Local Myths and Greek Heroes on coins from the Hellenistic and

Roman Southern Levant Robyn Le Blanc, UNC Chapel Hill

MAP 1.

ROMAN PALESTINE, WITH FAMOUS LOCAL HEROES AND GREEK “FOUNDERS” AS

DEPICTED ON COINAGE (2ND C. BCE-3RD C. CE)

Above: Bronze coin of Dor, 67/8 CE [RPC 7463]

Obv.. Laureate, bearded head; identified typically as Doros, son of

Poseidon, and supposed namesake of the city

Rev. Tyche, turreted, face right, standing left. Wearing chiton, standard in

right hand, cornucopia in left.

Dor

Scythopolis

Above: Bronze coin of Acco-Ptolemais, Claudian [ANS

2012.71.33]

Obv. (poorly preserved) Head of Claudius, facing right,

laureate.

Rev. Perseus, standing left, heroically nude. Head of

Medusa in extended right hand, harpe in left.

Above: Bronze coin of Nysa-Scythopolis, 180-192 CE [Spijkerman 20]

Obv. Commodus, facing right, laureate.

Rev. Dionysos, standing left, nude. Left hand on thyrsus, grapes or cantharus (?) in right hand

Representative comparison of obverse types on bronze coins from Nysa-Scythopolis, 14-244 CE

*based on catalogue in Meshorer 2013

Wreath

Tyche

Victory

Dionysos

Zeus and Tyche with Dionysos

Silenus mask

Zeus seated

Temple with Zeus

Temple with Tyche

Caracalla and Geta

Demeter and Persephone-Kore

Above: Obverse of three coins of Nysa-Scythopolis highlighting three additional Dionysos types (from L)

(A) Zeus hands Tyche-Nysa the infant Dionysos after birth (240/1 CE, Meshorer 67)

(B) Dionysos nursed by Tyche-Nysa (240/1 CE, Meshorer 51)

(C) (C) Dionysos with a cantharus, panther and thyrsus (182/3 CE, Meshorer 25)

(D) (D) Dionysos with thyrsus, panther and kneeling giant? (240/1 CE, Meshorer 59; Barkay 2003).

The importance of civic participation in the Greek mythological world has long been noted among

the “Hellenized” cities of Asia Minor in the Hellenistic and Roman world. Greek heroes and deities

were often invoked as city founders, or their exploits tied to specific regions, geographic markers or

cities. Bellerophon, the Greek hero and slayer of the mythical Chimera, was invoked as a hero of

Lycia, and the Athenian Androclus was celebrated in public art as the founder of Ephesus in the

Roman period (Rogers 2003). The connection between the invocation of Greek heroes and myth and

the civic world of Hellenistic and Roman Asia Minor has been well-studied by several scholars, who

stress that cities attempted to situate themselves within the context of classical myth to help forge

connections to the wider Mediterranean world and to help define the city’s “Hellenized” collective

identity. Greek city founders and myth were celebrated in architecture , as in the many panes from

the first century CE Sebasteion at Aphrodisias (Linant de Bellefonds 2011); in sculpture, as attested

to by the figures of Chalcas, Mopsus, Leonteus and Minyas from the Roman gate at Perge (Scheer

2011) ; in local history, preserved by Greek and Roman writers and historians (Fox 2008). However

prevalent these forms of expression, the inclusion of Greek myths, founders and heroes on the

locally minted coins of cities is the most robust form of this strategy. Famous and eponymous city

founders were honored on coins throughout the Roman period, and especially in the agonisitc climate

of the second and third centuries CE.

This same phenomenon in which a city links itself to the larger Mediterranean world via participation

in the legendary past is also evident (albeit understudied) in the Levant. Cities from Syria to

Phoenicia and Palestine promoted their connections to the Mediterranean through many of the same

strategies employed by the cities of Asia Minor. Some communities claimed eponymous founders or

mythical figures (cf. Nysa-Scythopolis, or Hippos- Sussita). Others emphasized their role in myth

through landmarks (cf. the Rocks of Andromeda at Joppa). Levantine cities also used coins to draw

themselves into a relationship with the classical past, and to forge connections of cultural and

collective identity with the Hellenized world. Although the evidence for these strategies is not as

abundant as the material found in Asia Minor, the locally produced coins of many major Levantine

cities shows that making links to the classical past was a priority for mint official and the local elite.

