² See especially: Vidman, Ladislaus, Sylloge inscriptionum religionis lsiacae et Sarapiacae (Religionsgeschichtliche Versuche und Vorarbeiten 28; Berlin: de Gruyter, 1969)Google Scholar; Kater-Sibbes, G. J. F., Preliminary Catalogue of Sarapis Monuments (Etudes préliminaires aux religions orientales dans l'empire romain 36; Leiden: Brill, 1973)Google Scholar; Dunand, Françoise, Le culte d'Isis dans le bassin oriental de la méditerranée; vol. 1: Le culte d'Isis et les Ptolémées; vol. 2: Le culte d'Isis en Grèce; vol. 3: Le culte d'Isis en Asie mineure (Etudes préliminaires aux religions orientales dans l'empire romain 26; Leiden: Brill, 1973).Google Scholar

³ The classic studies of this type are Roussel, Pierre, Les cultes égyptiens à Délos du III^e au I^er siècle av. J.-C. (Nancy: Berger-Levrault, 1916)Google Scholar, and Dow, Sterling, “The Egyptian Cults in Athens,” HTR 30 (1937) 183–232.Google Scholar

⁴ Description of Greece 2.2.3. Text and translation from Pausanias vol. 1 (tr. W. H. S. Jones; LCL; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 1918).

⁵ These coins are conveniently collected by Hohlfelder, Robert L., “Pausanias, II, 2,3: A Collation of Archaeological and Numismatic Evidence,” Hesperia 39 (1970) 326–31CrossRefGoogle Scholar and plate 80. Coins 1, 2, and 3 of this paper correspond to Hohlfelder's coins a, b, and c of plate 80.

⁶ Coin 1 was published in Imhoof-Blumer, F. and Gardner, Percy, A Numismatic Commentary on Pausanias (London: Richard Clay, 1887Google Scholar; reprinted from JHS 6 [1885] 50–101, 7 [1886] 57–113, 8 [1887] 6–63) 17, pl. D-LX (JHS 6 [1885] 66). Coin 2 was published in Lehmann-Hartleben, Karl, Die antiken Hafenanlagen des Mittelmeeres (Klio, Beiheft 14; Leipzig: Dieterich, 1923) 259Google Scholar, Münztafel no. 10; and in Johannes Leipoldt and Kurt Regling, “Archäologisches zur Isis-Religion,” Ἄγγελος 1 (1925) 130, pi. 5, no. 2.

⁷ Lehmann-Hartleben, Hafenanlagen, 259, Münztafel no. 11; Leipoldt and Regling, “Archäologisches,” 130, plate 5, no. 3.

⁸ The identification of the figure on coin 3 is that of Kurt Regling, who provided the coin catalogue for the Leipoldt / Regling study (“Archäologisches,” 130 and plate 5). Lehmann-Hartleben (Hafenanlagen, 238 n. 2) simply calls it “a female deity (eine weibliche Gottheit).” Following Lehmann-Hartleben, Hohlfelder (“Pausanias,” 328 n. 10) says “the attributes of the statue are not clear.” From the photograph, one can distinguish a figure striding to the right holding an arm up in front with the mantle billowing out behind. Although the place where the sail should be is partially blotted out by some kind of damage to the coin, nevertheless Regling's identification appears to be correct.

⁹ Hohlfelder, “Pausanias,” 327–28. Lehmann-Hartleben had earlier interpreted coins 2 and 3 to signify that several statues stood in the Kenchreai harbor at the same time (Hafenanlagen, 238 n. 2). Hohlfelder opposes this by referring to the silence of Pausanias about other statues. The failure of previous Corinthian coins to portray such a monumental statue and the tendency of coins struck during the reign of Antoninus to portray his harbor construction activities (see Boyce, Aline Abaecherli, “The Harbor of Pompeiopolis: A Study in Roman Imperial Ports and Dated Coins,” AJA 62 [1958] 67–78Google Scholar) further support Hohlfelder's argument. On the other hand, there is some doubt whether the Isis with the sail form ever occurred in statuary art (see Bruneau, Philippe, “Existe-t-il des statues dlsis Pélagia?” Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 98 [1974] 333–81).Google Scholar

