SAMARIA. 'Middle Levantine' Series. Circa 375-333 BC. Quarter M'h (Silver, 7 mm, 0.20 g, 7 h). Head of a satrap to right, wearing bashlyk. Rev. Wounded stag or antelope lying to right, head turned back to left; arrow embedded in shoulder. Jeselsohn 239. Meshorer & Qedar 137. Extremely rare and perhaps the finest known example. In exceptional condition for the issue and with a wonderful reverse. The obverse struck somewhat off center, otherwise, extremely fine.


This remarkable piece, dating back to the Achaemenid era, features a satrap’s portrait on its obverse and the depiction of a stag or antelope wounded by an arrow on its reverse. This imagery undoubtedly alludes to hunting, a pastime highly prized among Persian nobility and eagerly pursued within the paradeisos, the expansive royal Persian gardens. The word itself originates from the Avestan pairi-daēza (literally 'enclosed area') and referred, in Greek, to an animal park or garden. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, it was used for the Garden of Eden, thus finding its way - now with distinctly religious connotations - into modern languages.