Damon, agoranomos (Berytos)

Berytos

1/4 Mina

Lead

Cast

Rectangle

5.60 cm

6.50 cm

0.80 cm

Mass (g)	Mass (grain)	Date of measurement	Reference	fragmented	cleaned	reference weight
138.90	-	Jan. 15, 2019	Autopsy Charles Doyen	No	No	Yes
138.90	-	-	Louvre	No	No	No
139.45	-	-	Dain 1933	No	No	No

Symbol	Technique	Direction	Position	Number	Synecdoche
Cornucopia	Relief
Egg and dart pattern	Relief
Lattice pattern	Relief
Sign of Tanit	Relief
Bunch of grapes	Relief

Sawaya 2023: Square lead cast weight with suspension loops squashed Dimensions: 63 × 57 × 7.5 mm (17, including the loop) and 58 mm (18). Mass: 138.9 g (17) and 149 g (18). Issued from two different molds. Preservation: very good. Dain 1933, p. 197-198, no. 237; Seyrig 1950b, p. 31, note 40; Seyrig’s archives: files HS 150-II, HS 332, and HS 337-II, no. 11; Kushnir-Stein 2005, p. 17*-18*; Finkielsztejn 2012, p. 140, note 17, no. 27. Denomination: quarter mina. Obverse: vertical cornucopia (in center), L–ΚΣ | Δ–Α | ΜΟ–ΝΟ | C Α–ΓΟ | ΡΑ– Δ– (in field), ‘Year 220, Damôn, being agoranomos, quarter mina’, all within a simple square frame surrounded by a raised border with egg-and-dart pattern. Reverse: lattice pattern with monogram {Sign of Tanit}. Agoranomos: Damôn. Findspot: findspot of no. 17 is unknown; no. 18 was found with no. 16 to the North of the Vieux Sérail at the place des Canons in Beirut. Acquisition: 17) musée du Louvre, catalogue number Br 4177, entry number MND 1423, purchased in 1925 (ex Georges Tabbagh Collection); 18) Musée national de Beyrouth, presently lost. Photographic credits: 17) musée du Louvre/Hervé Lewandowski; 18) Henri Seyrig, File HS 332, Béryte 11 (obverse photograph).
Dain 1933: Poids carré en plomb, autrefois pourvu d’une patte dont il ne reste que l’attache. À l’intérieur d’un encadrement à ornements géométriques, l’inscription, de part et d’autre d’une corne d’abondance; au revers, quadrillage et signe. Haut. Avec l’attache de la patte 0m064; côté 0m058; épaiss. 0m005; poids 139 gr. 45; lettres 0m005; interl. 0m001. L KΣ Α ΤΑ ΜΟ ΝΟ CΑ ΦΟ ΡΑ Δ = Λ κσ´ Ἀτάμονος ἀγορα Δ (“L’an 220. Atamon étant agoranome. Quart [de mine]”). Au revers, signe de Tanit. Poids daté de l’an 220, sans doute de l’ère des Seleucides, soit de l’an 92 avant J.-C.
Louvre: Poids (carré, au centre une corne d’abondance (?), inscriptions, revers avec carrés et triangle surmonté d’un cercle souligné d’une barre (partie supérieure d’une croix d’ankh).)

Yes

Language	Technique	Legend type
Greek	Relief	Authority, Date, Denomination

     KΣ̣

Δ         Α

ΜΟ  ΝΟ

󰃂󰄁    ΓΟ

Ρ󰄁      Δ̣´

(Ἔτους) – κσ̣´ | Δ–ά|μ⟨ω⟩–νο|ς ἀ–γο|ρα(νόμου) | (τέταρτον).

L. 2–4: Δ–ά|μο–νο|ς, Ἀτά|μονος (Dain, SEG).

GREEK

FROM -93 TO -92

Seleucid Era 220 = 93/92 BCE.

Name	Date of acquisition	Inventory number
Louvre Museum (Paris)	Oct. 31, 1925	Br. 4177 (MND 1423)

Reference	Page/Column	Reference (number)	Plate / Figure	Comment
Dain 1933	197–198	237	None	None
SEG 07	105	806	None	None
Seyrig 1950c	31, n. 40	None	None	(non vidi) (attribution to Berytos)
Seyrig (archives)	None	HS 332	None	(attribution to Berytos)
Kushnir-Stein 2005	17*–18*	None	None	None
SEG 55	None	1629, 3	None	(non vidi)
Finkielsztejn 2012	140, n. 17	27	None	None
Gatier 2014	153–154	None	None	None
IGLS VIII/1	None	None	None	None
Sawaya 2023	91–92, 111	17	fig. 17	None

L. 5: δ´ (?) = τέταρτον? See Kushnir-Stein 2005: An indication of a weight unit seems to be present also on the weight dated to the year 220 (93/2 BCE) (Dain 1933: 197-198, No. 237). It weighs 139.45 g and has a delta (Δ) at the end of the inscription; a delta would normally indicate "a quarter" ( of a mina). A short line adjoins the upper end of the delta on the right, apparently showing that the letter should be understood as a digit. The weight of the item corresponds to one fourth of the widely used Seleucid mina standard of 550-600 g.
IGLS VIII/1: L. 5. δʹ pour τέταρτον (Dain, SEG, Kushnir-Stein), αʹ (Seyrig, Finkielsztejn).
IGLS VIII/1: Provenant de « Syrie » selon A. Dain, attribué à Beyrouth par H. Seyrig (et à Tyr par G. Finkielsztejn). Julien Aliquot (personal communication): attribution to Berytos.
See https://pondera.uclouvain.be/artifact/12069/
The “letter” that looks like a “T” or a “Φ” (l. 2) is actually a grape.
Pictures are available in Seyrig’s archives (HS 332, 337 II).

https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010292211