196-211 AD., Julia Domna, Rome mint, Denarius, RIC 577.
Julia Domna, Rome mint, 196-211 AD.,
Denarius (17-19 mm / 3,30 g), silver, axes medal alignment ↑↑ (ca. 0°),
Obv.: IVLIA - AVGVSTA , draped bust of Julia Domna r., hair waved, her braided hair nicely arranged in a long bun behind the head .
Rev.: SAECVLI - FELICITAS Isis standing r., l. foot on prow, wearing polos, holding infant Horus at her breast; behind her, rudder resting against altar.
RIC IV, I, 170, 577 (common) ; BMC 166, 75 ; Coh. 174 .
Horus was conceived by Isis, the mother goddess, from Osiris, the original god-king of Egypt who had been murdered by his brother Set (Typhon, or Chaos), and so became the god of the underworld. The Greeks melded Osiris with their underworld god, Hades, which thus became Serapis.
Horus fought vicious battles against Set, until he finally achieved victory and became the ruler of Egypt. All the Pharaohs of Egypt were seen as reincarnations of the victorious Horus.
By the Egyptians the full-grown Horus was considered the victorious god of the Sun who each day overcomes darkness. He is often represented with the head of a sparrowhawk (as the hawk flies high above the Earth), which was sacred to him.
The child Horus represented to the ancient Egyptians the new-born Sun, rising each day at dawn. When the Greeks conquered Egypt under Alexander, they morphed the Egyptian Horus into their Hellenistic god known as Harpocrates (in Egyptian Har-pa-khered or Heru-pa-khered meaning "Har, the Child").