Budapest Régiségei 13. (1943)

ÉRTESÍTŐ - Auszüge = Estratti = Summaries 485-575

ALADÁR DOBROVITS THE CULT OF THE EGYPTIAN GODS IN AQUINCUM. Towards its end, the Ancient World strove after unity : ancient religiousness, which wanted to renew itself, now recognised, that it originated from the same sources as the religions of the East ; they called the Egyptian pagans who were confronting the Christians Hellenes and, in the City of Rome, the last resistance of paganism took place in the names of Isis and Sarapis (see Alföldi: A festival of Isis in Rome under the Christian Emperors of the IVth century. Dissertationes Pannoni cae Ser. II. fasc. 7) while in the big occidental towns, the practices of Egyptian magic flourished (Wünsch, Sethianische Verfluchungstafeln aus Rom, 1898). The Danube-provinces also had their share in these proceedings. Egyptian gods already arrived to Pannónia with the conquerors as Roman gods. In our province, we can demonstrate only few Oriental people and the cult of Oriental gods can only be found in places, where Romanization was deeply rooted. Aquincum, the capital of Pannónia Inferior was also an important centre of Roman life. The inscription of Csév (CIL III. 3267) is an example showing the connection between the Emperor Cult and the worship of Egyptian gods. Vibia vSerapia (CID III. 3402, Tetany) is perhaps Oriental, Arpocras pater (CID III. 3479), the priest of Mithras, whose name reminds us of Mithra, the priest of Isis, who initiated Eucius (Apul. Metam XI. 22) is doubtless Oriental and proves the close connection between the Oriental cults. Arpocras has erected his inscription for Ti. Haterius Saturninus legátus : the Roman monument of the Haterii is decorated by the picture of the »Arcus ad Isis« (Eafaye : Histoire du culte des divinités alexandrines etc. Bibi. des Ecoles fr. d'Athènes et de Rome, fasc. 33 p. 204). A funerary stele of the Old Kingdom in the form of a door has been known for a long time (Mahler, Budapest Régiségei VII. 1900, p. 170 sqq). Recently, they found in Petronell a mummy similar to the two mummies of Aquincum which were discovered i. e. recognised by E. Nagy. (See I/. Nagy, Mumienbegräbnisse in Aquincum, Dissertationes Pannonicae, Ser. I. fasc. 5). On the left side of the Danube, in the »Barbaricum«, the fragment of a small gilt lead statue of Isis was found in a Roman layer (Nagy, o. c. p. 27). Several finds from Aquincum and the environments also prove the connection with Alexandria. A few statues perhaps represent women dressed in the costume of Isis (Budapest Régiségei IX. p. 550, Archaeológiai Értesítő, 1910, p. 33), but, as they are fragmentary, we cannot decide this for certain. We also possess an inscription about Jupiter Amnion (CIE. III. 3463) ; his cult was separated from the cult of the other Egyptian gods ; 494