the statue represents the god of the nile, recumbent with a cornucopia and lying on a sphinx. the statue was probably erected in the then roman port city by alexandrian merchants. it was recovered, headless, in 1476, and was nicknamed "corpo di napoli". it was placed upon a pedestal in 1657, and later that century a bearded head was sculpted. in recent decades, the statue was again decapitated by robbers, and later recovered.