¹⁰ My summary of the archaeological evidence is based on the preliminary report on the architecture (Scranton, Robert L. and Ramage, Edwin S., “Investigations at Corinthian Kenchreai,” Hesperia 36 [1967] 124–86)Google Scholar and the final report on the glass mosaics (Ibrahim, Leila, Scranton, Robert L., and Brill, Robert, Kenchreai: Eastern Port of Corinth; vol. 2: The Panels of Opus Sectile in Glass [Leiden: Brill, 1976]).Google Scholar The final report on the architecture was announced but is not available at this writing (Robert L. Scranton, Joseph A. Shaw, and Leila Ibrahim, Kenchreai: Eastern Port of Corinth: vol. 1: Topography and Architecture[Leiden: Brill, forthcoming]). When this report is published it may necessitate some revisions in my analysis.

In an earlier version of this paper published in Numina Aegaea 2, I stated that the evidence was not sufficient to identify this structure as an Isis sanctuary. However, the final reports appear to present a stronger case making it a more likely, though still tentative, identification.

¹¹ One wonders if the reinforced foundation walls could be intended to support columns or pillars, but the reports do not indicate this.

¹² Ibrahim and Scranton, Kenchreai, vol. 2; cf. Scranton, Robert L., “Glass Pictures from the Sea,” Archaeology 20 (1967) 163–73.Google Scholar

¹³ As a result of this find, glass fragments found elsewhere are now being identified as originally belonging to opus sectile constructions (Ibrahim and Scranton, Kenchreai, 2. 262–66).

¹⁴ Ibid., vol. 2, chart p. 259.

¹⁵ Cf. Handler, Susan, “Architecture on the Roman Coins of Alexandria,” AJA 75(1971) 57–74, esp. 62–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

¹⁶ Ibrahim and Scranton, Kenchreai, 2. 164–85.

¹⁷ Scranton hypothesizes that the robed figures could be Sarapis and / or Isis and the two Nike figures could be Isis as Nike. The figures themselves do not suggest this identification; rather the theory is based on the general Egyptian theme and the fact that Isis and Sarapis can be portrayed in these forms (ibid., 268).

¹⁸ Ibid., 173–74.

¹⁹ Ibid., 260–61. Evidently the final architectural report will clarify the location of the dromos.

²⁰ Ibid., 266–68.

²¹ However, these statues are of Ptolemaic date, ca. 700 years earlier than the glass panels (see reference in ibid., 171 and n. 540, 267 n. 7).

²² See Pseudo-Plutarch, De vita et poesi Homeri, C. 120, where Homer, Plato, Aristotle, and Theophrastos are mentioned together (Kenchreai, 2. 267 n. 8).

²³ Ibrahim and Scranton, Kenchreai, 2. 268–69.

²⁴ Ammianus Marcellinus 26.10.15–19 provides evidence for an earthquake in 365 C.E. Zosimus 4.18 notes an earthquake in 375 C.E. (Ibrahim and Scranton, Kenchreai, 2. 268 and notes 12 and 13).

²⁵ The sanctuary belongs to a second phase of construction since it is built over a road and a previous structure. Since the pier and warehouses are dated toca. early first century C.E., the sanctuary may be datable to the second century. Supporting this date is the style of the mosaic in room A, which is of a type of construction usually dated to the late first or early second century C.E. (Scranton and Ramage, “Investigations,” 150–51).

²⁶ Hohlfelder, “Pausanias,” 327 n. 6 and references quoted there.

²⁷ Apuleius of Madauros, The Isis-Book (Metamorphoses, Book Xl)(ed. with trans, and commentary by Griffiths, John Gwyn; Etudes préliminaires aux religions orientales dans l'empire romain 39; Leiden: Brill, 1975).Google Scholar Griffiths collects the arguments concerning the autobiographical nature and Kenchrean provenance of book 11 in the introduction, pp. 1–7, 14–20.

