Ephesos and the Cult of Artemis

Much of the coinage of classical Ephesos is readily available, easy to collect, and thoroughly cataloged and analyzed. So when this coin arrived yesterday, I found myself at a loss to say anything new or interesting about it. I know it's perfectly fine to say, "Hey look at my new coin, isn't it cool?" But I always feel the need to live up to my reputation as a stodgy academic (slides glasses down nose).

There's a dizzying number of bee and stag varieties among the silver, bronze, and electrum coins of Ephesos - see the Wildwinds page. Both the stag and the bee are symbols of Artemis...

"The early association of the bee with the cult of Artemis is attested by varied evidence. It appears not only upon the strange polymastoid statue of the Ephesian goddess but upon the earliest coins of her city. As the owl was the emblem of Athena at Athens, so the bee seems to have been the emblem of Artemis at Ephesus." (Elderkin, G. W. The Bee of Artemis. The American Journal of Philology. Vol. 60 no. 2. 1939. p. 203)

Not only was the bee a symbol of Artemis, but the young women which served in the temple were called Bees. (Frayer-Griggs, Daniel. The Beasts at Ephesus and the Cult of Artemis. Harvard Theological Review 106. 2013. p. 468.)

BMC describes the obverse of this coin simply as "female head left," but in light of the fact that the coinage of classical Ephesos is almost entirely dedicated to Artemis, we have to conclude that it's a bust of the goddess. And this coin has a lovely version of the bust, in addition to a well-centered bee...



At 10mm, 1g, you might think this was the smallest denomination the Ephesians struck in bronze, but there is one smaller, coming in at around 6-7mm and half a gram...

 

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Some day I will buy one of these. I just keep getting distracted by other coins. Very nice.

 

Hey, welcome home brother.

 

Thanks. I just wrote you a private message.

 

I think it's nice looking and I wouldn't mind owing one someday. Whatever happed to that thread about a different animal for each letter of the alphabet?

 

cool little B....and a nice little writ up JA!

i just posted my stags in the animal thread, i'll refrain from posting here. it's still going CN.

 

Like Bing, I always intend to buy one or two of these types but get side-tracked by so many others LOL

Love your coins and narrative!!

 

It's still kicking, but we're way past B.

 

Thanks, I'll have to make time to look for it. Way to busy at work the past couple of weeks.

 

Are you an academic? How long did that write up take? Oh are both coins yours?

 

I'm a retired prof, yes. The write-up took about 15 minutes. The second coin is on the way to your collection. I reserve the right to use pics of coins that I've sold, occasionally, for the sake of write-ups. I do it rarely. In this case, I just wanted to compare the size of the denominations.

 

Haha, not what I meant!

But is your photo.

 

Well, almost all of my coins are for sale these days, except the Levantine/Arabian stuff that I've dedicated myself to researching. I enjoy the process of hunting down good coins at a bargain, photographing and researching them, and posting them. But I also enjoy trading just as much. My stint at selling consignments has completely changed my perspective on which coins I want to trade, and which I want to collect.

 

I had a chance to buy one of these for 45$, it had a nice dark green look to it...
Really like those two pieces JA.

 

You know, if I were a rational person I would have had you move a ton of the stuff I never look at really. If I were a rational person.....

Btw, Prof of what? I might need to bounce some dissertation ideas off of you.

 

Chris, our professions are at polar opposites. I'm a concert pianist - I taught piano performance and music theory/history. I'm afraid you're on your own.

 

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Man, to slow...
That's and interesting profession JA.

 

No, see above. I did, however, get my undergraduate degree in physics, on the advice that if a music career didn't work out, I'd have something to fall back on. I used to make the joke that if I ever arrived at a concert venue and for some reason they didn't have a piano, I could do physics for a few hours.

 

Wow => fantastic new Ionia Ephesos addition, my coin-friend ...

I too have a few of those babies (go figure, eh?)



... but none with Artemis (very cool)

IONIA, Ephesos, AR Tetartemorion
Circa 500-420 BC
Diameter: 5 x 8 mm
Weight: 0.17 grams
Obverse: Bee
Reverse: Head of eagle right within incuse square




IONIA, Ephesos, AR Drachm
202-133 BC
Diameter: 17 mm
Weight: 3.2 grams
Obverse: E-PH; bee
Reverse: BIANWP; stag standing left, palm tree in the background




IONIA, Ephesos, Æ19
Uncertain magistrate
Late 2nd-early 1st century BC
Diameter: 19 mm
Weight: 3.71 grams
Obverse: Bee in wreath
Reverse: Stag standing right; palm tree in background, monogram (faint) to right