Topoi

The cult of Helios in the Seleucid East

Catharine Lorber, Panagiotis Iossif

Citer ce document / Cite this document :

Lorber Catharine, Iossif Panagiotis. The cult of Helios in the Seleucid East. In: Topoi, volume 16/1, 2009. pp. 19-42;

doi : 10.3406/topoi.2009.2289

http://www.persee.fr/doc/topoi_1161-9473_2009_num_16_1_2289

Document gnr le 21/05/2016

 THE CULT OF HELIOS IN THE SELEUCID EAST

The coins of the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164 B.C.)

associate him with various celestial attributes and symbols stars at the ends of
his diadem ties, a star above his head, or rays about his head. The iconography
is considered innovative within the Seleucid tradition, but we can trace certain
antecedents in the Seleucid east. Our purpose here is to develop the background
especially the Seleucid background for interpreting allusions to Helios on the
eastern coinages of Antiochus IV*.

I. Early Seleucid testimonia for the cult of Helios in the East

The written record is extremely poor concerning the worship of Greek deities
in Seleucid Mesopotamia. And the cult of Helios is only rarely attested by eastern
Hellenistic material sources, whether Greek, Babylonian, or Iranian. The poor
survival rate of eastern coins and certain other documents may be responsible, at
least in part, for the scanty evidence. The most important example is a set of five
inscribed tablets found at Persepolis, which were presumably affixed to altars.
One of the tablets names Helios; the other four are inscribed in the names of Zeus
Megistos, Athena Basileia, Artemis, and Apollo (Figs.1-3). Louis Robert referred
to a magnificent script of the early Hellenistic period1. Josef Wiesehfer proposed
a date in the late fourth century, under Peukestas 2. The tablets were formally

* This paper partly draws on presentations made at two international conferences,

Networks in the Greek World, Rethymnon 26-28 May 2006, and Royal Cult and
Emperor Worship, Athens 1-2 November 2007. We express our sincere thanks to
Andreas Blasius, Arthur Houghton, Oliver D. Hoover, and Vito Messina for reading
drafts of an earlier version of this paper and offering their comments. Any remaining
errors of interpretation are entirely our responsibility.

1. Robert 1967, p.282.

2. Wiesehfer, 1994, p.72-73 and 89.

Topoi 16 (2009)
p.19-42

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published by Filippo Canali de Rossi, who dated them to Alexanders lifetime 3.

The archaeological context of this major discovery has yet to be reported. Thus
the only elements available to us for dating the tablets are the Greek inscriptions
giving the names of the divinities.
Modern scholars since Robert seem to overestimate palaeographical evidence
for the dating of these monuments, ignoring the chronological implications of
the religious composition of this pantheon. Of the five divinities named on these
altar-tablets, only two (or perhaps three) were strongly associated with Alexander.
Athena, patroness of his eastern expedition, was portrayed on the obverse of his
gold staters. Alexander claimed to be the son of Zeus and honored the god on the
reverse of his silver coinage borrowing, however, the image of Baal of Tarsus,
an early indication of his penchant for cultural blending. Alexanders relation
to Artemis is especially connected with one particular epithet of the goddess :
Artemis Tauropolos. We are informed by Diodorus that Alexander expressed his
willingness to reconstruct the temple of the goddess at Amphipolis4; the goddess
followed Alexanders army in the eastern anabasis and was praised as theos
enorkos of the Macedonian kings, military leaders, and soldiers 5. On his arrival
in Ephesus, Alexander also offered to restore the temple of Artemis Ephesia,
which had burned in 356, on the condition that he could inscribe his name there,
but the Ephesians refused his proposal 6. Ephippos reports that Alexander often
dressed in the costume of Artemis, in addition to impersonating Ammon, Hermes,
and Heracles, but many modern scholars question the veracity of this claim 7.
Alexanders supposed devotion to Helios is highly specific to a particular context:
he reportedly credited the sun god for his victory at the battle of the Hydaspes,
offering his post-battle sacrifices only to Helios 8. The historicity of this episode
is doubtful, since it is not mentioned by Alexanders contemporaries but only by

3. Canali de Rossi 2004, nos.241-245.

4. Diodorus 18.4-5.

5. OGIS 226 = IvPerg 13; OGIS 229= ISmyrna 573; ITheangela 8; SEG 51, 928;
Launey 19872, p.911, 912, 914, 915, 916, 936-938 for dedications of Macedonian
soldiers to the goddess. This list is not exhaustive; a list of occurrences of Artemis
Tauropolos in Hellenistic inscriptions is to be found in Psoma et al. 2008, p.197,
n.44-48. The authors would like to thank Slne Psoma for discussing this topic and
providing a draft of the relative chapter before the publication of the book.

6. Strabo 14.1.22-23, 640-641.

7. Ath. 12, 537e (FGrHist 126 F 5).

8. Diod. 17.89.3; Curt. 9.1.1. Additionally, Philostratus, VA 2.24, reports that golden
images of Alexander and bronze images of Porus were dedicated in the temple of the
Sun at Taxila.

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 the cult of helios in the seleucid east 21

much later writers. As for Apollo, so important to Philip II, he is scarcely to be

