THE city of Tarsus (Figure 1 – Map)is important for several reasons, and

as coins were minted there from the fifthcentury BC to the 3rd century AD it is ofconsiderable interest to numismatists.It is historically important firstly be-cause there has been a settlement therefor thousands of years and secondlybecause it was the home-town of SaintPaul, arguably the most important per-son in Christianity after Jesus Christhimself. Tarsus is situated on a plain south ofa range of snow-capped mountains calledthe Taurus Mountains in ancient times.Several rivers flow down from the moun-tains across the plain. (Figure 2 –Map) The Cydnus River actually flowedthrough the city until the Byzantineemperor Justinian I (527 – 565 AD)moved the main course of the river to

the east to prevent flooding in the city.The region that included the plain andthe mountainous region to the west wascalled Cilicia. Tarsus was about 20 kilometres fromthe coast, but south of the city the CydnusRiver flowed into a lake which served asa harbour for Tarsus. Eventually theharbour silted up and became a swamp.The road north from Tarsus traversedthe mountains at a narrow pass calledthe Cilician Gates. Trade from Syria tothe important Greek cities on the coastof the Aegean Sea went through thispass. At the same time the influence ofGreek civilization extended eastwardsalong this road and was felt particularlyat Tarsus, which became a melting potof cultures from the East and the West. Cilicia was part of the Hittite Empire,and Tarsus is mentioned in Hittite texts.

The Hittite Empire existed from about1800 to 1200 BC when it was overrun bylarge migrations of people that includedthe Sea People. The Sea People weregroups of aggressive seafarers who in-vaded the land around the eastern partof the Mediterranean Sea. Following thecollapse of the Hittite Empire independ-ent kingdoms arose in Anatolia andCilicia, but with the rise of the AssyrianEmpire in the 9th century Tarsus cameunder Assyrian influence. Similarly afterthe Persian king Cyrus I came into powerin 547 BC Tarsus continued under Per-sian control until Alexander the Greatdefeated the Persians in 333 BC.

The first coins were minted at Tar-sus in about 450 BC during the PersianPeriod. Although under Persian controlat this time Tarsus was ruled by a dy-nasty of native kings, but from about400 BC the Persians exerted more directrule through governors (satraps). Duringthe period 450 – 400 BC the dynasty thatruled Tarsus used the name ‘Syennesis’as a title and a variety of coins wasminted at Tarsus. As the ruler and dateare not indicated on the coins it is notpossible to be certain which king wasresponsible but the coins usually bear thename ‘Tarsus’ in Aramaic (Figure 3). Asilver stater with a horse and rider on theobverse and a soldier on the reverse hasbeen attributed to Syennesis III who wasking of Cilicia from about 420 to 400 BC.(Figure 4) The soldier wears a Corin-thian helmet and holds a shield with

Figure 1 – Map showing some of the cities visited by St Paul.

TheCoins of Tarsus

Part 1The Persian

Periodby Peter E. Lewis

the gorgoneion (head of Medusa) on it.The helmet and the Medusa indicatethat he is a Greek soldier, perhaps amercenary, and the coins might havebeen used to pay Greek mercenaries.Other coins minted at Tarsus during thisperiod show a Persian archer (Figure 5),the city walls (Figure 6) and the godNergal (Figure 7). We know it is Nergalbecause his name in Aramaic appears onthe coin. He was the Mesopotamian godof war, and he has a spear and a bowwith a lion’s skin hanging over his back.He was equated with the Phoenician god,Melqart, and the Greek god, Heracles(Hercules), who also had a lion’s skin.Nergal was also a god of vegetation,

which explains the sacred tree behindhim on the coin. Both Nergal and thehorseman on the obverse hold a lotusflower. The numismatists at Roma Num-ismatics explain the significance of theflower: “The lotus appears only sporad-ically in Greek and near-Eastern myth-ology, though it has a well attested usein Egyptian art and legend, where itwas taken as a symbolic representationof the sun on account of its physicalbehaviour: it closes at night time anddescends into the water, rising and flow-ering again at dawn, thus also becomingby extension a symbol of the eternal cycleof death and rebirth.”

There is a very interesting coin inthis horseman series. On the reverse itshows a Persian and a Greek soldier(Figure 8) but what the scene repre-sents is unknown. Is the Persian helping

a wounded Greek or is he about to killhim? Perhaps he is lifting the head ofthe Greek to give him a drink from a bowlin his right hand. All the coins from thisperiod, 450 – 400 BC, are very rare. After 400 BC when Tarsus was ruledby Persian satraps the names of variousPersian generals appear on the coins ofTarsus. The first is Tiribazos. He was thesatrap of Lydia but in 386 he was put incharge of a war against the king ofSalamis in Cyprus and to raise moneyfor the campaign silver staters wereminted at several Cilician towns including

Figure 2 – Map of Cilicia, based on the maps in ‘The Cities of St Paul’ by Sir William Ramsay.

