Animal presentation

2. Turreted
Elephant (APM
inv. no. 7855);
limestone; Delta
(?), Egypt; late
Roman (?).
[Image courtesy
of the Allard
Pierson
Museum,
Amsterdam].

3.  Title: Head with elephant spoils
 Period: Hellenistic
 Date: 3rd century BCE
 Culture: Greek, Egypt
 Medium: Bronze
 Dimensions: Overall: 2 x 1 3/4 x 1 3/4 in.
(5.1 x 4.4 x 4.4 cm)
 Classification: Bronzes
 Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1955
 Accession Number: 55.11.12

4.  Bronze Ancient Egypt Ptolemaic
Dynasty, Roman Period 2nd century
B.C. - 1st century A.D. The elephant
headdress was associated with the
conquest of India by Alexander the
Great and often appears on images of
his Ptolemaic successors. During
Egypt's Roman Period, female
personifications wearing the
headdress were depicted on coins.

5.  Harpocrates Riding an Elephant
 (not assigned) Egypt
 Culture Egyptian
 Period Roman Period
 Date 30 BCE-323 CE
 Medium Terracotta
 Credit Line Gift in memory of Peter
Karl
 Dimensions 7 3/4 x 6 3/4 x 1 7/8 in.
(19.7 x 17.1 x 4.8 cm)
 Object number 2010.024.001

14.  The supply of ivory increased in the reign of the Ptolemaic dynasty. Ptolemy II and
his successors organized large-scale expeditions to hunt elephants in central and
southern of Sudan and other places.
 The Ptolemaic interest in elephants hunting wasn’t only commercial but also
military, since they were searching for a source of war elephants as protection from
their eastern Seleucid rivals who used Indian elephants in the battle of Raphia 217
B.C. in which the African elephants of Ptolemy suffered considerable losses. As
described by ancient historians, these expensive Ptolemaic elephant hunt in south
eastern countries resulted naturally in elephants tusks coming to Egypt in much
larger quantities than live elephants.
 Also we know of tributes in the form of elephants tusks and live animals being sent
from neighboring countries to the Ptolemaic courts.

15.  From Palestine in the reign of Ptolemy II the creator of a zoological garden in
Alexandria, organizer of the most extensive elephants hunts and military units of
war elephants. It is a painted frieze in a tomb at Merissa” ancient Apollinopolis in
southern Israel” .
 The necropolis of Merissa contained about 50 rock cut locili toms based on
Alexandrian models. It has a frieze with variety of exotic animals it presumed to
represent a hunting expedition of the Ptolemies to Athiopia according to a
preserved inscription.
 Merissa was under the Ptolemaic control at that time, probably also it showed the
exotic animals of the Ptolemaic zoo.