associated with Alexander.
In contrast, four of the deities named on the altar-tablets are the principal
dynastic gods of the Seleucids. Various myths linking Zeus to the city foundations
of Seleucus I illustrate how the king appropriated the god as his personal protector9.
Attilio Mastrocinque has suggested that this Seleucid Zeus probably had a cultural
function, to associate and assimilate the various sky gods, storm gods, and
mountain gods of the many Syro-Palestinian and Mesopotamian cultures within
Seleucus kingdom 10. Seleucus erected a marble statue of Athena at Antioch to
meet the cultic needs of Athenian colonists transplanted from Antigonea to the
new city11. He showed his devotion to Apollo with a lavish dedication of gold and
silver vessels in the sanctuary of Didymaean Apollo, including a rhyton inscribed
for Artemis 12. And he established the cult of Apollo in Syria, building a lavish
temple in the grove of Daphne and adorning it with a chryselephantine statue
commissioned from the celebrated sculptor Bryaxis13.
These same four gods Zeus, Athena, Apollo, and Artemis are the principal
deities represented on early Seleucid coinage. Seleucus continued to strike coinage
of Alexander type, featuring Athena on the obverse of the gold staters and Zeus
(either Aetophorus or Nicephorus) on the reverse of the tetradrachms (Figs.4-5).
This divine pair received new numismatic honors as patrons of the victory at
Ipsus, with Zeus now occupying the obverse of the elephant chariot silver coinage
of Seleucia on the Tigris, Susa, and Bactrian mints, and Athena driving the
elephants on the reverse (Fig.6)14. The very rare associated gold staters replaced
Zeus and Athena with Apollo and Artemis (Fig.7) 15. Antiochus I introduced the
Apollo on omphalos device as the standard reverse type of Seleucid silver coinage
(Fig.8), while continuing to portray Apollo and/or his attributes, Zeus, Athena,

9. Mastrocinque 2002, p.360, 363-365.

10. Mastrocinque 2002, p.365.

11. Malalas 201.

12. Welles 1934, no.5.

. Libanius 60.8-12 and Philostorgios, Historia Ecclesiastica p.87, 19-88, 9 ed. Bidez.
Cf. below for a longer discussion on the statue of the god.

14. Houghton and Lorber 2002, nos.130-133, 155-159, 177-180, 259-263, 272-283.
For additional types of Seleucus I honoring these two deities, see nos. 32-34, 148-
150, 187 (Zeus); and nos. 15-17, 125-129, 181-182, 303 (Athena).

15. Houghton and Lorber 2002, nos. 163, 257. For additional types of Seleucus I
honoring Apollo, see nos.15-20, 112-113.

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and Artemis on a variety of other coin issues16. The correspondence between the
Seleucid dynastic gods and the pantheon of the altar-tablets suggests that the latter
should be dated to the early Seleucid period.
The Persepolis altar-tablets represent an important clue that Greco-Iranian
syncretism should be understood as an early phenomenon: Zeus Megistos 17 is
the Greek form of Ahura Mazda ; Athena Basileia 18 and Artemis are the two
Greek goddesses assimilated to the great Iranian goddess Anhita; while Apollo
and Helios are, of course, the interpretatio Graeca of Mithras, the Iranian sun
god19 (Apollo and Mithras had already been associated in the fourth century B.C.,
much farther west, at Xanthos 20). The choice of the five Greek divinities thus
seems to correspond to the three principal deities evoked in the royal Achaemenid
inscriptions after the reign of Artaxerxes II: Ahura Mazda, Anhita, and Mithras21.
Apart from the altar-tablet, the only allusions to Helios in the eastern
sources are of a numismatic-iconographic nature. There is a cluster in the early

16. For other types of Antiochus I involving this divine tetrad, see Houghton and Lorber
2002, nos.343-346, 355-356 (Zeus); nos. 312, 314-317, 319-320, 329, 332-334,
361-362, 381-387, 391-393, 401-402, 444, 452-454 (Athena); nos. 326, 336-338,
347-354, 359A, 372-375, 381-390, 411-421, 424, 443, 448-451, 455-460 (Apollo);
nos. 359, 402-406 (Artemis).

. For the use of this epithet in the Greek sources, see Nilsson 1950, no117 (cult in
Delos); and Cook 1965, p.956 (in Pergamum), 807 (in Tegea), 885 and 983 (in
Palmyra); Roscher 1978, II.2, col.2549-2553. The cult of Zeus Megistos is also
attested in Dura-Europos where his temple was built during the Seleucid period,
see Downey 1988, p.76-86; Downey 1985, p.111-129; Downey 1993, p.169-193.
The epithet Megistos is closely connected with certain Semitic deities and especially
with the God of Israel. It is also attested in the Roman form of the principal deity of
the pantheon: Jupiter Optimus Maximus, see the example from Spain, Abascal and
Alfldy 1998, p.157-168.

18. The epithet Basileia is attached, in the Greek context, to the name of Hera, see
Sokolowski 1969, no151 B 5 (a fourth-century inscription with the name of Hera
Argeia Heleia Basileia). For the significance of the Greek cult epithet in general, see
Brul 1998, p.13-34, and Parker, 2003, p.173-183.

. For the cult of Mithras in the Hellenistic period, see Boyce and Grenet 1991; also,
Grenet 2001, p.35-58.

. See especially the famous trilingual inscription from the sanctuary of Leto, Metzger
1974, p.82-93; Laroche 1974, p.115-125; and Dupont-Sommer 1974, p.132-149.
For an analysis of the association between Apollo and Mithras (Hatrapati), see
Dupont-Sommer 1976, p.648-660. Steele 2002, p.583-588, tentatively proposed
an early assimilation between Helios (or Apollo-Helios) and Shamash. This highly
speculative thesis fails to define convincingly an early syncretic pattern between
Helios and Shamash that could have introduced the later pattern between Apollo and
Mithras.

