Interesting Depiction of a Mummy

5729004.

EGYPT, Alexandria. Hadrian. AD 117-138. BI Tetradrachm (25.5mm, 13.80 g, 12h). Dated RY 20 (AD 135/6). laureate head left / Mummy of Ptah/Soter/Osiris standing right, holding scepter; L K (date) across field. Köln 1198; Dattari (Savio) 1447; K&G 32.699; RPC III 6088.11 (this coin); Emmett 883.20. Deeply toned, trace deposits. VF. A popular reverse type.

Ex Naville Numismatics 56 (22 March 2020), lot 304.

The image of Ptah-Soter-Osiris was a composite Egyptian funerary deity. He brings together three famous members of the Pharaonic Pantheon through their respective symbols: the headdress and scepter for Ptah, the solar disk for Osiris, and the mummiform wrappings for Soter – the “Lord of the Necropolis.” These three associated divinities call upon the concepts of “mourning” and “life,” evoking at the same time the pain associated with death and the hope of resurrection. The main sanctuaries of Ptah, Soter, and Osiris were at Memphis and Abydos, gaining popularity during the late Pharonic and Ptolemaic periods.