Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 126 17 Nov 2021
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Cyrene
Tetradrachm circa 300, AR 14.38 g. Head of Zeus Ammon r., with a ram's horn. Rev. KY – PH Silphium plant with three pairs of leaves; in fields, two monograms and below r., crab. Jameson 1351 (this coin). BMC 226 and pl. XX, 25 (these dies). SNG Copenhagen –.
Rare. A spectacular portrait of enchanting beauty, the work of a very talented master
engraver. Lovely old cabinet tone, a minor area of porosity on reverse,
otherwise about extremely fine
Ex Leu 20, 1978, 183; NAC 2, 1990, 241 and New York XXVII, 2012, Prospero, 637 sales.
From the Jameson collection.
At the same time that Cyrene was famous for its cultivation and export of silphium, the city was also renowned in the Greek and Roman world for its possession of the oracular shrine of Zeus Ammon. This was a temple located at the desert oasis of Siwah that was originally dedicated to an old native Libyan deity. Over time this god was syncretised first by the Egyptians with their own fertility god Amun and then by the Greeks with Zeus. The Histories of Herodotus show that the oracle of Siwah was well known to the Greeks already in the fifth century BC. However, the temple became incredibly famous after it was visited by Alexander the Great and confirmed his divinity. Zeus Ammon is easily distinguished from other forms of Zeus by his ram's horns-a feature borrowed from the iconography of Egyptian Amun. Here he is depicted in a vibrant Hellenistic style reflecting the influence of neighbouring Ptolemaic Egypt. This coin was probably struck shortly after the reconquest of the Cyrenaica by Magas on behalf of Ptolemy I Soter. In 305 BC, Ophellas the somewhat duplicitous previous Ptolemaic governor, was murdered, thereby ushering a five-year period of independence of Cyrene from the Ptolemaic kingdom. However, around 300 BC, this rebellious state of affairs was brought to a halt when Magas, a stepson of Ptolemy I, invaded the Cyrenaica and restored Ptolemaic control with himself as the new governor. He ruled as a loyal governor while Ptolemy I lived, but following his stepfather's death in 283 BC. Magas made repeated attempts to separate the Cyrenaica from the Ptolemaic kingdom. He at last crowned himself king of Cyrene around 276 BC.
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Tetradrachm circa 300, AR 14.38 g. Head of Zeus Ammon r., with a ram's horn. Rev. KY – PH Silphium plant with three pairs of leaves; in fields, two monograms and below r., crab. Jameson 1351 (this coin). BMC 226 and pl. XX, 25 (these dies). SNG Copenhagen –.
Rare. A spectacular portrait of enchanting beauty, the work of a very talented master
engraver. Lovely old cabinet tone, a minor area of porosity on reverse,
otherwise about extremely fine
Ex Leu 20, 1978, 183; NAC 2, 1990, 241 and New York XXVII, 2012, Prospero, 637 sales.
From the Jameson collection.
At the same time that Cyrene was famous for its cultivation and export of silphium, the city was also renowned in the Greek and Roman world for its possession of the oracular shrine of Zeus Ammon. This was a temple located at the desert oasis of Siwah that was originally dedicated to an old native Libyan deity. Over time this god was syncretised first by the Egyptians with their own fertility god Amun and then by the Greeks with Zeus. The Histories of Herodotus show that the oracle of Siwah was well known to the Greeks already in the fifth century BC. However, the temple became incredibly famous after it was visited by Alexander the Great and confirmed his divinity. Zeus Ammon is easily distinguished from other forms of Zeus by his ram's horns-a feature borrowed from the iconography of Egyptian Amun. Here he is depicted in a vibrant Hellenistic style reflecting the influence of neighbouring Ptolemaic Egypt. This coin was probably struck shortly after the reconquest of the Cyrenaica by Magas on behalf of Ptolemy I Soter. In 305 BC, Ophellas the somewhat duplicitous previous Ptolemaic governor, was murdered, thereby ushering a five-year period of independence of Cyrene from the Ptolemaic kingdom. However, around 300 BC, this rebellious state of affairs was brought to a halt when Magas, a stepson of Ptolemy I, invaded the Cyrenaica and restored Ptolemaic control with himself as the new governor. He ruled as a loyal governor while Ptolemy I lived, but following his stepfather's death in 283 BC. Magas made repeated attempts to separate the Cyrenaica from the Ptolemaic kingdom. He at last crowned himself king of Cyrene around 276 BC.
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