²⁸ Apuleius refers to the “inner chamber” of the temple (cubiculum deae) where the image is kept (11.17 [279.11–14], 11.20 [281.20], 11.24 [285.20]) and mentions steps at the front of the temple (11.17 [279.15]). These references could, of course, refer to any Roman temple. He also refers to what may be a basement area under the temple: i.e., it is in the penetralia where the priest draws water (11.20 [281.22]) and where the initiation rite itself is held (11.23 [285.5–6]). Rooms A and B could fit this description. There is also an inner chamber where sacred books are kept (de opertis adyti, 11.22 [284.10–12]), perhaps room B. The sanctuary precinct also contains priests' quarters (11.22 [284.2–3]), rooms to rent to initiates (11.19 [280.19–281.1]), and perhaps facilities for dining (11.24 [286.6–9]), all of which could possibly be provided in the area between C and F. The precinct must also be able to accommodate large crowds which gather at the sanctuary during festivals and initiations (11.17 [279.11–280.6], 11.23 [285.2–4], 11.24 [286.4–6]). This sanctuary of course has the typical Egyptian dromos or long hall as well as two forecourts in front of the temple, both of which could accommodate crowds. In the Apuleius initiation account, a bath is made use of which is not located in the precinct itself (11.23 [284.20–22]). Interestingly, a small bath was found to the northwest of the Kenchreai sanctuary precinct in room P(fig. 1).

On the other hand, Dunand judiciously warns against a too literal reading of Apuleius in regard to the topography and architecture of a particular Isis sanctuary. Rather she suggests that Apuleius would most likely have in mind a typical Isis sanctuary that might be found in various cities in the Roman Empire (Culte d'Isis, 2.159–60).

²⁹ The dromos, e.g., is an Egyptian feature found also in Sarapieion C in Delos. This Delian sanctuary also exhibits the feature found in other sanctuaries of the Egyptian cults: a rather large sanctuary complex containing one or more small temples facing a courtyard (Roussel, Cultes égyptiens, 47–69, plate 3 p. 257). Compare the sanctuaries at Pergamon (Regina Salditt-Trappmann, Temple der Ägyptischen Götter in Griechenland und an der Westküste Kleinasiens [Etudes préliminaires aux religions orientales dans l'empire romain 15; Leiden: Brill, 1970] 1–25, plans 1–3) and Pompeii (V. Tinh, Tran Tam, Le culle d'Isis a Pompéi [Paris: Boccard, 1964] 30–39, pl. 1, no. 1).Google Scholar

³⁰ Description of Greece 2.4.6; Greek text LCL, translation by the author.

³¹ See the latest preliminary report on the excavations of the Demeter sanctuary, with references to earlier reports: Bookidis, Nancy and Fisher, Joan E., “Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore on Acrocorinth. Preliminary Report V: 1971–1973,” Hesperia 43 (1974) 267–307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

³² This area was excavated in 1936–37. The following description is based on the official report by Broneer, Oscar in Corinth, vol. 1, part 4: The South Stoa (Princeton, NJ: The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1954) 132–45.Google Scholar

³³ Ibid., 134 and pi. 44, no. 2. The first report of the finding of the marble head was in Morgan, Charles H. II, “Excavations at Corinth, 1936–31,” AJA 41 (1937) 539Google Scholar and fig. l, p. 540. A more detailed study was presented in Capps, Edward Jr, “Pergamene Influence at Corinth,” Hesperia 7 (1938) 548–51Google Scholar. See also Brady, Thomas A., Repertory of Statuary and Figured Monuments Relating to the Cult of the Egyptian Gods (Columbia: University of Missouri, 1938) 7Google Scholar, no. 70; Hornbostel, Wilhelm, Sarapis: Studien zur Überlieferungsgeschichte, den Erscheinungsformen und Wandlungen der Gestalt eines Gottes (Etudes préliminaires aux religions orientales dans l'empire romain 32; Leiden: Brill, 1973Google Scholar) 78 n. 3, 186; Kater-Sibbes, Preliminary Catalogue, 84, no. 469. Kater-Sibbes mistakenly lists the Broneer reference under no. 470, which is a head of Sarapis from a statuette (see II.F below), and lists Brady's reference as no. 69, which is Brady's listing of the statuette head also. The statue head of Sarapis can now be seen in the Corinth museum in the Roman and Post Classical Gallery.

