Agesilaos Antik Sikkeler Nümizmatik ®’s Post

The God Hermanubis Hermanubis is known from a handful of #epigraphic and literary sources, mostly of the #Roman period. Plutarch [ΠΛΟΥΤΑΡΧΟΣ] cites the name as a designation of Anubis in his underworldly aspect [De Is. et Os. 375e], while Porphyry [ΠΟΡΦΥΡΙΟΣ] refers to Hermanubis as composite, and half-Greek [De imaginibus fr. 8, p. 18.1–2 Bidez]. It is clear that the name is a result of the assimilation of the #Egyptian god #Anubis to the #Greek god #Hermes, which is well attested in a number of #literary, #epigraphic, and artistic sources. Although #Hermes was traditionally equated with the #Egyptian Thoth, his function as psychopompos encouraged his association with #Anubis given the latter's comparable funerary role in #Egyptian religion as embalmer and guardian of the dead and as leader of the deceased to the tribunal of #Osiris. This assimilation resulted in widespread Greco-Roman representations of the canine-headed #Anubis with attributes of the #Greek #Hermes, such as the distinctive staff known as the kerykeion or winged sandals. In #Roman #Alexandria there emerges a new iconographical type, well represented in coins and sculpture, in which a fully anthropomorphic young god is flanked by a dog and holds the same attributes as the said #Anubis, in addition to wearing the kalathos headdress. It is this type that art historians have traditionally labelled Hermanubis. https://lnkd.in/d97yFPVu

To view or add a comment, sign in

Explore topics