The Coinage of ṢDQMLK (Sidkimilk), King of Lapethos (Cyprus), in the Light of the Royal Ideology

Abstract

The article examines the legend and iconography of Athena depicted on the coins of Sidqimilk, king of Lapethos. The formulaic inscription on these coins became a hallmark of the kings of Lapethos for a certain period, and a brief survey of the royal lineage is included. The royal legend may have influenced similar inscriptions on the coins of Byblos, where comparable legends appear slightly later. One type of Sidqimilk’s coinage also introduces a notable iconographic innovation: the depiction of Athena with bovine features on the reverse. Unlike earlier readings this article argues that the image represents a hybridized deity, merging attributes of a local Cypriot goddess, the Greek Athena, the Phoenician Astarte, and Near Eastern goddesses, as could be concluded by certain written sources when compared with the representation of Athena. This syncretic imagery finds visual parallels in а few Near Eastern figurines, yet most precisely in a particular Punic image, suggesting that such divine representations circulated throughout the Phoenician-Punic world and were locally adapted through processes of hybridity. This syncretism is interpreted in the light of royal ideology, reflecting the fusion of Cypriot and Phoenician symbols of kingship through processes of cultural translation, adaptation, and ‘transliteration’ into the local royal vocabulary.