CROATO-AEGYPTICA

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Egyptian head from the red granite

Egyptian head from the red granite

A typical royal klaft covers it's head, and klaft's endings are falling down to the shoulders. On the forehead is an ureus. On the left shoulder visible are stripes that in a stylized way represent the lion's mane. This detail shows that it is the head of a spinhx, and not the king's head, as some authors speculated. The face is damaged, a beard is preserved only partially. It was found in Solin, near the northern perimeter walls and aqueduct, under a pile of stones. An inscription Matribus Magnis sacrum was also found nearby (see the chapter Metroaca Salonitana, no. 33).

 

In Bulić's and Karaman's book on Diocletian's palace, we read: "In the year 1908 the head of a red granite spinhx was accidentally found in Solin, and the excavations conducted by the Archaeological Museum to find the torso remained without success". Does this head, found in Solin, belong to the sphinxes from the Mausoleum's prostasis, one can not say. Marie-Christine Budischovsky says the head "was found in the area of the Palace, near the northern perimeter wall", an information whose origin I could not determine.

Catalogue entry

Egyptian head from the red granite
Archaeological museum in Split, Split
Inv. no. AMS C-161
Solin (Salona), near aquaduct, 1908
Egypt, unknown site, brought to Split c. 298-304 A.D.
New Kingdom (1539-1295 B.C.)-Ptolemaic period (306-30 B.C.)
Roman Empire, reign of the Emperor Diocletian (284-305 A.D.)
red granite
25 x 24 cm

Resources

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