Coins of Gortyn

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The ancient coins of Gortyn came from the middle of the 5th century BC. In circulation. As with most cities on Crete , the minting of mythological coin motifs is also dominant in Gortyn . All Cretan silver coins are staters , which have a weight between 11.50 g and 12 g and their coin base is based on the Aeginetic standard. The stater is a didrachm.

Chronology of coinage

Historically, Crete, lying on the edge of the Greek cultural area, is of little importance after the fall of the Minoan - Mycenaean civilization. In the centuries that followed, a number of independent poleis formed , including Gortyn, which has been settled since the Neolithic and is also mentioned in Homer's Iliad .

  • A very close relationship is known between Aegina and Crete; probably because the Aeginites from 520 BC Chr. Cydonia populated on the north coast of the island. This is probably the reason that the Cretans initially did not produce any independent coins, but rather the Aeginite staters between approx. 480 and 457 BC. Imitated BC. They were also used as planets for the first independent coins .
  • The first autonomous Cretan coins were made between around 450 and 425 BC. Minted in Gortyn and Phaistos . At that time they must have been in a close alliance, as they developed identical types: Europa on a bull on the front and, in Incusum, a frontal lion head in a square frame on the back. As a coin legend, the retrograde inscription ΓOPTVNOΣ TO CAΣMA or ΓOPTVNOΣ TO CΑΙΜΑ [ΕΙΜΙ] (“I am the coin of Gortyn”) can be found here and there. The coins in the two cities are still extremely clumsy. The lion depiction does not seem to have any relation to a local myth, but it was struck on coins from Cyrene at the end of the 6th century or at the beginning of the 5th century and consistently on ancient Sami coins. Since this is a very well-known coin type at this point in time, it could have been adopted by Phaistos and Gortyn, who was the more dominant partner, in the absence of other local representations of relevance and individuality. In addition to the lion's head, there are also embossings with the head of Hermes on the back.
  • Only from 380 BC There was a wider range with a noticeable improvement in style and finish. In the middle of the 4th century, the alliance between Gortyn and Phaistos seemed to have dissolved, as new and individual coins from the two cities were now available. For Gortyn this is still Europe on the front, but from now on mostly sitting in a plane tree and on the back there is a single motif of a bull looking around. Occasionally there is ΓOPTY as a coin legend.
  • Around 320 BC Aeginite straters or older Gortynian and phaist coins were no longer used as flots for minting, but were of foreign origin. Most were from Cyrene and some from Boeotia and Sicyon . The dependence on imported silver remained.
  • From approx. 270 BC. The Aeginite standard was discarded and the Phoenician was changed to . From now on the standard was a didrachm of 6.21 g to 6.68 g. The explanation for the change is apparently to be found in the fact that Cyrene also used the Phoenician coinage at this time. By using these coins for the Cretan flans, the transition is only logical.
  • The first bronze coins were made around 260 BC. BC or 250 BC Made because less and less money came from outside to Crete. The reason for this is seen in the decrease in the recruitment of Cretan mercenaries. Less and less pay money reached the island and thus the available material for silver coinage also decreased. The issue of bronze coins was adopted and the use of silver coins was forbidden with a few exceptions. These were those silver coins that were already badly worn; they were counterstamped and used for war purposes.

Motifs

On the front Europa sitting on a plane tree, on the back Zeus as a bull. Illustration from Greek coins and their parent cities (1902)

The central motif of the Gortyn coins on the obverse is the Phoenician princess Europa sitting on a bull or in a plane tree and on the reverse a bull looking back, representing the transformed Zeus . This interpretation can be explained on the basis of the myth about Europe and Zeus. After the kidnapping of Europa, Zeus arrives at the Cretan coast, where he sheds his animal form. According to legend, this arrival should have happened in Gortyn. The mythical king of Crete, Minos, is said to have been conceived there under a plane tree by Zeus and Europe. According to legend, it was an evergreen plane tree that was venerated as a sacred tree in Gortyn. In connection with the local myth and Gortyn as the issuing city of coins, it is possible to identify women as Europe. On coin images from 300 BC The iconography is even clearer, as an eagle, a clear attribute of Zeus, was struck in the lap of Europa.

particularities

The city of Sybrita in central Crete was allied with Gortyn in the fourth century and took over between 360 and 330 BC. The staters of Gortyn with the representation of Europe and Zeus in the form of a bull. They can be distinguished primarily by the legend ΣΙΒΡΙΤΙΩΝ. Furthermore, the Europa sits on the stateres of Sybrita facing to the left in the plane tree, on those of Gortyn, however, always to the right. As far as is known so far, only a marginal number of this coinage exist. Although the adaptation of the motif only lasted three decades, the contract between the two cities lasted much longer, but one cannot speak of an alliance for the period mentioned.

literature

  • Ioannis N. Svoronos : Numismatique de la Crète ancienne, accompagnée de l'histoire, la géographie et la mythologie de l'ile , Macon 1890 (reprint Habelt, Bonn 1972).
  • Georges LeRider : Monnaies crétoises du Ve au Ier siècle av. J.-C. , Paris 1966.
  • Peter R. Franke , Max Hirmer : The Greek Mint , Hirmer, Munich 1972.
  • Colin M. Kraay : Archaic and Classical Greek Coins , London 1976.

Web links

Commons : Coins of Gortyn  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Homer , Ilias 2-646 Archived copy ( Memento of May 31, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ^ Peter R. Franke: The Greek Mint , Munich 1972, p. 113.
  3. On the theories about the origin of the planets for Crete from Cyrene s. Georges LeRider: Monnaies crétoises du Ve au Ier siècle av. J.-C. , Paris 1966, pp. 134-146.