EGYPT, Achaemenid Province. Sabakes. Satrap, 340-333 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 25 mm, 17.15 g, 9 h). Head of Athena to right, wearing crested Attic helmet decorated with three olive leaves and palmette. Rev. 𐡎𐡅𐡉𐡊 - 𐡉𐡍𐡓 (?) ('swyk' - 'ynr' (?) in Aramaic) Owl standing right, head facing; to left, olive sprig and crescent; to right, crescent above thunderbolt ('Sabakes symbol'). Nicolet-Pierre, Satrapes, 18-26 (O11/-). Van Alfen, Owls, Type III, 24-34 (O11/-). Very rare and of great historical interest. Beautifully toned and with an unusually complete particularly well readable reverse. Faint scratches and the obverse struck from the usual somewhat worn die and with a test cut on the reverse, otherwise, good very fine.



Sabakes was appointed as Satrap of Egypt by Artaxerxes III (359-338 BC) following the king's successful campaign against Nektanebo II, the last independent native Pharaoh of Egypt. To pay its Greek mercenaries, the Persian government introduced a series of locally struck imitative Athenian owls. These coins initially bore the name of the Great King in Aramaic on the reverse, and later, that of the satrap Sabakes (written as 'swyk' in Aramaic). The reading of the second part of the legend, located behind the owl's head, remains disputed, and the 'ynr' mentioned in the description above is a suggestion based on our particularly clear example.

The fate of Sabakes is well-documented. He joined Darius III's forces in the Battle of Issus against Alexander the Great in 333 BC, where he died heroically defending his fleeing king. Following Sabakes' death, Mazaios succeeded him as Satrap of Egypt, only to surrender the province to Alexander in 332 BC without a fight, as the Persian garrison had been mostly withdrawn by Sabakes prior to the Battle of Issus.