A recent study by N. Belayache (2009) has looked specifically at the articulation of civic identity in the

cities of Roman Palestine as they refer to Greek and Roman myth. Belayache concluded that the

coinage of these cities demonstrates an engagement with both Greco-Roman and Near Eastern myths

and concerns. Crucially, she also pointed out that the communities of Hellenistic and Roman

Palestine used Greek heroes and myth to circumscribe the status of these cities as members of the

“Greco-Roman oikoumene” in contrast to their Jewish neighbors.

Building on Belayache’s study, this poster offers a select summary of evidence for the employment of

Greek myth and founders on the coins of Roman Palestine. These coins and ancient literary sources

demonstrate that the elites of Roman Palestine were familiar with variants of Greek and Roman

myth, and also aware of the way in which the past was strategically invoked by civic centers in other

parts of the Greco-Roman world. Particularly striking is the way in which the local geography was

exploited—at Joppa, the “rocks of Andromeda” were thought to provide good evidence to locate

that city as the site of Perseus’ rescue of the maiden; the pool of the local goddess Derceto and her

fate invoked comparisons to Venus’ flight from the giant Typhon through Palestine. It is interesting

to see that many of the mythological connections link these cities not directly to Greece, but to other

parts of the larger Greek oikoumene—Ascalon is connection to Lydia via both Mopsus and Ascalus,

and one founding tradition of Gaza relates to Minos, the mythical king of Knossos. Gods, too, play

an important part in merging local (Near Eastern) traditions with Greco-Roman ones— Herakles and

Aphrodite were popularly syncretized with Phoenician deities in the coastal cities of Palestine and

their prominence in the legendary past of Ascalon, Acco-Ptolemais and Gaza perhaps highlights the

continued importance of the local cults of their Phoenician counterparts.

In sum, there is ample evidence that the cities of Hellenistic and Roman Palestine employed many of

the same strategies as the cities of Asia Minor to link themselves to the Greco-Roman world via the

invocation of the legendary past. However, for the cities of Roman Palestine, these connections were

an essential way of proclaiming their participation in the larger culture of the Mediterranean in

opposition to their Jewish neighbors.

Left: Bronze coin of Acco-Ptolemais, 198-217 CE

[Meshorer 172]

Obv. Caracalla, facing right, laureate.

Rev. Perseus standing facing left, nude. Harpe in left hand, held upright, Medusa

head in outstretched right hand.

The city mint at Acco-Ptolemais produced cons from the time of Alexander the Great almost continously until the end of Gallienus’

reign in 268 CE. The collection has been well studied and published, and is among the largest and most comprehensive numismatic

collections from the southern Levant. Greek heroes and myth feature prominently in two types and their variations from Acco-

Ptolemais.

The first is the inclusion of the Greek hero, Perseus, with his harpe, winged sandals and carrying the head of Medusa, on reverse issues

beginning under Claudius (50/1 CE). The inclusion of Perseus is inexplicable, but perhaps signifies the existence of yet another alternate

version of the Perseus/Andromeda myth (Meshorer 1985, 13; Robert 1977 has suggested that the figure of Perseus is the result of

syncretism between local and Greek deities rather than a reference to a tradition locating a feat of Perseus in/around Akko- Ptolemais). A

second type, however, more clearly references Perseus’ rescue of Andromeda: a figure holding a harpe and accompanied by a caduceus

holds hands with a robed woman holding a staff (cf. Meshorer 272).

The second hero included on the coins of Acco-Ptolemais is Herakles, often specifically in the context of his healing at the Belus River,

which was associated with the Na’aman Creek near Acco-Ptolemais (Kasher 1990, 34). It was here, at the Belus River, that Herakles

obtained an herb to cure him after his battle with Hydra. This myth is explicitly illustrated in a type from the mid-third century CE (see

left), but a personified river god (possibly Belus) also appears alone and with Tyche on reverse designs since the early second century CE.

NYSA-SCYTHOPOLIS

ACCO-PTOLEMAIS DORA

Although most ancient authors identified North Africa as the site of Perseus’

rescue of Andromeda, an alternate tradition associated the rocks of Joppa (left)

with the myth instead. This “alternate tradition” is known from at least the fourth

century BCE, when it is mentioned by Pseudo-Scylax.