Figure 3 – The name, Tarsus, in Aramaic. Ara-maic is read from right to left and vowels arenot shown.

Figure 4 – Silver stater of Tarsus probably is-sued by Syennesis III, circa 425 – 400 BC. TheAramaic letters for TRZ (Tarsus) appear in theupper right of the reverse. (Dr Busso PeusNachfolger, Auction 409, Lot 154)

Figure 5 – Silver stater of Tarsus from the period 420 – 400. There is a horseman, probably Syen-nesis III, on the obverse and a Persian archer on the reverse with a monogram behind. (Dr BussoPeus Nachfolger, Auction 31, Lot 201)

Tarsus. On one stater the standing figurecould be either Zeus, the chief god of theGreeks, or Ba’al, the chief god of theSyrians and Phoenicians. The Aramaicword, Ba’al, just means ‘Lord’. On thereverse the Persian god, Ahura Mazda,appears as a man rising from a solar

disc with wings and tail feathers. (Fig-ure 9) Religions from the East and theWest are represented on this coin whichwas apparently intended to appeal tosoldiers from all over the Persian Em-pire. Another coin of Tiribazos showsAthena, the Greek warrior-goddess, on

the obverse, and on the reverse there awoman kneeling down to toss astragaloi(knuckle bones) which were used likedice. (Figure 10) It would have appealedto the Greek soldiers. In 379 BC the Persian general Pharn-abazos was given the task of reconquer-ing Egypt for the Persians, and againcoins were minted at Tarsus to finance

Figure 6 – Silver stater of Tarsus from the period circa 455 – 400 showing the walls of the city and the forepart of a bull.Below the bull is the same monogram as on the coin in Figure 5. (Roma Numismatics, Auction 16, Lot 326)

Figure 7 – Silver stater of Tarsus from the period 440 – 400 showing a horseman on the obverseand the god Nergal on the reverse. (Roma Numismatics, Auction 16, Lot 330)

Figure 8 – Silver stater of Tarsus from the period circa 450 – 400 showing a horseman on the ob-verse. On the reverse there is a Persian soldier with a bow and quiver behind his shoulder anda Greek soldier wearing a crested Greek helmet. (Roma Numismatics, Auction 16, Lot 325)

Figure 9 – Silver stater of Tiribazos, satrap ofLydia (388 – 380), minted at Tarsus from 386.Obverse: Zeus or Ba’al holds an eagle. TheAramaic word to the right is Tiribazos. Reverse:Ahura Mazda holds a wreath and a lotus flower.(Classical Numismatic Group, Mail Bid Sale 66,Lot 601. Website: cngcoins.com)

the operation. Pharnabazos was thesatrap of a region in north-western Ana-tolia, and the coins would have appealedto Greek mercenaries because on theobverse was the head of the nymphArethusa, a figure in Greek mythology.It had been copied from a coin mintedat Syracuse in Sicily and engraved byKimon whose work was much admiredand copied in other cities. (Figure 11) Onthe reverse of the coin of Pharnabazos(Figure 12) there is the helmeted headof a bearded soldier with the name Pharn-abazos in Aramaic, and one would assumethat he was the person depicted, but asthe same head appears on other coins itis often suggested that it is Ares, theGreek god of war. Another coin of Pharn-abazos has the same reverse but on theobverse there is the Ba’al of Tarsus seatedon a throne and holding a sceptre witha lotus flower on the top. (Figure 13)In 378 another Persian general, Dat-

ames, was appointed to assist Pharn-abazos in his task of reconquering Egypt.Datames was the satrap of Cappadocia,the region north of the Taurus Moun-tains. He also minted coins at Tarsus,but when Pharnabazos died in 374 hewas given sole command of the Egyptiancampaign. One of his coins has the Ba’alof Tarsus on the obverse but he is holdinga bunch of grapes and an ear of corn, a

Figure 11 – Tetradrachm minted at Syracuse in 405-400 BC and signed by Kimon on Arethusa’sheadband. (Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 27, Lot 118).

