Isiac lamps from Alexandria and other provinces: some comparisons

Abstract

This research examines representations of deities on lamps that reflect Hellenistic syncretic processes that led to the refashioning of Pharaonic gods by the addition of Greek attributes. The different rendering of deities representing specifically the “Isiac cults” on Roman lamps produced in Egypt is discussed in an effort to outline the major differences between how the homeland gods were depicted as compared to deitieds privileged in other parts of the Roman Empire. The article is a synthesis of the exhaustive work of Tran tam Tinh on the lamps from Alexandria and the present author’s recent monograph on Isiac scenes on lamp discuses from outside Egypt.

Keywords

• Roman lamps
• Isiac cult
• Isis
• Sarapis
• iconography
• Egypt vs Roman provinces