Strange Cilician Ankh-like Symbols...Cypriot Connection?

[cogito]

Hello all,

This is a mystery that has been bothering me for awhile, but was resurrected following a new acquisition from Cilicia.  Does anyone know what the anch-like symbol on these two satrapal Cilician coins below is meant to represent?  I've seen it on other Cilician coins issued under the reign of Mazaios and Pharnabazos, but not all of the coins...so maybe it's a mint mark?   In each case, the symbol looks like a dotted circle with a horizonal line below, then either another horizonal line (sort of like an "H" on its side) or a standing "V."

I know that Pharnabazos was involved in conflicts with Egypt and even tried to capture Memphis, the ancient capital.  But, why would a Persian satrap encorporate an Egyptian symbol on his coins?  Maybe a mint mark to denote mintage in occupied Egyptian territory?   

Any ideas?

[cogito]

Here's another example from Coinarchives indicating that the same similar symbol was used by Tiribazos (AR obol).

Jeff

[cogito]

Someone sent me this to post.  Apparently, these symbols may indicate satrapal control of Cyprus and/or use of Cypriot mints.  I'm not certain about this.  If this is the case, then the common thought of Tarsos as a minting city for these Cilician issues would prove to be incorrect.

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Coins show us that the Egyptian ankh symbol was used in numerous Cypriot mints, either in its genuine form, or in variations of that initial Egyptian form. That symbol can be seen on many of the coins issued by Salamis (from the reign of Evelthon, ca 525/520 B.C. to 430 B.C.) and by Paphos in the fifth century B.C. It is also present on certain coins issued by Kition (from the reign of Baalmilk to that of Pumayyaton). It also appears occasionally on certain series of coins from Idalion (coins of Stasikypros, before 450 B.C.), from Lapethos (reign of Demonikos II, 390-360 B.C.), from Amathus (tetrobols of Rhoikos, in the middle of the fourth century B.C.), as well as on coins that cannot be attributed to any specific mint (it may be Soloi in the case of bronze coins with ankh surrounded by laurel wreaths).
Those different objects which are both expressions of royal authority and archaeological evidence of Egyptian influences have been found together in the following sites:
- Paphos has royal portraits, Hathor capitals and coins with the ankh symbol.
- Amathus has numerous Hathor capitals and coins with the ankh symbol .
- In Kition, there are Hathor capitals and coins with the ankh symbol.
- In Salamis, there is a royal portrait in a near cult-place, as well coins with the ankh symbol.

Joan Breton CONNELLY
New York University

[cogito]

O.K., I'm even more convinced now that these Cilician satrapal coins may have been minted in Cyprus.  A search of Cypriot coins from Kition or Salamis produces numerous examples of the dotted ankh and even in the case of one Kition AE issue (i.e., Sear 5826) the SAME inverted "V" type ankh as seen on many of the Mazaios staters.

Is this new information?  Or, am I rediscovering for myself known connections between the Persian satraps and Cypriot mints?

Jeff

[AlexB]

Hi

Maybe they were intended to commemorate the recapture of Egyptian held territory that was squabbled over between the years 400-333BC around the Eastern med?

Or possibly meant for circulation in previously Egyptian territory now under Persian direct rule? Hard to say.

Alex

[cogito]

I thought about that, but then I found this posted in association with two Cypriot (Marion) coins that show the same strange "dotted ankh" or a variant of this ankh type as seen on some Cilician satrapal coins:

Marion (?), Cyprus, AR obol, (0.74g) Head of roaring lion right. / Ankh inside incuse square. BMC Cyprus (uncertain) plate xxv, #25. Toned VF, obverse die very worn.

Uncertain Mint, Cyprus, AR 1/12 stater, (0.53g) c. 500 BC, Lion head right, jaws open. / Ankh inside linear square, all inside incuse square. cf. BMC2 for a stater with lion left. CCC 19; BMC plate SSV #14. VG / F. Probably Marion.   This ankh is actually a monogram of two Cypriot letters.

The last sentence in the 1/12 stater attribution seems to suggest that this stylistically different ankh from those of Early Dynastic Egypt may have borrowed the idea, but altered it to make it their own and is a playful combination of letters from their alphabet.

