Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XIII 23 March 2017
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Ionia, Ephesos AV Stater. Circa 133-88 BC. Draped bust of Artemis to right, wearing stephane, necklace of pearls and with her bow and quiver over her shoulder / Cult statue of the Artemis of Ephesos facing, a fillet hanging from each hand, deer to inner left, bee to inner right; Ε-Φ across fields. B.V. Head, 'On the chronological sequence of the coins of Ephesus', Num. Chron. 1880, p. 69, 2, and plate 5, 3 = Berlin, SM 219. 8.51g, 20mm, 12h.
Very Fine. Extremely Rare, possibly only the second example known.
The Hellenistic era gold coinage struck at Ephesos is extremely rare and rarely well preserved. Previously thought to have all been struck during the Mithradatic wars, this is now believed not to be the case. Some appear to be dated by the era of the Province of Asia and the dates they bear are too early for them to be Mithradatic War issues. That being said, they were not necessarily all issued at the same time, and such undated types as the present specimen could well have been issued much later. For an in depth discussion on the dating of this series cf. Gilbert K. Jenkins, 'Hellenistic gold coins of Ephesus', in Festschrift E. Akurgal, Anadolu-Anatolia 21, 1978/80, Ankara, 1987, pp. 183-8, pls. A-B.
The reverse of this coin depicts the famous cult statue of Ephesian Artemis, housed in the great temple of Artemis that is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The original image of the goddess was a wooden xoanon that had represented a pre-Hellenic goddess who the Greeks later equated with Artemis. This first image, which was kept decorated with jewellery, was possibly lost in a flood in the 8th or 7th century which destroyed the temple; excavations have discovered the tear-shaped amber drops of elliptical cross-section which must have dressed it. In circa 550 BC, when reconstruction of the temple was begun (partly financed by Kroisos), it was undertaken in grand style and was supposedly the first Greek temple to be built of marble. The wooden xoanon was replaced by a new ebony or grapewood statue sculpted by Enoidos, which presumably survived until the temple was again destroyed, this time by an act of arson on the part of one Herostratos. The second destruction of the temple coincided with the birth of Alexander the Great; Plutarch later noted that Artemis was too preoccupied with Alexander's delivery to save her burning temple.
The form of the goddess is distinctly near-eastern in appearance; characteristics such as her legs being enclosed in a tapering pillar-like term are closely related to Egyptian and Hittite images, and the curious feature of the many protuberances on her chest (usually described as breasts or eggs) are decidedly non-Greek in origin, and indeed have defied explanation or identification for centuries, though an association with fertility seems implicit.
Very Fine. Extremely Rare, possibly only the second example known.
The Hellenistic era gold coinage struck at Ephesos is extremely rare and rarely well preserved. Previously thought to have all been struck during the Mithradatic wars, this is now believed not to be the case. Some appear to be dated by the era of the Province of Asia and the dates they bear are too early for them to be Mithradatic War issues. That being said, they were not necessarily all issued at the same time, and such undated types as the present specimen could well have been issued much later. For an in depth discussion on the dating of this series cf. Gilbert K. Jenkins, 'Hellenistic gold coins of Ephesus', in Festschrift E. Akurgal, Anadolu-Anatolia 21, 1978/80, Ankara, 1987, pp. 183-8, pls. A-B.
The reverse of this coin depicts the famous cult statue of Ephesian Artemis, housed in the great temple of Artemis that is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The original image of the goddess was a wooden xoanon that had represented a pre-Hellenic goddess who the Greeks later equated with Artemis. This first image, which was kept decorated with jewellery, was possibly lost in a flood in the 8th or 7th century which destroyed the temple; excavations have discovered the tear-shaped amber drops of elliptical cross-section which must have dressed it. In circa 550 BC, when reconstruction of the temple was begun (partly financed by Kroisos), it was undertaken in grand style and was supposedly the first Greek temple to be built of marble. The wooden xoanon was replaced by a new ebony or grapewood statue sculpted by Enoidos, which presumably survived until the temple was again destroyed, this time by an act of arson on the part of one Herostratos. The second destruction of the temple coincided with the birth of Alexander the Great; Plutarch later noted that Artemis was too preoccupied with Alexander's delivery to save her burning temple.
The form of the goddess is distinctly near-eastern in appearance; characteristics such as her legs being enclosed in a tapering pillar-like term are closely related to Egyptian and Hittite images, and the curious feature of the many protuberances on her chest (usually described as breasts or eggs) are decidedly non-Greek in origin, and indeed have defied explanation or identification for centuries, though an association with fertility seems implicit.