Cult Statue of Athena Magarsia - Eastern and Western Motifs

Sale: CNG 76, Lot: 798. Estimate $1250.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 12 September 2007.  Sold For $1375. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SELEUKID KINGS of SYRIA. Antiochos VII Euergetes (Sidetes). 138-129 BC. AR Tetradrachm (15.65 g, 12h). Mallos mint. Diademed head right; M/A behind / Cult statue of Athena Magarsia facing; EP and AS flanking feet. SNG Spaer -; Houghton, Mallus 13 var. (A2/P-; monogram not EP). VF, some roughness, as typical. Very rare.

From the Arthur Houghton Collection. Ex Classical Numismatic Group 69 (8 June 2005), lot 584.

The Temple of Athena at Magarsos, near Mallos, was an important cultic sanctuary in the Hellenistic period. The central statue of Athena Magarsia is known only from the handful of coins that have survived, and which show a blending of Greek and eastern motifs.