ISSN: 0041-4255
e-ISSN: 2791-6472

A Group of Unknown Coins in Antalya Museum

Melih Arslan, Chris Lıghtfoot, Cihan Tibet

Keywords: Antalya Museum, Coin, Numismatic, Lycia

A GROUP OF UNKNOWN COINS IN

ANTALYA MUSEUM

MELİH ARSLAN-CHRIS LIGHTFOOT-CİHAN TİBET

This small collection of bronze coins forms an uniform group and probably represents a small hoard, since all of the coins are in a similar condition and have the same patina, although two examples are noticeably more worn on the obverse (cat. nos. 1 and 5). They were purchased as a single lot by the Antalya Archaeological Museum from a villager called Rasim Aynur in 1995. The coins were recorded by the present authors in the spring of 1997 as part of a project aimed at studying die numismatic collections in die museum[ ].

The importance of these five small coins lies in die fact that they provide die first numismatic evidence for the existence of a city called Kitannaura, oj Kitannauvrwn[ ]. This name appears in a number of garbled permutations in the late Roman bishops' lists and has been identified with a place called Kanaura (Kavnaura/Tavnaura) which, according to Hierokles (679.8), was situated between Trebenna and Termessos[3]. An inscription dating from the reign of Claudius found recently at Patara during the excavations conducted by Prof. Dr. Fahri Işık confirms the existence of a city called Kitanaura. The inscription, which marks the formation of the Roman province of Lycia- Pamphylia in AD 43, provides an exhaustive list of roads and cities within die new province[4]. As a result of fieldwork conducted by Cihan Tibet, the site of the city may be more closely located as being in the mountainous north­western part of the Kerner District, where ancient ruins have been observed near die villages of Hisarçam and Gölcük.

No issues belonging to this city-mint have previously been recognised. These examples, all of the same type but all from different dies, resemble a coin attributed to Termessos Minor, which also has a bust of Artemis on the obverse and, on the reverse, a standing figure tentatively identified as Hermes, while in the field to the right of the figure is the legend TE. The figure on the reverse of the present coins also probably represents a local Lycian deity. Both types must represent issues of the late Hellenistic period.

CATALOGUE

Lycia, Kitanaura

AE. Late 2st century BC-early 1st century AD.

Obv. Bust of Artemis r.; bow and quiver over shoulder.

Rev. KITA(vertically to 1.). Naked youthful male figure standing facing front, r. arm raised in salutation.

  1. - Inv. 12132. 17 mm, 4.67 g, 12h.
  2. - Inv. 12133. 21 mm, 4.30 g, 12h.
  3. - Inv. 12134. 17.5 mm, 4.34 g, 12h.
  4. - Inv. 12135. 19.5 mm, 5.18 g, 12h.
  5. - Inv. 12136. 18 mm, 4.25 g, 12h. Rev. Dotted border.

Figure 1. Res. 1- Likyalı Yerli Tanrı Kakastıos kabartması.

Figure 2. -

Footnotes

  1. We would like to thank the General Directorate of Monuments and Museums at the Turkish Ministry of Culture for permission to carry out this research. We are also grateful to Mr. Metin Pehlivaner, the Director of the Antalya Archaeological Museum, for his assistance and support. Chris Lightfoot's participation in the project was facilitated by a grant from the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara.
  2. Not. 9.409; cf. J. Darrouzes, Notitiae episcopatuutn Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae (Paris 1981 ).x.
  3. L. Zgusta, Kleinasiatische Ot'tsnamen (Heidelberg 1984), p. 222 425,1-2.
  4. The inscription is presently being studied by Prof. Dr. Sencer Şahin

Şekil ve Tablolar

Figure 1. Res. 1- Likyalı Yerli Tanrı Kakastıos kabartması.
Figure 2. -