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MUSA, Parthia: Phraatakes and Musa, 2 BC to $ AD
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BI tdr., 12,56gr, 28,1mm; Sellwood 58.1var.(month), Shore 323, Sunrise 403var.;
mint: Seleukia; axis: 12h;
obv.: bare-headed, left, w/broad 4 layer diadem and ribbon; at the ribbon end year date BIT(?)=1 AD; short hair in 2 waves, mustache, medium-long tapered beard; wart; earring, multiple necklace; cuirass w/collar adorned by a suite of opposing dashes; traces of goddess in the right and left upper field; legend: BACI ΛEΩ C BACI ΛEΩ N only partially visible; dotted border 8 to 10:30h;
rev.: female head, right, w/tiara and double diadem below, 2 loops and 2 ribbons; the tiara consists of 5 large pearls in a row, above a row of 8 smaller pearls and above them another row of medium-sized pearls - the remainder of the tiara is off the flan; earrings and a pearl necklace, multiple necklace below, 2 more strings of pearls across the breast, the shoulders are covered by a folded robe; between the diadem ribbons and the neck the letters ΔAI=ΔAIΣIOY (May); legend: Θ EAC O(YPANIAC MOYCHC) BACI
Λ ICHC; dotted border 5 to 10h; very dark patina;
ex: The New York Sale XXXIV (2014)
The Italian slave girl Musa came to Parthia as part of a peace deal between the Emperor Augustus and King Phraates IV in 20 BC. She bore him a son, Phraatakes, and soon rose in his favor from concubine to queen. To rid herself of competition she persuaded the king to send his other sons to Rome for safety. In 2 BC she and her son poisoned Phraates IV, and Phraatakes became king. Much to the shock of the Romans and Greeks, she proceded to marry her son and became co-ruler but the blissful arrangement lasted only six years. The disgusted Parthian nobility deposed the couple in 4 AD. Phraatakes escaped to Syria were he died soon after. Musa was never heard of again.
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