Ira and Larry Goldberg Auctioneers
Auction 117 15-16 Sep 2020
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Cyprus, Amathos. Uncertain king. Silver Stater (11.37 g), ca. 450-435 BC. Lion crouching right; above, eagle flying right; between lion and eagle, large O (added to the die); in exergue, Cypriot 'mo' (very faint). Reverse: Forepart of lion right, with mouth agape. Amandry 126, 1 (same obv. die, but with 'O' added); Traité II 1262 and pl. CXXXII, 17; BMC 3 and pl. XVIII, 3 (same); Tziambazis 2 (same). Extremely Rare. Possibly the finest of only a few examples known. Extremely Fine. Estimated Value $10,000 - UP
Amathos was one of the oldest cities on the island of Cyprus, reportedly founded by an indigenous "Pelasgian" Cypriot people before the arrival of Phoenician and Greek traders interested in exploiting the city's nearby copper mines. After Cyprus was incorporated into the Achaemenid Persian Empire, Amathos seems to have had greater political sympathies with the Phoenician cities of the island in opposition to those of the Greeks. When Onesilos, the Greek king of Salamis, organized a revolt of the Cypriot Greek cities against the Persians in 499-494 BC, the Amathusians opposed him. After Onesilos failed to take Amathus by siege, the Amathusians defeated and captured the Salaminian king. As a warning to other enemies, the head of Onesilos was hung above the gates of the city. It was left there for some time and eventually the skull became home to a swarm of bees that filled it with honeycomb. Fearing that the bees were a divine portent, the Amathusians followed the advice of an oracle to bury the head and offer sacrifice to the shade of Onesilos as a hero. In this way the anger of the shade at the abuse of his corpse would be averted from Amathos. This rare stater illustrates the variety of cultural influences at work at Amathos and Cyprus in general in the mid-fifth century BC. The lions here appear as symbols of royal power common to Greek, Phoenician, and Persian traditions. The recumbent lion recalls archaic issues of Ionian Miletos, yet the treatment of the ribs and mane suggest Phoenician and Persian influence. At the same time, the inscription abbreviating the name of the city is written in neither Greek nor a Semitic script, but rather using the Cypriot syllabary, a native writing system derived from the Linear A script of the Minoan Bronze Age.
Ex Tareq Hani Collection.
Amathos was one of the oldest cities on the island of Cyprus, reportedly founded by an indigenous "Pelasgian" Cypriot people before the arrival of Phoenician and Greek traders interested in exploiting the city's nearby copper mines. After Cyprus was incorporated into the Achaemenid Persian Empire, Amathos seems to have had greater political sympathies with the Phoenician cities of the island in opposition to those of the Greeks. When Onesilos, the Greek king of Salamis, organized a revolt of the Cypriot Greek cities against the Persians in 499-494 BC, the Amathusians opposed him. After Onesilos failed to take Amathus by siege, the Amathusians defeated and captured the Salaminian king. As a warning to other enemies, the head of Onesilos was hung above the gates of the city. It was left there for some time and eventually the skull became home to a swarm of bees that filled it with honeycomb. Fearing that the bees were a divine portent, the Amathusians followed the advice of an oracle to bury the head and offer sacrifice to the shade of Onesilos as a hero. In this way the anger of the shade at the abuse of his corpse would be averted from Amathos. This rare stater illustrates the variety of cultural influences at work at Amathos and Cyprus in general in the mid-fifth century BC. The lions here appear as symbols of royal power common to Greek, Phoenician, and Persian traditions. The recumbent lion recalls archaic issues of Ionian Miletos, yet the treatment of the ribs and mane suggest Phoenician and Persian influence. At the same time, the inscription abbreviating the name of the city is written in neither Greek nor a Semitic script, but rather using the Cypriot syllabary, a native writing system derived from the Linear A script of the Minoan Bronze Age.
Ex Tareq Hani Collection.