Isis and Serapis, Roman and Egyptian goddesses and god relief
This authentic relief of the goddess Isis and god Serapis expresses the magic of love. It is an impressive and at the same time expressive wall decoration which combines ancient Roman and Egyptian mythology.
The original find dates to around the yar 150 AD and shows the Egyptian goddess Isis and the god Serapis. It was found in a temple near the city of Trier in Germany.
- Relief height: 29cm
- Original find is kept in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum at Trier, Germany
- Location: Tawern, district trier-Saarburg, 1987
- Real Alabaster plaster, patina
The land of the Nile
Isis was the Egyptians’ 'Goddess of love’, also the 'sea goddess’, like Mary amongst the Christians there alter she was the mother of God, the 'queen of the Western Sky’, but also sometimes seen as a 'sorceress’, since she served in her relationship with Horus and Osiris. Mothers asked her blessing for their children. She was a powerful deity who knew all the secrets and future events.
When stones speak
In inscriptions, she is said to be 'smarter than all the gods’. Hence, she had bright and dark sides for the Egyptians. She stole the magic of the aged God RE (the sun god) to soar up the ruler of the world. On this relief, Isis bears the characteristic bucket in her left hand. In her right hand she probably held the famous Isis cult rattle (Sistrum).
Serapis is given the cylindrical grain basket on the head. As the God of fertility, he shows the importance of grain production in Egypt and its supply to Rome. The basket on his head is called Kalathos, a Greek harvest basket. Other depictions show him as a standing man with a bull's head or the snake rod of Asclepius (the God of healing).
In addition to his role as a God of fertility and healing Serapis was also equipped with the functions of the Oracle, as well as the liberator of the slaves. With these properties, Serapis evolved into the universal guardian deity of the Ptolemies (members of the Macedonian Greek dynasty, who had ruled in ancient Egypt and neighbouring estates like Cyrene, Cyprus and Sinai since the Hellenistic period until the conquest by the Roman Empire).
Both gods were worshipped in the Roman Empire, even though they come from Egypt.
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