Tarsus, Cilicia - AR Obol Of Tiribazos And The 2400 Year Old Pun

Sorting through some neat little silvers and this one stood out. Took some searching to pin it down

Tarsus, Cilicia
Satrap Tiribazos (Tiribazus), 388-380 BC
AR Obol, 9mm, 0.48g
"Youthful male" head right
Woman (Nymph? Aphrodite?) Half-nude, kneeling and playing astragoli (knucklebones)
SNG Levante 65
Rare




I have no idea how this anepigraphic little piece was attributed to the Persian satrap Tiribazos, but the pun in the reverse imagery is actually quite clever. Astragoli, or knucklebones, was a primitive form of jacks, played by tossing the bones in the air, and either trying to catch them all on the back of one's hand, or treating them as dice in a game of chance. In ancient times, the actual "knucklebones" or tarsus of cattle's feet were used. Tarsus, Cilicia; Aphrodite tossing tarsal bones... get it?

Tiribazos interestingly was a satrap and personal favorite to the Persian king Artaxerxes II, and variously fell in and out of favor over a career spanning many years. Of particular note, he attempted to incite the Spartans to war against Athens to head off the Greek threat to Persia; an act that saw him arrested, pardoned, and then honored. He was executed in 380 when, after Artaxerxes had reneged on a marriage arrangement, he attempted to incite a rebellion and have his master assasinated.