If you are interested in mythology: The most interesting coins you can find in Asia Minor and Near East. The coin: Syria, Dium, Geta as Caesar, AD 209-211 AE 24, 11.37g struck AD 205/6 (= year 268) obv. ΠOVΠ- C ΓETAC K Bust, draped and cuirassed, bare-headed, r. rev. ΔEIHN - ΩN - HZC (year 268) Hadad (Jupiter Heliopolitanus), in typical scaly garment, wearing kalathos with bull's horns, stg. frontal, holding eagle-tipped sceptre in r. hand and Nike in l. hand; at his feet on each side a bull's protome looking outwards. ref. Spijkerman p.118, 6, pl.24, 6; SNG ANS, 1281-2; BMC 1; Lindgren 2202; Rosenberger IV, 34, 5; Meshorer 244; Hendin 848 very rare, VF, Brown patina Mythology: Hadad is a West Semitic weather and storm god, son of the sky god Anu. He corresponds to the Accadic god Adad. His veneration is traceable from the end of the 3rd century BC, in Mesopotamia especially from Amoritic personal names. There he represents the fruit bringing rain, lightning, thunder and hail, but he is responsible too for aridity, deluge and salinization of earth. In Syria Hadad became as Baal-Hadad (so in the myths of Ugarit) the Baal per se. As his seat was suggested the holy mountain Zaphon (Mons Casius) south of the mouth of the river Orontes (please look at the article about Zeus Kasios in the Mythology Thread). In Hellenistic-Roman times he was equated with Zeus-Jupiter and whorshipped as Jupiter Heliopolitanus especially in Baalbek, Hierapolis and Dura-Europos. The famous Trias of Heliopolis of Jupiter, Minerva and Hermes (= Hadad, Atargatis/Astarte and Adon) probably originates from the times of Augustus. Sometimes he was associated too with Jupiter Dolichenus, another Syrian Version. Traces of the cult of Jupiter Heliopolitanus were found in Athens, Rome, Pannonia, Gaul and Britannia, where it was brought by Roman soldiers. A temple of Jupiter Heliopolitanus stood even in Rome on the Janiculum Hill, erected probably in the time of the Antonines and Severans, when his cult was established in Rome. This temple probably was built in the the grove of the goddess Furrina and was located outside of the pomerium, the holy border of the city. The spring in the temple of Jupiter Heliopolitanus, which you can see until today, probably was the spring of Furrina. An inscription was found Iovi Optimo Maximo Heliopolitano Augusto, genio Forinarum et cultoribus huius loci, showing the close connection of these two cult sites. AD 341 this temple was demolished by the Christians. Curiously there are no depictions of Jupiter Heliopolitanus on coins of Heliopolis. Heliopolis has struck only coins with his great temple and the legend IOMH, meaning Jupiter Optimus Maximus Heliopolitanus. Depictions are found in several other cities like Ptolemais-Akka, Neapolis, Eleutheropolis, Diospolis-Lydda, Nikopolis and just Dium. Iconography: The depictions of Jupiter Heliopolitanus can be arranged in three groups: (1) in scabbard garment (ependytes) (2) baetylic style (3) Greek On coins of Geta and Elagabalus a frontal standing deity is depicted, wearing kalathos with bull's horns, flanked by two bulls or bull protomes, resting with r. hand on an eagle-tipped sceptre; on the sidewards extended l. hand a small Nike is standing. The deity is dressed with a scabbard-like garment (the so-called ependytes). Bulls, horns kalathos and ependytes are iconographical features which are characteristic for the West Semitic god Hadad. Obviously even in Hellenistic-Roman times several cities of the region owned an appropriate cult statue of Hadad which they struck on their coins, or they have taken the famous type of Jupiter Heliopolitanus acting for their own local main deity. In this way the iconography remained more or less orientally influenced. Especially widespread was the typus of the standing Hadad in scabbard garment, flanked by two bulls, wearing a whip in his raised l. hand and in his r. hand grain-ears. Probably it was the supra-regional relevance of Zeus Hadad from Heliopolis (Jupiter Heliopolis) which led to the wide distribution of this typus. The coin type of Dion resembles the famous cult statue of Heliopolis but has some differences in the position of arms and attributes which emphasizes special functions of the deity. So the sceptre of the coin depiction underlines his status as 'Lord of the Polis'. Nike in his hand brings out his victorious character. This depiction is borrowed from the canonical typus of Zeus Nikephoros passed down from coins of Gadara and Scythopolis. Altogether with Nike and eagle-tipped sceptre the connection with Zeus is here obvious. The type of Zeus Hadad in ependytes - rare in the region of Dekapolis - is found more frequently on the west side of the river Jordan since the time of Marcus Aurelius, particular frequently during the dynasty of the Severans. In difference to the Greek type Heliopolitanus is here depicted unbearded. The bulls usually are added to the Oriental and Anatolic weather gods as accompanying or pack-animals. Usually they belong to the race of humped bulls. Most remarkable is the scabbard garment. We know it from the Ephesian Artemis or the Aphrodite from Aphrodisias. By