Abstract
The multiethnic environment of Ptolemaic Alexandria resulted in cross-cultural transmission of funerary practices and associated material culture that introduced many traditions to Egypt from the Mediterranean world. Along with an influx of mercenaries serving in the Ptolemaic army came cultural and artistic knowledge from their places of origin, which they (or their families) incorporated into their burials. One motif, which appears on late 4th–3rd-century painted funerary monuments from Alexandria, is that of a soldier on horseback, alluding to images of the heroic hunter or warrior on horseback found in tombs in the regions of northern Greece. These Alexandrian monuments commemorated members of the Ptolemaic cavalry, some of whom are identified as Macedonian or Thessalian by accompanying Greek inscriptions. The image of a soldier astride his rearing horse not only emphasized the deceased’s military status, but also established a link with Macedonian and Ptolemaic royal iconography. This type of self-representation served a number of purposes: to signal the deceased’s cultural and geographic origins, demonstrate his elite role in Ptolemaic society and imply connections to the Ptolemaic court, all of which were important to the immigrant inhabitants of early Alexandria as they sought to express their identity in a new geographical, cultural, and political setting.
Highlights
The image of a soldier astride his rearing horse emphasized the deceased’s military status, and established a link with Macedonian and Ptolemaic royal iconography. This type of self-representation served a number of purposes: to signal the deceased’s cultural and geographic origins, demonstrate his elite role in Ptolemaic society and imply connections to the Ptolemaic court, all of which were important to the immigrant inhabitants of early Alexandria as they sought to express their identity in a new geographical, cultural, and political setting
A group of limestone funerary monuments from early Ptolemaic Alexandria bear painted images in Greek style of soldiers on horseback or horses being controlled by attendants
These paintings have never been treated as a cohesive group though they share very similar iconography and styles drawn from the northern Greek mode of depicting heroic hunters and warriors on horseback
Summary
A group of limestone funerary monuments from early Ptolemaic Alexandria bear painted images in Greek style of soldiers on horseback or horses being controlled by attendants. The individual loculi were sealed with painted limestone slabs, while free-standing stelae could be placed above-ground to mark burials. Painted Limestone Funerary Slab with a Man Controlling a Rearing Horse (Figure 1), New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Darius Ogden Mills, 1904, 04.17.3, 2nd half of the 3rd century BC, 15 1/2 in × 10 1/2 in × 2 7/8 in (39.4 cm × 26.7 cm × 7.3 cm), Loculus slab. Funerary Stela of a Man on Horseback (Figures 2–4), Alexandria, Graeco-Roman Museum, 22116, 3rd century BC, 35 cm × 25 cm.
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