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Enna, Sicily
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450-440 BC
AR Litra (13mm, 0.69g)
O: Demeter driving slow biga right, holding grain ears (torch?).
R: Demeter standing facing, holding lighted torch over altar to left; [HE]NNAI[ON] to right.
HGC 2, 391; Sear 777
Very scarce
ex Aegean Numismatics
Enna, known in antiquity as ‘The Navel of Sicily’, was located in the geographic center of Sicily on a high plateau which served as a natural fortress. It is said that one could see all three Sicilian coasts from the city’s heights.
Perhaps more important than its strategic location however was Enna’s religious significance, for it was here that Persephone was abducted by Hades and here that the cult of Her mother Demeter thrived.
"In the interior [of Sicily] is Enna, where is the temple of Demeter, with only a few inhabitants; it is situated on a hill, and is wholly surrounded by broad plateaus that are tillable."
~ Strabo, Geography 6.2.6
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![Enna, Sicily
450-440 BC
AR Litra (13mm, 0.69g)
O: Demeter driving slow biga right, holding grain ears (torch?).
R: Demeter standing facing, holding lighted torch over altar to left; [HE]NNAI[ON] to right.
HGC 2, 391; Sear 777
Very scarce
ex Aegean Numismatics
[i]Enna, known in antiquity as ‘The Navel of Sicily’, was located in the geographic center of Sicily on a high plateau which served as a natural fortress. It is said that one could see all three Sicilian coasts from the city’s heights.
Perhaps more important than its strategic location however was Enna’s religious significance, for it was here that Persephone was abducted by Hades and here that the cult of Her mother Demeter thrived.
"In the interior [of Sicily] is Enna, where is the temple of Demeter, with only a few inhabitants; it is situated on a hill, and is wholly surrounded by broad plateaus that are tillable."[/i]
~ Strabo, Geography 6.2.6](albums/userpics/21312/normal_Enna_Litra.JPG "Click to view full size image
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Enna, Sicily
450-440 BC
AR Litra (13mm, 0.69g)
O: Demeter driving slow biga right, holding grain ears (torch?).
R: Demeter standing facing, holding lighted torch over altar to left; [HE]NNAI[ON] to right.
HGC 2, 391; Sear 777
Very scarce
ex Aegean Numismatics
[i]Enna, known in antiquity as ‘The Navel of Sicily’, was located in the geographic center of Sicily on a high plateau which served as a natural fortress. It is said that one could see all three Sicilian coasts from the city’s heights.
Perhaps more important than its strategic location however was Enna’s religious significance, for it was here that Persephone was abducted by Hades and here that the cult of Her mother Demeter thrived.
\"In the interior [of Sicily] is Enna, where is the temple of Demeter, with only a few inhabitants; it is situated on a hill, and is wholly surrounded by broad plateaus that are tillable.\"[/i]
~ Strabo, Geography 6.2.6")
