Rare Zodiac Wheel Type

Triton XXII, Lot: 718. Estimate $3000. Sold for $2500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

PHOENICIA, Sidon. Julia Paula. Augusta, AD 219-220. Æ (30mm, 19.82 g, 6h). I[VL]IA PA-[V]LA AVG, draped bust right, wearing stephane / Carriage of Astarte flanked by crescent and star; all within center of zodiacal wheel; around, CO[L]O AVR [PIA METR SIDON] divided by registers. Rouvier 1571; BMC – (but cf. 10 for rev. type on coin of Elagabalus). VF, earthen green patina. Rare astrological type.

Ex Roma XIII (23 March 2017), lot 525.

Astarte, a Syro-Phoenician goddess of fertility, sexuality and war, derived from the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar and was known in other cultures as Asthart and Ashtoreth. She was worshipped in Phoenicia in the form of a baetyl, an aniconic stone cult image. In many cases the baetyl was believed to have fallen from the heavens and would be known today as a meteorite. Perhaps indicative of this connection, here the baetyl is shown on its sacred cart in the center of a Zodiacal ring. The heavenly Zodiacal belt was divided into 12 sections containing the major constellations and planets, whose movements were thought to guide the affairs of humans and gods alike.