The Nilometer - Vital as a Calendar

CNG 105, Lot: 620. Estimate $750. Sold for $1311. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

EGYPT, Alexandria. Annia Faustina. Augusta, AD 221. Potin Tetradrachm (22mm, 12.53 g, 12h). Dated RY 5 of Elagabalus (AD 221). Draped bust right / Nilus reclining left, holding a cornucopia and a reed; to left, a Nilometer as an obelisk with two genii attendants; three additional genii by the reed; L Є (date) in exergue. Köln 2387; Dattari (Savio) 4196; K&G 59.10; Emmett 3038.5 (R5). Good VF, dark brown surfaces, minor roughness. Very rare.

From the Hermanubis Collection.

The Nilometer, in this case a stone obelisk that measured the inundation of the Nile, was a prominent landmark in Egyptian culture. It was vital as a calendar to mark the passing of the seasons and for assessing the fertility of the land, which depended on the annual Nile flood. It occurs frequently in Egyptian art, surrounded by attendants and the fruits of the fertile river.