Who is Standing Above the Lions in Ascalon?

An Egyptian deity standing above three lions is depicted in several variants on Ascalonian Roman provincial coins, from Antoninus Pius onwards. The only parallel to this unique appearance is on gems. The image, usually identified as Osiris or Isis, should be interpreted as the Roman-Egyptian Horus-Harpocrates. His syncretic depiction as a young solar-and-fertility god, as well as a defender of seafarers, fits well a seaside city like Ascalon, which very likely also erected a statue of him. His cultic ritual, in his aspect as a solar god, could have merged with Apollo’s, whose temple stood in the city.