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Bronze Bust of a Ptolemy as
Hermes-Thoth
Eastern Mediterranean, late 3rd-2nd century B.C.
H. 8.9 cm (3 1/2")
Burton Y. Berry Collection, 64.89.11
How did Hermes and Thoth come together? Traditionally,
both Egyptian and Greek gods served multiple functions. Hermes shared with
Thoth the roles of guide to the dead, god of intellect, and inventor of
letters. This youthful god wears a lotus petal—the symbolic flower
of Egypt—and a diadem, knotted at the back, with the sashes falling onto
his shoulders, which was the royal insignia of the Ptolemies.
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