Modius (headdress)

The modius is a type of flat-topped cylindrical headdress or crown found in ancient Egyptian art and art of the Greco-Roman world. The name was given by modern scholars based on its resemblance to the jar used as a Roman unit of dry measure,^[1]^[2] but it probably does represent a grain-measure, and symbolizing one's ability to learn new information by having an open mind with an empty cup. Serapis was the main idol/figurehead at the Library of Alexandria during the ancient Egyptian & Roman alliance.

The modius is worn by certain deities, including the Eleusinian deities and their Roman counterparts, the Ephesian Artemis and certain other forms of the goddess,^[3] Hecate, and Serapis.^[4] Personifications of Genius often wore the modius. On some deities it represents fruitfulness.^[5]

It is thought to be a form mostly restricted to supernatural beings in art, and rarely worn in real life, with two probable exceptions. A tall modius is part of the complex headdress used for depictions of Egyptian royal women, often ornamented variously with symbols, vegetative motifs, and the uraeus.^[6] It was also the distinctive headdress of Palmyrene priests.^[7]^[8]

Sitamun, daughter of Amenhotep III, depicted wearing a modius on her throne. From the Tomb of Yuya and Thuya, 18th Dynasty
Ankhesenamun depicted on a box lid wearing a modius topped by a head cone and two uraei while presenting bouquets to her husband, Tutankhamun. Tomb of Tutankhamun, 18th Dynasty.
Statue of Meritamen, daughter of Ramesses II, wearing a modius decorated with uraei. From the Ramesseum, 19th Dynasty.
Syncretic (blended-beliefs) gods Persephone-Isis and Hades-Serapis, with the latter on the right wearing a modius
Ancient bust of Demeter or possibly Tanit
Kushan ruler Huvishka with seated Roman Egyptian god Serapis ("Sarapo") wearing the modius.^[9]
Serapis wearing the modius
Head of a genius found at the Roman military camp Vindobona

^ Judith Lynn Sebesta and Larissa Bonfante, The World of Roman Costume (University of Wisconsin Press, 2001), p. 245
^ Irene Bald Romano, Classical Sculpture: Catalogue of the Cypriot, Greek, And Roman Stone Sculpture in the University Of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology, 2006), p. 294.
^ Joseph Eddy Fontenrose, Didyma: Apollo's Oracle, Cult, and Companions pp. 131–132.
^ Brunilde Sismondo Ridgway, Hellenistic Sculpture: The Styles of ca. 331–200 B.C. (University of Wisconsin Press, 2001), p. 95.
^ Fontenrose, Didyma, p. 131.
^ Bryan, "A Newly Discovered Statue of a Queen," p 36ff.; Paul Edmund Stanwick, Portraits of the Ptolemies: Greek Kings As Egyptian Pharaohs (University of Texas Press, 2002), p. 35 et passim.
^ Romano, Classical Sculpture, p. 294
^ Lucinda Dirven, The Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos: A Study of Religious Interaction in Roman Syria (Brill, 1999), pp. 246–247.
^ Dani, Ahmad Hasan; Harmatta, János (1999). History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 326. ISBN 978-81-208-1408-0.

[1] Judith Lynn Sebesta and Larissa Bonfante, The World of Roman Costume (University of Wisconsin Press, 2001), p. 245

[2] Irene Bald Romano, Classical Sculpture: Catalogue of the Cypriot, Greek, And Roman Stone Sculpture in the University Of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology, 2006), p. 294.

[3] Joseph Eddy Fontenrose, Didyma: Apollo's Oracle, Cult, and Companions pp. 131–132.

[4] Brunilde Sismondo Ridgway, Hellenistic Sculpture: The Styles of ca. 331–200 B.C. (University of Wisconsin Press, 2001), p. 95.

[5] Fontenrose, Didyma, p. 131.

[6] Bryan, "A Newly Discovered Statue of a Queen," p 36ff.; Paul Edmund Stanwick, Portraits of the Ptolemies: Greek Kings As Egyptian Pharaohs (University of Texas Press, 2002), p. 35 et passim.

[7] Romano, Classical Sculpture, p. 294

[8] Lucinda Dirven, The Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos: A Study of Religious Interaction in Roman Syria (Brill, 1999), pp. 246–247.

[AHH326-9] Dani, Ahmad Hasan; Harmatta, János (1999). History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 326. ISBN 978-81-208-1408-0.

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