Concept for the Exhibition

The Allard Pierson Museum owns an exceptional limestone model for a leather shield of Macedonian type (APM inv. no. 7879). The central medallion shows the head of Medusa, the frightful Gorgon. Around the medallion is an inscription in mirrored letters, reading: “ΠΤΟΛΕΜΑΙΟΥ (Ptolemy),” the royal name of all kings from the Ptolemaic dynasty, who ruled after the death of Alexander the Great during the Hellenistic period over Egypt (323-30 BCE). The front is furthermore decorated with seven stars, each with eight rays (misleadingly referred to as the "Vergina Sun"), and three concentric ovals underneath. The reverse has an unfinished decoration of concentric dots and lines.

The shield model was found in the neighborhood Mit-Rahineh in Cairo, the site of ancient Memphis, and can be dated to the third century BCE. The museum acquired the object through the Scheurleer collection, originally from the collection of F. W. von Bissing.

Could bronze shields be created from this model? Or could an imprint be taken from the model onto parchment, to produce bronze shields? Why is the decoration on the back left unfinished? The challenge is how the museum can illustrate for the visitor how (leather and/or bronze) shields were made from this model; and how such a shield was worn by the Macedonian phalanx.

Written by: Branko van Oppen, Visiting Scholar & Curator at Allard Pierson Museum