Lid of a sarcophagus with a priest of Cybele (158)

Found in the Isola Sacra necropolis, near tomb 75.
Date: third century AD. W. 2.20, d. 1.10, h. of the head 0.22.
Found together with inv. nrs. 159 and 160, and depicting the same man. Several details show that this man was an archigallus, a priest in the cult of the Magna Mater, Cybele: his clothes, the bracelet on his right wrist, the pine branch in his right hand, and the cista mystica with a snake at his feet. On his head was a crown, made separately, not preserved.

Arachne 1074149. Helbig nr. 3003. Guida p. 22-23 nr. 18. Guida 2024, 78-79. Photos: Wikimedia, Sailko and MumblerJamie, and ICCD E016246, F005721, F005885, F005886.