Coin of Mazaeus with Baaltars

Coin of Mazaeus with Baaltars

‎About 340 B.C., Mazaeus (Persian “Mazdai”), Cilicia’s Persian governor, minted this stater in Tarsus. It depicts local Baal variant “Baaltars,” named in Aramaic characters (obverse). The reverse features a common Tarsus motif—a lion, representing mother goddess Kybele, attacks a bull representing divine Attis, Kybele’s dying and rising consort. Attis combined elements the Greeks divided between Adonis and Dionysus. The Aramaic inscription reads “Mazdai over Eber-Nahara [the Persian Empire west of the Euphrates] and Cilicia.” Tarsus was Paul’s birthplace, and home for part of his childhood.
Judg 2:11, Acts 9:11, 30, Acts 11:25, Acts 21:37–39, Acts 22:3, 2 Macc 4:30

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