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Coptic. <em>Heracles Smiting Acheloos in the Form of a Bull</em>, ca. 300–500 C.E. Limestone, 13 x 14 15/16 x 4 1/2 in. (33 x 38 x 11.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 61.128. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 61.128_PS2.jpg)
Coptic. Heracles Smiting Acheloos in the Form of a Bull, ca. 300–500 C.E. Limestone, 13 x 14 15/16 x 4 1/2 in. (33 x 38 x 11.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 61.128. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 61.128_PS2.jpg)
Coptic. <em>Heracles Smiting Acheloos in the Form of a Bull</em>, ca. 300–500 C.E. Limestone, 13 x 14 15/16 x 4 1/2 in. (33 x 38 x 11.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 61.128. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 61.128_PS2.jpg)

Coptic. Heracles Smiting Acheloos in the Form of a Bull, ca. 300–500 C.E. Limestone, 13 x 14 15/16 x 4 1/2 in. (33 x 38 x 11.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 61.128. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 61.128_PS2.jpg)

Coptic. <em>Heracles Smiting Acheloos in the Form of a Bull</em>, ca. 300–500 C.E. Limestone, 13 x 14 15/16 x 4 1/2 in. (33 x 38 x 11.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 61.128. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 61.128_view1.jpg)

Coptic. Heracles Smiting Acheloos in the Form of a Bull, ca. 300–500 C.E. Limestone, 13 x 14 15/16 x 4 1/2 in. (33 x 38 x 11.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 61.128. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 61.128_view1.jpg)

Coptic. <em>Heracles Smiting Acheloos in the Form of a Bull</em>, ca. 300–500 C.E. Limestone, 13 x 14 15/16 x 4 1/2 in. (33 x 38 x 11.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 61.128. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 61.128_view2.jpg)

Coptic. Heracles Smiting Acheloos in the Form of a Bull, ca. 300–500 C.E. Limestone, 13 x 14 15/16 x 4 1/2 in. (33 x 38 x 11.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 61.128. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 61.128_view2.jpg)

Coptic. <em>Heracles Smiting Acheloos in the Form of a Bull</em>, ca. 300–500 C.E. Limestone, 13 x 14 15/16 x 4 1/2 in. (33 x 38 x 11.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 61.128. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.61.128_unearthing_coptic.jpg)

Coptic. Heracles Smiting Acheloos in the Form of a Bull, ca. 300–500 C.E. Limestone, 13 x 14 15/16 x 4 1/2 in. (33 x 38 x 11.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 61.128. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.61.128_unearthing_coptic.jpg)

Coptic. <em>Heracles Smiting Acheloos in the Form of a Bull</em>, ca. 300–500 C.E. Limestone, 13 x 14 15/16 x 4 1/2 in. (33 x 38 x 11.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 61.128. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum (in collaboration with Index of Christian Art, Princeton University), CUR.61.128_ICA.jpg)

Coptic. Heracles Smiting Acheloos in the Form of a Bull, ca. 300–500 C.E. Limestone, 13 x 14 15/16 x 4 1/2 in. (33 x 38 x 11.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 61.128. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum (in collaboration with Index of Christian Art, Princeton University), CUR.61.128_ICA.jpg)

Coptic. <em>Heracles Smiting Acheloos in the Form of a Bull</em>, ca. 300–500 C.E. Limestone, 13 x 14 15/16 x 4 1/2 in. (33 x 38 x 11.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 61.128. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum (in collaboration with Index of Christian Art, Princeton University), CUR.61.128_detail01_ICA.jpg)

Coptic. Heracles Smiting Acheloos in the Form of a Bull, ca. 300–500 C.E. Limestone, 13 x 14 15/16 x 4 1/2 in. (33 x 38 x 11.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 61.128. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum (in collaboration with Index of Christian Art, Princeton University), CUR.61.128_detail01_ICA.jpg)

