Art Institute of Chicago

Pentadrachm (Coin) Portraying King Ptolemy I Soter

Greek, Ptolemaic; minted in Cyprus

Date

285-247 BCE, issued by King Ptolemy II Philadelphos

Medium

Gold

Culture

Cyprus

Department

Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Obverse: Head of Ptolemy I right, diademed and wearing an aegis Reverse: Eagle stands left on fulmen, wings folded Ptolemy II used the portrait of the founder of the dynasty, Ptolemy I, on his coin. On the obverse, the aegis (a magical garment) worn by Ptolemy I alluded to Zeus as well as Athena; it was thought to protect the wearer and repel enemies, and it underscored the divine origins of the dynasty. On the reverse the eagle and the thunderbolt also recall Zeus, with whom, in the form of Zeus-Ammon, the early Ptolemaic dynasty associated itself.

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