Intaglio Gem Depicting a Bust of Zeus-Serapis

CultureRoman

PeriodImperial

Dateearly 3rd Century CE

MediumMicrocrystalline quartz, var. jasper (red)

Credit LineGift of the Estate of Michael J. Shubin

Dimensions7/16 x 3/8 x 1/8 in. (1.1 x 1 x 0.3 cm)

Object number2008.031.106

Label TextThe hybrid Graeco-Egyptian god Zeus-Serapis was a conflation of the Egyptian deities Osiris and Apis with the Greek deity Zeus. He was popularized by king Ptolemy I Soter of Egypt in the third century BCE. Venerated as a god of fertility and abundance, Serapis’s worship spread rapidly through the second and first centuries BCE and became widely popular across the Roman world; in the 3rd century CE, he was especially favored by the Roman emperor Septimius Severus. The profile bust on this gem, with full, curly beard and modius (a grain measure) on the crown of the head, replicates the appearance of the cult statue of Serapis that stood in the Serapeum in Alexandria, Egypt (see also cat. no. 106). As an excerpt of this famous sculpture, the gem motif brought the viewer of the stone face-to-face with an image of the god that he or she could not otherwise access, securing the god’s personal benefaction.
Exhibition HistoryMaking an Impression: The Art and Craft of Ancient Engraved Gemstones, Michael C. Carlos Museum, August 27 - November 27, 2022

ProvenanceEx coll. Michael Shubin (1950-2008), Montebello, California, possibly purchased from Frank Sternberg AG, Zurich, Switzerland.

Status

Not on view

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