Coins were minted in Joppa erratically from the early 3rd c. BCE until 235 CE.

Only a handful of types are known, mainly dating to the third century CE

(Caracalla-Severus Alexander).

Perseus first appears on coins minted in 212 CE; this is the point at which Joppa

began minting coins again after a hiatus beginning in 222 BCE (previously, the city

minted Ptolemaic silver tetradrachma). Only a very few coins are known from

Joppa overall, but Perseus continues to appear in two different types (one as shown

above; another, dating to 218 CE, depicts Athena and Perseus standing within a

temple of Tyche, Meshorer 18) until the last Roman coins of Joppa were minted

under Severus Alexander.

Athena also appears frequently on coins of the city, especially c.222-235 CE. In

one issue, she stands beside Perseus in a temple; in others, she is depicted alone

with a spear and shield (cf. Meshorer 20-23). Hill has suggested that Athena was

intended to represent the legend of Perseus, since the goddess often appears as his

divine patron.

A selection of ancient sources:

At Joppa “Andromeda was abandoned to the sea-monster”

Pseudo-Scylax, Periplus

“Joppa is said to have existed before the flood; it is situated on a hill, and in front of it is a rock

on which they point out the marks made by the chains with which Andromeda was fettered…”

Pliny the Elder, NH 5.69 (Rackham trans.)

“Then one comes to Joppa… here it was, according to certain writers of myths, that

Andromeda was exposed to the sea-monster…”

Strabo 16.2.28.

“Red water, in color like blood, is found in the land of the Hebrews near the city of Joppa.

The water is close to the sea, and the account which the natives give of the spring is that

Perseus, after destroying the sea-monster, to which the daughter of Kepheus [Andromeda] was

exposed, washed off the blood in the spring.”

Pausanias, 4.35.9 (Jones trans.)

Above:

An image of the “Rocks of Andromeda”, in the sea outside Jaffa.

Left : Bronze coin of Joppa, 198-217 CE (Meshorer 17)

Obv. Bust of Caracalla, facing right, laureate.

Rev. Perseus standing facing right; wearing chlamys, Phrygian cap and winged sandals;

harpe held upright in right hand, head of Medusa in extended left hand.

JOPPA

The attribution of Doros, son of Poseidon, as the eponymous founder

of Dora, is known only from a single source dated to the first century

CE (Claudius Iolaus,’ see left). Elsewhere, this son of Poseidon is

thought (at least by Servius) to have been the progenitor of the

Dorians. The most popular tradition depicts a Dorian Doros, the son

of Hellen and father to Tektamos (Martin 2007, 15), but makes no

particular connection to Palestine or the city Dora.

A bearded figure who appears on the city coins of Dora beginning in

64/3 BCE has been sometimes identified as Doros, son of Poseidon.

He appears on both the reverse and obverse of coins opposite Tyche

(Martin 2007). With the beginning of the “imperial” series under

Vespasian, the Doros reverse type becomes less popular, although it

was still in use in issues under Caracalla (210/1 CE).

B. Martin notes the lack of iconographic attributes present on the coin

(2007, 17-18). The appearance of “Doros” is in fact very similar to

both Zeus and Poseidon. Doros appears as a bearded man with a long

beard and thick hair, always wearing a fillet. In some issues , the figure

is preceded by an aphlaston (part of a ship’s stern), appearing to stress a

connection to sailing and the ocean, and, thus, to Poseidon (however, as

Martin correctly notes, a variety of gods and goddesses carry an

aphlaston, and not all are particularly related to the ocean, 18).

ASCALON (ASHKELON)

ABBREVIATIONS

ANS American Numismatic Society Online Database.

Hill G.F. Hill, Catalogue of the Greek Coins of Palestine (Galilee, Samarian and Judaea). Bologna,

1965.

Meshorer Y. Meshorer et. al., Coins of the Holy Land: the Abraham and Marian Sofaer Collection at the

American Numismatic Society and the Israel Museum (Vol 1). New York, 2013.

Rosenberger M. Rosenberger, City-Coins of Palestine, Jerusalem 1975.

RPC Roman Provincial Coins, British Museum.

