt,but Fraser (Ptole-maicAlexandria,p. 20) has identifiedthat harborgoddesswith Isis Phariawho is firstknownin the Romanperiodand is representedwith a sail like Isis Pelagia:see Bruneau,BCH 85, 1961, loc. cit. andBCH 87, 1963,pp. 306-308.68 Dunand, Le Culted'Isis II, pls. XXXI, XXXII and Marcade,Delos, p. 429, pl. LVII; for inscriptionand date,see Roussel, Cultesegyptiens,no. 86, p. 134.69 Coins fromAthens arecitedby Dow (HThR 30, 1937, p. 207) andby Dunand,Le Culted'lsis II, p. 12,note 1). See J. N. Svoronos, Tresorde la numismatiquegrecque ancienne, Munich 1923-1926, pl. 70,nos. 15-19 and M. Thompson, The New Style Silver Coinageof Athens,New York 1961, p. 372, pl. 131,nos. 1169b, 1173-1178, of 117/6 B.C.70 Roullet, Monuments,pp. 23-26, pl. XV, fig. 22.

71 Ibid.and F. Le Corsu,Isis:mytheet mysteres,Paris 1977, pp. 186-187.

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LITERARY DESCRIPTIONS OF THE COSTUME OF ISISmantle,which we have mentionedrepeatedlyas themostpopulardressof Isis in the RomanEmpire. If we follow the descriptionof Apuleius in this passage,we find that a knot andfringearementioneddirectlyafter the drapingof the blackmantle,butowingto the incom-pletenessof the wording,it is not clear to which garmentthe knot and fringebelong.81

Apuleius' descriptionmay have blendedtogetherfeaturesof severalgarmentswornbythe goddess. Fringeoccurs on two othergarmentsas found on the extant representations fIsis: a short veil worn overthe head and a narrow stole.82The stole is oftenblackin Pom-peian wall paintings,includingone from the Iseum.83Cosmicdesigns,mentionedby Apu-leius as decorationfor the black mantle worn by Isis, are also found as decorationof thestole.84The rich attire of Isis describedby Apuleiusmayhave beenchosento evoke the wealth,power, and greatbeautywith which Isis was thoughtto be endowed.85His descriptionre-calls the numerousepithets and the variety in appearanceof the goddessin Hellenisticrepresentations.Like the flower-laden ocks of Isis in the late HellenisticHymn from An-dros,86lowers almostmagicallyappearin her hair and dress in Apuleius'description.According o Griffiths,there is no exactparallelfor the elaboratecrownwornby Isis asdescribedby Apuleius.87It resembles,however,a varietyof decorationsatop the goddess'head in terracottafigurinesfrom Egypt, assignedto the late Hellenistic and Romanperi-ods.88The descriptionmay have been a mixture of severalcostumesand headdresses, n-tendedto evokethe immediacyas well as the impressivenessof her appearance,ratherthana specificattire of this goddess.

81 Griffiths,The Isis Book,pp. 70-75 and 124-130.82 Isis with veil:see Tran Tam Tinh, Campanie,p. 64, note2. The followingstatues should be addedto hislist: Isis from the Terme at Lepcis Magna (R. Bartoccini,Le Terme di Lepcis, Bergamo 1929, p. 162,fig. 173); Rome, Pal.Cons. (H. StuartJones, The Sculpturesof the Palazzo dei Conservatori,Oxford 1926,p. 84, no. 15, pl. 30); Vatican,Mus.Greg.Eg.83 (P1.41); Rome,Mus.Cap. (H. StuartJones, TheSculpturesoftheMuseoCapitolino,Oxford1912, p. 320, no. 14, pl. 77; the head hasbeenincorrectly estoredas tracesofthe veil on the shoulders ndicate that the headshould be veiled).Lafaye (DarSag III, i, p. 579) suggeststhatthe veil representsconcealmentof the mysteries.On the stole, see Griffiths,The Isis Book,pp. 128-129 and130-131, Tran Tam Tinh, Campanie,p. 82, note 1, and Tran Tam Tinh, Essai,pp. 74-75; see alsothe reliefof Galatea in the Vatican (P1.51).83 Tran Tam Tinh, Essai, pp. 75 and 143, note47, pl. X:1 from the Iseum;p. 127, note 13, pl. XIX:1 fromCasa delleAmazoni(VI, 2, 14);andp. 129, note 17, pl. XV:1 fromCasadegliAmorinidorati(VI, 16, 7).84 Althoughfourrepresentations itedby Griffiths(TheIsisBook,p. 130) cannotbe identifiedas Isis,a fifth

can: a terracotta from Abella, Campania (London, B.M. D 285; Tran Tam Tinh, Campanie,pp. 81-82,pl. XXI), where the stole is decoratedwith dotsand has fringe.The otherrepresentationn the roundshowingIsis with a stole is the statueknown as Isis-Barberini,Naples, M.N.: A. Levi,"L'IsideBarberini,"Monumen-ti antichi28, 1922, cols. 157-170, figs. 1-3; the stole is plain (P1.52). Griffiths(loc.cit.) suggeststhat designscouldhave beenpaintedon the stole;there are tracesof redpaint on the dressof the votivestatueof Isis fromthe Iseum at Pompeii:J. B. Ward-Perkinsand A. Claridge,PompeiiA.D. 79, New York1978, pp. 128-129,no. 191. See also the colossalstatueof Isis fromRome:Munich, Glyp. 250 (P1.7).85 See Vanderlip(footnote1 above,p. 1), pp. 5-7; Witt, "Isis-Hellas,"pp. 48-69.86 Hymn fromAndros I.18;IG XII 5, 739: Peek (footnote77 above,p. 16); Lafaye, DarSag III, i, p. 579,note7; Dunand, Le Culte d'IsisII, pp. 116-118. On the vastpowers,numerousepithets,andvariedrepresen-tationsof Isis, see Witt, "Isis-Hellas"andIsis, and especiallyDunand,Le Culted'IsisII, pp. 80-106.87 Griffiths,The Isis Book,pp. 124-131, esp. p. 126 andDe Iside,p. 252.88 Dunand, Religionpopulaire,pp. 18-30.

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ICONOGRAPHY AND EGYPTIAN-PTOLEMAIC SOURCESWhendidthe iconographyof Isisthat was popularin the RomanEmpirebecomeestab-lished? We have exploreda varietyof possible prototypeswithout a final answer to thisquestion.It is clearthat the exoticappearanceof the Egyptianfringedmantle andhairstylethick with corkscrewlocks appealed to Greek and Roman taste, but was that sufficient

reasonfor its popularityfor representationsof Isis in the Roman Empire?We only knowfor certain that the knotted,fringedgarmentin Egypt may have servedas a form of cere-monial dress as late as the 2nd century B.C.89The dilemmaremainsunresolved.We may haveto await the identificationand chro-nologyof the Egyptianstatues showingthe knotted,fringedmantle beforeunderstandingthehistoryof this Egyptiandressin the criticaltimewhen the cultof Isiswas spreading ntothe Mediterranean, he 4th through1stcenturiesB.C.90These Egyptianstatuesare the bestparallel for the dress worn by women on Attic grave reliefs and the best candidatefor apossibleprototype orthe iconographyof Isis underthe RomanEmpire.HAIRSTYLE OF WOMEN IN THE DRESS OF ISIS

On Atticgravereliefs,womenin the dressof Isis usuallywear a simple,timelesshair-style.91Wavedstrandsof hair arepartedin the centerof the foreheadanddrawnbackovert