Statue of Queen Arsinoë II

Rising from the sun-dappled ruins of Heracleion, the black granite statue of Arsinoë II, now housed in the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Antiquities Museum, stands as a resplendent emblem of divine queenship and cultural fusion. A masterpiece of Ptolemaic sculpture, it reflects the dynasty’s conscious interweaving of Ancient Egyptian tradition and Greek elegance.

Arsinoë steps forth in the classical Egyptian striding pose; left foot forward, arms close to her sides, yet her figure, draped in translucent robes that cling like sea mist, reveals the rounded grace and idealised beauty of Hellenistic Aphrodite. Her body is carved with an intimacy that evokes the famed “wet drapery” technique, the folds of fabric seeming to unveil rather than conceal, an artistic gesture as seductive as it is sacred.

Arsinoë II was no mere consort; she was deified in her lifetime and honoured after death in shrines and temples. In Egypt, she was cast as a living Isis, the divine mother, magical protector, and sister-wife to Osiris. Like Isis, she married her brother, Ptolemy II Philadelphus, and was often shown wearing the vulture headdress, or even the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, asserting her role as queen of both lands. These motifs were not accidental; they bound her to dynastic mythology and legitimised her sovereignty in a land steeped in sacred kingship.

Yet in the cosmopolitan ports of the Delta, such as Canopus and Heracleion, Arsinoë was also aligned with Aphrodite, the goddess of love and divine femininity. Her statues, particularly those recovered by Franck Goddio’s underwater archaeological team off Abu Qir Bay, reveal this duality: she is depicted with serene Greek features, wearing a diadem, a majestic uraeus, and a body-hugging gown that blends Greek sensuality with Egyptian iconography.

This monumental statue, over five metres tall and carved from granodiorite, was likely venerated in a temple dedicated to her divine form. There, she stood not merely as queen, but as goddess-queen, a syncretic being who embodied both the nurturing strength of Isis and the radiant allure of Aphrodite.

Her cult was widespread, cherished by both Egyptians and Greeks. Altars, votive offerings, and faience vessels bearing her name have been found from Alexandria to the Aegean. Uniquely, her name, “Arsinoë”, was even adopted by Egyptian women, a sign of genuine reverence that transcended dynastic propaganda.

In life and death, Arsinoë II was sculpted not only in stone, but into the very fabric of the Ptolemaic imagination, an immortal union of grace and power, crowned in myth and sea foam.

Summary:

Granodiorite Statue of Queen Arsinoë II as Isis-Aphrodite

Ptolemaic Period, c. 3rd century B.C.

Likely originating from a temple in the sunken city of Canopus or Heracleion and discovered during the groundbreaking underwater archaeological missions led by Franck Goddio in Abu Qir Bay.

Height: approx. 2.25 m; Weight: approx. 300 kg

Now at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Antiquities Museum, Inv. 842