CMA-EG
Art Institute of Chicago (Egyptian) · other
Octadrachm (Coin) Portraying Arsinoe II
Description
The purpose of the first portrait coins was to identify the ruler. The front side became a mirror of the sovereign’s self-image. The back was often used to communicate the ruler’s accomplishments or intentions. The profile portrait was used because it suited the very shallow depth and limited surface of the coin. The tiny images were carved by engravers into bronze dies, one for the front and another for the back. The coins were then struck, one by one, in a process similar to how modern coins are created today. In place of human ancestors, some rulers substituted real or mythic heroes or even the gods as their progenitors. On the front (obverse) of this coin Queen Arsinoe (reigned 273/272-270/268 BCE) is portrayed with a tiny horn curled around her ear. The horn was the symbol of the god Zeus-Ammon and implies that the queen was in fact, a goddess on earth. The back (reverse) of this coin depicts a double cornucopia bound with a fillet.
AI image analysis GPT-5.4-nano
Machine-generated from the object's image on Jul 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.
Two sides of a small gold coin are shown, featuring a laureate/diademed female profile on the obverse and a standing/armed figure (possibly a deity or royal portrait) with surrounding script on the reverse.
The image presents a pair of views of a gold octadrachm-type coin: on the left (obverse) a female head in profile faces right, wearing a tall headdress/diadem and a single-letter mark near the lower left of the portrait field. On the right (reverse) the scene shows a standing figure facing right with a raised hand and detailed attire, accompanied by surrounding engraved characters that resemble Greek-letter/inscription-style script rather than clear Egyptian hieroglyphs. No unmistakable hieroglyphic phonograms, cartouches, or clearly legible royal names are confidently identifiable from the resolution provided. The catalogue title specifies Arsinoe II; however, the image details are not clear enough to confidently confirm her identity, though the female portrait is consistent with a royal dyad portrait type. No Greek/Coptic/Arabic text is fully legible; the reverse inscription-like marks are present but require higher resolution for accurate transcription. The coin appears well-preserved with crisp metal relief.
royal
Hellenistic Period, Ptolemaic (likely 3rd–2nd century BCE); exact date unclear from image alone
good
Royals
Arsinoe II (catalogue attribution; not confidently readable on image)
Materials
gold (gilt/metal coin surface)
Signs
unreadable inscription characters around reverse figure (Greek/other alphabetic marks unclear) ×10
Inscriptions (1)
Inscription #1
English description
Reverse: ΑΡΣΙΝΟΗΣ ΦΙΛΑΔΕΛΦΟΥ
Connections
Deities
Amun
Cross-references (1)
- ARTIC-id 15477 tier-2
Similar inscriptions · by content embedding
About this record's data
- From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Art Institute of Chicago (Egyptian).
- AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
- Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
- Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.