Æ 10 mm, 0,77 g
Female head to right, her hair bound in sphendone.
Rev. ΙΔΥ/ΜΙΟΝ Fig leaf
Karl 161. SNG Copenhagen 420. SNG Keckman I 63
Idyma was a coastal city in Caria. The ruins today are decently preserved along with a series of rock tombs believed to have been created in the 4th century BCE, around the time when this coin was minted.
It is believed that the name of Idyma was a hellenized form of a more ancient non-Greek name. Kaan Iren speculates that it may be the same city as the Hittite-Luwian Uttuma. An ancient story tells of a stream where whoever ate the fish would die.
The reverse depicts a fig leaf and presumably they were cultivated in Idyma at that time. It is unknown who is on the obverse.
546 BCE
The Persians under commander Harpagos conquer the area around Idyma.