Greek City of Thesslonica KABEIROS BlacksmithSeptimius Severus Coin i34340 Rare

Description

Item:
i34340
Authentic Ancient Coin of:
Greek city of Thessalonica in Macedonia
Pseudo-autonomous issue. Time of Septimius Severus, 193-211 A.D.
Bronze 20mm (5.74 grams)
Reference: Touratsoglou Em. VI/K, pg. 334, 11 (VI0/R9)
ΘЄCCA
ΛONIKH, Draped and turreted bust of Tyche right.
KAB
ЄIPOC,
Kabeiros standing left, holding rhyton and hammer.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.
In
Greek mythology
, the
Cabeiri
, (
Cabiri
,
Kabeiroi
,
Kabiri
or
Greek
: Κάβειροι) were a group of enigmatic
chthonic
deities. They were worshiped in a
mystery cult
closely associated with that of
Hephaestus
, centered in the north Aegean islands of
Lemnos
and possibly
Samothrace
—at the
Samothrace temple complex
— and at
Thebes
. In their distant origins the Cabeiri and the Samothracian gods may include pre-Greek elements
[3]
Hittite, Thracian, proto-Etruscan, or Phrygian elements. The Lemnian cult was always local to Lemnos, but the Samothracian mystery cult spread rapidly throughout the Greek world during the
Hellenistic
period, eventually initiating Romans.
The ancient sources disagree about whether the deities of Samothrace were Cabeiri or not; and the accounts of the two cults differ in detail. But the two islands are close to each other, at the northern end of the Aegean, and the cults are at least similar, and neither fits easily into the
Olympic pantheon
: the Cabeiri were given a mythic genealogy as sons of Hephaestus. The accounts of the Samothracian gods, whose names were secret, vary in the number and sexes of the gods, usually between two and four, some of either sex. The number of Cabeiri also varied, with some accounts citing four (often a pair of males and a pair of females) of them, and some even more, such as a tribe or whole race of Cabeiri, often presented as all male.
The Cabeiri were also worshipped at other sites in the vicinity, including
Seuthopolis
in
Thrace
and various sites
[
citation needed
]
in
Asia Minor
.
Origin of the Cabeiri
The Cabeiri were possibly originally
Phrygian
deities and protectors of
sailors
, who were imported into Greek ritual. Robert Beekes believes that they are of non-Indo-European,
pre-Greek
origin.
Depiction in literary sources
They were most commonly depicted as two people: an old man,
Axiocersus
, and his son,
Cadmilus
. Due to the cult's secrecy, however, their exact nature and relationship with other ancient Greek and
Thracian
religious figures remained mysterious. As a result, the membership and roles of the Cabeiri changed significantly over time, with common variants including a female pair (
Axierus
and
Axiocersa
) and twin youths who were frequently confused with
Castor and Pollux
, who were also worshiped as protectors of sailors. The number of Cabiri also varied, with some accounts citing four (often a pair of males and a pair of females) of them, and some even more, such as a tribe or whole race of Cabiri.
Lemnos
The Lemnians were originally non-Greek; they were Hellenized after
Miltiades
conquered the island for Athens in the sixth century BCE. In
Lemnos
the cult of the Cabeiri survived, according to achaeological evidence, through the conquest: an ancient sanctuary dedicated to the Cabeiri is identifiable by traces of inscriptions, and seems to have survived the program of Hellenization.
The geographer
Strabo
reported (Geogr. 10,3,21) that in Lemnos, the mother (there was no father) of the Cabeiri was
Kabeiro
(
Greek
: Καβειρώ) herself, a daughter of
Proteus
(one of the "old men of the sea") and a goddess whom the Greeks might have called
Rhea
.
In general Greek myth identifies the Cabeiri as divine craftsmen, sons or grandsons of
Hephaestus
, who was also chiefly worshipped on Lemnos.
Aeschylus
wrote a play called the
Cabeiri
, and the fragments that survive have them as a chorus greeting the
Argonauts
at Lemnos. showed them as prodigious wine-drinkers, and wine jars are "the only characteristic group of finds" from the Cabeirium of Lemnos.
Walter Burkert
suggests a raucous, burlesque character to the mysteries of the Cabeiri and notes an inscription at Lemnos indicates
parapaizonti
, the one who "jests along the way". First-fruits were offered to
Zeus
,
Apollo
, and the Cabeiri; Burkert also sees the offerings to Zeus and Apollo, father and son, as indicating an initiatory ceremony
Samothrace
The
Samothracians
were also originally non-Greek, and are associated with the
Trojans
and the
Pelasgians
; they used a foreign language in the temple through
Julius Caesar
's time.
Samothrace offered an initiatory mystery, which promised safety and prosperity to seamen. The secret of these mysteries has largely been kept; but we know that of three things about the ritual, the aspirants were asked the worst action they had ever committed.