21. For these inscriptions, see Briant 2002, p.250-254.

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 the cult of helios in the seleucid east 23

Hellenistic period. A radiate facing bust appears on the reverse of Alexanders

in the names of Philip III Arrhidaeus and Alexander minted at Babylon during
Seleucus first satrapy (Fig.9)22. The same radiate bust appears on the reverse of
some Alexanders, trophy coins, and elephant biga coins struck at Susa under
Seleucus I as king (Figs.10-11) 23. A star symbol was employed at an uncertain
Babylonian mint, on Philips of Seleucus first satrapy and on Alexanders
in Seleucus own name, and also on Babylonian lion staters under Seleucus I
first and second satrapies (Fig.12) 24. The Susian trophy coins, including small
denominations that might have reached people of relatively modest status, seem
to have circulated almost exclusively in Persis, where the altar-tablet of Helios
was unearthed, while the lion staters were produced specifically for use by the
native Babylonians25. Thus a part of this early solar imagery appears to have been
targeted at non-Greek communities, who undoubtedly saw references to their own
solar godsShamash in Babylonia, Mithras in Persis.
On all these coins the celestial symbols occupy a discreet position on the
reverse and could be considered as control marks whose fundamental purpose
was administrative rather than iconographic or cultic. It is more difficult to deny
the cultic significance of Bactrian gold staters and silver drachms of Antiochus
II with the standard Seleucid reverse type of Apollo seated on the omphalos, but
with the addition of a star in the field above the arrow (Fig.13)26. These Bactrian

22. Price 1991, no P204-206 (for Philip) and 3697-3698 (for Alexander). The Helios
busts fall near the end of the Babylonian coinage in the name of Philip III and overlap
the revival of coinage in the name of Alexander, establishing a date c. 317/316 B.C.

23. Houghton and Lorber 2002, no165, 169, 173.16, 174.9, 177.1, 179; Kritt 1997,
p.7-8, (Al. 28-42), 19 (Tr. 107-110), 20-21 (El.1-12), and 52 for the conjunction of
this symbol on all three of the major Susian coin types.

24. Houghton and Lorber 2002, Ad39.8-9, no68, 69.2-3, 88.7b; for the pre-Seleucid
lion staters, Nicolet-Pierre 1999, no 8.7 and 16. The former, at least, is datable
to Seleucus first satrapy, see Iossif and Lorber 2007. Iossif and Lorber 2007
suggest that Houghton and Lorber 2002, no 88.7 may date to the early years of
Seleucus kingship rather than his second satrapy. The divine symbolism of the
star on Houghton and Lorber 2002, no88.7b is assured by the repertory of other
symbols that appear in the same position on other closely related (control- and die-
linked) lion staters: a crescent, symbol of Selene or Artemis; an ivy leaf, symbol
of Dionysus ; and a laurel leaf, symbol of Apollo (Houghton and Lorber 2002,
no88.7a, 88.7c, 88.7d). The separate symbols for Helios and Apollo would seem to
indicate that they were not assimilated at this date at Babylon, just as they were not
assimilated on the Persepolis altar-tablets.

25. For the use of lion staters during the pre-Seleucid and Seleucid periods, see Iossif
and Lorber 2007.

26. Houghton and Lorber 2002, no616-617 for gold staters and 618-619 for drachms.
We do not intend to enter the polemic concerning the attribution of these coins: A
Khanoum for Houghton and Lorber; Bactra for the French bibliography (cf. Gerin

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 24 p.p.iossif c.c. lorber

issues represent the earliest appearance on Seleucid coinage of a celestial motif in

association with Apollo. They anticipate specific imagery of Antiochus IV, who
associated stars both with Apollo and with his own royal portrait (Fig.14-15) 27.
Commenting on the coin types of Antiochus IV, Marianne Bergmann characterized
the depiction of Apollo with a star above his head as corresponding to old Greek
representations of Apollo-Helios, an early syncretism first attested at the beginning
of the fifth century B.C.28. The same interpretation is obviously applicable to the
Bactrian issues of Antiochus II, which also portray Apollo-Helios.
Still another eastern image of Helios comes from a religious site in Bactria:
an interesting round medallion unearthed in the southern sacristy of the Temple
with Indented Niches in A Khanoum, showing a radiate facing bust, star, and
moon above the main scene (Fig. 16) 29. The radiate bust on this medallion is
identical in form to the radiate busts that appear on the Babylonian and Susian
coins cited above. The cultural context of this object was a Greek community in
close contact with Bactrians, as may be inferred from the syncretic architecture of
the temple with its tripartite cella. Considered together, this round medallion and
the Bactrian coins of Antiochus II may indicate the existence of a well-established
celestial-solar cult in that remote province, with which Apollo was associated.
Against this scanty evidence for the cult of Helios in the east in the early
Seleucid period, we note that contemporary evidence for his cult in the Seleucid
west is even scantier. The Persepolis altar-tablets may have a western equivalent in
an inscription from Aeolian Aegae that names the same pantheon of Zeus, Athena,

2003, p.70, no.46-47). What is important for our purpose is not the identity of the
mint city but the presence of this celestial imagery in the remote province of Bactria.

. Star above head of Apollo: Houghton, Lorber and Hoover 2008, no.1517. Star
above head of Antiochus: Houghton, Lorber and Hoover 2008, nos.1424, 1463,
1472, 1513, 1517-1518.

28. Bergmann 1998, p.65. All the literary sources mentioning the assimilation between
Helios and Apollo are reported by Hamdorf 1964, p.18-19. Artistic expressions of
the assimilated form are very numerous. Boussac 1992, p. 48: Dautres exemples
de cette assimilation (banale) entre les deux divinits [referring to Helios-Apollo]
sont fournies.... The majority of Delian seals depicting Apollo show him holding
his bow and wearing a radiate crown (no 156-272).

29. Bernard 1970, p.339-347. The French excavator identified the scene depicted on
the oscillum as a representation of the goddess Cybele. This identification seems to
be universally accepted (see Green 1990, p.334, n.122 for previous bibliography).
The same identification appears in the catalogue of the exposition Afghanistan :
les trsors retrouvs. Trsors du muse national de Kaboul (Muse national des
arts asiatiques Guimet, Paris, 6 dcembre 2006-30 avril 2007), Paris (2006). An
extended study of this major artefact is necessary. Many objections can be raised
against the identification of the goddess with Cybele, especially because of the
remote geographical context and the lack of a network connecting the Anatolian cult
of this goddess with the eastern parts of the Seleucid empire.

