Code art.: 12280
Price: 1.750,00 €

Reproduction in yellow marble from Siena, of a Tetradrachm silver coin portraying Alexander the Great, issued by King Lysimachus of Thrace. «He is shown with horns curling around his ears. These “horns of Ammon” symbolize Alexander’s claim that he was the son of the Egyptian god Ammon, a claim that was confirmed by the oracle at the sanctuary of the composite god Zeus-Ammon at Siwa, Egypt.  The use of realistic portraiture on coinage was copied by his successors. Unique to Alexander’s image, however, is the ram’s horn curling around his ear, which identifies him as the son of the god Zeus Amon, a combination of the Greek god Zeus and the Egyptian god Amon. By including the ram’s horn, Alexander capitalized on the Egyptian tradition in which pharaohs were thought to be gods on Earth.» Exhibition label, When the Greeks Ruled: Egypt After Alexander the Great, October 31, 2013–July 27, 2014, Gallery 154 – Art Institute Chicago