Horus and Other Egyptian Deities in the Guise of Roman Warriors: A Possible Interpretation

Abstract

The article deals with a number of monuments in the Egyptian collection of the A.S. Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts showing Egyptian deities in the guise of Roman warriors: I, 1a 2985 (the best known and widely reproduced object) – a statuette of the falcon-headed god Horus in the double crown and in the Roman armour and dress (bronze); I, 1a 2794 – a similar statuette of smaller size and worse preservation (bronze with traces of gilding); I, 1a 6667 – a statuette of the dog-or jackal-headed god Anubis in the Roman armour and dress (bronze); I, 1a 3389 – a bust showing the falcon-headed god Horus wearing nemes, with the sun-disc and snake over his head (glass paste); I, 1a 5382 – a stela showing the sphinx-god Tutu with a lion head being a part of the armour-plate on his chest. Aside from republishing these objects, the aim of the article is to propose an interpretation of the iconographic type, to which they belong (this type also includes a number of Apius’ images and a singular image of Khnum in the Roman guise). The most multiple group in this type are the images of Horus, which, in author’s view, reflect the concept of the Roman principes’ rule in Egypt shaped by Egyptians: they were ruled not so much by a specific Roman strong-man as by the god Hous embodied in him and largely absorbing his personality. This concept of Egyptian rulers’ “derivative sacrality” dated back to the First Persian Domination and played largely a compensatory role, as it made a foreign and unfriendly rule more tolerable for Egyptians. In the Roman time it was reflected in emperors’ titularies, in which the Horus’ name was shaped of a set of epithets conveying upon a ruler the qualities of the god Horus. Probably the concept manifested itself in the images of Horus and Anubis, perhaps Khnum in the Roman guise; the images of Tutu and, perhaps, Apis rather show a transfer on them of the iconographic standard developed in the imagery of Horus.