EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY - TABLET OF ISIS The so-called 'Tablet of Bembo', or Mensa Isiacae (Tablet of Isis), reproduced in Kircher's Oedipus Aegiptiacus, 1654. The learned Jesuit, Athanasius Kircher reproduced the plate with great care, but was not able to translate the hieroglyphics correctly. It seems to have been made during the Renaissance, by someone with a profound knowledge of Egyptian lore. The tablet is said to have turned up in Rome, after the sacking of that city, in 1527, when it was sold for a fabulous sum to the scholar-collector, Cardinal Bembo. After a long line of known owner
EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY - TABLET OF ISIS The so-called 'Tablet of Bembo', or Mensa Isiacae (Tablet of Isis), reproduced in Kircher's Oedipus Aegiptiacus, 1654. The learned Jesuit, Athanasius Kircher reproduced the plate with great care, but was not able to translate the hieroglyphics correctly. It seems to have been made during the Renaissance, by someone with a profound knowledge of Egyptian lore. The tablet is said to have turned up in Rome, after the sacking of that city, in 1527, when it was sold for a fabulous sum to the scholar-collector, Cardinal Bembo. After a long line of known owners, it came into the possession of the King of Sardinia. In 1797, it was taken by the conquering French to Paris, where it was exhibited in the National Library. After the Peace accord, it was returned to Italy, where it was placed on exhibition in Turin. The meaning of this accumulation of Egyptian mythological figures still eludes explanation: the French writer, Eliphas Levi, saw the 21 figures in the central section as a reflection of the 21 numbered Tarot cards - however, the Tarot cards had nothing to do with ancient Egypt, though (significantly) the design of the cards did originate in Italy at about the time the Tablet was designed.
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Photo credit: © Charles Walker Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -, -called, archival, archive, art, artistic, artwork, colour, egyptian, esoterica, historic, historical, history, illustration, image, isiacae, isis, mensa, mythology, paranormal, tablet