The archaic sanctuary of Samothrace was rebuilt in Greek fashion; by classical times, the Samothrace mysteries of the Cabeiri were known at Athens, where
Herodotus
had been initiated. But at the entry to the sanctuary, which has been thoroughly excavated, the Roman antiquary
Varro
learned that there had been twin pillars of brass. He describes them as Heaven and Earth, denying the vulgar error that they are
Castor and Pollux
.
The mysteries of Samothrace did not publish the names of their gods; and the offerings at the shrine are all inscribed
to the gods
or
to the great gods
rather than with their names. But ancient sources tell us that there were two goddesses and a god:
Axieros
,
Axiokersa
, and
Axiokersos
, and their servant
Cadmilos
or
Casmilos
.
Karl Kerényi
conjectured that Axieros was male, and the three gods were the sons of Axiokersa (Cadmilos, the youngest, was also the father of the three); Burkert disagrees.
In Classical Greek culture the mysteries of the Cabeiri at Samothrace remained popular, though little was entrusted to writing beyond a few names and bare genealogical connections. Seamen among the Greeks might invoke the Cabeiri as "great gods" in times of danger and stress. The archaic sanctuary of Samothrace was rebuilt in Greek fashion; by classical times, the Samothrace mysteries of the Cabeiri were known at Athens.
Herodotus
had been initiated. But at the entry to the sanctuary, which has been thoroughly excavated, the Roman antiquary
Varro
learned that there had been twin pillars of brass, phallic
hermae
, and that in the sanctuary it was understood that the child of the Goddess, Cadmilus, was in some mystic sense also her consort.
Thebes in Boeotia
At
Thebes
in
Boeotia
there are more varied finds than on Lemnos; they include many little bronze votive
bulls
and which carry on into Roman times, when the traveller
Pausanias
, always alert to the history of
cults
, learned that it was
Demeter
Kabeiriia
who instigated the initiation cult there in the name of
Prometheus
and his son Aitnaios.
Walter Burkert
(1985) writes, "This points to guilds of smiths analogous to the Lemnian Hephaistos." The votive dedications at Thebes are to a
Kabeiros
(Greek: Κάβειρος) in the singular, and childish toys like votive spinning tops for
Pais
suggest a manhood initiation. Copious wine was drunk, out of characteristic cups that were ritually smashed. Fat, primitive dwarves (similar to the followers of
Silenus
) with prominent genitalia were painted on the cups.
Thebes is connected to Samothrace in myth, primarily the wedding of
Cadmus
and
Harmonia
, which took place there.
Etymology
The
Semitic
word
kabir
("great") has been compared to Κάβειροι since at least
Joseph Justus Scaliger
in the sixteenth century, but nothing else seemed to point to a Semitic origin, until the idea of "great" gods expressed by the Semitic root
kbr
was definitiely attested for North Syria in the thirteenth century BCE, in texts from
Emar
published by D. Arnaud in 1985/87 (see
Emar
). TJ. Wackernagel had produced an Indian etymology in 1907;
[14]
in 1925
A. H. Sayce
had suggested a connection to
Hittite
habiri
("looters", "outlaws"), but subsequent discoveries have made this implausible on phonological grounds. Dossein compares Κάβειροι to the
Sumerian
word
kabar
,
copper
.
[15]
The name of the
Cabeiri
recalls Mount Kabeiros, a mountain in the region of Berekyntia in Asia Minor, closely associated with the
Phrygian
Mother Goddess
. The name of Kadmilus (or
Kasmilos
), one of the Cabeiri who was usually depicted as a young boy, was linked even in
antiquity
to
camillus
, an old
Latin
word for a boy-attendant in a cult, which is probably a loan from the
Etruscan language
[
citation needed
]
, which may be related to Lemnian.
[16]
Myth
In myth, the Cabeiri bear many similarities to other fabulous races, such as the
Telchines
of
Rhodes
, the
Cyclopes
, the
Dactyls
, the
Korybantes
, and the Kuretes. These different groups were often confused or identified with one another since many of them, like the Cyclopes and Telchines, were also associated with
metallurgy
.
Diodorus Siculus
said of the Cabeiri that they were
Idaioi dactyloi
("Idaian
Dactyls
"). The Idaian Dactyls were a race of divine beings associated with the
Mother Goddess
and with
Mount Ida
, a mountain in
Phrygia
sacred to the goddess.
Hesychius of Alexandria
wrote that the Cabeiri were
karkinoi
("
crabs
", in modern Greek: "
Καβούρι
α" (kavouria)). The Cabeiri as Karkinoi were apparently thought of as amphibious beings (again recalling the Telchines). They had pincers instead of hands, which they used as
tongs
(Greek:
karkina
) in metalworking.
It has been suggested that the
Orphic
mysteries may have had their origins with the Cabeiri.
