MITHRAPATA (DYNAST OF LYCIA) SILVER SIXTH STATER___Facing Lion Scalp & Triskeles

Description

14A33
FRASCATIUS ANCIENTS
A BEAUTIFUL SILVER SIXTH STATER OF MITHRAPATA (DYNAST OF LYCIA) FROM 390 - 370 BC .
Mithrapata was dynast of Lycia in the early 4th century BC, at a time when this part of Anatolia was subject to the Persian, or Achaemenid, Empire.
Astragal (Knucklebones) in reverse field (What is an astragal? - See Below)
THE SIZE IS 12.0 MM AND 1.26 GRAMS.
SNG Cop 27v
OBVERSE – Facing lion scalp
REVERSE – Triskeles within incuse square, astragal in field
MITHRAPATA
Mithrapata was dynast of Lycia in the early 4th century BC, at a time when this part of Anatolia was subject to the Persian, or Achaemenid, Empire.
Present-day knowledge of Lycia in the period of classical antiquity comes mostly from archaeology, in which this region is unusually rich. Believed to have been based at Antiphellus, Mithrapata is known to have competed for power with another man named Arttumpara.
The name of Mithrapata, which is of Persian origin, is known from Lycian coins and also from inscriptions. During the fifth and fourth centuries B.C., the Lycian nobility was using Persian names, so Mithrapata may have been one of them. However, it has also been suggested that he may have been a Persian sent to rule Lycia by Artaxerxes II.
ANCIENT LYCIA
Lycia, on the southern coast of Anatolia, was first recorded in the Late Bronze Age records of ancient Egypt and the Hittite Empire. In 546 B.C. when Lycia was involuntary incorporated into the Persian Empire, the local population was decimated, and the area received an influx of Persians. Lycia fought for Persia in the Persian Wars.
Intermittently free after the Greeks defeated the Achaemenid Empire, it briefly joined the Athenian Empire, it seceded and became independent, was under the Persians again, revolted again, was conquered by Mausolus of Caria, returned to the Persians, and went under Macedonian hegemony at the defeat of the Persians by Alexander the Great. Lycia was totally Hellenized under the Macedonians. The Lycian language disappeared from inscriptions and coinage. On defeating Antiochus III in 188 the Romans gave Lycia to Rhodes for 20 years, taking it back in 168 B.C.
ASTRAGAL
In antiquity, one of the most popular games of chance was played with astragaloi, knucklebones of sheep and goats. They could be used like dice or like jacks, thrown in the air and caught on the back of the hand. Knucklebones have been found in tombs where they must have been intended to help the deceased while away endless time.
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