Bracelet in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, March 2010

Bracelet
Probably 1st century BC- 1st century AD
Gold

Accession # 23.2.1

Powerful talismans of fertility and good destiny are woven into this rich golden composition. The bodies of two snakes intertwine to form a Herakles knot, the centerpiece of this bracelet. The snake on the left represents Agathodaimon, and the cobra on the right Terenouthis, two agrarian/ fertility deities associated with Serapis and Isis, respectively. On the platform between them stand two goddesses, Isis-Tyche (or Isis-Fortuna), a deity closely associated with Alexandria, and the nude Aphrodite.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.