Antiochos VIII Epiphanes (Grypos)

121/0-97/6 BC. AR Tetradrachm (30mm, 16.72 g, 11h). Sidon mint. Dated SE 196 (117/6 BC). Diademed head right / BAΣIΛEΩΣ ANTIOXOY EΠI-ΦANOYΣ, Zeus Ouranios standing left, holding star in extended right hand and scepter in left; to outer left; ΣIΔΩ/IEP/AΣ in three lines above monogram; C9P (date) in exergue. SC 2330.1; CSE 723; HGC 9, 1197g; DCA 268. Near EF, lightly toned. In 121 BCE, a very rare astronomical event occurred in the sky. The moon had eclipsed Jupiter, a significant celestial body of the ancient world. This phenomenon was visible from Antioch, the capital of the then-collapsing Seleucid Empire. Antiochos VIII saw this as a good omen, a harbinger that a great leader would come to Syria, so he struck symbols of the eclipse on the reverse side of Tetradrachms. The crescent above Zeus' head is the moon, and the star hovering above his hand is Jupiter.