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 the cult of helios in the seleucid east 25

Artemis, and Apollo, omitting Helios30. This is the only known inscription where
these four gods are mentioned together. Although its date is disputed31, we believe
that the particular composition of the pantheon points to a Seleucid context. The
inscription is to be dated to the Seleucid occupation of Aegae and viewed in light
of the kingdom-wide policy of a royal pantheon. In this case, the absence of Helios
from this inscription, as opposed to the Persepolis altar-tablets, is significant for
the purpose of this paper.
Syrian archaeological and epigraphic remains led Henri Seyrig to the
conclusion that there were no solar cults in Hellenistic Syria except for those
introduced by Arab infiltration in the latter years of the Seleucid dynasty; however
the Seleucid period probably saw the beginnings of assimilative processes that
resulted in the syncretic solar cults of Roman imperial times 32. Third-century
coinage from the Seleucid west affords no direct representations of the sun god,
and just five cases in which stars were employed as subsidiary symbols33. In only
one of these cases, a tetradrachm of Antiochus Hierax from Parium, is the star
actually positioned so as to comment on a deity: an elaborate star, really a small
solar disk with eight rays, shines above Apollos arrow, designating an Apollo-
Helios as on the Bactrian issues of Antiochus II.
There are no further examples of solar imagery on Seleucid coins until the
second century. When such imagery reappears in the reign of Seleucus IV, it is
clearly part of an iconographic program directed by the court, ultimately with
significance for royal cult.

30. Malay 1983, p.349-355. The fragmentary text is a contract given under the form
of hypomnema. The four gods are invoked at the end of the inscription, in the curse
sentence in case of non-respect of the clauses.

. For Savalli-Lestrade 1992, p. 227, the document is to be dated to the reign of

Antiochus II (although the possibility of Antiochus I is to be considered) ; Lund
1992, dated the inscription to the reign of Lysimachus or Antigonos. Descat 2003,
p.160-165, argues for a terminus ante quem of 310-300 based on palaeographical
elements. None of these studies takes into account the comparison with the Persepolis
altars and the composition of the early Seleucid pantheon.

. Seyrig 1973, p.147-151.

33. Houghton and Lorber 2002, no.1.2 (Pergamum Seleucus I); no.307.2 (Pergamum
Antiochus I); no.543.4 (Ephesus Antiochus II); no.556 (unattributed issue of
western Asia Minor Antiochus II); no.835.6 (Parium Antiochus Hierax).

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II.Solar imagery of Seleucus IV and Antiochus IV

A solar deity first appeared as a full-fledged Seleucid coin type in the reign of
Seleucus IV Philopator (187-175 B.C.)34. The mint at Seleucia on the Tigris issued
an important royal bronze coinage in two denominations, displaying a facing bust
of Helios on the obverse, radiate, with the anastol above his forehead. The larger
denomination featured a Nike reverse (Fig.17); the smaller paired the radiate bust
with a tripod (Fig.18) 35. While there is not always a clear association between
the obverse and reverse types of Seleucid bronzes, the pairing of the Helios bust
with a tripod suggests that once again we may be seeing a fusion of Helios and
Apollo. We take it as self-evident that these bronze coins attest to the existence (or
introduction) of a solar cult at Seleucia on the Tigris in the reign of Seleucus IV.
The iconography is purely Greek and accordingly we use the name Helios, but the
true identity of this god in a Babylonian context is a matter for further discussion.
The Helios bust bronzes of Seleucus IV may have had recent antecedents
on seals of Seleucia on the Tigris. Among the clay seal impressions from Seleucia
are two that show a male head with a large, staring eye, the anastol rising above
his forehead, and six rays emanating from his hair, but no diadem (Figs.19-20).
These Seleucian seal impressions do not come from a dated context, however Vito
Messina suggested that they bear the portrait of the prince Seleucus, the future
Seleucus IV, in his quality as heir-designate after c. 19336. If Messina is correct in
his interpretation, the seal impressions not only attest to an official cult of Helios
at Seleucia on the Tigris during the latter reign of Antiochus III, but also represent
the earliest use of solar imagery in connection with a member of the Seleucid royal
house.
Helios and Apollo were explicitly associated in the reign of Seleucus
younger brother and successor, Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164 B.C.). An issue
of tetradrachms from Seleucia on the Tigris shows Apollo in his usual pose, seated
on the omphalos, examining an arrow and resting his left hand on his grounded
bow. A radiate, facing bust appears as an adjunct symbol in the left field, outside
the legend on one specimen (Fig. 21), but more commonly inside the legend,
above the arrow or before Apollos face 37. The Seleucia mint did not normally

34. Two possibly earlier instances are listed by Houghton and Lorber 2002, no.408 and
408A. Neither can be securely dated. The former is not certainly Seleucid; the latter,
issued in the name of a King Antiochus, is of distinctly eastern fabric.

. Houghton, Lorber and Hoover 2008, no.1336-1337; Le Rider 1965, no.294-298,

299.

. Messina 2001, p.9-23.

37. Helios outside legend: Hoover 2006, no.373. Helios inside legend: Le Rider 1965,
pl.xxv, G and H. The same facing bust of Helios appears as a countermark on an
Ecbatana bronze coin of Antiochus IV with the types Apollo/elephant (Houghton

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 the cult of helios in the seleucid east 27

place adjunct symbols on its precious metal coinage38. It is therefore evident that
the bust of Helios had special significance. Even more plainly than the association
of a star with Apollo, this pairing indicates that Apollo is here presented as a solar
god39.
Solar or celestial imagery was more extensively associated with the king
himself. The divine pretensions of Antiochus IV have attracted considerable
comment 40. We intend to reexamine the numismatic evidence in a forthcoming
paper 41. Here we shall merely mention that Antiochus was occasionally shown
with a star above his head and very frequently with the rays of Helios (Figs.22-
23). The radiate portrait is typical of his bronze coinage, especially in the western
part of the kingdom. But both types of portrait also occur on bronze coins of
Seleucia on the Tigris 42. In addition, Susa produced a single bronze issue with
the radiate portrait of Antiochus IV 43. The radiate portrait was also a device of
official Seleucid seals: Orchoi (Uruk), a city probably administratively dependent
on Seleucia, has yielded numerous seal impressions with a radiate, draped portrait
of Antiochus IV (Fig.24)44.

