CILICIA (?). Uncertain, circa 450s-400 BC. Stater (Silver, 19 mm, 9.60 g). Blank. Rev. Winged female (?) figure in kneeling-running stance to left, holding solar disk on her chest; before her feet, uncertain animal recumbent to left; all within linear square within incuse square. SNG Copenhagen -. SNG Levante -. SNG von Aulock -. Traité -. Apparently unpublished and of great interest. Beautifully toned. Struck from a very worn obverse die and with minor doubling and traces of overstriking (?) on the reverse, otherwise, very fine.



The attribution of this unusual and beautiful piece, executed in a powerful archaic style, is not without difficulty. The winged figure with solar disk is known from Mallos, though there it appears exclusively in male form and as an obverse type. A female winged being is attested from Kyzikos in Mysia and from Kaunos in Caria, but she carries not a solar disk but rather a tunny fish or, in the latter case, a kerykeion and a wreath. Furthermore, the workmanship - marked by a completely worn obverse die and an archaic-style type set within a linear square in quadratum incusum - points not to Caria, but rather to Cilicia or Cyprus, where comparable pieces are often encountered at Mallos, Tarsos, Kition, Lapethos, Paphos, or Salamis. The solar disk itself is known from both Cilician and Cypriot coinage, though on Cyprus it more often appears in winged form.

On balance, an attribution to Cilicia seems preferable, though a Cypriot origin cannot be entirely excluded. Particularly striking is that the deity appears to be female, with an animal lying at her feet. This recalls Old Mesopotamian and Hittite depictions of Ishtar, who likewise appears winged and is often shown accompanied by one or two lions (cf. BM 130695, where she also appears with a solar symbol beside her).