vertical and horizontal straps it is divided in rows and fields. These are filled with depictions of deities, star and sun motifs and are raising Heliopolitanus to a pantheistic god and Master of the Universe. Surviving statues show that the zodiacal signs too were used. Other images show furthermore the Palmyrenian Trias of Bel, Aglibol and Yarhibol. Some notes on this emission: The cults of Dion are known until now only by numismatic sources; these emissions come from the reign of Septimius Severus and have beeen struck probably on the occasion of an imminent war against the Parthians and the movement of Roman troops, in a time therefore where Rome was in preparation of an armed conflict with the Parthians. This could be the reason to present the City God as Nikephoros. Baalbek: Jupiter Heliopolitanus was the main god of the Syrian-Hellenistic city of Heliopolis (= city of the sun god Helios), were formerly Baal-Biq'ah was worshipped (therefore the recent name Baal'bek in Libane). The history of Baalbeck dates back around 5000 years. Excavations near the Jupiter temple have revealed the existence of ancient human habitation dating to the Early Bronze Age (2900-2300 BC). The Phoenicians settled in Baalbeck as early as 2000 BC and built their first temple dedicated to the God Baal. When Alexander the Great appears in the 4th century BC, the location was renamed 'Heliopolis'. Baal was identified with the sun god Helios, which didn't make problems because Baal was worshipped as god of fertility, thunderstorm, sky and sun. The Romans, coming to Syria in the middle of the 1st century BC, identified Baal with Jupiter, whose functions easily could arranged with those of Baal and Helios. The Romans called their god of Baalbek 'JupiterHeliopolitanus' and built up a sanctuary over more than three centuries to one of the biggest of the whole Empire, and a place of oracular divination. The temple ruins which could be seen today are from the times of Septimius Severus, whose first coins show this temple. The large courts of approach were finished under Caracalla and Philip I. From the ancient Greek buildings nothing was left over. When the Christianity was introduced in the 4th century AD the Byzantine emperor Theodosius let break down parts of the temple. 8 columns were removed and shipped to Constantinople where they were used for his basilica Hagia Sophia. Today, only six Corinthian columns remain standing. In the entrance area he let erect the church of St.Barbara who is worshipped in Baalbek until today. But the church built in the entrance was just a thorn in the god's side; the peasants observed that the river still ran red every rainy season with the ancient Semitic god's blood -- the red silt. I have added (1) a pic of the bronze statuette of Jupiter Heliopolitanus from the coll. of Charles Sursock, now in the Louvre/Paris. This statue is a bit different from the coin depiction. The statue stands on a decorated base, the bulls are standing forward and the god holds a whip in his raised r.hand and grain-ears in his l. hand. The position of the bulls is caused by the space of the coin. The whip here is not the attribut of the sun god but probably a lightning symbol (Rene Dussaud, Jupiter Heliopolitain, Bronze de la collection Charles Sursock) (2) a pic of the ruins of Baalbek as you can see them today. Sources: (1) Der kleine Pauly (2) Youssef Hajjar, Jupiter Heliopolitanus, in: Maarten Jozef Vermaseren, Die Orientalischen Religionen im Römerreich, 1997 Brill Online Sources: on Furina: (1) http://www.thaliatook.com/OGOD/furrina.html (2) http://www.aztriad.com/furrina2.html (pics) on Baal: (3) http://www.rafa.at/11_baal.htm (4) http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/encyc/encyc01/htm/iii.ix.ii.htm on Christianity: (5) http://www.vinland.org/scamp/grove/kreich/chapter9.html on Dium: (6) http://www.diss.fu-berlin.de/diss/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/FUDISS_derivate_000000001712/07_Kapitel3Dion.pdf;jsessionid=594618E48B528321C67BEB887E201F9E?hosts= hadad heliopolitanus&cd=1&hl=de&ct=clnk&gl=de on Baalbek: (7) http://www.berro.com/lebanese_touristic_sites/baalbeck.htm Best regards
I had a professor names Haddad. Really smart, nice guy, and great lecturer. But his tests were brutal. Only 20% of the class got above a C.
Another great write up about an amazing subject, by coincidence I just re-photographed my Septimius Severus Baalbek temple of Jupiter yesterday. Septimius Severus Heliopolis, Syria, Temple of Jupiter, 15.56gm, 24.1mm, BMC 290, 2.
I've chosen 3 coins for this educational thread. The first is of Emperor Geta, with reverse of " Hadad", the chief god of the Aramaeans who were Semitic people originated from Northern Syria. Their language was derived from the Hebraic language, I think. The second coin shows Emperor Philip the Arab, with reverse of Atargatis riding a lion. She was Hadad's consort. The third coin shows Septimius Severus, with the sacred stone of Zeus on reverse. The name Zeus is engraved on reverse, as well as Mount Casios which is now located in Syria to the East of Lataquieh ( Laodicea ad Mare). Hope these coins would fit.
