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<p>[QUOTE="Roman Collector, post: 4979041, member: 75937"]After more than a month making its way from London to the US, I received this little bronze of Apameia in Phrygia in the mail today. Coins of the first and second centuries BC of this city come in four main types: </p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p>i. Bust of Athena wearing a Corinthian helmet, r. /Eagle over Maeander pattern between the caps of the Dioscuri. I have <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/apameia-athena-and-eagle-%C3%86-23.356746/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/apameia-athena-and-eagle-%C3%86-23.356746/">written about one of these previously</a>.</p><p>ii. Head of Zeus wearing wreath, r./Cult statue of Artemis-Anaïtis.</p><p>iii. Turreted bust of Artemis as city-goddess, r./Marsyas advancing right, playing double flute.</p><p>iv. Laureate head of Zeus/Crested helmet, r., over Maeander pattern.</p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>These coins also bear the name of the city and the magistrate under which the coins were issued. A magistrate may appear on coins of different types, suggesting the coins were issued during the same time frame but represent different denominations.</p><p><br /></p><p>Artemis Anaïtis was the result of syncretism between the Greek Goddess Artemis (Roman Diana) and Persian goddess <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anahita" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anahita" rel="nofollow">Anahita</a>. Tacitus (<a href="https://www.loebclassics.com/view/tacitus-annals/1931/pb_LCL249.621.xml?readMode=recto" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.loebclassics.com/view/tacitus-annals/1931/pb_LCL249.621.xml?readMode=recto" rel="nofollow"><i>Annals</i> 62</a>) refers to the syncretic deity simply as the "Persian Diana," who had a temple in Lydia "dedicated in the reign in of Cyrus (presumably Cyrus the Great). On coins, she resembles the Ephesian Artemis, but has a tall kalathos on her head, supporting a veil which falls all the way to the ground on both sides of her body.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Greek and Roman historians transliterate Anahita as Anaïtis. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anahita" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anahita" rel="nofollow">Wikipedia article</a> about her states the goddess combined two independent elements. The first is a manifestation of the Indo-Iranian idea of the Heavenly River who provides the waters to the rivers and streams flowing in the earth while the second is that of a goddess with an uncertain origin, though maintaining her own unique characteristics, who became associated with the cult of the ancient Mesopotamian goddess Inanna-Ishtar, and therefore part of Zoroastrianism. </p><p><br /></p><p>Although this coin is from Apameia in Phrygia, east of Lydia, she seems to have been primarily a Lydian goddess. We know from numismatic evidence, Tacitus, and Pausanias that the Lydian cities of Hypaepa, Philadelphia, and Hierocaesarea were centers of the cult of Artemis Anaïtis in Asia Minor. According to Barclay Head (<a href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/BMC/BMC_Lydia.pdf" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/BMC/BMC_Lydia.pdf" rel="nofollow"><i>BMC Lydia</i></a>, pp. lix ff.): "From the few notices of Hypaepa in ancient writers and from the inscriptions ..., we learn that the inhabitants were known as 'Persian Lydians', and that the veiled goddess whose effigy appears on the coins represents the Persian Anaïtis, whose worship is described by Pausanias (v. 27, 5) as consisting of a ritual chanted from a book by priests wearing the tiara, in a language unintelligible to the Greeks. The celebration included the miraculous kindling of fire upon the altar of the goddess."</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1196272[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p><i>Post anything you feel is relevant</i>! </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1196267[/ATTACH] </p><p>Phrygia, Apameia, ca. 88-40 BC.</p><p>Greek Æ 21.1 mm, 8.54 g, 12 h.</p><p>Magistrate Attalos, son of Bianoros.</p><p>Obv: Laureate head of Zeus right.</p><p>Rev: AΠAM / ATTA / BIAN, Cult statue of Artemis Anaïtis facing.</p><p>Refs: BMC 25.80, 61; SNG Cop 172; SNG München 122; HGC 7, 672.</p><p>Notes: Ex Roma E-Sale 27, lot 1088, 28 May, 2016.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Roman Collector, post: 4979041, member: 75937"]After more than a month making its way from London to the US, I received this little bronze of Apameia in Phrygia in the mail today. Coins of the first and second centuries BC of this city come in four main types: [INDENT]i. Bust of Athena wearing a Corinthian helmet, r. /Eagle over Maeander pattern between the caps of the Dioscuri. I have [URL='https://www.cointalk.com/threads/apameia-athena-and-eagle-%C3%86-23.356746/']written about one of these previously[/URL]. ii. Head of Zeus wearing wreath, r./Cult statue of Artemis-Anaïtis. iii. Turreted bust of Artemis as city-goddess, r./Marsyas advancing right, playing double flute. iv. Laureate head of Zeus/Crested helmet, r., over Maeander pattern.[/INDENT] These coins also bear the name of the city and the magistrate under which the coins were issued. A magistrate may appear on coins of different types, suggesting the coins were issued during the same time frame but represent different denominations. Artemis Anaïtis was the result of syncretism between the Greek Goddess Artemis (Roman Diana) and Persian goddess [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anahita']Anahita[/URL]. Tacitus ([URL='https://www.loebclassics.com/view/tacitus-annals/1931/pb_LCL249.621.xml?readMode=recto'][I]Annals[/I] 62[/URL]) refers to the syncretic deity simply as the "Persian Diana," who had a temple in Lydia "dedicated in the reign in of Cyrus (presumably Cyrus the Great). On coins, she resembles the Ephesian Artemis, but has a tall kalathos on her head, supporting a veil which falls all the way to the ground on both sides of her body. The Greek and Roman historians transliterate Anahita as Anaïtis. The [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anahita']Wikipedia article[/URL] about her states the goddess combined two independent elements. The first is a manifestation of the Indo-Iranian idea of the Heavenly River who provides the waters to the rivers and streams flowing in the earth while the second is that of a goddess with an uncertain origin, though maintaining her own unique characteristics, who became associated with the cult of the ancient Mesopotamian goddess Inanna-Ishtar, and therefore part of Zoroastrianism. Although this coin is from Apameia in Phrygia, east of Lydia, she seems to have been primarily a Lydian goddess. We know from numismatic evidence, Tacitus, and Pausanias that the Lydian cities of Hypaepa, Philadelphia, and Hierocaesarea were centers of the cult of Artemis Anaïtis in Asia Minor. According to Barclay Head ([URL='http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/BMC/BMC_Lydia.pdf'][I]BMC Lydia[/I][/URL], pp. lix ff.): "From the few notices of Hypaepa in ancient writers and from the inscriptions ..., we learn that the inhabitants were known as 'Persian Lydians', and that the veiled goddess whose effigy appears on the coins represents the Persian Anaïtis, whose worship is described by Pausanias (v. 27, 5) as consisting of a ritual chanted from a book by priests wearing the tiara, in a language unintelligible to the Greeks. The celebration included the miraculous kindling of fire upon the altar of the goddess." [ATTACH=full]1196272[/ATTACH] [I]Post anything you feel is relevant[/I]! [ATTACH=full]1196267[/ATTACH] Phrygia, Apameia, ca. 88-40 BC. Greek Æ 21.1 mm, 8.54 g, 12 h. Magistrate Attalos, son of Bianoros. Obv: Laureate head of Zeus right. Rev: AΠAM / ATTA / BIAN, Cult statue of Artemis Anaïtis facing. Refs: BMC 25.80, 61; SNG Cop 172; SNG München 122; HGC 7, 672. Notes: Ex Roma E-Sale 27, lot 1088, 28 May, 2016.[/QUOTE]
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