Spijkerman A. Spijkerman, The Coins of the Decapolis and Provincia Arabia. Jerusalem, 1978.

Yashin C. Yashin, From Ascalon to Raphia: city-coins of the Southern Palestinian Coast. Jerusalem, 2007.

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Belayache, N. 2009. “Foundation myths in Roman Palestine: traditions and reworkings,” in Ethnic Constructs in Antiquity, T. Derks and N. Roymans (eds.). Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. 167-188.

---. 2001. Iudaea-Palaestina: The Pagan Cults in Roman Palestine (second to fourth century). Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.

Fox, R.L. 2008. Travelling Heroes: Greeks and their Myths in the Epic Age of Homer. London: Allen Lane.

Geiger, J. 1990. “Local patriotism in the Hellenistic cities of Palestine,” in Greece and Rome in Eretz Israel, A. Kasher, U. Rappaport and G. Fuks (eds.). Jerusalem: Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi Publications. 141-150.

Kasher, A. 1990. Jews and Hellenistic Cities in Eretz-Israel. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.

Linant de Bellefonds, P. 2011. “Pictorial Foundation Myths in Roman Asia Minor,” in Cultural Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean, E.S. Gruen (ed.). Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute. 26-46.

Mac Sweeny, N. (ed). 2014. Foundation Myths in Ancient Societies: dialogues and discoveries. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Price, S. 2005. “Local Mythologies in the Greek East,” in Coinage and Identity in the Roman Provinces, C. Howgego, V. Heuchert and A. Burnett (eds.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 115-124.

Rogers, G.M. 1991. The Sacred Identity of Ephesus: foundation myths of a Roman city. London: Routledge.

Scheer, T.S. 2011. “Ways of Becoming Arcadian: Arcadian foundation myths in the Mediterranean,” in Cultural Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean, E.S. Gruen (ed.). Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute. 11-25.

Scythopolis produced city coins beginning in 57 BCE and only infrequently under the Julio -Claudians. The number

of coin types and the frequency of their issue increased in the mid-second century CE beginning in the 130’s CE.

Dionysos was connected to the city from at least the first century CE. According to Pliny the Elder, Scythopolis was

once called Nysa because the nurse of Dionysos, the nymph Nysa, was buried there. The popularity of the cult of

Dionysos has been well studied, and he is even hailed as the city’s founder on an altar to the god from the mid-second

century CE (Di Segni, Foerster and Tsafrir 1993).

Dionysos appears on the coins of Scythopolis from at least the mid-first century BCE, where he appears on the

obverse of a Roman issue by Marcus L. Crassus (Barkay 2003, type 5). The god appears in nine different types

throughout the three-hundred year history of the city mint, more than any other deity or type in the city (see chart

above).

Gaza was one of the most prominent cities on the southern coast of Palestine,

and among the cities that minted coins almost continuously from the late-

Hellenistic period to the mid-third century CE. The collection has been well-

studied, published in numerous comprehensive catalogues.

Meshorer (2013, 113) has already remarked upon the many coin types referring

to Greek (and particularly Cretan) heroes and myths. Literary sources

identified the mythological founder of Gaza as either Minos, the king of

Knossos, or Azon, a son of Herakles. Both founders were celebrated on

coins from the Roman period at Gaza; in the case of Minos, he appears only

after the second century CE, but curiously on the obverse in the usual place of

the imperial portrait (see above). The figure is labeled in Greek as “Minos”,

and he is often holding a tree, perhaps a reference to sacred rites from Crete.

The figure sometimes identified as Azon is likely simply Herakles (based on

the iconography of the types) who was, in any case, a more relevant and

popular figure than his son, but who would still recall a local connection in

viewers.

Images of Tyche and of the nymph Io were also particularly popular. Io, the

lover of Zeus who was turned into a heifer in an attempt to hide the

relationship from Hera. Io escaped and fled to the Near East, passing through

Syria and Palestine on her way to Egypt. Although Gaza is not specifically

included in the myth, there was clearly a tradition that connected Io to the

city—a heifer appears with the turreted Tyche on coins beginning in the early

second century CE, and one reverse type shows a goddess clasping hands with

Io, who is sometimes labeled. The prominence of Io in this type has led

numismatists to identify the heifer elsewhere as a reference to Io.

