IGII2 6945 Funerary monument of Alexandra of Oe

Funerary monument of Alexandra of Oe

IG II² 6945 Date: ca. 130-140 AD

Alexandra (daughter of Alexandros) from Oe, wife of Ktetos.^[1] relief

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References:

IG II² 6945 (Translated text) (PHI)

Translation by: Emma Buhrman

Images: Wikimedia Commons - (1)

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Funerary

Findspot: Kerameikos (NM 1193)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This funerary monument for Alexandra portrays her in deep relief as a priestess of Isis wearing a long-sleeved chiton and a fringed mantle knotted at her chest to form an X-shape, the so-called Isis-knot ('Knotenpalla') used to depict Isis and her priestesses. On the cult of the Egyptian gods at Athens, see IG II³ 4, 1113 and AIUK 2 (BSA), no. 13. For recent discussions of the cult of Isis in Roman Athens, see P. Martzavou, in A. Chaniotis ed., Ritual Dynamics in the Ancient Mediterranean, 2011, 61-84; L. A. Mazurek, Hesperia 90, 2021, 605-640). Two other items of religious paraphernalia also frequently accompany followers of the goddess, the sistrum, a rattle from pharaonic Egypt (here broken away), and a situla, a bucket-shaped vessel used for libations, which she holds in her left hand. The relief sculpture has been dated to the 130s AD (E. J. Walters, Attic Grave Reliefs that Represent Women in the Dress of Isis, 1988, 75-76). For other funerary inscriptions for priestesses, see IG II² 5271 with notes.

Only the right half of the gravestone is preserved. The left likely included a family member such as Alexandra’s husband, Ktetos. The name label inscribed above her head abbreviates her patronym to the backwards C symbol, meaning she had the feminine form of her father’s name, Alexandros.

Added: 24 Sep 2026
Updated: 24 Sep 2026
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ID: AIO_3872