PSO figure erectOpen papyrus sheath at rearBase with 2 holes
The Foundation has recently acquired an Egyptian Ptah-Sokar-Osiris statue, also called a papyrus sheath. It has been dated to 990-970 BCE. It is from the estate of an English military family who believed it was brought from Egypt in the early 1900s. It would have stood in a tomb near the mummy of the deceased.
The statue is of wood and, like most of these figures, it is covered in black varnish. Apparently the black colour referenced the darkness of the night as well as the fertile black mud on the banks of the Nile, and in turn these referred to death and coming alive in the afterlife.
The PSO figure wears the atef crown of the god of the afterlife, Osiris. The deceased person becomes an Osiris after death and to make sure he can make the transition, the PSO figure would have contained a papyrus roll with excerpts from the Book of the Dead written in cursive hieroglyphics.
On the wooden base there are two holes: one for the PSO figure and a small one probably for a wooden sculpture of a hawk, which represented Horus, the son of Osiris and Isis.
The PSO figure will be the central feature in the CCCRH Egyptian Exhibition.
The Centre for Coins, Culture and Religious History has recently acquired a rare silver tetradrachm issued during the reign of the Roman emperor Tiberius (reigned 14–37 CE). There are only 4 known specimens of this coin and this is the finest of them.
The head of Tiberius is on the obverse. On the reverse, Zeus is seated on a throne holding Nike on his hand. There is no indication on the coin when or where it was minted, but it was most likely somewhere in northern Syria or Cilicia. In The Syro-Phoenician Tetradrachms and their Fractions, published in 2000, Michel and Karin Prieur considered that it was minted in Antioch.
The CCCRH specimen is unusual in that nearly all the Greek letters are visible, and the two monograms on the reverse are clearly shown. On the examples in Prieur (#31), McAlee (#213) and Roman Provincial Coinage (#4110), the monograms were incorrectly identified as M and H. Apart from being very clear in our example, the wording of the Greek inscription on this coin is particularly significant.
The obverse legend reads ΤΙΒΕΡΙΟΥ ΚΑΙΣΑΡΟΣ ΘΕΟΥ ΣΕΒΑΣΤΟΥ, while on the reverse we find: ΥΙΟΥ ΣΕΒΑΣΤΟΝ. This translates into English as “of Tiberius Caesar, divine Augustus / son of Augusti.” Presumably, the Augusti were Octavian and Livia, but the legend clearly states that Tiberius was divine.
While the imperial cult had developed rapidly in the eastern provinces of the early Roman Empire, such claims to divine status would have been objectionable to the Jewish diaspora communities in Antioch, Tarsus or other major cities in the area. Indeed, the Maccabean Revolt (c. 165 BCE) was triggered at least in part by the harsh enforcement of similar claims by the Seleucid king, Antiochus IV Epiphanes.
It is unknown whether Jewish objections to this coin of Tiberius influenced Roman policy, but, significantly, the word ΘΕΟΥ (god) is absent from similar coins issued by his immediate successors: Caligula (37–41 CE) and Claudius (41–54 CE). Due to its date during the life of Jesus (who was crucified in 30 CE), its provenance (Antioch) and its explicit attribution of divinity to Tiberius, this coin illustrates the political theology of the Roman Empire promoted on coins such as the so-called “Tribute Penny” shown to Jesus in Mark 12:15 and parallels.
Among some recent additions to the CCCRH collection was another coin featuring Rome’s foundational myth of Romulus and Remus.
CCCRH 3028
Unlike most coins with this motif, rather than focus on the mother wolf and twin boys, this example tells more of the story with the kindly shepherd standing to left and bird in the fog tree behind the mother wolf.
Here is the description of this coin from our online gallery:
Roman Republic, silver denarius. OBV: helmeted Roma to right. REV: she-wolf standing right with head to left, suckling Romulus & Remus, fig tree with birds in background, with standing figure (Faustulus the shepherd) at left facing right; FOSTLVS to left; [SEX POM] off the flan to r.; [ROMA] in exergue. MINT: Rome. DATE: 137 BCE.
The Foundation has recently acquired a large bronze coin issued by the Roman emperor, Septimus Severus (193–211 CE). This has been added to the collection of Roman Coins from the Third Century.
You can view the record for this item in the Roman Coins Third Century collection of the Foundation’s online database.
