2nd-1st centuries BCE
AR Drachm 2.08g 16.62mm
Obv: Veiled head of Artemis Kindyas right
Rev: Stag standing right; kerykeion below.
SNG von Aulock 8074 var. (symbol); SNG Keckman 22-4 var. (same)
We chat quite a bit about owning ancient coins, such as this one here from Bargylia in Caria. There are some who even dabble in other artifacts such as vases and statues. However, how would you like to own an entire ancient CITY!
Yes, the ruins of Bargylia, Caria, are supposedly for sale. They were listed in 2018 for $8.3 million, which is a bargain in my opinion. Of course, no construction is allowed on this ancient site, nor is the owner allowed to perform any archeological activities. However, you’re perfectly allowed to setup a screen in the ancient theater, sit back, and enjoy the show. How cool is that!
The city that now finds itself for sale had a bit of a bumpy start. It all started with a buy named Bellerephon obtaining the coolest of horses, Pegagos. He managed this with the Bridle of Athena. We won’t go into much details about this or all the wacky adventures the two partook, because the guy we care about was his best friend Bargylos. He was a bit of a prankster, and one day, when Bellerephon had landed with Pegasos after a visit to the horse wash and was scanning the landscape for his buddy, Bargylos snuck up beside him and clanged two pans together to freak him out.
Well, that plan worked, except it freaked out Pegasos too, who promptly thumped poor Bargylos into the next county. Bellerephon felt bad for him, because the prank was a good one, so he founded the city of Bargylos in honor of his deceased dim-witted friend.
On the obverse of my coin is Artemis, whose temple of Artemis Kindyas was located at Bargylos. According to Strabo, when it rained no drops ever fell onto the temple. That seems tough to believe, though here around Seattle I’ve seen it rain on one half of my yard but not the other. Evidently when the Greeks saw that they built a temple. In our case, we eventually installed a bird bath and some feeders
Polybios reported the same miracle, though called BS on it.
“The town has a circumference of ten stades. It is reported and believed by the Bargylians that no snow nor rain ever falls on the statue of Artemis Kindyas, although it stands in the open air, but by the Iasians the same story is told about the statue of Astias. But I myself throughout my whole work have consistently viewed such statements by historians with a certain opposition and repugnance.”
The name Kindya comes from the ancient city, located close to Bargylia, which was abandoned some time in the 4th century BCE, though evidently the temple remained in use.
The stag on the reverse was also a symbol of Artemis, who enjoyed hunting them. They were kind of like Disney deer, prancing and chattering along with her, but every so often she’d take her bow out and the scene turned dark.
In 200 BCE, Philip V wintered here with his troops after his fleet was blockaded by Pergamon and Rhodes. Some of their ping pong tables are still extant. Around this time, a large statue of the sea monster Skylla existed in the city, until the British came, put it in their shopping cart along with the Elgin Marbles and the frieze from the Temple of Apollo Epikurios, and hauled it back to their museum.
The famed explorer Freya Stark, perhaps a distant relation to Arya and John, visited and wrote about Bargylia.