<="" span="">
Greek city of Thessalonica in Macedoniaaa
was founded around
315 BC
by the
King Cassander of Macedon
, on or near the site of the ancient town of
Therma
and twenty-six other local villages. He named it after his wife
Thessalonike
, a half-sister of
Alexander the Great
. She gained her name ("victory of Thessalians": Gk
nikē
"victory") from her father,
Philip II
, to commemorate her birth on the day of his gaining a victory over the
Phocians
, who were defeated with the help of
Thessalian
horsemen, the best in Greece at that time. Thessaloniki developed rapidly and as early as the
2nd century BC
the first walls were built, forming a large square. It was an autonomous part of the Kingdom of
Macedon
, with its own parliament where the King was represented and could interfere in the city's domestic affairs.
Roman era
After the fall of the kingdom of Macedon in
168 BC
, Thessalonica became a city of the
Roman Republic
. It grew to be an important trade-hub located on the
Via Egnatia
, the
Roman road
connecting
Byzantium
(later
Constantinople
), with
Dyrrhachium
(now
Durrës
in
Albania
), and facilitating trade between Europe and Asia. The city became the capital of one of the four Roman districts of Macedonia; it kept its privileges but was ruled by a
praetor
and had a Roman garrison, while for a short time in the
1st century BC
, all the Greek provinces came under Thessalonica (the Latin form of the name). Due to the city's key commercial importance, a spacious harbour was built by the Romans, the famous
Burrowed Harbour
(Σκαπτός Λιμήν) that accommodated the town's trade up to the eighteenth century; later, with the help of silt deposits from the river
Axios
, it was reclaimed as land and the port built beyond it. Remnants of the old harbour's docks can be found in the present day under Odos Frangon Street, near the Catholic Church.
Thessaloniki's
acropolis
, located in the northern hills, was built in
55 BC
after
Thracian
raids in the city's outskirts, for security reasons.
The city had a
Jewish
colony, established during the
first century
, and was to be an early centre of
Christianity
. On his second missionary journey,
Paul
of Tarsus
, born a Hellenized Israelite, preached in the city's synagogue, the chief synagogue of the Jews in that part of Thessaloniki, and laid the foundations of a church. Other Jews opposed to Paul drove him from the city, and he fled to
Veroia
. Paul wrote two of his
epistles
to the Christian community at Thessalonica, the
First Epistle to the Thessalonians
and the
Second Epistle to the Thessalonians
.
Thessaloníki acquired a patron saint,
St. Demetrius
, in 306. He is credited with a number of miracles that saved the city, and was the Roman
Proconsul
of Greece under the anti-Christian emperor
Maximian
, later martyred at a Roman prison where today lies the
Church of St. Demetrius
, first built by the Roman sub-prefect of
Illyricum
Leontios in 463. Other important remains from this period include the
Arch and Tomb of Galerius
, located near the centre of the modern city.
Your browser does not support JavaScript. To view this page, enable JavaScript if it is disabled or upgrade your browser.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long until my order is shipped?:
Depending on the volume of sales, it may take up to 5 business days for shipment of your order after the receipt of payment.
How will I know when the order was shipped?:
After your order has shipped, you will be left positive feedback, and that date should be used as a basis of estimating an arrival date.
After you shipped the order, how long will the mail take?
USPS First Class mail takes about 3-5 business days to arrive in the U.S., international shipping times cannot be estimated as they vary from country to country. I am not responsible for any USPS delivery delays, especially for an international package.
What is a certificate of authenticity and what guarantees do you give that the item is authentic?
Each of the items sold here, is provided with a Certificate of Authenticity, and a Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity, issued by a world-renowned numismatic and antique expert that has identified over 10000 ancient coins and has provided them with the same guarantee. You will be quite happy with what you get with the COA; a professional presentation of the coin, with all of the relevant information and a picture of the coin you saw in the listing.
Compared to other certification companies, the certificate of authenticity is a -50 value. So buy a coin today and own a piece of history, guaranteed.
Is there a money back guarantee?
I offer a 30 day unconditional money back guarantee. I stand behind my coins and would be willing to exchange your order for either store credit towards other coins, or refund, minus shipping expenses, within 30 days from the receipt of your order. My goal is to have the returning customers for a lifetime, and I am so sure in my coins, their authenticity, numismatic value and beauty, I can offer such a guarantee.
Is there a number I can call you with questions about my order?
You can contact me directly via ask seller a question and request my telephone number, or go to my About Me Page to get my contact information only in regards to items purchased on eBay.
When should I leave feedback?
Once you receive your order, please leave a positive. Please don't leave any negative feedbacks, as it happens many times that people rush to leave feedback before letting sufficient time for the order to arrive. Also, if you sent an email, make sure to check for my reply in your messages before claiming that you didn't receive a response. The matter of fact is that any issues can be resolved, as reputation is most important to me. My goal is to provide superior products and quality of service.
Your browser does not support JavaScript. To view this page, enable JavaScript if it is disabled or upgrade your browser.