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Octodrachm: Head of Arsinoe II (obverse); Double Cornucopia (reverse)

205–145 BC

The Cleveland Museum of Art

The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States

On this long-lived series of coinage, Arsinoe II, a divinized Hellenistic queen, wears the crown and veil associated with Hera; a scepter may be just visible beside her neck. The daughter of Ptolemy I, founder of the Hellenistic Greek dynasty that ruled Egypt for nearly three centuries, Arsinoe married Lysimachos, king of Thrace, at the age of fifteen. After his death, she married first her half-brother and then her full brother, Ptolemy II, beginning a long-lasting Ptolemaic dynastic tradition of sibling marriage. Twin cornucopias on the reverse of this coin likely refer to the divine ruling couple, presaged in Egypt by Isis and Osiris, and in Greece by Zeus and Hera.

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  • Title: Octodrachm: Head of Arsinoe II (obverse); Double Cornucopia (reverse)
  • Date Created: 205–145 BC
  • Physical Dimensions: Diameter: 2.9 cm (1 1/8 in.)
  • Provenance: Mrs. R. Henry Norweb, Formerly in the collection of Mrs. R. Henry Norweb
  • Type: Coins
  • Rights: CC0
  • External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1965.552
  • Medium: gold
  • Inscriptions: ΑΡΣΙΝΟΗΣ | ΦΙΛΑΔΕΛΦΟΥ
  • Fun Fact: The small horn around Arsinoe’s ear, referencing the Egyptian god Amon-Re, marks her divine status.
  • Department: Greek and Roman Art
  • Culture: Greek, Ptolemaic, minted at Alexandreia (Egypt), reign of Ptolemy V Epiphanes or Ptolemy VI Philometor
  • Credit Line: The Norweb Collection
  • Collection: GR - Greek
  • Accession Number: 1965.552
The Cleveland Museum of Art

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