Orpheus, Isis, Sarapis and the dead ass: the depiction on a sundial from Durostorum
Vendries, Christophe
Orpheus, Isis, Sarapis and the dead ass: the depiction on a sundial from Durostorum - 2017.
5
A spherical sundial in Durostorum?Silistra (Bulgaria), probably built around the beginning of the 3th?Cent., bears an original scene based on three important divines figures: Orpheus, Isis and Sarapis. Orpheus the musician is depicted with his cithara amongst animals. The original feature is the presence of a dead ass amongst the beasts. An ass in this posture could be explained by the influence of Isis and Sarapis, on the columns, and their connexion to Seth, the age?old enemy of Osiris and Isis, and often compared to an ass. Another interpretation could be linked to Pythagoras’ ideas about cosmic music which is incompatible with the noise made by an ass. This scene seems to be a synthesis of the two traditions, perfectly adapted to the function of a sundial, and probably originally exhibited in an Isis sanctuary.
Orpheus, Isis, Sarapis and the dead ass: the depiction on a sundial from Durostorum - 2017.
5
A spherical sundial in Durostorum?Silistra (Bulgaria), probably built around the beginning of the 3th?Cent., bears an original scene based on three important divines figures: Orpheus, Isis and Sarapis. Orpheus the musician is depicted with his cithara amongst animals. The original feature is the presence of a dead ass amongst the beasts. An ass in this posture could be explained by the influence of Isis and Sarapis, on the columns, and their connexion to Seth, the age?old enemy of Osiris and Isis, and often compared to an ass. Another interpretation could be linked to Pythagoras’ ideas about cosmic music which is incompatible with the noise made by an ass. This scene seems to be a synthesis of the two traditions, perfectly adapted to the function of a sundial, and probably originally exhibited in an Isis sanctuary.
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