Tarsos (BC 425-400) Stater

ca 425-400 BC. AR Stater (10.35g). Bellerophon riding Pegasos left, spearing Chimera below / The God Nergal, standing left and holding axe, ear of corn to left, small tree to right, 'NRGL-TRZ' = Nergal? Tarsos in Aramaic characters above. Extremely rare and interesting. Attractive dark tone, EF. Ex NAC Sale 10 (1997), lot 253.

Nergal was a fearsome Mesopotamian god associated with death; he reigned in the underworld and was the protector of men against pestilence and war. His name survives not only on coinage, but on Akkadian and Elamite inscriptions, and seemingly also in the names of high-ranking Assyrian officials and a Babylonian king of the early 7th cent. BC, Nergal-ushezib. The small tree may be the "sacred tree" that is often the focal point of ceremonies depicted on Neo-Assyrian reliefs and seals.