SELEUKID KINGS OF SYRIA. Antiochos VII Euergetes (Sidetes), 138-129 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 29 mm, 16.58 g, 1 h), Mallos. Diademed head of Antiochos VII to right; behind, M/A. Rev. [Β]ΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ / ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟY - EYEPΓETOY Cult statue of Athena Magarsia standing facing on base, arms outstreched and wearing aegis, holding filleted spear in her right hand; to left and right of her head, star; to lower left and right, monograms. CSE 507 = Houghton, Mallus, 14 (A2/P3) = SC 2059.3a (this coin). Very rare and of great interest. Struck from a somewhat worn obverse die and with some weakness on the reverse, otherwise, good very fine.


The sanctuary of Athena Magarsia on Kap Karataş, near the mouth of the Pyramos river, originally belonged to the city of Mallos. However, recent archeological surveys have unveiled a planned Hellenistic settlement on the site much larger than the old sanctuary, which was protected by a city wall stretching for almost 6 km. Numerous inscriptions have revealed the city name Antiochia, indicating that Magarsia was refounded by the Seleukids in the late 3rd or 2nd century as Antiochia on the Pyramos, most likely to create a fortified harbor on a coast where Seleukid rule was traditionally challenged by the Ptolemies and piracy often running rampant.

Mallos, on the other hand, lay somewhat inland on a yet unidentified site, perhaps near a bifurcation of the Pyramos, as local Roman Provincial coins often show two river-gods swimming below the city-goddess. The city was home to an important Royal Seleukid mint, indicating that it remained an important military base even after the foundation of Antiochia on the Pyramos. Most of the mint's output retains the usual Royal reverse types. However, a small series struck under Demetrios II and Antiochos VII shows the cult statue of Athena Magarsia instead, attesting both the importance of her sanctuary as well as the close relationship between Antiochia on the Pyramos and its mother city of Mallos.