Seleucia Pieria

1/4 Mina

Copper alloy (bronze or brass)

Cast

Square

7.20 cm

7.20 cm

0.50 cm

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

Symbol	Technique	Direction	Position	Number	Synecdoche
Zebu	Relief	LEFT	Walking
Anchor	Stamped / Countermarked / Struck
Lattice pattern	Relief

True and Hamma 1994: Hellenistic, first half of second century B.C. Bronze; H: 7.2 cm; w: 7.2 cm; Depth: 0.5 cm; Weight: 128 g (Tetarton = Quarter Mina of Seleucia Pieriae). Condition: Intact except for battered lower right corner. Provenance: Found near Adana (together with cat. no. 94). The weight is a square plaque. Its obverse has a plain molded frame and shows, in medium-low relief, a walking zebu seen in profile facing the viewer’s left. The piece is inscribed in relief letters. Above the figure ΣΕΛΕΥΚΕΙΟΝ (of the inhabitants of Seleucia). Below: ΤΕΤΑΡΤΟΝ (tetarton). The reverse has a very regular net pattern within a narrow raised border. The zebu, a humped Indian breed of bull known as a “Brahman” in the West today, had much the same appearance as the modern variety, and, like the elephant, was an appropriate symbol for an eastward-looking city founded by one of Alexander’s successors. A closely related lead tetarton of Antioch in Syria, with a zebu walking toward the right and the same net pattern, is in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris (see Seyrig; Babelon/Blanchet; Michon).
Getty Museum: Designed to be used with a simple pan balance, this weight bears an image of a zebu, a type of humped Indian breed, known today as a Brahma bull. The weight comes from Seleucia Pieria the port city of Antioch, the capital of the Seleucid Empire. The inscription "Seleukeion" above the bull gives its place of origin and indicates that this was an official weight, used as a standard against which commercial weights could be checked. The lower inscription gives the weight of the piece as a tetarton, which was a quarter of a mina, the basic unit of weight used in the Seleucid Empire at this time. A net pattern with a narrow raised border covers the back of the weight. Founded by one of Alexander the Great's generals, the Seleucid dynasty often used symbols alluding to Alexander's huge empire as a visual reminder of their origins and right to rule. Images such as the zebu and the elephant represented connections to India, the farthest reach of Alexander's empire. They were used on items produced by the Seleucid government, like coins and official weights.

No

Language	Technique	Legend type
Greek	Relief	Denomination, Mint

Σελεύκειον | τέταρτον.

GREEK

FROM -250 TO -100

Getty Museum: First half of 2nd century B.C. According to Seyrig 1946–48, p. 45–46: 301–187/6 BCE; Gatier 1994: mid-2nd c. BCE?

Name	Date of acquisition	Inventory number
Fleischman Collection	Dec. 31, 1988	F166
Getty Museum – Getty Villa (Malibu)	Dec. 31, 1996	96.AC.143

Reference	Page/Column	Reference (number)	Plate / Figure	Comment
True and Hamma 1994	202	95	fig. 95	None
Bodel and Tracy 1997	10			(non vidi)
Getty Museum 1997–98	65
Tekin 2025a	None	None	fig. 21	None

http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/29588/unknown-maker-weight-with-zebu-greek-seleucid-first-half-of-2nd-century-bc/