EGYPT. Alexandria. Antoninus Pius, 138-161. Drachm (Bronze, 32 mm, 21.75 g, 11 h), Oxyrhynchite nome, RY 8 = 144/5. [ΑΥΤ Κ Τ] ΑΙΛ ΑΔΡ ΑΝΤⲰ[ΝΙΝΟC CЄΒ ЄΥC] Laureate head of Antoninus Pius to right. Rev. ΟΞΥΡΥΝΧIT / L - H Athena-Thoeris standing front, head to right, holding Nike in her left hand and labrys in her right. Dattari (Savio) 6340. Emmett 1811.8. K&G N38.7. RPC IV.4 online 15213. Very rare and with an unusually clear reverse. Two edge cracks, otherwise, about very fine.


This coin forms part of the 'nome coinage', struck under several emperors starting from Domitian and ending with Antoninus Pius. The division of Egypt into nomes (smaller districts) had its roots in the pharaonic administration but continued to be used in the Graeco-Roman period. On the reverse of Antoninus Pius’ drachms, the respective nomes are identified through the legend and a local deity is depicted. In the case of the Oxyrhynchite nome, famed for the massive find of papyri there by Grenfell and Hunt in the late 19th-early 20th century, we see Athena-Thoeris (or Taweret). Thoeris is best known from her depiction in Egyptian art as a pregnant hippopotamus with the tail of a crocodile, the paws of a lion, and human hands and breasts. This fearsome appearance was meant to ward off evil, and Thoeris served as a protectress of mother and child during childbirth. This apotropaic function also explains why the goddess is depicted holding a labrys on the present coin. The inclusion of Nike further underlines the protective power of the goddess, who will stop at nothing to protect her nome and its people from danger.