CIRCA MID 4TH CENTURY B.C.

The Egyptian god Amun had an oracular temple at the Siwa Oasis in Egypt’s western desert. The cult became known to the Greeks following the establishment of the nearby colony of Cyrene circa 630 B.C., where a syncretistic version of the god was worshipped. Images of Zeus-Ammon take the form of a bearded Zeus combined with the ram’s horns of Amun, as first seen on the coins of Cyrene minted circa 520-480 B.C. (see nos. 99 and 102 in J. Lecland and G. Clerc, “Ammon,” LIMC, vol. I). The oracle rivalled those at Delphi and Dodona. His presence in Apulia is attested on a red-figured lekythos, where he is shown enthroned in a temple (see pl. XLI,1 in A.D. Trendall and A. Cambitoglou, Second Supplement to The Red-figured Vases of Apulia).