Coptic. <em>Heracles Smiting Acheloos in the Form of a Bull</em>, ca. 300–500 C.E. Limestone, 13 x 14 15/16 x 4 1/2 in. (33 x 38 x 11.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 61.128. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum (in collaboration with Index of Christian Art, Princeton University), CUR.61.128_detail02_ICA.jpg)

Coptic. Heracles Smiting Acheloos in the Form of a Bull, ca. 300–500 C.E. Limestone, 13 x 14 15/16 x 4 1/2 in. (33 x 38 x 11.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 61.128. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum (in collaboration with Index of Christian Art, Princeton University), CUR.61.128_detail02_ICA.jpg)

Coptic. <em>Heracles Smiting Acheloos in the Form of a Bull</em>, ca. 300–500 C.E. Limestone, 13 x 14 15/16 x 4 1/2 in. (33 x 38 x 11.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 61.128. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum (in collaboration with Index of Christian Art, Princeton University), CUR.61.128_detail03_ICA.jpg)

Coptic. Heracles Smiting Acheloos in the Form of a Bull, ca. 300–500 C.E. Limestone, 13 x 14 15/16 x 4 1/2 in. (33 x 38 x 11.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 61.128. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum (in collaboration with Index of Christian Art, Princeton University), CUR.61.128_detail03_ICA.jpg)

Coptic. <em>Heracles Smiting Acheloos in the Form of a Bull</em>, ca. 300–500 C.E. Limestone, 13 x 14 15/16 x 4 1/2 in. (33 x 38 x 11.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 61.128. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum (in collaboration with Index of Christian Art, Princeton University), CUR.61.128_detail04_ICA.jpg)

Coptic. Heracles Smiting Acheloos in the Form of a Bull, ca. 300–500 C.E. Limestone, 13 x 14 15/16 x 4 1/2 in. (33 x 38 x 11.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 61.128. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum (in collaboration with Index of Christian Art, Princeton University), CUR.61.128_detail04_ICA.jpg)

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Heracles Smiting Acheloos in the Form of a Bull

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

In pagan Egyptian tombs, the deceased was often identified with suitable figures in Greco-Roman mythology. This was particularly apparent in the relief decoration of arches designed to curve out and over the heads of visitors to the public part of the tomb. Like the fragmentary examples here, they might show the god of the Nile to recall an authoritative family man, or a nymph to symbolize a young woman. Some wall reliefs, such as the example here showing Hercules as a mature hero, probably served the same commemorative purpose.
This text refers to these objects: 61.128; 41.891; 41.1226
CULTURE Coptic
MEDIUM Limestone
  • Place Found: El Behnasa (Oxyrhynchus), Egypt
    • DATES ca. 300–500 C.E.
    PERIOD Late Antique Period
    DIMENSIONS 13 x 14 15/16 x 4 1/2 in. (33 x 38 x 11.5 cm)  (show scale)
    COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 61.128
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    EXHIBITIONS
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Coptic. Heracles Smiting Acheloos in the Form of a Bull, ca. 300–500 C.E. Limestone, 13 x 14 15/16 x 4 1/2 in. (33 x 38 x 11.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 61.128. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 61.128_PS2.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 61.128_PS2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2007
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
    You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
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    Coptic. <em>Heracles Smiting Acheloos in the Form of a Bull</em>, ca. 300–500 C.E. Limestone, 13 x 14 15/16 x 4 1/2 in. (33 x 38 x 11.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 61.128. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 61.128_PS2.jpg)

    TAGS

    Heracles
    Smithing
    Acheloos
    Bull
    Greco-Roman mythology
    Limestone
    Egypt
    Egyptian
    300-500 C.E.
    Late Antique Egyptian Period
    animal
    ancient
    greek
    god
    mythology
    filigree
    pattern
    stone
    carving

    TAGS

    Heracles
    Smithing
    Acheloos
    Bull
    Greco-Roman mythology
    Limestone
    Egypt
    Egyptian
    300-500 C.E.
    Late Antique Egyptian Period
    animal
    ancient
    greek
    god
    mythology
    filigree
    pattern
    stone
    carving

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