Bracelet with Isis and Renenutet


Bracelet with Agathodaimon, Isis-Tyche, Aphrodite, and Terenouthis
Roman Period, Egypt, 1st century B.C.E – CE. 1st century
Gold, Rogers Fund, 1923, MMA 23.2.1

(From info card)
"Powerful talismans of fertility and good destiny are woven into this rich golden composition. The bodies of two snakes intertwine to form a Herakles knot, the centerpiece of this bracelet. The snake on the left represents Agathodaimon, and the cobra on the right Terenouthis, two agrarian/fertility deities associated with Serapis and Isis, respectively. On the platform between them stand two goddesses, Isis-Tyche (or Isis-Fortuna), a deity closely associated with Alexandria, and the nude Aphrodite."


Isis-Fortuna @ Getty Museum

(In earlier times, Terenouthis was known as Renenutet, goddess of grain and harvests. For more information on Egyptian snake deities, see my paper on "Egyptian Serpent Power".)

photo ©Joan Lansberry, 2009