³⁴ The Sarapis headpiece is referred to by three names: calathus, polos, and modius. I agree with Hornbostel (Sarapis, 2 n. 2) in preferring calathus as perhaps best fitting the way it is commonly represented. The calathus was a basket narrow at the base used for carrying fruit. As a headpiece, it became a particular attribute of Sarapis, representing the chthonic element of the deity as provider of the fruits of the earth (ibid., 83–85).

³⁵ Brady, Thomas A. (“A Head of Sarapis from Corinth,” Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 51 [1940] 61–69Google Scholar) presents a study of the gilding method used on Sarapis statues and its possible significance as an original feature of the Bryaxis statue. See also Reuterswärd, Patrik, Studien zur Polychromie der Plastik; If. Griechenland und Rom (Stockholm: Almqvist and Wiksell, 1960) 196Google Scholar and pi. 10.

³⁶ Capps, “Pergamene Influence,” 551, and Hornbostel, Sarapis, 186. For discussions and other examples of the typical kind of representation of the head of Sarapis, see Stambaugh, John E., Sarapis Under the Early Ptolemies (Etudes préliminaires aux religions orientales dans l'empire romain 25; Leiden: Brill, 1972) 14–26CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and Hornbostel, Sarapis, 78–85 and plates.

³⁷ Capps, “Pergamene Influence,” 551.

³⁸ Broneer, Corinth 1.4, p. 137.

³⁹ See Robert A. Wild, S.J., “Water Facilities and Water Rituals in the Isis-Sarapis Cult” (Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard University, 1977).

⁴⁰ The discussion here by Villoison refers to a previously cited inscription in which χέρε is given for χαίρε. This previous inscription has no relation to the Egyptian cults.

⁴¹ “Octavia, daughter of Marcus, to Isis, the gracious sea-goddess, who hears prayers.”

⁴² De Serapide et Iside in Graecia cultis (dissertation, Berlin, 1906) 32; cf. Antonin Salač, Isis, Sarapis a božstva sdružená dle svědectví řeckých a latinských nápisů (Prague: Nákl. České akademie, 1915) 11.

⁴³ Philippe Bruneau, who also doubts Vidman's no. 34, points out the rarity of the word εὐάκοος which speaks against its occurring again at Corinth (“Existe-t-il des statues,” 337). Cf. Dunand (Cultes d'Isis, 2.158 and n. 1) who quotes the inscription as Corinthian but with some hesitation.

⁴⁴ Published by Henry S. Robinson, “Χρονικά,” Ἀρχαιολογικὸν Δελτίον 21 (1966) Μέρος B'l, 138–39 and pl. 129, c-d. Cf. Georges Daux, “Chronique des fouilles 1965,” Bulletin de correspondence héllenique 90 (1966) 754–56, photograph p. 757; Vidman, Sylloge, 20 (no. 34a); Dunand, Culte d'Isis, 2.18 n. 3.

⁴⁵ The system of inscription notation used here is the Leiden system, as conveniently outlined by Woodhead, A. G., The Study of Greek Inscriptions (Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1967) 6–11.Google Scholar

⁴⁶ “Χρονικά,” 139.

⁴⁷ Vidman, Sylloge, 20. Vidman seems to be the first to date the inscription.

⁴⁸ Published by Kent, John H., Corinth, vol. 1, part 4: The Inscriptions, 1926–1950 (Princeton: The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1966) 33, no. 57.Google Scholar It was first mentioned in an excavation report by Shear, Theodore Leslie Sr. (“Excavations in the Theater District and Tombs of Corinth in 1929,” AJA 33 [1929] 519)Google Scholar, but the text of the inscription was not published until Kent's edition. It is not listed in either Vidman, Sylloge, or Dunand, Culte d'Isis.

