Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Identifier

6657

Date

2020-12-01

Document Type

Thesis (Campus Access Only)

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Major

Art History

Concentration

General Art History

Committee Chair

Lorelei H. Corcoran

Committee Member

Patricia Podzorski

Committee Member

Rebecca Howard

Abstract

This thesis examines the numismatic portraits of Cleopatra VII, the last Ptolemaic queen of Egypt, from her accession to the throne in 51 BCE to her death in August of 30 BCE. It will analyze three distinct obverse types featuring the portrait of Cleopatra VII. Each type is associated with a specific mint or group of mints located at Alexandria, on Cyprus, or in Syria. Based on their origin and intended area of distribution, and their combination with certain reverse types, it is argued that the variation in iconography observed on these three coin-types are a result of Cleopatra's conscious utilization of coins as a means of conveying different messages to different regional audiences based on their ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Such a regional-oriented, audience-specific numismatic program is unique when compared to the more uniform dynastic-oriented coinage of Hellenistic monarchs or the more uniform nationalistic coinage of contemporary Roman triumvirs.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to the local University of Memphis Electronic Theses & dissertation (ETD) Repository.

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