and Lorber 2002, no.1553; Newell 1938, 655). In Houghton and Lorber 2002,
appendix 4B, O.D. Hoover suggests that this countermark may have been applied by
the civic officials of Seleucia on the Tigris, based on its similarity to the Helios bust
that appears as an adjunct symbol on the tetradrachms. Helios bust countermarks
also occur in the west, on Alexander tetradrachms of Phaselis, Aspendus, and
Perge, and on Athena/Nike tetradrachms of Side. G. Le Rider proposed that these
countermarks could have been applied by Heliodorus after his murder of Seleucus
IV, see Le Rider 1999, p.232. But Hoover, in Houghton, Lorber and Hoover 2008,
Appendix 4A, considers Rhodes to be the likely countermarking authority.

. The only previous instance is a flower that appeared on an exceptionally artistic

tetradrachm issue of Antiochus III struck on his return from his eastern expedition,
see Houghton and Lorber 2002, no.1165.1.

. Bergmann 1998, p.65.

. Mrkholm 1963, p.37, 57-74; Bunge 1975, p.164-188.

41. Iossif and Lorber 2009.

. Houghton, Lorber and Hoover 2008, no.1513-1515, 1508-1511; Le Rider 1965,

no.306 and pl.xxvi, E-H, pl.xxvi, K-O and no.307; Houghton 1983, no.989, 986.

43. Houghton, Lorber and Hoover 2008, no.1535; Le Rider 1965, no.60.

44. Vito Messina compared the seal impressions found in Seleucia and Uruk and
concluded that the city of Orchoi (Uruk) was under the direct control of the eastern
Seleucid capital, because the excavations at Uruk yielded many seal impressions
identical to those of Seleucia, struck from seals created and used in Seleucia and
then circulated south to Uruk, see Messina 2005. (Our thanks to the author for
providing us a draft of the paper). Twenty-two of these seal impressions with the
radiate portrait of Antiochus IV are published by Lindstrm 2003, no.3-1; 76-1;

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 28 p.p.iossif c.c. lorber

There remains one other eastern coinage of Antiochus IV with prominent

celestial imagery: the silver series attributed by Otto Mrkholm to a new mint at
Antioch on the Persian Gulf. The star-above-head motif occurs on two tetradrachm
emissions, and on one of them it is doubled above the head of Apollo (Fig.22)45.
As noted above, Bergmann interpreted this latter star as a solar symbol marking
Apollo as Apollo-Helios, but the star on the obverse ensures that this syncretic
deity is relevant to the interpretation of the kings divinity46. The next coinage of
Antioch on the Persian Gulf, according to Mrkholm, comprises tetradrachms and
drachms with a radiate portrait of Antiochus IV 47. The tetradrachms in question
are quite significant, as they are the only tetradrachms of Antiochus IV to carry his
radiate portrait (Fig.23).
The conventional view is that the mint at Antioch on the Orontes developed
a program for proclaiming the divinity of Antiochus IV on coinage, and that the
Antiochene program was echoed more or less fully at other mints 48. Bergmann,
however, explored possible eastern sources for the radiate crown, noting the
high position of solar deities in ancient Mesopotamian and Hittite pantheons, the
comparison of rulers to sun gods in Sumerian and Akkadian texts, the representation
of Assyrian kings with solar attributes, and the inclusion of a winged solar disk in
the written form of the Hittite royal title 49. The Persepolis altar-tablets and early
Seleucid solar images in the east must surely reflect Macedonian awareness of
important native sun gods. Our list of Hellenistic testimonia the early Seleucid
allusions to Helios or Apollo-Helios in Persis, Babylonia, Elymais, and Bactria; the
appearance of a solar god as the obverse type of a major bronze issue of Seleucus

78-1; 90-1; 101-1; 102-1; 104-1; 106-1; 107-1; 241-1; 243-1; 249-1; 250-1;
259-1; 285-1; 287-1; 288-1; 293-1; 296-1; 301-1; 308-1; 309-1. There is also
a twenty-third impression from the same seal in the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
(inv.no VA 6047); see Plantzos 2002, p.33-39. For a general approach to sealing
practices in Hellenistic Babylonia, see Wallenfels 2000, p.333-348.

45. Mrkholm 1970, no.A1-P1 and A2-P1; cf. Houghton, Lorber and Hoover 2008,
no1517, there reattributed to an uncertain eastern mint.

. Bergmann 1998, p.65.

. Mrkholm 1970, noA4-P4 and a1-p1 through a9-p11; Houghton 1983, no1089-
1091; Hoover 2006, no375 (tetradrachm clearly showing the radiate crown); cf.
Houghton, Lorber and Hoover 2008, no1519-1522, there attributed to an uncertain
eastern mint.

. Mrkholm 1963, p.57-74; Bunge 1975, p.164-172. Mrkholm associated a part

of the eastern coinage with the final campaign of Antiochus IV. For Bunge, the
special iconography and/or epithets marked the king as ktistes of Ptolemais (Ake)
(refounded as an Antioch), Antioch on the Persian Gulf, and Ecbatana (refounded as
Epiphaneia), see Bunge 1975, p.177-178, 187.

. Bergmann 1998, p.47-48.