⁴⁹ The report of the excavation is by Scranton, Robert L. in Corinth, vol. 1, part 3: Monuments in the Lower Agora and North of the Archaic Temple (Princeton: The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1951) 4–5,16,67–72.Google Scholar The statue fragment is described by Johnson, Franklin P. in Corinth, vol. 9: Sculpture, 1896–1923 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 1931) 30–31, no. 23.Google Scholar Cf. Hornbostel, Sarapis, 350–51, n. 7. The statue fragment can now be seen just outside the south entrance to the Corinth museum.

⁵⁰ Scranton, Corinth, 1.3, p. 66.

⁵¹ Ibid., 16.

⁵² Johnson, Corinth, 9.100, no. 214. The cornucopia is more common with a standing figure rather than a seated figure of Sarapis (Stambaugh, Sarapis, 18–19, pl. 1, no. 1).

⁵³ Greek text from LCL; translation by the author.

⁵⁴ Corinth, 1.3, p. 71. Cf. Roux, Georges, Pausanias en Corinthie (Annales de l'université de Lyon 31; Paris: Société d'édition les belles lettres, 1958) 112.Google Scholar

⁵⁵ Corinth, 9.30. Kater-Sibbes, Preliminary Catalogue, 84, no. 468, mistakenly states that Johnson identifies the statue as Pluto.

⁵⁶ Williams, Charles K. II, and Fisher, Joan E., “Corinth, 1974: Forum Southwest,” Hesperia 44 (1975) 1–50, esp. 25–29.Google Scholar

⁵⁷ The base is decorated with a male figure on the front and a female figure on each side; the fourth side is left undecorated. The figures are carved in relief and pictured full length in profile as if moving in a procession, the female figures both moving to the front, and the front male figure moving from left to right. All three figures are crowned with calathoi and carry other cultic symbols connected with chthonic powers and fertility of the fields. The two female figures are pictured as near mirror images, with the same dress and stance, except that the one on the left carries a torch and the one on the right carries poppy pods and heads of grain. The male figure is bearded and has his hair tied back with a fillet. He wears a himation with his chest bare and carries a cornucopia in the left hand and a mesomphalic phiale in the right. Many of these attributes are, of course, shared by Sarapis. But I agree with Williams that since the male figure wears a himation without chiton, leaving him bare-chested, and since his hair is pulled back rather than being left free and unruly, he does not seem to represent Sarapis. Rather these features suggest that the figure is Zeus Chthonios (Williams, “Corinth, 1974,” 23–29 and pls. 9 and 10).

⁵⁸ Stambaugh, Sarapis, 14–26; Hornbostel, Sarapis, 59–102; see especially the many examples of this type in the plates in Hornbostel, nos. 11 and 18–26.

⁵⁹ Plutarch (Isis and Osiris, 361F-362B) quotes the tradition that the Alexandrian Sarapis statue was originally a Pluto statue brought from Sinope by Ptolemy Soter; cf. 361E; Diodorus Siculus 1.25.2; Tacitus, Histories 4.84.5 (Stambaugh, Sarapis, 27–35). It has been argued that this seated statue type was copied from the original Alexandrian cult statue, which many scholars also attribute to the famous 4th century B.C.E. sculptor, Bryaxis (following Athenodorus in Clement of Alexandria, Protrepticus 4.48). However, there is still much debate about both of these theories. See the recent discussions in Stambaugh, Sarapis, 14–26, and Hornbostel, Sarapis, 3 n. 2, 35–58.

⁶⁰ Hornbostel, Sarapis, 350 n. 7; Stambaugh, Sarapis, 26.

⁶¹ Head, Barclay V., British Museum Catalogue of the Greek Coins of Lydia (London: The Trustees, 1901) 2.369, no. 34, pl. 39 no. 4; cf.Google ScholarCook, A. B., Zeus: A Study in Ancient Religion (3 vols.; Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1914–1940Google Scholar) 1.188, fig. 136; Hornbostel, Sarapis, 318. The coin is from Tripolis and dated 2nd century C.E. From Alexandria have come two other coins with the Zeus Sarapis inscription, one with the seated figure and the other with a standing Sarapis. Both are from the 8th year of Vespasian (75/6 C.E.). Another Alexandrian coin from the time of Trajan (113/4 C.E.) pictures a seated Sarapis (Poole, Reginald Stuart, British Museum Catalogue of the Coins of Alexandria and the Nomes [London: The Trustees, 1892] 31, nos. 258 and 260; 54, no. 449, pl. 15;Google Scholar Hornbostel, Sarapis, 310 and 343).