Figure 12 – Silver stater of Pharnabazos minted at Tarsus from 379. Obverse: head of Arethusa.Reverse: helmeted head with the name Pharnabazos in Aramaic. (Classical Numismatic Group,Triton V Auction, Lot 1473)

Figure 13 – Silver stater of Pharnabazos minted at Tarsus from 379. Obverse: Ba’al enthronedwith BLTRZ in Aramaic letters meaning Ba’al Tarz (Lord of Tarsus). Reverse: helmeted head withAramaic letters PRNBZW (Pharnabazos) and HLK (Khilik = Cilicia). (Classical Numismatic Group,Triton V Auction, Lot 1472)

Figure 10 – Silver stater of Tiribazos minted at Tarsus. Obverse: Athena. Reverse: woman toss-ing astragaloi (off flan). There is a lotus flower on the right. (Roma Numismatics, ElectronicAuction 18, Lot 445)

Figure 14 – Silver stater of Datames minted atTarsus from 378. Obverse: Ba’al of Tarsus en-throned with the forepart of a bull (cf. Figure6) below the throne. There is an incenseburner in the background. The crenelated bor-der represents the battlements of the city. Re-verse: Datames seated. (Classical NumismaticGroup, Mail Bid Sale 64, Lot 338)

reference to his being a god of vegetationand fertility. On the reverse there is aseated man examining an arrow, andas he is wearing the headdress andclothes of a Persian satrap he is probablyDatames himself. Above him is the sym-bol of Ahura Mazda, and to the left arethe Aramaic letters for TRKMW (Tarku-muwa, another name of Datames). (Fig-ure 14) Another coin of Datames hasthe same obverse but on the reverse thePersian sky god, Ana, points to Datameswho points to himself apparently as agesture of veneration. (Figure 15) On anobol issued during the period 380-360

Heracles appears on the obverse withAphrodite on the reverse. (Figure 16)Heracles was a superhero very popularwith the Greeks as was the sexy Aphro-dite (Venus).The next satrap to mint coins at Tar-sus was Mazaios. He ruled Cilicia from361 to just before Alexander the Greatinvaded the region in 333 and he mintedseveral coins at Tarsus. They have theBa’al of Tarsus on the obverse and usu-ally a lion on the reverse. (Figure 17)On one coin the lion is attacking a bullabove two parallel rows of walls and thereis a long inscription in Aramaic which

Figure 15 – Silver stater of Datames minted atTarsus from 378. Obverse: Ba’al of Tarsus. Re-verse: Ana on the left points to Datames. Thereis an incense burner between them. The Ara-maic letters are ANA to the left and TRKMW tothe right. (Classical Numismatic Group, TritonV Auction, Lot 1474)

Figure 16 – Silver obol issued during the period 380-360. Diameter 10 mms. On the obverse theyoung head of Heracles has lion’s paws tied around the neck. This obverse is usually incorrectlydescribed as a female head. On the reverse Aphrodite wears a necklace, earrings and a sexydress. (Fritz Rudolf Künker Auction 97, Lot 889).

means “Mazaios, Governor of Transe-uphrates (Beyond the River) and Cilicia.”(Figure 18) “Beyond the River” was theofficial Persian name for the districtbetween the Euphrates River and theMediterranean Sea, and it includedYehud (Judaea) with its capital, Jeru-salem. From 351 Mazaios was not onlygovernor of Cilicia but also of the regionthat included Jerusalem. David Hendin,in the 4th edition of his Guide to BiblicalCoins suggested that the walls onMazaios’ coin were the newly rebuilt

walls of Jerusalem. Because the walls arein parallel Sir William Ramsey thoughtthey represented the Syrian Gates (themountain pass between Syria and Cili-cia). As the walls look like the walls on thecoin in Figure 6 they might just be thewalls of Tarsus, which was Mazaios’administrative capital. In 334 Mazaios was appointed governorof Babylon, and Arsames was appointedgovernor of Cilicia. At the time the Per-sian Empire included most of what istoday Turkey and extended eastwards

to the border with India. In 333 Alexan-der the Great defeated the Persian armynear Issos in the eastern part of Ciliciaand progressed down to Egypt. Eventu-ally he conquered the whole of the Per-sian Empire, but when he arrived atTarsus he bathed in the cold water of theCydnus River and subsequently becamevery ill with a fever and almost died.What caused the illness is unknown butif he had died the history of the worldwould have been very different. Arsames issued no coins that can beattributed to him, and the coin attributedto him by David Sear in Greek Coinsand their Values (Coin 5653) should beattributed to Balakros, who was the sonof one of Alexander’s bodyguards. Alex-ander appointed Balakros governor ofCilicia with the task of subduing thewhole of Asia Minor. Balakros mintedseveral coins at cities in Cilicia includingTarsus. One of them is similar to the coinof Mazaios in Figure 16, but there is, ofcourse, no mention of Transeuphrates,and in the upper field there is the clubof Heracles. (Figure 19) Heracles was afavourite god of the Greeks. Alexander’sfamily in Macedonia claimed to be des-cended from him, and Alexander thoughtof himself as a reincarnation of Heracles.Another coin of Balakros is very Greek.It has the Ba’al of Tarsus on the obversewith the usual grapes and grain but inthe right field there is an ivy leaf. (Figure