A B C D

Dionysos often appears with his characteristic thyrsus, a cantharus and panther (above C); sometimes he is

accompanied by a panther or a small kneeling figure (above D) , perhaps a conquered giant as suggested by Barkay

(2003) or as a reference to a local festival (Gitler 1991, 26-27; Lichtenberger 2004, 23-28).

The local references to Nysa, the nurse of Dionysos and the supposed namesake of the city, are surprisingly few. It

appears that the nymph may have been syncretized or associated with the city goddess Tyche. In two types in the early

third century CE a goddess with turreted crown appears on the obverse of coins holding the infant Dionysos, or

receiving the child from Zeus after his divine birth (above A-B). A syncretism between the Hellenistic Tyche and Nysa

simplifies the relationship between the nurse and the city, where Nysa acts as the protector of the city blessed by her

grave. In some sense, Tyche-Nysa then protects and nurses the city just as she cared for Dionysos.

A selection of ancient sources:

“Now there is in Syria a city known as Ascalon, and not far from it a large

and deep lake, full of fish. On its shore is a precinct of a famous goddess

whom the Syrians call Derceto; and this goddess has the head of a woman

but all the rest of her body is that of a fish, the reason being something like

this. The story as given by the most learned of the inhabitants of the region

is as follows: Aphrodite, being offended with this goddess, inspired in her a

violent passion for a certain handsome youth among her votaries; and

Derceto gave herself to the Syrian and bore a daughter, but then, filled with

shame of her sinful deed, she killed the youth and exposed the child in a

rocky desert region, while as for herself, from shame and grief she threw

herself into the lake and was changed as to the form of her body into a

fish; and it is for this reason that the Syrians to this day abstain from this

animal and honor their fish as gods. But about the region where the babe

was exposed a great multitude of doves had their nests, and by them the

child was nurtured in an astounding and miraculous manner; for some of

the doves kept the body of the babe warm on all sides by covering it with

their wings, while others, when they observed that the cowherds and other

keepers were absent from the nearby steadings, brought milk therefrom in

their beaks and fed the babe by putting it drop p361by drop between its lips.

And when the child was a year old and in need of more solid nourishment,

the doves, pecking off bits from the cheeses, supplied it with sufficient

nourishment. Now when the keepers returned and saw that the cheeses had

been nibbled about the edges, they were astonished at the strange

happening; they accordingly kept a look-out, and on discovering the cause

found the infant, which was of surpassing beauty. At once, then, bringing it

to their steadings they turned it over to the keeper of the royal herds, whose

name was Simmas; and Simmas, being childless, gave every care to the

rearing of the girl, as his own daughter, and called her Semiramis, a name

slightly altered from the word which, in the language of the Syrians, means

"doves," birds which since that time all the inhabitants of Syria have

continued to honor as goddesses.”

Diodorus Siculus, 2.4.2-6 (Loeb trans.)

“Atagartis [Derceto], as Xanthus the Lydian says, was captured by Mopsos

the Lydian and submerged with her son, Ichthys, in the lake at Ascalon, on

account of [her] hubris and was devoured by the fish.”

Mnaseas, cited by Athenaeus 8b 101-103 (Gulick trans).

A selection of ancient sources:

“Near Damascus is “Scythopolis, formerly Nysa, after Father Liber’s nurse, whom he buried there.”

Pliny the Elder, NH 5.74 (Rackham trans.)

“When Dionysos had buried his nurse, he founded the city, to make the burial-place more famous by giving it the

more extensive walls of a city. There were no inhabitants, so he selected some of his followers, the Scythians, to settle

it, and rewarded them by calling the city after them, to encourage them to hold out.”

-Solinus, Ch. 36 (Safrai trans).

“Dione, once, fleeing from dreaded Typhon,

When Jupiter took up arms to defend the heavens,

Came to Euphrates with the little Cupid,

And sat by the brink of the waters of Palestine.

Reeds and poplars grew by the banks,

And willows too gave hope of shelter there.

While she hid, the grove rustled in the wind:

She turned pale with fear, and thought enemies nearby.

So, holding the child in her lap, she cried:

‘Help, you Nymphs, and aid two divine beings!’

She leapt in, without delay. Twin fishes bore her:

For which, a worthy gift, they were made stars.

And so the pious Syrians hold it wrong to serve the

At their table: their mouths are not defiled with fish.”

