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<p>[QUOTE="ancient coin hunter, post: 4203702, member: 87200"]Here is a very interesting coin received in the latest JAZ Numismatics auction of 2/27/20. It depicts winged Nike holding a small Cabeirus and Palm. Just to give you an idea of how little is known about this deity reflect upon the fact that it has no Wikipedia entry. Hence, we have to turn to other sources for a provenance. </p><p><br /></p><p><font size="3"><b><b>CABEIRI</b></b></font></p><p>(Group <b><a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=*Ka%2Fbeiroi&la=greek&can=*ka%2Fbeiroi0" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=*Ka%2Fbeiroi&la=greek&can=*ka%2Fbeiroi0" rel="nofollow">Κάβειροι</a></b>), mystic divinities who occur in various parts of the ancient world. The obscurity that hangs over them, and the contradictions respecting them in the accounts of the ancients themselves, have opened a wide field for speculation to modern writers on mythology, each of whom has been tempted to propound a theory of his own. The meaning of the name Cabeiri is quite uncertain, and has been traced to nearly all the languages of the East, and even to those of the North; but one etymology seems as plausible as another, and etymology in this instance is a real ignis fatuus to the inquirer. The character and nature of the Cabeiri are as obscure as the meaning of their name. All that we can attempt to do here is to trace and explain the various opinions of the ancients themselves, as they are presented to us in chronological succession. We chiefly follow Lobeck, who has collected all the passages of the ancients upon this subject, and who appears to us the most sober among those who have written upon it. (<i>Aglaopham.</i> pp. 1202-1281.)</p><p><br /></p><p>The earliest writers regard the Cabeiri as descended from inferior divinities, Proteus and Hephaestus: they have their seats on earth, in Samothrace, Lemnos, and Imbros. Those early writers cannot possibly have conceived them to be Demeter, Persephone or Rhea. It is true those early authorities are not numerous in comparison with the later ones; but Demetrius, who wrote on the subject, may have had more and very good ones, since it is with reference to him that Strabo repeats the assertion, that the Cabeiri, like the Corybantes and Curetes, were only ministers of the great gods. We may therefore suppose, that the Samothracian Cabeiri were originally such inferior beings; and as the notion of the Cabeiri was from the first not fixed and distinct, it became less so in later times; and as the ideas of mystery and Demeter came to be looked upon as inseparable, it cannot occasion surprise that the mysteries, which were next in importance to those of Eleusis, the most celebrated in antiquity, were at length completely transferred to this goddess. The opinion that the Samothracian gods were the same as the Roman Penates, seems to have arisen with those writers who endeavoured to trace every ancient Roman institution to Troy, and thence to Samothrace.</p><p><br /></p><p>In any case, this coin was struck in Thessalonica, which also must have been a center of worship of this obscure deity in the time of Caracalla. </p><p><br /></p><p>MACEDON, Thessalonica</p><p><br /></p><p>Caracalla. 198-217 A.D. AE 26, 14.9 grams, 7h</p><p><br /></p><p>Obverse: Laureate and cuirassed bust right</p><p><br /></p><p>Reverse: Nike advancing left, holding a small Cabeirus and palm</p><p><br /></p><p>Reference: Touratsoglou Em, II:a</p><p><br /></p><p>ex: JAZ Numismatics</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1077822[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1077824[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>This example fetches $275 on Vcoins. I got mine for much less.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1077828[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Please share any Cabeirus coins you have or Caracallas...[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="ancient coin hunter, post: 4203702, member: 87200"]Here is a very interesting coin received in the latest JAZ Numismatics auction of 2/27/20. It depicts winged Nike holding a small Cabeirus and Palm. Just to give you an idea of how little is known about this deity reflect upon the fact that it has no Wikipedia entry. Hence, we have to turn to other sources for a provenance. [SIZE=3][B][B]CABEIRI[/B][/B][/SIZE] (Group [B][URL='http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=*Ka%2Fbeiroi&la=greek&can=*ka%2Fbeiroi0']Κάβειροι[/URL][/B]), mystic divinities who occur in various parts of the ancient world. The obscurity that hangs over them, and the contradictions respecting them in the accounts of the ancients themselves, have opened a wide field for speculation to modern writers on mythology, each of whom has been tempted to propound a theory of his own. The meaning of the name Cabeiri is quite uncertain, and has been traced to nearly all the languages of the East, and even to those of the North; but one etymology seems as plausible as another, and etymology in this instance is a real ignis fatuus to the inquirer. The character and nature of the Cabeiri are as obscure as the meaning of their name. All that we can attempt to do here is to trace and explain the various opinions of the ancients themselves, as they are presented to us in chronological succession. We chiefly follow Lobeck, who has collected all the passages of the ancients upon this subject, and who appears to us the most sober among those who have written upon it. ([I]Aglaopham.[/I] pp. 1202-1281.) The earliest writers regard the Cabeiri as descended from inferior divinities, Proteus and Hephaestus: they have their seats on earth, in Samothrace, Lemnos, and Imbros. Those early writers cannot possibly have conceived them to be Demeter, Persephone or Rhea. It is true those early authorities are not numerous in comparison with the later ones; but Demetrius, who wrote on the subject, may have had more and very good ones, since it is with reference to him that Strabo repeats the assertion, that the Cabeiri, like the Corybantes and Curetes, were only ministers of the great gods. We may therefore suppose, that the Samothracian Cabeiri were originally such inferior beings; and as the notion of the Cabeiri was from the first not fixed and distinct, it became less so in later times; and as the ideas of mystery and Demeter came to be looked upon as inseparable, it cannot occasion surprise that the mysteries, which were next in importance to those of Eleusis, the most celebrated in antiquity, were at length completely transferred to this goddess. The opinion that the Samothracian gods were the same as the Roman Penates, seems to have arisen with those writers who endeavoured to trace every ancient Roman institution to Troy, and thence to Samothrace. In any case, this coin was struck in Thessalonica, which also must have been a center of worship of this obscure deity in the time of Caracalla. MACEDON, Thessalonica Caracalla. 198-217 A.D. AE 26, 14.9 grams, 7h Obverse: Laureate and cuirassed bust right Reverse: Nike advancing left, holding a small Cabeirus and palm Reference: Touratsoglou Em, II:a ex: JAZ Numismatics [ATTACH=full]1077822[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1077824[/ATTACH] This example fetches $275 on Vcoins. I got mine for much less. [ATTACH=full]1077828[/ATTACH] Please share any Cabeirus coins you have or Caracallas...[/QUOTE]
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