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 the cult of helios in the seleucid east 29

IV at Seleucia on the Tigris; and the representation of Apollo-Helios on certain

eastern tetradrachms of Antiochus IV suggests that the portrayal of Antiochus
IV with celestial attributes could be seen, at least in the east, as a culmination.
Eastern religion, if not the sole source of the iconography of the deified Antiochus
Epiphanes, was at least a contributing source: the representations were chosen for
their ability to convey the kings divinity to his Babylonian and Iranian subjects,
as well as to those in the western Seleucid kingdom.
The solar iconography of the deified Antiochus IV was a unifying factor,
yet it could not conceal a major bifurcation of his western and eastern coinages.
The figure of Zeus, so prominent in hellenized Syria and on the quasi-municipal
coinages of western cities, is completely absent from eastern coinage. Though
Zeus replaced Apollo as the reverse type of Antiochus western tetradrachms, the
eastern mints all retained the long-established image of Apollo on his omphalos on
the reverse of their silver coinage. In succeeding reigns as well, the eastern mints,
with the sometime exception of Seleucia, continued to ignore the personal types
of the king in favor of Apollo. This conservatism may have been motivated in part
by a concern to retain a familiar image, so as to ensure acceptance of the currency
in weakly monetized provinces. But we believe it was determined primarily by
oriental cultural and religious traditions.

III.The Seleucid Apollo

The figure of Apollo seated on the omphalos, holding an arrow in his right
hand and resting his left hand on a bow, is an iconographic type that occurs only in
the Seleucid kingdom (Fig.25)50. This familiar image, introduced to the Seleucid
tetradrachm by Antiochus I, was supplemented by variations employed on other
coin denominations and/or in other reigns. The type of Apollo standing, holding
the arrow before him and resting his other hand on his bow, first appeared on
bronzes of Antiochus I at Seleucia on the Tigris and remained a popular type for
the bronzes of his successors, as well as for gold staters and silver drachms of
Seleucus II (Fig.26)51. Bronzes of Antiochus I from Ecbatana also portray the god
standing, but holding the bow before him and the arrow by his side52. Antiochus
II introduced two new types: Apollo seated on the omphalos, holding an arrow
and resting his elbow on a cithara (on bronzes of Antioch); and Apollo standing
with his foot resting on the omphalos, holding a bow and arrow (on bronzes of

50. It might be objected that Nicocles coinage from Paphos introduced the same type
before the Seleucids. For Panagiotis Iossif, the Cypriot issue should be considered a
modern forgery, as argued in a forthcoming paper; see Iossif forthcoming.

. Houghton and Lorber 2002, no391-393; Newell 1938, 173-176.

. Houghton and Lorber 2002, no411-414; Newell 1938, 520-522.

Livre 1.indb 29 04/03/10 22:42

 30 p.p.iossif c.c. lorber

Ecbatana) 53. The personal type of Seleucus II was a figure of Apollo standing
before a tripod, resting his left elbow on the lebes and holding an arrow in his
right hand. Seleucus III briefly experimented with his own personal type, adapting
the emblem of his father by replacing the tripod with a low column 54. The last
addition to this repertory of types came in the reign of Antiochus IV, when Apollo
was depicted striding to the right, holding his bow before him in shooting position
and reaching over his shoulder to draw an arrow from his quiver (Fig.27)55.
What all these type have in common is that they present Apollo in his aspect
as archer, as Apollo Toxotes. This theme is overwhelmingly present in Seleucid
depictions of Apollo, which only rarely portray him as Citharoedes. The choice
of Apollo Toxotes served to legitimize the Seleucids as the successors of the
Achaemenid kings 56. Achaemenid inscriptions invariably praise the prowess of
the Great King as a bowman57. Achaemenid coins depict him shooting or holding
a bow, imagery that inspired the popular Greek name for these coins, toxotai
(Fig.28). The bow was, in fact, a symbol of divine kingship for the Iranians, and
its association with sovereignty can be traced back in ancient Mesopotamia to
Elamite and Assyrian origins58. The survival of this tradition beyond the Seleucid
period is attested by the reverse type of Arsacid drachms, which also show a seated
archer (Fig.29)59.
As the son of an Iranian princess, Antiochus I was perhaps especially
sympathetic to eastern cultural traditions. His fourteen-year reign in the east
as his fathers coregent will have deepened his exposure and brought home the
practicalities of placating the subject populations. Seleucus Nicators early use
of solar imagery in the east suggests that he too was attuned to the multiethnic

. Antioch : Houghton and Lorber 2002, no 572-574 ; Newell 1941, 967-969.

Ecbatana: Houghton and Lorber 2002, no608; Newell 1938, 538.

. Houghton, Lorber and Hoover 2008, Addenda, Ad193; NAC 27, 12 May 2004, lot
200.

. Houghton, Lorber and Hoover 2008, 1410, 1423, 1436, 1504. This type was used
mainly in the west, its easternmost appearance occurring at Nisibis.

56. For a detailed analysis on the motives that led Antiochus I to choose Apollo as the
archegetes and the numismatic trademark of the dynasty, cf. Iossif 2007 forthcoming.

57. The inscriptions from Behistun and Naqsh-i Rustam constitute a kind of dogmatic
text on the Achaemenid kingship in which the king is praised as the ideal bowman:
Briant 2002, p.210-213 (with a translation of the Naqsh-i Rustam text in p.212,
8h). See also p.213-214 for a short discussion on the archer king and the different
types of the king archer on Achaemenid reliefs and coinage.

58. Root 1979, p.164-169.

59. Sellwood 1971. For the dating of the transition from the backless throne to the
omphalos on the Parthian coinage, cf. Assar and Bagloo 2006, p.25-35.

