Amyntas
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Obv: Helmetted bust of king.
Rev: Seated Tyche with cornucopia in left hand, and, with the right hand, making a benediction gesture identical to the Buddhist vitarka mudra. Greek legend: BASILEOS NIKATOROS AMINTOY "Victorious King Amintas".
Amyntas was an Indo-Greek king who ruled in parts of the northern Indian subcontinent between 95 and 90 BCE. The abundance of his coinage suggests that he was quite an important king, although nothing remains of him, either in Western or Eastern sources.
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[edit] Coinage
Amyntas minted the largest silver coins of Antiquity: some of his coins were double-decadrachms, of a weight of 85g. These huge coins were found on the archeological site of Qunduz in Afghanistan.
His portraits as well as his choice of obverses (either Zeus sitting, or as above, Tyche in an identical position) suggest that Amyntas was a relative of Antialcidas.
His main coin type is Zeus seated, holding a victory palm in the right hand, and in the right hand holding Athena who is forming the vitarka mudra. Some of his rarer types also include Tyche seated, and Athena standing at rest, both forming the vitarka mudra. One single type shows the embattled Athena Alkidemos. Two types represent the syncretic deity Zeus-Mithra wearing a phrygian cap.
[edit] Overstrikes
Amyntas is known to have overstruck coins of Heliokles II .
| Preceded by: Philoxenus |
Indo-Greek Ruler (Arachosia, Gandhara) (95-90 BCE). |
Succeeded by: Peukolaos |
[edit] Notes
- ^ Bopearachchi, "De l'Indus à l'Oxus", p129
[edit] See also
- Greco-Bactrian Kingdom
- Seleucid Empire
- Greco-Buddhism
- Indo-Scythians
- Indo-Parthian Kingdom
- Kushan Empire
[edit] References
- Tarn, W. W. (1984). The Greeks in Bactria and India. Chicago: Ares. ISBN 0-89005-524-6.
- Narain, A.K.. The Coin types of the Indo-Greek Kings 256-54 BCE.
- Bopearachchi, Osmund (2003). De l'Indus à l'Oxus, Archéologie de l'Asie Centrale (in French). Lattes: Association imago-musée de Lattes. ISBN 2-9516679-2-2.
