Eudoros, agoranomos (Seleucia Pieria)

Seleucia Pieria

1/2 Mina

Metal: Lead

Cast

Square

8.50 cm

8.70 cm

0.60 cm

Mass (g)	Mass (grain)	Date of measurement	Reference	fragmented	cleaned	reference weight
232.30	-	-	True and Hamma 1994	No	No	Yes

Symbol	Technique	Direction	Position	Number	Synecdoche
Anchor	Relief
Dolphin	Relief
Lattice pattern	Relief

True and Hamma 1994: Hellenistic, 151/150 B.C. Lead; H: 8.5 cm; w: 8.7 cm; Depth: irregular, approximately 0.6 cm; Weight: 232.3 g (Half-Mina of Seleucia Pieriae). Condition: Upper left corner missing; lower right corner bent. The obverse depicts a large anchor, framed by a plain, narrow border. Two dolphins flank the anchor, while a third is shown below it at the right. The piece is inscribed [ΣΕΛΕΥ]ΚΕΙΟΝ / ΒΞΡ ΕΠΙ / ΕΥΔΩΡΟΥ / ΗΜΙΜΝΑΙΟΝ (Of the Seleucids / 162 / under / Eudoros / half mina [162 of the Seleucid era = 151/150 B.C.]). The reverse is decorated with a rhomboid network pattern, whereas earlier pieces have a square net design. Syrian and Phoenician weights are dated according to several eras. The most frequently used are the eras of the Seleucid empire (beginning 312 B.C.), of Tyre (beginning 127/126 B.C.), and of Seleucia Pieriae itself (beginning 109/108 B.C.). The shape, design, and script of our piece suggest a late Hellenistic origin. The anchor is a common Seleucid emblem, widely used even by the Hasmoneans in their Jewish coinage after 100 B.C. The known weights of Seleucia Pieriae, the port of Antioch, are even more numerous than those of the main city, which hints at the great importance of the harbor for the metropolitan economy in Hellenistic and Roman times. E. Seyrig has published a mina of 544 grams from the Chandon de Briailles collection that shows the identical anchor, three dolphins, date letters, and an official’s name. The Chandon and the Fleischman specimens come from the same mold, a situation rarely ever encountered. Before the casting of the heavier Chandon piece the inscription for the denomination was recut, changing ΗΜΙΜΝΑΙΟΝ to ΜΝΑ and the last letter of the ethnikon from Ν to Ζ. (For one explanation of the latter change, see cat.no. 94.) The weight of the two pieces confirms these findings. As about a good tenth of the Fleischman piece is missing, its initial weight must have been approximately 260–270 grams, or half that of the Chandon specimen. Our early bronze elephant mina (cat. no. 94) and the two anchor pieces described above strengthen Seyrig’s assumption that in Antioch and Seleucia in the third and second centuries B.C. “a mina weighed between 500 and 600 grams.”
Getty Museum: Two dolphins flank an inverted anchor, while a third swims at the right on this Seleucid lead weight. The anchor and dolphins are common Seleucid symbols, referring to legends of the divine origins of Seleukos I, the dynasty's founder. According to these stories, the god Apollo supposedly fathered Seleukos and gave his mother a ring decorated with an anchor. The dolphin was Apollo's sacred animal. The inscription that surrounds the anchor reads: "Of the Seleucids / 162 / under / Eudoros / half-mina." The 162 in the inscription refers to the 162nd year of Seleucid rule or 151/150 B.C. A mina was the basic unit of weight used in the Seleucid Empire at this time. Although earlier made of bronze, by this time Seleucid official weights were being made from lead. The name Eudoros refers to the current agoranomos, the official responsible for overseeing the market. His duties included maintaining the quality and correct weight of goods.

No

Language	Technique	Legend type
Greek	Relief	Authority, Date, Denomination, Mint

[Σελεύ]κειον | βξρ´ – ἐπὶ | Εὐ–δ–ώ–ρου | ἡμιμναῖον.

GREEK

FROM -151 TO -150

Seleucid Era 162 = 151/150 BCE

Name	Date of acquisition	Inventory number
Fleischman Collection	Jan. 1, 1992	F294
Getty Museum – Getty Villa (Malibu)	Jan. 1, 1996	96.AI.145

Reference	Page/Column	Reference (number)	Plate / Figure	Comment
True and Hamma 1994	203–204	97	fig. 97	None
Getty Museum 1997–98	69

Same mold as https://pondera.incal.ucl.ac.be/artifact/3529/

http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/29666/unknown-maker-weight-with-anchor-and-dolphins-greek-seleucid-151-150-bc/