Animals as State Symbols on the Coinage of Ancient Cyrene

Selivanova, Larisa

doi:10.18254/S207987840022562-7

English

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Animals as State Symbols on the Coinage of Ancient Cyrene

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Animals as State Symbols on the Coinage of Ancient Cyrene

Annotation

PII

S207987840022562-7-1

DOI

10.18254/S207987840022562-7

Publication type

Article

Status

Published

Authors

Larisa Selivanova Send message

Affiliation: Institute of World History RAS
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow

Edition

Volume 13 Issue 8 (118)

Abstract

This article visualizes images of animals on the ancient coinage of Cyrene — a city in modern-day eastern Libya, northern Africa — focusing on the coins that depict animals together with silphium, the vegetative symbol of the city. Based on the comparative and typological methods of analyzing written and material (numismatic) evidence, the author aims to establish the time and reasons for the emergence of those images and their semantic content while tracing their evolution and eventual disappearance. More specifically, such coins are examined in a broader context of Cyrenean monetary types. The author concludes that the animals depicted next to silphium on the Cyrenean coins from the pre-Roman period effectively served as emblematic additions to the state symbol of the city. Their depictions faded away following the disappearance of silphium from the coins of Cyrene during the Roman times, being replaced by the images of rulers, gods, and mythologized symbols of power.

Keywords

Cyrene, Libya, northern Africa, silphium, animals, coinage, visualization, emblematic, state symbol, antiquity

Received

07.02.2022

Publication date

17.10.2022

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17422

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215

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GOST	Selivanova L. Animals as State Symbols on the Coinage of Ancient Cyrene // ISTORIYA. – 2022. – V. 13. – Issue 8 (118). URL: https://history.jes.su/s207987840022562-7-1/. DOI: 10.18254/S207987840022562-7
MLA	Selivanova, Larisa "Animals as State Symbols on the Coinage of Ancient Cyrene." ISTORIYA. 13.8 (118) (2022). DOI: 10.18254/S207987840022562-7
APA	Selivanova L. (2022). Animals as State Symbols on the Coinage of Ancient Cyrene. ISTORIYA. vol. 13, no. 8 (118) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840022562-7

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