Figure 17 – Silver stater of Mazaios minted at Tarsus from 361 to 334. Obverse: Ba’al of Tarsussits holding a lotus-tipped sceptre. Reverse: Lion with MZDY in Aramaic. (Classical NumismaticGroup, Triton XVIII Auction, Lot 83)

Figure 18 – Silver stater of Mazaios minted at Tarsus from 361 to 334. Obverse: Ba’al of Tarsussits holding an eagle-tipped sceptre. To the left there are an ear of grain and a bunch of grapes.Below the throne is the Aramaic letter for M. Reverse: A lion attacks a bull above walls, and thereis a long Aramaic inscription. (Classical Numismatic Group, Triton XVIII Auction, Lot 81)

Figure 19 – Silver stater of Balakros, governor of Cilicia from 333 to 328, minted at Tarsus.Obverse: Ba’al ofTarsus. Reverse: club of Heracles above lion attacking bull with city walls below.(Fritz Rudolf Künker Auction 94, Lot 1358)

Figure 20 – Silver stater of Balakros minted atTarsus. Obverse: a god sits holding a lotus-tipped sceptre with grapes and an ear of grainto the left. To the right there is an ivy leaf andB. Reverse: facing bust of Athena. (Gorny &Mosch Auction 159, Lot 237)

20) As ivy was a symbol of the Greekgod Dionysus it seems that Balakros isequating the god on the coin with Diony-sus. Above the leaf the B stands for Bal-akros, and below the throne the T standsfor Tarsus. On the reverse Athena wearsa triple-crested helmet. Other similar coins have a peculiarfeature: the B for Balakros has beenerased. (Figure 21) According to theClassical Numismatic Group numisma-tists this was done deliberately. In 328Balakros was killed fighting the Pisidiansin a region north-west of Cilicia, but thiswould not warrant the B being erasedfrom the dies used to strike these coins.

The solution to this mystery is probablyprovided by another coin of Balakroswhich flagrantly shows his full name onthe obverse. (Figure 22) On the coin thereis no mention of Alexander who was atthe time in some remote part of Asia.There is not even the club of Heracles. Soit seems that Balakros was going to cre-ate a kingdom for himself with Dionysusas his patron god. Subsequently Tarsus became a major

mint for tetradrachms in the name ofAlexander. They were minted in manycities and they all look the same exceptfor the mint symbol, which for Tarsus wasa plough. (Figure 23) On the obverse

there is the head of Heracles wearing alion’s head headdress with the lion’s pawstied around his neck. On the reverseZeus sits enthroned with the Greekword AΛΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ (of Alexander) to theright. Zeus holds an eagle, which is hissymbol, so there is no doubt which godis shown. Being a sky god, an eagle wasa fitting attribute for him. These coinswere issued for many years after Alex-ander died in 323. The Greek warriorgoddess, Athena, reappears on gold coinsof Alexander (Figure 24) but this timeshe is in profile, like Ares on the earlierPersian coins. The story of the amaz-ing coins of Tarsus will be continued inPart 2.

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Figure 22 – Silver stater of Balakros minted at Tarsus. Obverse: Dionysus sits enthroned witha bunch of grapes to the left and the Greek word ΒΑΛΑΚΡΟΥ (of Balakros) to the right. Belowthe throne is the letter T for Tarsus. Reverse: facing bust of Athena. (Classical Numismatic Group,Electronic Auction 148, Lot 202)

Figure 23 – Tetradrachm of Alexander the Great minted at Tarsus from 327 to 323 BC. Obverse:head of Heracles. Reverse: Zeus enthroned. Price 3018b. (Author’s Collection)

Figure 24 – Gold stater of Alexander the Greatminted at Tarsus from about 333 to 327 BC.Obverse: Athena wears a Corinthian helmet.Reverse: Nike (Victory) holds a wreath. (GeminiAuction V, Lot 386).

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Figure 21 – A coin like that in Figure 20 but the B has been erased. On this coin it is still faintly visible. (Classical Numismatic Group, Triton VI Auction, Lot 440)