ARABIA, Eastern. Ikaros/Failaka (?). Series with horizontal Shin, circa 222-205/4 BCE. Tetradrachm (Silver, 27 mm, 16.03 g, 2 h), imitating Alexander 'the Great' (336-323 BCE). Head of Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headdress.
Rev. AΛEΞANΛPOY Zeus/Shams seated left on low throne, holding long scepter in his left hand and eagle standing right with closed wings in his right; to left, 𐩦 ('s²' in South Arabian, horizontally). Arnold-Biucchi 5f. CCK 104. Mørkholm, Failaka, fig. 3, 2-13. Price 3957. Slightly rough and with minor marks
, otherwise, very fine.
From an American collection.
The island of Ikaros (now Failaka, Kuwait) lies just 20 km off the coast of Kuwait. Archaeological excavations have revealed that the island hosted a Seleukid naval base that controlled the sea routes from Alexandria-Antioch-Charax, the main port city of southern Mesopotamia, to Tylos (Bahrain), where Seleucid military forces were also stationed. It is likely that Ikaros was administratively managed from Tylos, the central hub of the only recently discovered administrative district 'Tylos and the Islands'. Findings suggest that our coin may have been minted on Ikaros itself, possibly during a period when the island temporarily slipped from Seleukid control and came under indigenous governance.
