counter
- Museum number
- 1814,0704.1532
- Description
-
Ivory counter with a male portrait: the surface is generally scratched. This counter bears a male head in profile, wearing the Hellenistic royal diadem. He is shown in bust form wearing a 'chlamys' (cloak) secured by a circular fibula on his right shoulder. He wears a diadem, tied at the front, over short locks of hair. His features are summarily rendered, but he has a large eye, a long nose with curling nostril and a short, full-lipped mouth. His chin is square and strong. On the reverse of this counter are the Roman numerals VIII, and below the Greek letter H. The king represented is difficult to identify, and the inscription is of no help. The portrait characteristics best fit one of the earlier Ptolemaic kings.
- Production date
- 30BC-70
- Dimensions
-
Diameter: 2.80 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- Bibliography:
E. Alföldi-Rosenbaum, 'Ruler portraits on Roman Game Counters from Alexandria' in 'Eikones Festschrift Hans Jucker' (1980), no. 13, 30, pl. 10.1;
S. Walker & P. Higgs [eds.], 'Cleopatra of Egypt' (London, 2001), p. 317 [329].
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1814
- Department
- Greek and Roman
- Registration number
- 1814,0704.1532