Does anyone know which two Cypriot letters are combined to make the "dotted ankh"?  Could the "inverted V" dotted ank(as seen on the Pharnabazos and Mazaios staters above) be a combination of Cypriot letters?
 

Jeff

[cogito]

To muddy the waters further...

I found the following "dotted ankh" on a beautiful coin from Mallos, Cilicia.  Situated on the Cilician coast and a major trading point between the Cilician mainland and Cyprus, Mallos most certainly would have been the entry point for Cypriot mint imports.


Jeff

[cogito]

More info suggesting that the Persian satrapal "ankh" monogram coins may have been minted in Cyprus and intended as a tribute following the failed Cypriot support of Athens during the Persian Wars:

CYPRUS ARCHAIC PERIOD (750 - 475 BC)

Assyria becomes sick of being a wuss
Cyprus is invaded by Assyrians in 709
Cypriots start using Persian coins
Cypriot syllabic script
used to write Greek AND Eteo-Cypriot
Greek alphabet only is used way later by **Evagoras 1**

663 BC
Cyprus busts out and becomes free for 100 years
during 100 years, kickass art is made
tombs with rectangular chambers and trap. roofs
chamber tomb painted like a Egyptian sarphagous (!)

526 BC
Persia busts out and takes control of Cyprus
not super-tight control, Cyprus has some freedom
Cyprus is opened to lots of East Greek influence

498 BC : IONIAN REVOLT
every Cyprus kingdom except for Amathus revolts
Cyprus gets ass kicked by Persians
during Archaic period, see cities being fortified
normal buildings made of mudbrick, rubble, and mud mortar
religion, as always is important
sanctuary architecture is open court w/ small buildings
see Aphrodite/Astarte/Mother Goddess in Cyprus
Phoenicians add own deities
Egyptian add own deities
Cypriots believe that god sits in own temple
thus use small look-a-like statues in lieu of self (continuous offering)
Religious leaders at time controlled copper industry
during time, people made terracotta figures with moulds
see lots of Assyrian influence (square beards)
see lots of Egyptian and East Greek influence
vases have great pictoral style (from East Greek)

CYPRUS CLASSICAL PERIOD (475 - 325 BC)

Persians finished crushing Ionian revolt
kings of Cyprus still were kind-of independent
kings still had to pay tribute and contribute ships to Persian fleet
in Classical period, power in city-kingdom was with kings only
in Idalion, King = High Priest

411 BC
**EVAGORAS 1 takes Salamis from Phoenician rule to Teucrid rule
wants to make Salamis rule over Cyprus
Athenians like Evagoras
By 391, Evagoras rules over most of Cyprus, thanks to help from Athens (hailed by Isocrates)
In 386, Persia tells Athens to lay off helping Evagoras
In 380, Evagoras gets whupped and is told by Persians to stick to Salamis, not whole of Cyprus
In 374, Evagoras gets killed
soon whole Cyprus is back with Persians

333 BC
Alexander the Great beats Persians
Cypriot towns become super-fortified
walls are rubble with ashlar faces
Cypriot houses start using materials like gypsum and fine concrete (floors only)
Cypriots start worshipping Aphrodite specifically
Cypriots are buried in sarcophagi
Athenian pottery becomes cool
Athenian style sculpture is cool too

[AlexB]

Hi again - you are busy on this one!

Whilst working on another topic with its own symbology (crescent moons) I had a thought that the 'ankh' could be the Ahura Mazda symbol - simplified version of picture below. See the 'legs' (your inverted v) hanging below, the spread 'wings' the central staff or 'tail'..... The 'eye' would be the eye of the Great King. Often the Persian officials in Greek cities were nick-named 'the Kings eyes' or spies. Your Pharnabazos coin fits this particulary well.

So a sort of warning/associative symbol for coins within the Persian realm. Does that mean Cypriot origin of coins? - dont think so exclusively. It may be that the symbol was in vogue during the difficult times of rebellion by the sub-kingdoms of that period whether in Cyprus, Egypt, the Levant or even Cilicia!

Sorry to further complicate

 

Alex

[cogito]

Alex,

Taking your lead on the Ahura Mazda possibility, I checked and there are a few Cyrus, Salamis examples that feature both the inverted "v" dotted ankh and a winged solar disk (more in line with Ahura Mazda, I would think) on the same side (see Sear 5767).  This same winged solar disk monogram shows up on some Cilician satrapal staters of Dametes (see image below).

