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Obverse: The God Ba’altars Enthroned
Facing Left
Reverse: A Lion Advancing Towards the
Left
Cilicia is an ancient region of
southeastern Asia
Minor (modern Turkey), along the
Mediterranean
north of Cyprus. It included a high and
barren
plateau, Cilicia Trachia, an
inhospitable region
that served as shelter for pirates, and
a richly
fertile plain, Cilicia Pedias, that
served as a
strategic passageway throughout history.
The
area was under the domination of the
Assyrian
Empire before it became part of the
Persian
Empire. The Greeks settled on the coast
early
on, and Cilicia was Hellenized to a
great extent.
Mazaios, a Persian nobleman, had a long
and
distinguished career. He was appointed
satrap of Cilicia about 361 BC, and the
region
known as “Across the River” (modern
Syria,
Lebanon, and Israel) was later added to
his
domain. He fought against the
Phoenicians of
Sidon who revolted with the support of
Pharaoh
Nektanebo II and the Greek mercenary
leader Mentor. Mazaios later served as
the satrap
of Mesopotamia and married Barsine, the
daughter of Darius III. Famed historian
Plutarch
described him as “the greatest Persian
after Darius.” This remarkable
complement
indicates that Mazaios might have
simultaneously held the post of the
Herzaraptis
(the commanding officer of the
Spearbearer’s Regimen) while serving as
satrap.
In 331 B.C., as Alexander the Great and
his
armies approached the great city of
Babylon,
Mazaios surrendered the city to him
after
gaining assurances that Babylon would
not be
plundered. Alexander rewarded Mazaios
for
his prudent decision by retaining him as
governor, a position he held until his
death in
328 BC.
How many hands have touched a coin in
your
pocket or your purse? What eras and
lands have
the coin traversed on its journey into
our
possession? As we reach into our
pockets to pull
out some change, we rarely hesitate to
think of
who touched the coin before us, or where
the
coin will venture to after us. More
than money,
coins are a symbol of the state that
struck them,
of a specific time and place, whether
contemporary currencies or artifacts of
long
forgotten empires. This stunning hand-
struck
coin reveals an expertise of
craftsmanship and
intricate sculptural detail that is
often lacking in
contemporary machine-made currencies.
This
coin is a memorial an ancient governor
and the
Persian Empire passed from the hands of
civilization to civilization, from
generation to
generation.
- (C.2059)
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