Lycia, Masikytes
circa I century BCE
Lycian league Quarter Drachm
AR 14.00mm, 0.81g
Bust of Artemis r., wearing stephane; bow and quiver behind shoulder
Rev: Quiver with strap; L – Y / Y / M – A across fields; all within shallow incuse square
Troxell 139
Ex collection of a Mentor
Masikytes was actually a region, while Myra is the city in that region where it’s believed these coins were minted. Per Strabo, Myra was one of the largest cities in the Lycian League.
Today, the site is renowned for the rock-cut ruins that many tourists, including the author of this site, visit.
Artemis Eleutheria was the primary goddess of the city, though others were also worshipped. Supposedly at the site, according to Pliny the Elder, there was a spring called Curium. A priest or sibyl there summoned fish by blowing a pipe three times, and the fish would then provide oracular responses. The fact that this oracle isn’t mentioned often in history suggests it wasn’t one of the more reliable ones.
Besides the tombs, many of the ruins still stand. Saint Nicholas, long associated with Santa Claus, was as bishop at Myra.