PHILISTIA. Central Mint. Athenian-styled, circa 420-350 BCE. Mʿh = Obol (Silver, 10 mm, 0.59 g, 3 h). Head of Athena to right, wearing crested Attic helmet decorated with three olive leaves and palmette. Rev. Human-headed bird standing right; to left, olive sprig; to right, [A]●E; all within incuse square. Gitler & Tal XIII.1Oa (this coin). Hendin -. Jeselsohn -. Shoshana -. Sofaer -. Extremely rare, the finest of apparently just three known examples. Darkly toned and struck on a broad flan. Die break on the reverse, otherwise, good very fine.



Gitler and Tal have raised the question of whether the human-headed bird – a variation on the Athenian owl – on the reverse of this unusual issue was inspired by the Egyptian ba-bird. In Egyptian thought, the ba was not a 'soul' in the modern sense, but rather one of the non-physical aspects of a person, associated above all with mobility: after death, it could leave the tomb and later return to the mummy. For this reason, it was often depicted as a bird with a human head, sometimes with human arms as well. Human-headed birds, however, are also attested in other cultural spheres, such as the sirens of Greek mythology or siren- and harpy-like figures from Asia Minor, especially Lycia. As so often in Philistine coinage, with its syncretistic imagery and playful visual language, the interpretation ultimately remains open.