Octodrachm: Head of Arsinoe II (obverse); Double Cornucopia (reverse)
Unknown Artist
205–145 BCE
Medium
gold
Dimensions
diam. 2.9 cm
Classification
Coins
Department
Greek and Roman Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
The Norweb Collection
Accession Number
1965.552
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
On this long-lived series of coinage, Arsinoe II, a divinized Hellenistic queen, wears the crown and veil associated with Hera; a scepter may be just visible beside her neck. The daughter of Ptolemy I, founder of the Hellenistic Greek dynasty that ruled Egypt for nearly three centuries, Arsinoe married Lysimachos, king of Thrace, at the age of fifteen. After his death, she married first her half-brother and then her full brother, Ptolemy II, beginning a long-lasting Ptolemaic dynastic tradition ...