⁶² Imhoof-Blumer, and Gardner, , Numismatic Commentary, 25, pl. F-CXIX (JHS 6 [1885] 74).Google Scholar

⁶³ Mionnet, Théodore E., Description de médailles antiques, grecques et romaines (7 vols.; Paris: Testu, 1806–1813) 2.179, no. 226; Imhoof-Blumer and Gardner, Numismatic Commentary, 17 (JHS 6 [1885] 66).Google Scholar

⁶⁴ Mionnet, Théodore E., Description de médailles antiques, grecques el romaines. Supplément (9 vols.; Paris: Testu, 1819–1837) 4.88, no. 592.Google Scholar

⁶⁵ Imhoof-Blumer, and Gardner, , Numismatic Commentary, 17, pl. D-LXIV (JHS 6 [1885] 66).Google Scholar

⁶⁶ Cohen, Henry, Description historique des monnaies frappées sous I'empire romain (2nd ed., 8 vols.; Paris: Rollin & Feuardent, 1880–1892Google Scholar) 4.250, no. 40; Forrer, Leonard, The Weber Collections (3 vols.; London: Spink & Son, 1922–1929) 2.404, no. 3811, pl. 140.Google Scholar

⁶⁷ Broneer, Oscar, Corinth, vol. 1, part 2: Terracotta Lamps (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 1930) 194, no. 604.Google Scholar

⁶⁸ Siebert, Gérard, “Lamps corinthiennes et imitations au Musée National d'Athénes,” Bulletin de correspondance héllenique 90 (1966) 497–500, fig. 20.Google Scholar

⁶⁹ Corinth, 4.2, pp. 90–96.

⁷⁰ lbid., 206, no. 704.

⁷¹ Bruneau, Philippe, “Isis Pélagia à Délos,” Bulletin de correspondance héllenique 85 (1961) 435–36CrossRefGoogle Scholar; cf. Dunand, Culte d'Isis, vol. 2, pl. XXXVII no. 2.

⁷² Siebert, “Lampes corinthiennes,” 499 n. 5. The lamp is found in the Corinth museum, inventory no. L 4106.

⁷³ Dow has noted the significance of the percentage of theophoric names as a possible indication of the popularity of a cult at a given location (“Egyptian cults,” 216–24).

⁷⁴ The inscription was first published by Morgan, Charles H. II, in “Excavations at Corinth, 1935–36,” AJA 40 (1936) 471Google Scholar; cf. Supplementum epigraphicum Graecum, 11.148; Scranton, Corinth, 1.3, p. 96, pl. 43 no. 1. This edition and translation of the text is from Kent, Corinth, 8.3, p. 141, no. 361.

⁷⁵ Roussel, Cultes égyptiens, 233; cf. Brady, Thomas A., The Reception of the Egyptian Cults by the Greeks (Columbia: University of Missouri, 1935) 63.Google Scholar

⁷⁶ Preisigke, Friedrich and Bilabel, Friedrich, Sammelbuch Griechischer Urkunden aus Ägypten (5 vols.; vol. 3 by Berlin: de Gruyter, 1926) 3.36, no. 6236; Brady, Reception, 63.Google Scholar

⁷⁷ Broneer, Oscar, “Excavations at Corinth 1925: Area North of Basilica,” AJA 30(1926) 49–57; Brady, Repertory, 7, no. 69; Kater-Sibbes, Preliminary Catalogue, 84, no. 470. See also note 35 above. I have found no photograph nor further description of this head.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁷⁸ Davidson, Gladys R., Corinth, vol. 9: The Minor Objects (Princeton, NJ: The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1952) no. 386; cf.Google ScholarTinh, V. Tran Tarn and Labrecque, Yvette, Isis lactans. Corpus des monuments greco-romains d'Isis allaitant Harpocrate (Etudes préliminaires aux religions orientales dans l'empire romain 37; Leiden: Brill, 1973).Google Scholar

⁷⁹ Davidson, Corinth, vol. 12, no. 387. Compare a similar Isis head in Salditt-Trappmann, Tempel, pl. 13, no. 24; also in Dunand, Culte d'Isis, vol. 3, pl. 13, no. 24.

