Bracelet with Agathodaimon, Isis-Tyche, Aphrodite, and Thermouthis

Bracelet with Agathodaimon, Isis-Tyche, Aphrodite, and Thermouthis

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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 Thermouthis, 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.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Bracelet with Agathodaimon, Isis-Tyche, Aphrodite, and ThermouthisBracelet with Agathodaimon, Isis-Tyche, Aphrodite, and ThermouthisBracelet with Agathodaimon, Isis-Tyche, Aphrodite, and ThermouthisBracelet with Agathodaimon, Isis-Tyche, Aphrodite, and ThermouthisBracelet with Agathodaimon, Isis-Tyche, Aphrodite, and Thermouthis

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.