Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 106 9-10 May 2018
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Citium, Baalmelek I, 479 – 449. Stater circa 479-449 BC, AR 10.99 g. Heracles advancing r., wearing lion' skin and holding club and bow. Rev. l B'l mlk in Aramaic characaters Lion seated r.; in r. field, ram's head. All within incuse and dotted square. Traité II 1197, pl. CXXX, 2. BMC 2 and pl. II, 8. Kraay, Moorey, RN X, 1968, 67, pl. XXI. (this coin). Tziambazis 14. SNG Copenhagen 5 (these dies). Weber 7688. Dewing 517. SNG Lockett 3064 Lot 286 = McClean 9144 pl. 331.2 Lot 287 = SNG Delepierre 2905 Lot 289 = Jameson 1624. Walcher de Molthein 2642.
Extremely rare. As often weakly struck on obverse, but with a reverse of superb style
and finely detailed. Old cabinet tone and about very fine / extremely fine
Ex Hesperia Art Fixed Price List January 1969, 278.
Although the site of Citium had been inhabited since the Bronze Age, by the tenth century B.C. it seems to have been colonised by Greeks and Phoenician traders who sought to exploit the copper mines of the island. Judging from the city's participation in Onesilos of Salamis' revolt against Persian authority in 499-494 B.C, it has been suggested that the city was ruled by Greek kings at the time. However, once the revolt was quashed and Onesilos killed, the Persians sought to increase their influence on the island by supporting friendly Phoenician dynasts. The earliest of these kings known by name at Citium was Baalmelek I, the issuer of this stater. Unfortunately, we know little about his reign beyond that he fathered Azbaal, the future king of both Citium and Idalion (ca. 449-425 B.C.), and struck silver coins. The types of the stater, however, do give some insight into Baalmelek I's background. While the obverse is very Greek in its depiction of an Archaic-style Herakles wielding his club and bow, Herakles here should be understood as the interpretatio graeca of the Phoenician god Ba'al Melqart ("Lord of the City"), the patron deity of Tyre. Herodotos reports that Herakles was long associated with Melqart at Tyre and the image of the Greek hero standing in for the Phoenician god frequently occurs on coins struck by Tyre in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. The prominence of Herakles on Baalmelek I's stater strongly suggests that the king and his Phoenician dynasty had Tyrian origins. The lion of the reverse is an animal closely linked to Herakles through the hero's famous exploits in Nemea, but here probably serves as a generic symbol of royal power. This probability is reinforced by the presence of an extremely well preserved Phoenician inscription identifying the stater as a "[coin] of Baalmelek." Depictions of lions and lion hunts are a commonplace of ancient Near Eastern royal art. Indeed, the face and mane of the lion on the stater bear comparison to the lions depicted in the reliefs of Achaemenid Persepolis.
Extremely rare. As often weakly struck on obverse, but with a reverse of superb style
and finely detailed. Old cabinet tone and about very fine / extremely fine
Ex Hesperia Art Fixed Price List January 1969, 278.
Although the site of Citium had been inhabited since the Bronze Age, by the tenth century B.C. it seems to have been colonised by Greeks and Phoenician traders who sought to exploit the copper mines of the island. Judging from the city's participation in Onesilos of Salamis' revolt against Persian authority in 499-494 B.C, it has been suggested that the city was ruled by Greek kings at the time. However, once the revolt was quashed and Onesilos killed, the Persians sought to increase their influence on the island by supporting friendly Phoenician dynasts. The earliest of these kings known by name at Citium was Baalmelek I, the issuer of this stater. Unfortunately, we know little about his reign beyond that he fathered Azbaal, the future king of both Citium and Idalion (ca. 449-425 B.C.), and struck silver coins. The types of the stater, however, do give some insight into Baalmelek I's background. While the obverse is very Greek in its depiction of an Archaic-style Herakles wielding his club and bow, Herakles here should be understood as the interpretatio graeca of the Phoenician god Ba'al Melqart ("Lord of the City"), the patron deity of Tyre. Herodotos reports that Herakles was long associated with Melqart at Tyre and the image of the Greek hero standing in for the Phoenician god frequently occurs on coins struck by Tyre in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. The prominence of Herakles on Baalmelek I's stater strongly suggests that the king and his Phoenician dynasty had Tyrian origins. The lion of the reverse is an animal closely linked to Herakles through the hero's famous exploits in Nemea, but here probably serves as a generic symbol of royal power. This probability is reinforced by the presence of an extremely well preserved Phoenician inscription identifying the stater as a "[coin] of Baalmelek." Depictions of lions and lion hunts are a commonplace of ancient Near Eastern royal art. Indeed, the face and mane of the lion on the stater bear comparison to the lions depicted in the reliefs of Achaemenid Persepolis.