⁸⁰ For example, the inscriptional remains from Corinth have been described as more “cruelly mutilated and broken”than at any other ancient site. “Of the fifteen hundred texts [from the Roman Imperial Period] only fourteen have survived intact, less than a hundred can be fully restored with complete confidence, and more than half are tantalizing fragments that contain less than four letters” (Kent, Corinth, 8.3, p. 2).

⁸¹ At Delos, the Egyptian cults arrived in the first half of the 3rd century B.C.E. (Roussel, Cultes égyptiens, 245). In Athens, the Isis cult was present as early as 333 B.C.E. (Dow, “Egyptian Cults,” 184–85).

⁸² The inscription appears to be dated entirely on the basis of letter form, which is tenuous when it is the only evidence for a given date; see Kent, Corinth, 13.3, p. 19 n. 7; Woodhead, Study, 62–66. Note also that it was found in a 1st century C.E. stratum.

⁸³ See Dunand, Culte d'Isis, 2.18.

⁸⁴ Dow, “Egyptian Cults,” 214.

⁸⁵ Stambaugh refers to a “canonical” type, the so-called Bryaxis figure of the throned Sarapis wearing chiton, himation, and calathus, as seen in many examples from various parts of the empire (Sarapis, 14, 25–26).

⁸⁶ Vidman, Sylloge, nos. 30 (Athens, 3rd C.E.), 90 (Epirus, 1st C.E.), 406 (Rome, 2nd-3rd C.E.), 471 (Beneventum, 2nd C.E.), 771 (Carthage, 2nd C.E.); cf. the inscriptions from Delos from the 1st century B.C.E. (Roussel, Cultes égyptiens, nos. 157, 164, 199). The worship of Sarapis of Canopus had appeared in Delos by the end of the 2nd century B.C.E. (ibid., 168).

⁸⁷ Strabo 17.17 (C.801); Plutarch, Isis and Osiris 361E-F. Cf. Roussel, Cultes égyptiens, 167–68; Vidman, Sylloge, 42; Dunand, Culte d'Isis, 1.112–13.

⁸⁸ Dunand, Culte d'Isis, 2.158–59; 3.283–84.

⁸⁹ Ibid., 2.159.

⁹⁰ Rusch, Serapide el Iside, 32; Berreth, Joseph, Studien zum Isisbuch in Apuleius' Metamorphosen (dissertation, Tübingen, 1931) 48.Google Scholar

⁹¹ Dunand characterizes the type of Isis with sistrum and situla as so common that it lacks a distinctive meaning {Culte d'Isis, 2.158).

⁹² Ibid., 3.2; Griffiths, Isis Book, 18.

