The Farnese Cup is a 2nd century BC cameo cup of Hellenistic Egypt in four-layered sardonyx agate. It is 20cm wide. (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium) The 2nd century BC started on January 1, 200 BC and ended on December 31, 101 BC. // Coin of Antiochus IV. Reverse shows Apollo seated on an omphalos. ... 2002 Lincoln cent, obverse, proof with cameo Cameo is a method of carving, or an item of jewelry made in this manner. ... Onyx is a banded variety of chalcedony, a cryptocrystalline form of quartz. ... Agate is a term applied not to a distinct mineral species, but to an aggregate of various forms of silica, chiefly chalcedony. ...

History

After Octavian's conquest of Egypt in 31 BC, the Farnese Cup was acquired by the Treasury of Rome. It was later brought to Byzantium, then back west after this city was sacked in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade. By the 15th century it was in the court of Frederick II, from which it then reached the Persian court of Herat or possibly Samarkand, from where it found its way to the court of Alfonso of Aragon in Naples. Lorenzo the Magnificent finally purchased the famous "scutella di calcedonio" in Rome, in 1471. From there it came into the possession of the Farnese family and thus into the Naples National Archaeological Museum (Inv. MANN 27611). May refer to the persons: Augustus, Roman Emperor Pope John XIII nigger Category: ... Centuries: 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - 1st century Decades: 80s BC 70s BC 60s BC 50s BC 40s BC - 30s BC - 20s BC 10s BC 0s 10s 20s Years: 36 BC 35 BC 34 BC 33 BC 32 BC 31 BC 30 BC 29 BC 28 BC 27 BC... Byzantium, present day Istanbul, was an ancient Greek city-state, which according to legend was founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas or Byzantas (Βύζας or Βύζαντας in Greek). ... The Entry of the Crusaders into Constantinople (Eugène Delacroix, 1840). ... Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (1090 – April 6, 1147) was duke of Swabia. ... Flag of the Timurid Empire according to the Catalan Atlas c. ... Herāt (Persian: ‎ ) is a city in western Afghanistan, in the province also known as Herāt. ... Samarkand (Tajik: Самарқанд, Persian: ‎ , Uzbek: , Russian: ), population 412,300 in 2005, is the second-largest city in Uzbekistan and the capital of Samarqand Province. ... Alfonso maried Lucrezia Borgia, the daugther of pope Alexander VI and sister of Cesar Borgia on June 29th 1498. ... Naples panorama. ... The exact same full name was also carried by his grandson Lorenzo (1492 - 1519), Duke of Urbino, with whom he is sometimes confused. ... This article is about the year 1471, not the BT caller ID service accessible by dialling 1-4-7-1. ... The Farnese family was an influential family in Renaissance Italy. ... The National Archaeological Museum of Naples. ...

Iconography

It is a phiàle (libation plate). The internal decoration is an elaborate allegory of Ptolemaic Egypt's prosperity. It operates on two levels, one Egyptian, the other Greek. Libation scene, Greek red figure cup, c. ... An allegory (from Greek αλλος, allos, other, and αγορευειν, agoreuein, to speak in public) is a figurative mode of representation conveying a meaning other than (and in addition to) the literal. ... Ptolemy, one of Alexander the Greats generals, was appointed satrap of Egypt after Alexanders death in 323 BC. In 305 BC he declared himself King Ptolemy I, later known as Soter (saviour). ...

It presumably represents the Egyptian divine triad, Serapis-Isis-Harpocrates or, alternatively, the Eleusinian triad: Hades/Pluto-Demeter-Triptolemos. Serapis can refer to: A series of British ships named HMS Serapis. ... This article discusses the ancient goddess. ... The child Horus represented to the ancient Egyptians the new-born Sun, rising each day at dawn. ... The Eleusinian Mysteries were annual initiation ceremonies for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at Eleusis in ancient Greece. ... Hades, Greek god of the underworld, enthroned, with his bird-headed staff, on a red-figure Apulian vase made in the 4th century BC. For other uses, see Hades (disambiguation). ... Pluto, lord of the underworld. ... Ceres (Demeter), allegory of August: detail of a fresco by Cosimo Tura, Palazzo Schifanoia, Ferrara, 1469-70 Demeter was a god of the ancient greeks. ... Triptolemus (threefold warrior; also Buzyges), in Greek mythology always connected with Demeter of the Eleusinian Mysteries, might be accounted the son of King Celeus of Eleusis in Attica, or, according to Apollodorus (Library I.v. ...

On the bottom are female figures possibly personifying the seasons. Two male figures soaring in flight above the divine triad represent the propitious Etesian winds that blow during the summer. On the exterior, a large apotropaic Gorgonian mask glares threateningly at the enemies of the state. During the summer in the Aegean Sea, the prevailing winds of the main circulation are due chiefly to the deep continental depression centered over the north-west of India. ... Apotropaic is an adjective that means intended to ward off evil or averting or combating evil and commonly refers to objects such as amulets and talismans or other symbols. ... See also Gorgona, for the Colombian/Italian islands. ...

Produced at the court of the Ptolemies, other interpretations of the figures have them being Cleopatra III, her husband Ptolemy VIII and their son Ptolemy X Aléxandros. Through the amalgamation of Egyptian and Greek deities and their identification with members of the royal family, this dynasty tried to perpetuate the traditional conception of divine power they had inherited from pharaonic Egypt. Cleopatra III (Greek: Κλεοπάτρα, 161–101 BC) was queen of Egypt 142–101 BC. She was born in 161 BC to Ptolemy VI and Cleopatra II of Egypt. ... Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II (Ptolemaios VIII Euergetes II) (c. ... Ptolemy XI Alexander II was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty who ruled Egypt for a few days in 80 BC. Ptolemy IX Lathryos died in 81 or 80, leaving no legitimate heir, and so Cleopatra Bernice ruled alone for a time. ...

External links

• Archeona