Livre 1.indb 30 04/03/10 22:42

 the cult of helios in the seleucid east 31

character of his territories. Indeed, this may explain why he was the only one of
Alexanders successors to remain married to his Iranian wife and to make her
the matriarch of a Hellenistic dynasty. Still, it was Antiochus, not Seleucus, who
found a way to inscribe the Seleucids in the eastern tradition of divine kingship
by claiming descent from Apollo and portraying him as the divine archer. At the
same time, as the patron of Greek colonization Apollo spoke to the Macedonian
and Greek immigrants who peopled the new foundations of the Seleucid kingdom.
Seleucus own devotion to Apollo scarcely foreshadows the multivalence
of the dynastic Apollo. The early inscriptions from Didyma do not mention the
kings descent from the god but instead seem to reflect the ordinary piety and
benefactions expected of a Hellenistic king vis--vis one of the great pan-Hellenic
sanctuaries60. The first explicit reference at Miletus/Didyma to the divine filiation
of the Seleucids belongs to the reign of Seleucus II61. Inscriptions from Ilium may
provide earlier allusions to Apollo as Archegetes and as a Seleucid ancestor, but
their dating is controversial62. The famous cult statue at the sanctuary of Daphne,
commissioned by Seleucus I, portrayed Apollo as Citharoedes, not Toxotes63.And
while Apollo occupied a fairly prominent place on coins of Seleucus I, only his
head appeared64.
These observations give us a new context for considering the celestial and
Apollonian iconography of Antiochus IV: the bifurcation of coin types under this
reign recognized a fundamental cultural difference. In the hellenized parts of the

60. IDidyma 479 = OGIS 213 = Bringmann and v. Steuben 1995, 281 E1; IDidyma
480 = Bringmann and v. Steuben 1995, 281 E2 ; IDidyma 424 = OGIS 214 =
Bringmann and v. Steuben 1995, 280 E. For another possible early association of
Seleucus I to Apollo, cf. I. Erythrai 205, ll.74-76 (the dating of the inscription is
quite problematic).

. IDidyma 493 = OGIS 227 = Bringmann and v. Steuben 1995, 282 E, ll.5-6 reference
to the suggeneia between the dynasty and Apollo.

62. OGIS 212 = Kotsidu 2000, 206 E and OGIS 219 = Kotsidu 2000, 221 E. The
arguments in favour of a high or low dating of the last inscription were exposed
in an exhaustive appendix in Ma 1999a, p.254-259 and in an extensive article by
the same author in Ma 1999b, p.81-88; Mas preference goes to a dating under
Antiochus I.

. Libanius 60.8-12 and Philostorgios, Historia Ecclesiastica p.87, 19-88, 9 ed. Bidez.
The authorship of the statue by Bryaxis is reported by the Byzantine chronicler
Kedrenos (Compendium Historiarium 306B ed. Paris).

64. On bronzes of Antioch (Houghton and Lorber 2002, 15-20; Newell 1941, 911-
922), of Uncertain Mint 8 in Babylonia or Mesopotamia (Houghton and Lorber
2002, 112-113; Newell 1941, 884-885), and of Seleucia on the Tigris (Houghton
and Lorber 2002, 148-150; Newell 1941, 99A-B, Newell 1938, 106-108); and on
gold staters of Susa (Houghton and Lorber 2002, 163; Newell 1938, 329) and of a
Bactrian mint (Houghton and Lorber 2002, 257; Newell 1938, 331).

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 32 p.p.iossif c.c. lorber

west Antiochus could promote the cult of Zeus, who for the Greeks was the patron
of kingship. But in the east that same role belonged to the Seleucid Apollo.

IV.Conclusion

The evidence traced here reveals an evolving and complex policy of the
Seleucids in relation to eastern cultures and religions. During his first satrapy
Seleucus acknowledged a solar god who could be identified by his Babylonian
and Iranian subjects with their own native sun gods. As king Seleucus promoted a
royal pantheon consisting of Zeus, Athena, Apollo, and Artemis. But when altars
were erected at Persepolis for the worship of this pantheon, Helios was added to
the quartet, a seeming admission of the essential importance of a solar divinity in
this eastern context. Helios had long been assimilated to Apollo in Greece, and
Apollo had already been associated with Mithras in fourth-century Lycia. The
presence of both Helios and Apollo in the Persepolis pantheon may express two
aspects of Mithras. The entire Persepolis quintet invites interpretation in terms of
the Iranian triad of Ahura Madza, Anhita, and Mithras.
Antiochus I introduced a new aspect with his creation of the Seleucid
Apollo, whose bow and arrow evoked the eastern tradition of divine kingship. The
assimilation of Helios to Apollo, already established in Greece, was reaffirmed
by the association of a star with the Seleucid Apollo on certain Bactrian coins of
Antiochus II, meaning that solar or celestial qualities were involved in the divine
legitimation of the Seleucid kings. This, too, was in accordance with eastern
tradition. In Near Eastern civilizations the star is always connected with the notions
of divinity and royalty. This is not the place to furnish an exhaustive account of the
association, but we can provide the most significant examples. In the cuneiform
scripts, the word god was rendered by a star and the name of a particular divinity
was preceded by a star symbol (dingir) 65. The names of deified kings were also
preceded by the star symbol, e.g., the name of the deified king Naram-Sin of
Akkad in the inscription on the famous Louvre stela (Sb 4) or in the legend on
the seal of a royal official from Girsu 66. The association of the star with divine
epiphany is also illustrated by Assyrian cultic scenes: the worshipper is shown
in front of the cultic symbols of one god, while the entire scene is dominated by
the presence of a star 67. In the neo-Assyrian empire, the royal power of divine
origin which inspired fear and panic among the enemies was depicted as a star-
like symbol, a kind of nimbus emanating from the kings head: it is the melammu,

. Edzard 1976-1980, p.544-568. A star could also replace the word for god in
Egyptian hieroglyphics of the Ptolemaic period, see Bergmann 1998, p.65.

66. Sollberger and Kupper 1971, II A 4p.

. Keel and Uehlinger 1998, p.374-376, fig.358a-b.