-Ovid, Fasti 2.461-474 (Loeb trans.)

“Ascalon: a city in Syria near Judaea. Xanthus in Lydiaka 4 says that

Tantalos and Ascalos were the sons of Tymenaios, and that Ascalon was

chosen by Akiamos the King of Lydia in order to march against Syria, and

there he fell in love with a maiden and founded a city which he so named

after himself.”

Stephanus of Byzantium, Askalon

“Semiramis: the daughter, as Ctesias says, of Derceto, the Syrian goddess

and a Syrian man. She was raised by Simmas, a servant of the king,

Ninos. She was married to Omnes, a governor of the king, and had <2>

sons. When she captured Bactra with her husband, Ninos, who was

already an old man, became acquainted with her and married her. She

bored him a son, Ninyas. After Ninos’ death, she fortified Babylon with

baked brick and bitumen and built the temple of Belos. She was

conspired against by her son Ninyas and died, having lived for 6 years and

she ruled for 42.”

Author of Tractatus de Mulieribus, “Semiramis”

A selection of ancient sources:

“They called the place in their native tongue Dor. But the Greeks, for the sake of its more pleasing

sound, agree to call the city Dora. And some make the statement that Doros, the son of Poseidon,

was its founder.”

Claudius Iolaus cited by Stephanus of Byzantium, Doros (trans from Martin 2007)

“Dorus was the son of Neptune, from whom the Dorians originated.”

Servius, Ad. Aen. 2.27

Above: Bronze coin of Acco-Ptolemais, 247-249 CE [Meshorer 262]

Obv. Bust of Philip II facing right, radiate.

Rev. Herakles seated on rock, with club at right, river god (Belus) reclining at

left. Belus holds a plant in right outstretched hand, toward Herakles.

Caduceus between figures at top, Hydra stretched out below figures.

GAZA

A selection of ancient sources:

“It was called Aza, as well as Gaza, and until

today Syrians call it Aza from Azon, son of

Herakles.”

Stephanus of Byzantium, “Gaza” (trans

from Belayache 2009)

“[Io] wandered over all of Syria, and when

she found Epaphos [her son] she returned to

Egypt and married Telegonos, who at that

time was king of the Egyptians.”

Apollodorus, Bib. 2.8 (Loeb trans.)

“But some people tell of a legend according

to which it [Gaza] was founded by Zeus who

left his treasure there, for Gaza is the Persian

word for silver. It was also called ‘Minoa’

because Minos, with his brothers Eachus and

Rhadmanthus, leaving his country founded

this city.”

Stephanus of Byzantium, “Gaza” (trans

from Belayache 2009)

(A): Bronze coin of Gaza, Antonine [BMC 74]

Obv.. Antoninus Pius, facing right, bareheaded, wearing cuirass and paludamentum

Rev. Goddess wearing kalathos, standing facing left, holding tall scepter in left hand and cornucopia in

right. At bottom, small cow (heifer), and mem symbol of Gaza at right.

(B): Bronze coin of Gaza, Antonine [ANS 1944.100.69074]

Obv.. Commodus bust, facing right, laureate.

Rev. Two goddesses (one Io, labeled, at left; other is Tyche?) facing each other, clasping hands.

(C): Bronze coin of Gaza, Antonine [BMC 80]

Obv.. Antoninus Pius, facing right, laureate.

Rev. Herakles standing facing right, nude, resting right arm on club, with lion skin draped over left

forearm. Gaza symbol, mem, below.

GAZA

A B

C

Above: Bronze coin of Ascalon, 78/9 CE [Rosenberger 109]

Obv.. Vespasian, facing right, laureate.

Rev. Tyche, with turreted crown and chiton, standing facing left on a prow, with tall scepter in left hand and

aphlaston held against right shoulder. Altar at left, and small bird (dove?) at right.

Below: Bronze coin of Gaza, Antonine [BMC 192]

Obv.. Antoninus Pius, facing right, laureate.

Rev. Goddess (Derceto?) wearing crescent crown standing on triton facing left, wearing long chiton.

Goddess holds bird (dove?) in outstretched right hand and a tall scepter in left hand. Triton holds a

cornucopia aloft.

