Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
The Meroe Head wasn’t immediately identified as being Augustus, but they knew it was a classical piece of art, probably Roman and dating to around the time of Augustus himself. At first, the sculpture was identified as Germanicus, Augustus’ great-nephew. Germanicus was a Roman general who had visited Egypt on a tour and inspected the border with Nubia. But, after the head was officially published in 1912 and it was compared to the oh-so famous Prima Porta statue at the Vatican, there’s no doubt that it was the Roman emperor.
The Meroe Head wasn’t immediately identified as being Augustus, but they knew it was a classical piece of art, probably Roman and dating to around the time of Augustus himself. At first, the sculpture was identified as Germanicus, Augustus’ great-nephew. Germanicus was a Roman general who had visited Egypt on a tour and inspected the border with Nubia. But, after the head was officially published in 1912 and it was compared to the oh-so famous Prima Porta statue at the Vatican, there’s no doubt that it was the Roman emperor.
