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Figure 14.1A Silver stater of Aradus, fourth century bce, issued in the decades before the defeat of the Persians by Alexander the Great. On the obverse, a laureate head of a bearded deity; on the reverse, a galley with stylized waves beneath; Phoenician letters mem aleph ayin above (the letter mem is off the flan).

Figure 14.1B Athenian tetradrachm or Syrian imitation of one, fourth century bce. The obverse has a head of Athena; the reverse depicts her attribute, an owl, with a sprig of olive. The test cut on the reverse suggests that such coins were probably appreciated more for their metallic worth than their symbolic monetary value.

Figure 14.1C Copper-alloy coin of Alexander the Great (336–323 bce), attributed to Byblos and issued between c. 330 and 320 bce. The obverse bears a head of a youthful Heracles, wearing the skin of the Nemean lion; the reverse has a bow in a bow case and a club, accompanied by the legend “of Alexander.”

Figure 14.1D Silver tetradrachm in the name of Alexander the Great, attributed to Byblos and issued between c. 330 and 320 BCE. Like the previous coin (14.1C) the obverse bears the head of Heracles; the reverse has a figure of Zeus seated on a throne, holding an eagle, and the legend “of Alexander.” The Greek monogram in front of Zeus has been understood as a monogram of a King Adramalek of Byblos (the first three letters of his name in Greek, ADR).