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Kyzikos (BC 500-450) EL 1/6 Stater
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ca 550-500 BC. EL Hekte (2.66g, 12mm). Winged male mythological creature (Phobos or Daimon) with human body, lion head, griffin’s ears and wings, running/kneeling left, head turned right, holding tunny by tail in left hand / Quadripartite incuse square. NGC graded Choice XF, strike 5/5, surface 4/5, nicely centered, struck from artistic dies. An excellent example of archaic representation of local deity from Asia Minor. Carr coll.
A remarkable mythological type usually known from the stater with the same design. At times identified as Phobos, the personification of terror, the figure may also be the Mithraic divinity Areimanios (Ahriman) as argued by Bivar, "Mithra and Mesopotamia," Mithraic Studies (Manchester, 1975), pp. 275-89.
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