⁹³ Bruneau has collected the evidence concerning Isis and the sea (“Isis Pélagia”; “Existet-il des statues”; and “Isis Pélagia à Délos. Compléments,” Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 87 [1963] 301–08). His evidence related to the epithets is summarized as follows: a) Euploia signifies the power to provide favorable navigation. It occurs chiefly at Delos. where it is the only sea epithet of Isis (see Roussel, Cultes égyptiens, nos. 147 and 194). A relief from Delos pictures Isis with the sail as does lamp 4 in this collection, a Corinthian lamp found at Delos (Bruneau, “Isis Pélagia,” 435–38). b) Pharia is a term derived from Pharos, the island where the famous lighthouse of Alexandria in Egypt was located. It is engraved on some coins of Helena, wife of Julian, picturing Isis with the sail, but also on other coins of Helena which picture other Isis images as well as Sarapis. A coin type from Alexandria (Trajan to Antoninus Pius) pictures Isis with the sail with the Pharos lighthouse in the background, leading Handler (“Architecture,” 60; cf. 59 n. 27) to suggest that a statue of Isis with the sail once stood on Pharos. Bruneau (“Isis Pélagia,” 444; “Existe-t-il des statues,” 351), however, takes these coins as an example of a pun on the term Φάρος, reading it as ϕᾶρος which refers to the mantle which Isis uses to make the sail. Several inscriptions also refer to Isis Pharia, mostly from Egypt, Syria, and Italy (Bruneau, “Existe-t-il des statues,” 349). c) Pelagia is a general term for a sea deity. It occurs in connection with Isis in inscriptions from Mytilene (Lesbos; see II.A above), Iasos, Rome, and Sagonte (Vidman, Sylloge, nos. 259, 274, 396, and 764). However, it never occurs in direct association with a figured representation of Isis. See also the references to Isis as mistress of the sea and inventor of navigation in the aretalogies of Andros, Ios, Thessaloniki, Kyme, and others collected by Bruneau (“Isis Pélagia, “442–44; “Existe-t-il des statues,” 335–37, 353–55).

⁹⁴ Bruneau, “Isis Pélagia,” 446 and n. 4; “Existe-t-il des statues,” 338–40.

⁹⁵ A statue fragment from Budapest has been identified as a possible full-sized statue of Isis with the sail, an interpretation that has been widely accepted (Szilágyi, Jean-Georges, “Un problème iconographique,” Bulletin du Musée hongrois des Beaux-Arts 32–33 [1969] 19–30Google Scholar; cf. Castiglione, Ladislas, “Isis Pharia. Remarque sur la statue de Budapest,” Bulletin du Musée hongrois des Beaux-Arts 34–35 [1970] 37–55).Google Scholar Bruneau opposes this identification, and others of similar figures made since then, largely because with every fragment so identified, there was no sign that a sail had ever accompanied the figure. He does not deny that they could have been Isis with the sail, but states that the evidence is insufficient to affirm this (“Existe-t-il des statues,” 352–81). For the reasons stated above, I consider the Corinth evidence to be more positive for a statue at Corinth than Bruneau would allow.

⁹⁶ Bruneau, “Existe-t-il des statues,” 335–41, 347–48.

⁹⁷ Text and translation of Griffiths, Isis Book. Cf. Metam. 11.25 (286.20–21).

⁹⁸ The word πλοιαϕέσια is an emendation by Mommsen of the MS. reading Itaαοιαεϕεσια, see Griffiths, Isis Book, 90, 268.

⁹⁹ The word Ploiaphesia occurs in a 1st century c.E. inscription from Byzantium (Vidman, Sylloge, no. 130) and in a 6th century reference to an Isiac rite in Joannes Lydus, De mensibus 4.45. Cult officials such as navarchs and trierarchs may locate this rite at such cities as Tenos, Elaea, Nicomedia, and Seleucia (Vidman, Sylloge, nos. 154, 315a, 327, 355a). See also Dunand, Culte d'Isis, 3.223–30; Bruneau, “Existe-t-il des statues,”340–41; Vidman, Ladislaus, Isis und Sarapis bei den Griechen und Römern (Epigraphische Studien zur Verbreitung und zu den Trägern des ägyptischen Kultes 29; Berlin: de Gruyter, 1970) 76–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

¹⁰⁰ Calendar of Philocalus (CIL 1.1, p. 260 [dated 354 C.E.]).

¹⁰¹ Bruneau (“Existe-t-il des statues,” 340–41 and n. 17) refers to a 1st century B.C.E. inscription from Eretria mentioning navarchs which is the earliest evidence of the rite. For possible Egyptian antecedents, see Griffiths, Isis Book, 31–47; Merkelbach, Reinhold, Isisfeste in griechisch-römischer Zeit: Daten und Riten (Beiträge zur klassischen Philologie 5; Meisenheim am Glan: Anton Hain, 1963) 36–41, 57–59.Google Scholar

¹⁰² See Apuleius, Metamorphoses 11.25 (286.20–21), where Lucius prays to Isis as protector of those who sail the sea.