Art Institute of Chicago

Stater (Coin) Portraying Mithrapata

Greek; Lycia, Asia Minor

Date

380-375 BCE

Medium

Silver

Culture

Anatolia

Department

Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

This coin originated in Lycia, an independent country that belonged to the Greek Empire, in a district that is now southwestern Turkey. This coin displays one of the earliest known examples of a human profile on coinage. The image portrays the dynast Mithrapata, whose facial features are strongly depicted, with a flat nose, high cheekbones, a thick neck, a beard, and short curly hair. The profile is set within an incuse square that also contains the Lycian insription "MITHRIPATI."

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