Below: Bronze coin of Ascalon, 103-50 BCE [Cf. Meshorer 27)

Obv.. Woman with diadem facing right (Aphrodite?), scepter behind at left.

Rev. Large bird (dove?) facing left.

Right: Bronze coin of

Ascalon, 2nd century

BCE[Cf. Yashin 12)

Obv.. Bearded male,

facing right.

Rev. Galley with bird

(dove?) standing atop,

facing left.

Right: Bronze coin of Gaza, 131/2 CE

[MFA 1991.1036)

Obv.. Minos (labeled), standing facing left,

wearing a chiton and holding a leafy branch

upright in right hand, a pointed spear or club in

his left hand..

Rev. Tall leafy tree, with Gaza mem symbol at

bottom right.

Ascalon’s prominence in the Greco-Roman world was due both to its

ancient (the oldest, according to Herodotus) temple of Aphrodite

Ourania, and the tales of their local goddess, Derceto (often

syncretized with Aphrodite and Atargatis). Like Gaza and Nysa-

Scythopolis, Ascalon minted coins for the entirety of the Hellenistic

and Roman periods, and hence the numismatic collection is abundant.

The dove, a symbol in myth of the goddess Derceto and a reference

to her famous daughter, Semiramis, served as a mark of the city on

coins from the beginning of the city’s mint in the third century BCE.

The dove is juxtaposed with an image that might be read as Aphrodite,

or perhaps as Derceto, from the early second century BCE (see

above). Although Derceto was not a founder of the city, the

community’s identity and position in the Hellenistic and Roman world

was inextricably tied to the prominence of her ancient sanctuary.

Thus, the myth of Derceto served as a type of foundation myth for

the cult, and thus for the city.

Derceto also tied the city into the legendary past through variations on

her fate—the Lydian seer Mopsus is credited with her death in one

tradition, and in another Ascalus, a Lydian king, comes to Ascalon

and falls in love with a maiden (an echo of the Derceto story) and

founds a city there in her honor. It seems significant that in both of

these cases the connection to the Greco-Roman world comes via an

interaction with Lydian heroes. Some scholars (Fox 2008) have

suggested that these references preserve a faint memory of

migrations in the Bronze Age from Asia Minor.

The legendary past is recalled frequently on the

coinage of Ascalon; as Belayache notes (2009, 170)

the inclusion of the dove and of images of

Derceto certainly referenced the cult that made the

city famous, but it also invoked connections with

Lydia and the classical past. The dove also

referenced Semiramis, the daughter of Derceto and

a famous figure in her own right—the queen of

Babylon, she was sometimes invoked as a city

founder in Lydia (cf. Aphrodisias), thereby

connecting local legend with both the Near Eastern

and Greek past.

Mopsos is never depicted on coins of Ascalon,

perhaps understandably given his treatment of the

local goddess. Since Hill (1914), numismatists have

identified a bearded figure appearing on the

obverse of several bronze issues from the second

century BCE as Ascalus (see above right). Without

exception, all surviving examples of this type are

crudely struck and poorly preserved. In some

issues there is perhaps a trident located in the field

at left behind the figure’s head. The man is

depicted facing right, is bearded, and wears no

diadem or fillet. The figure may, instead, be

Poseidon, who was an important deity in Ascalon

from the Hellenistic period onward.

There appears to be a resurgence in the interest of local cults and

mythologies beginning in the mid-second century CE. New coin types

appear, and the popularity of Tyche (nearly always accompanied by a

dove) declines in favor of a new goddess. This figure stands on the

back of a Triton and wears a moon diadem. In one outstretched hand is

offered a dove. This figure is usually identified as Derceto, and this type

appears under every emperor between Antoninus Pius and Severus

Alexander (222-235 CE) with no major changes in design. The reason

for the introduction of this design is unknown, but can perhaps be

related to a desire to create a more specific conception of the local

goddess, moving away from a syncretized Derceto-Tyche toward a more

firmly local Derceto.

Comparative proportion of Ascalonian coins

including a dove (221 BCE-238 CE) *based on catalogue in Meshorer 2013

79 123

Out of 202 coins, 79 included a dove on the obverse or reverse. Of the coins in

which the dove was omitted, nearly all include a depiction of the local god

Phanebalos on the reverse. This may indicate the existence of rival cults and the

priorities and affinities of different minting officials.