Apollo

1 Mina

Copper alloy (bronze or brass)

Cast

Square

5.87 cm (2.3125 inch)

5.56 cm (2.1875 inch)

2.22 cm (0.875 inch)

Mass (g)	Mass (grain)	Date of measurement	Reference	fragmented	cleaned	reference weight
455.80	-	-	Killen 2017	No	No	Yes

Symbol	Technique	Direction	Position	Number	Synecdoche
Lion	Relief				Head

The head of a lion decorates this weight. The ancient artist carved the lion in high relief, carefully incising details of the face and mane. A dotted inscription in Greek reads "of Apollo." It was a common practice in the ancient world for official weights to be kept in temples for safekeeping. The inscription implies that this weight was kept in a temple of Apollo, the god of music and prophecy. Although Apollo was most frequently associated with the lynx, the god was also connected with the lion as a sacred animal.

The back of the weight is plain except for a large rectangular hollow, which has been filled with lead. Signs of scraping show that the weight was calibrated. Flat, plaque weights were normally used in a simple balance scale, but here, the lion's mouth has been drilled out at the sides, perhaps for the insertion of a ring handle. Such a handle or loop would also allow the weight to be used on a steelyard scale. The piece weighs a mina, the standard common in the eastern Mediterranean region in Late Hellenistic and early Roman Imperial times.

No

Language	Technique	Legend type
Greek	Dotted	Authority

Ἀπόλλωνος

GREEK , ROMAN

FROM -200 TO 100

1st century B.C. - 1st century A.D.

Name	Date of acquisition	Inventory number
Fleischman Collection	Jan. 1, 1988	F6
Getty Museum – Getty Villa (Malibu)	Jan. 1, 1996	96.AC.183

Reference	Page/Column	Reference (number)	Plate / Figure	Comment
True and Hamma 1994	278	141
Bodel and Tracy 1997	11			(non vidi)
Getty Museum 1997–98	65
Mattusch 2014	92, 112-113, 116	79		(non vidi)
Killen 2017a	285	Appendix 2, Löwe, 2	None	(possible attribution to Miletos)

Roman weight, Eastern Mediterranean.
Killen 2017: Die Verbindung von Löwe und Apollon lässt zunächst an Milet denken. Jedoch konnte für Milet das Monogramm des Ethnikons als Parasemon nachgewiesen werden. Außerdem ist der milesische Löwe nur in der Frühzeit als frontaler Kopf dargestellt, später eher im Profil oder als ganze Figur. Die Inschrift könnte zudem darauf hinweisen, dass es sich um ein Votiv handelt; damit wäre die Deutung als Parasemon auszuschließen.

http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/29483/unknown-maker-weight-with-the-head-of-a-lion-roman-1st-century-bc-1st-century-ad/