ACHAIOS 220BC Seleucid King Apollo Tripod Authentic Ancient Greek Coin i41439

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ACHAIOS 220BC Seleucid King Apollo Tripod Authentic Ancient Greek Coin i41439:
$303.75

Item: i41439

Authentic Ancient Greek Coin of:

Rebel Satrap in Asia Minor
of theSeleucid Kingdom
Achaios - King: 220-214 B.C.
Bronze 14mm (1.63 grams) Sardeis mint, circa 220-214 B.C.
Reference: HGC 9, 438 (R2-3)
Laureate head ofApollo right.
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑXAIOY either side oftripod.Uncle of Antiochos III, Achaios was appointed commander-in-chief in Asia Minor.He restored Seleukid authority in the area but then rebelled against his youngnephew and proclaimed himself king. In 216 B.C. Antiochos moved against therebel, many of whose troops then deserted him. After a two-year siege of hiscapital city of Sardeis, in Lydia, Achaios was captured and beheaded. You are offerding on the exactitem pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and LifetimeGuarantee of Authenticity.

A sacrificial tripod is a three-legged piece of religious furniture used for offerings or other ritual procedures. As a seat or stand, thetripod is the most stable furniture construction for uneven ground, hence its use is universal and ancient. It is particularly associated withApollo and theDelphic oracle inancient Greece, and the word \"tripod\" comes from the Greek meaning \"three-footed.\"

Apollo and Heracles struggle for the Delphic tripod (Attic black-figure hydria , c. 520 BC) Ancient Greece

The most famous tripod of ancient Greece was theDelphic tripod from which thePythian priestess took her seat to deliver theoracles of the deity. The seat was formed by a circular slab on the top of the tripod, on which a branch oflaurel was deposited when it was unoccupied by the priestess. In this sense, by Classical times the tripod was sacred toApollo. Themytheme ofHeracles contesting with Apollo for the tripod appears in vase-paintings older than the oldest written literature. The oracle originally may have been related to the primal deity, the Earth.

Priestess of Delphi (1891), as imagined by John Collier ; the Pythia is inspired by pneuma rising from below as she sits on a tripod

Another well-known tripod in Delphi was thePlataean Tripod; it was made from a tenth part of the spoils taken from thePersian army after theBattle of Plataea. This consisted of a golden basin, supported by abronzeserpent with three heads (or three serpents intertwined), with a list of the states that had taken part in the war inscribed on the coils of the serpent. The golden bowl was carried off by thePhocians during theThird Sacred War (356–346 BC); the stand was removed by the emperorConstantine toConstantinople in 324, where in modernIstanbul it still can be seen in thehippodrome, the Atmeydanı, although in damaged condition: the heads of the serpents have disappeared, however one is now on display at the nearby Istanbul Archaeology Museums. The inscription, however, has been restored almost entirely. Such tripods usually had three ears (rings which served as handles) and frequently had a central upright as support in addition to the three legs.

Tripods frequently are mentioned byHomer as prizes inathletic games and as complimentary gifts; in later times, highly decorated and bearing inscriptions, they served the same purpose. They also were used as dedicatoryofferings to the deities, and in the dramatic contests at the Dionysia the victoriouschoregus (a wealthy citizen who bore the expense of equipping and training the chorus) received a crown and a tripod. He would either dedicate the tripod to some deity or set it upon the top of a marble structure erected in the form of a small circular temple in a street inAthens, called the street of tripods, from the large number of memorials of this kind. One of these, theChoragic Monument of Lysicrates, erected by him to commemorate his victory in a dramatic contest in 335 BC, still stands. The form of the victory tripod, now missing from the top of the Lysicrates monument, has been rendered variously by scholars since the 18th century.

An ancient Greek coin c. 330-300 BC. Laureate head of Apollo (left) and ornate tripod (right).

Martin L. West writes that the sibyl at Delphi shows many traits ofshamanistic practices, likely inherited or influenced from Central Asian practices. He cites her sitting in a cauldron on a tripod, while making her prophecies, her being in an ecstatic trance state, similar to shamans, and her utterings, unintelligible.

According to Herodotus (The Histories, I.144), the victory tripods were not to be taken from the temple sanctuary precinct, but left there as dedications.

Sometimes the tripod was used as a support for alebes or cauldron or for supporting other items such as a vase.

Delphic tripod (red-figured bell-krater , Paestum , c. 330 BC)

Ancient China A ding from the late Shang Dynasty .

Tripod pottery have been part of the archaeological assemblage in China since the earliest Neolithic cultures ofCishan andPeiligang in the 7th and 8th millennium BC. Sacrificial tripods were also found in use in ancientChina usually cast in bronze but sometimes appearing in ceramic form. They are often referred to as \"dings\" and usually have three legs, but in some usages have four legs.

The Chinese use sacrificial tripods in modern times, such as in 2005, when a \"National Unity Tripod\" made of bronze was presented by the central Chinese government to the government of northwest China\'sXinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to mark its fiftieth birthday. It was described as a traditional Chinese sacrificial vessel symbolizing unity.

Seleucid Empire
Σελεύκεια
Seleúkeia
312 BC–63 BC ↓ The Seleucid Empire in 301 BC.

The Seleucid Empire was aHellenistic state ruled by the Seleucid dynastyfounded bySeleucus I Nicator following the division ofthe empire created byAlexander the Great. Seleucus receivedBabylonia and, from there, expanded hisdominions to include much of Alexander\'snear Eastern territories. At the height of itspower, it included centralAnatolia, and northwest parts ofIndia.

The Seleucid Empire was a major center ofHellenistic culture that maintained thepreeminence ofGreek customs where a Greek-Macedonianpolitical elite dominated, mostly in the urban areas. The Greek population ofthe cities who formed the dominant elite were reinforced by emigration fromGreece. Seleucid expansion intoAnatolia and Greece was abruptly halted afterdecisive defeats at the hands of theRoman army. Their attempts to defeat their oldenemyPtolemaic Egypt were frustrated by Romandemands. Much of the Eastern part of the empire was conquered by theParthians underMithridates I of Parthia in the mid-2nd centuryBC, yet the Seleucid kings continued to rule arump state fromSyria until the invasion byArmenian kingTigranes the Great and their ultimate overthrowby the Roman generalPompey.

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