Pentadrachm (Coin) Portraying King Ptolemy I Soter

Art Institute of Chicago

Pentadrachm (Coin) Portraying King Ptolemy I Soter

Greek, Ptolemaic; minted in CyprusLinkedCulture matchlcp-2a2803871dfd

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
Object ID
111016

From the Art Institute of Chicago record

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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Provenance & credit

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Credit line
Gift of Martin A. Ryerson
Provenance
Martin A. Ryerson (1856-1932), Chicago; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.

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Object type
AAT300037334

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