Livre 1.indb 32 04/03/10 22:42

 the cult of helios in the seleucid east 33

which rendered the king beautiful and terrifying at the same moment 68. Ishtar,
the great Mesopotamian warrior-goddess, the arrat am u kakkabni of the
Akkadian texts (Queen of the Heavens and the Stars), is depicted associated with
the star, in a shining wreath or in the middle of a nimbus of stars69. The goddess
Anhita is also depicted encircled by the rayed nimbus on the Achaemenid seal
from Gorgippa (Anapa)70. In this perspective, we should also consider the Iranian
notion of *farnah/ Xwarnah, the central term designating the royal Achaemenid
legitimacy and the creative force of the gods 71. In the Jewish religious tradition,
the star is again connected with God, kings and divinity72.
Seleucid images of Helios and of Apollo Toxotes thus tapped into a nexus of
meanings that linked the legitimacy of the Seleucid kings with eastern solar gods,
eastern archer gods, and the Greek Apollo, their divine ancestor and the patron of
Greek colonization of the east. This network did not develop further during the
reigns of Seleucus II, Seleucus III, and Antiochus III, even though two of these
kings undertook heroic campaigns in the east. However Seleucus IV showed a new
interest in solar imagery, and Antiochus IV explicitly appropriated the complex
symbolism of Apollo-Helios for his own epiphany.

Panagiotis P.Iossif
Belgian School at Athens/University of Lige

Catharine C.Lorber
Fellow, American Numismatic Society

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Fr.Sokolowski, Lois sacres des cits grecques, Paris.
Sollberger and Kupper 1971
E.Sollberger and J.-R. Kupper, Inscriptions royales sumriennes et akkadiennes,
Paris.
Steele 2002
L.D.Steele, Mesopotamian Elements in the Proem of Parmenides?Correspondences
between the Sun-God and Shamash, Classical Quarterly 52/2, p.583-588.
Wallenfels 2000
R.Wallenfels, Sealing Practices on Legal Documents from Hellenistic Babylonia,
Administrative Documents in the Aegean and their Near Eastern Counterparts.
Proceedings of the International Colloquium, Naples, February 29-March 2 1996
(d. M. Perna), Torino, p.333-348.
Welles 1934
C.B.Welles, Royal Correspondence in the Hellenistic Period, London.
Wiesehfer 1994
J. Wiesehfer, Die dunkeln Jahrhunderte der Persis : Untersuchungen zu
Geschichte und Kultur von Frs in frhhellenistischer Zeit (330-140 v. Chr.), Munich.

Livre 1.indb 38 04/03/10 22:42

 the cult of helios in the seleucid east 39

Fig. 1 Tablet from an altar inscribed in the name of Helios,

Persepolis (photo: courtesy F.Assar).

Fig. 2 Tablet from an altar inscribed in the Fig. 3 Tablet from an altar
name of Zeus Megistos, Persepolis inscribed in the name of Apollo,
(photo: courtesy F.Assar). Persepolis (photo:
courtesy F. Assar).

Fig. 4 Gold stater of Seleucus I with Athena Fig. 5 Silver Alexander of Seleucus
head/Nike, Babylon, SC 81.5. I with Herakles head/Zeus Aetophorus,
Ecbatana, SC 204.3.

Livre 1.indb 39 04/03/10 22:42

 40 p.p.iossif c.c. lorber

Fig. 6 Silver tetradrachm of Seleucus I Fig. 7 Gold stater of Seleucus I

with Zeus/elephant quadriga, with Apollo head/elephant quadriga,
Seleucia on the Tigris, SC 130.33a var. Susa, SC 163.

Fig. 8 Silver tetradrachm of Antiochus I Fig. 9 Silver Alexander issued in the

with Antiochus head/Apollo on omphalos, name of Philip III Arrhidaeus,
Smyrna, SC 311.1. Babylon, Price P204.

Fig. 10 Silver Alexander of Seleucus Fig. 11 Silver tetradrachm of

I with Herakles head/Zeus Aetophorus, Seleucus I, trophy coin,
Susa, SC 165.1. Susa, SC 173.16.

Fig. 12 Silver shekel, lion stater, Fig. 13 Gold stater of AntiochusII with
Babylon II, SC 88.7b. Antiochus II head/Apollo on omphalos,
A Khanoum, SC 617.

Fig. 14 Silver Fig. 15 Silver

tetradrachm of tetradrachm of
Antiochus IV, Antiochus IV,
probably Seleucia in Persian Gulf
Pieria, SC 1424. mint, SC 1517.

Livre 1.indb 40 04/03/10 22:42

 the cult of helios in the seleucid east 41

Fig. 17 Bronze coin of Seleucus IV,

denomination C, Seleucia on the Tigris,
SC 1336.2.

Fig. 16 Oscillum from A Khanoum,

catalogue of the exhibition Afghanistan:
les trsors retrouvs, cit. n.29 supra.

Fig. 18 Bronze coin of Seleucus IV,

denomination D, Seleucia on the Tigris,
SC 1337.2.

Fig. 19 Clay seal, Fig. 20 Clay seal,

Seleucia on the Tigris, Seleucia on the Tigris,
Se 31: S7-3330. Se 30: S7-3331.

Fig. 21 Silver tetradrachm of Antiochus Fig. 22 Silver tetradrachm of Antiochus

IV with Antiochus head/Apollo on IV, Persian Gulf mint, SC 1517.
omphalos, Seleucia on the Tigris, SC
1505.2 (Hoover 2006, no 373=AHNS 340)

Livre 1.indb 41 16/03/10 14:26

 42 p.p.iossif c.c. lorber

Fig. 23 Silver tetradrachm of Antiochus Fig. 24 Clay seal from Orchoi (Uruk),
IV, Persian Gulf mint, SC 1519.2. Lindstrm 2003, no3-1.

Fig. 25 Silver tetradrachm of Antiochus I Fig. 26 Gold stater of Seleucus II with

with Antiochus head/Apollo on omphalos, Seleucus head/standing Apollo with bow,
Seleucia on the Tigris, SC 379.3a. Unattributed Western issue, SC 720.

Fig. 28 Achaemenid siglos, type I.

Fig. 27 Bronze coin of Antiochus IV,
Nisibis, SC 1504.1.

Fig. 29 Silver drachm of the Parthian

kingdom, Arsaces II, Sellwood 1971, 6-1.

Livre 1.indb 42 04/03/10 22:42