After much reading and searching for Cilician and Cypriot exemplars, the Persian variants of the standard Egyptian ankh may actually be symbolic acronyms.  Sear shows a few Cypriot examples where the dot inside the ankh is replaced with a Cypriot letter (see Sear 5789, 5792, 5793).  Also, the double horizonal bar seen on some of the Persian ankh monograms may actually represent the Cypriot letter "pa," while the inverted "v" may represent the Cypriot letter "sa."

Whatever the meaning of these coins, it seems pretty clear that there was some level of shared celator styles and devices in both Cilician and Cypriot coins from 500BC - 300BC.  I'm still on the case with these coins, and I'm constructing a rough timeline of Cilicia, Cyprus, and a few Carian exemplars to see if there's a progression in style from simple ankh to the more complex (and possibly ancronym-function) ankhs. 

If others are reading this thread, I would appreciate receiving information on or pictures of other ankh or ankh-like monograms on Asia Minor coins. 

PS - what's fascinating to me is the general lack (if any) of ankh coins deriving from Egypt or the North African mainland.  Maybe I'm not looking in the right place, but I have yet to see a single Ptolemaic or Kyrenica coin featuring an ankh...so strange given the proximity and geographical history.

Warm regards,
Jeff

 

[AlexB]

Hi Jeff

That last coin is interesting in that it has both the AM symbol and the ankh on opposite sides. That would seem to counter it being a symbolic AM, at least on that coin  .

As for Cypriot mint origin it could well be but I still think that it could also refer to distribution there from other mints? It is a certainty that peoples of the Eastern med were constantly campaigning for a piece of Cyprus and its valuable resources. Internal conflict was also not uncommon with no doubt a few Kings claiming and receiving financial support from Persia.

Keep up the good work.

Rgds

Alex

[cogito]

Alex,

I've attempted to work up a region x time figure to make some sense out of these ankh-symbol coins (see below).  Please feel free to IM me for a copy of the full resolution version (~ 700KB). 

I was able to obtain a copy of Moysley, and in this seminal work on Pharnabazos and Datames staters, he suggests that the ankh-like monograms are mint marks.  He contends that even though there are numerous different mint marks (all playing off the ankh), all the staters were likely minted in the same place.  There isn't much evidence given for why he thinks this is the case, and he even puts forth references from others (e.g., Head, Hill, etc.) who think that the mint marks mean that they are from mints other than Tarsos.  When you look for these ankh-like mint marks on other Cilician coins and not just a limited examination of coins minted under the reigns of Pharnabazos and Datames, I think there's greater support for the "other mints than Tarsos" argument. 

I have inquired about the meaning of these symbols from a few archeological/epigraphy professionals...but have yet to receive a response to my inquiries.  If I hear anything, I'll post it here.

Warm regards,
Jeff

[cogito]

Just as a brief update for this thread, I found the following phoenician weight listed which features one of the ankh-like Cilician symbols.  In my opinion, this suggests that the symbols are more likely involved in denoting weight, date, or minting location and not a symbol of Persian royalty as suggested by some.

The double-footed ankh on this weight matches those seen on two known issues from Kition, Cyprus (see table in earlier post) and on the Pharnabazos issues from Tarsos(?), Cilicia.

Always open to ideas and discussion on this topic...

Jeff

[AlexB]

Hi Jeff

Not sure why it being Phoenician or a weight removes the possibility of it being a royal 'stamp'/seal/weight standard etc 

Brgds

Alex

[cogito]

Sorry, Alex.  I should have amended my post.  I was specifically talking about Konuk's theory that the symbols carried some sort of religious significance for the Persians.  Unless this is some sort of "holy" weight, it seems more likely that the symbols are, as you mentioned, referring to some sort of weight standard or a royal seal denoting ownership.  Finding this weight has put me on a different path, so I'm going to see if there's a disparity in coin weights as a function of ankh-like symbol variants.  This is probably a remote theory, as I'm still biased towards their being mint marks or dynasty marks of some sort.

Warm regards,
Jeff