Gemini, LLC
Auction 12 11 January 2015
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Lesbos. Mytilene. c. 360-340 BC. Hecte, 2.57g (12h). Obv: Head of Cabeiros right wearing wreathed pilos, two stars in field. Rx: Head of Persephone right within linear square frame. Bodenstedt 99. SNG Copenhagen 321. SNG von Aulock 1729. Choice EF
Originally the Cabeiroi were worshipped in the northwestern Aegean only, namely on the islands Samothrace and Lemnos. In Hellenistic times, the cult spread to Phoenicia and Egypt as well. The number of the deities called Cabeiroi varied, and so did their function. The Cabeiroi of Lemnos, the nearest sanctuary from the Mytilenean point of view, were thought to be sons of the god Hephaistos and a nymph named Cabeiro. Thus they were venerated as gifted blacksmiths
Originally the Cabeiroi were worshipped in the northwestern Aegean only, namely on the islands Samothrace and Lemnos. In Hellenistic times, the cult spread to Phoenicia and Egypt as well. The number of the deities called Cabeiroi varied, and so did their function. The Cabeiroi of Lemnos, the nearest sanctuary from the Mytilenean point of view, were thought to be sons of the god Hephaistos and a nymph named Cabeiro. Thus they were venerated as gifted blacksmiths