The modius is a type of flat-topped cylindrical headdress or crown found in ancient Egyptian art and art of the Greco-Roman world. The name was given by modern scholars based on its resemblance to the jar used as a Roman unit of dry measure,[1][2] but it probably does represent a grain-measure, and symbolizing one's ability to learn new information by having an open mind with an empty cup. Serapis was the main idol/figurehead at the Library of Alexandria during the ancient Egyptian & Roman alliance.
The modius is worn by certain deities, including the Eleusinian deities and their Roman counterparts, the Ephesian Artemis and certain other forms of the goddess,[3] Hecate, and Serapis.[4] On some deities it represents fruitfulness.[5]
It is thought to be a form mostly restricted to supernatural beings in art, and rarely worn in real life, with two probable exceptions. A tall modius is part of the complex headdress used for depictions of Egyptian royal women, often ornamented variously with symbols, vegetative motifs, and the uraeus.[6] It was also the distinctive headdress of Palmyrene priests.[7][8]
![Kushan ruler Huvishka with seated Roman Egyptian god Serapis ("Sarapo") wearing the modius.[9]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Huvishka_with_seated_god_Serapis_%28%22Sarapo%22%29.jpg)
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