APOLLONIA PONTIKA Black Sea Area Thrace 3-2CenBC Apollo Anchor Greek Coin i55382

Item: i55382

 Authentic Ancient Coin of:

Greek city of Apollonia Pontika
 
in the 
Black Sea Area
Thrace

Bronze 16mm (4.47 grams) Struck 3rd-2nd centuries B.C.
Reference: SNG BM Black Sea 188-189.

Apollo seated left on omphalos, holding bow.
MYZ, Anchor, crayfish to right, A to left.

This coin may feature the famous 
statue from the city.

A colony of Miletos, the city boasted 

a fine temple of Apollo with a statue by the sculptor 

Kalamis.

 You 

Authenticity.

In
Greek
and
Roman mythology
,
Apollo, 
is one of the most important and diverse of the
Olympian deities
. The 
ideal of the
kouros
(a beardless 
youth), Apollo has been variously recognized as a god of 
light and the sun; truth and prophecy;
archery
; medicine and 
healing; music, poetry, and the arts; and more. Apollo 
is the son of
Zeus
and
Leto
, and has a
twin
sister, the chaste 
huntress
Artemis
. Apollo is 
known in Greek-influenced
Etruscan mythology
as
Apulu. Apollo was worshiped in both
ancient Greek
and
Roman religion
, as well 
as in the modern
Greco
–Roman
Neopaganism
.

As the patron of
Delphi
(Pythian 
Apollo), Apollo was an
oracular
god — the 
prophetic deity of the
Delphic Oracle
. 
Medicine and healing were associated with Apollo, 
whether through the god himself or mediated through his 
son
Asclepius
, yet Apollo 
was also seen as a god who could bring ill-health and 
deadly
plague
as well as one 
who had the ability to cure. Amongst the god’s custodial 
charges, Apollo became associated with dominion over
colonists
, and as the 
patron defender of herds and flocks. As the leader of 
the
Muses
(Apollon 
Musagetes) and director of their choir, Apollo 
functioned as the patron god of music and
poetry
.
Hermes
created the
lyre
for him, and the 
instrument became a common
attribute
of Apollo. 
Hymns sung to Apollo were called
paeans
.

In Hellenistic times, especially during the third 
century BCE, as Apollo Helios he became 
identified among Greeks with
Helios
,
god of the sun
, and his 
sister Artemis similarly equated with
Selene
,
goddess of the moon
. In 
Latin texts, on the other hand, Joseph Fontenrose 
declared himself unable to find any conflation of Apollo 
with
Sol
among the
Augustan poets
of the 
first century, not even in the conjurations of
Aeneas
and
Latinus
in
Aeneid
XII 
(161–215). Apollo and Helios/Sol remained separate 
beings in literary and mythological texts until the 
third century CE.

An omphalos (ὀμφαλός) is a religious stone
artifact
, or
baetylus
. In
Greek
, the word
omphalos means “navel“. 
In Greek lore,
Zeus
sent two eagles 
across the world to meet at its center, the “navel” of 
the world. Omphalos stones marking the centre were 
erected in several places about the
Mediterranean Sea
; the 
most famous of those was at
Delphi
. Omphalos is 
also the name of the stone given to
Cronus
. In the ancient 
world of the Mediterranean, it was a powerful religious 
symbol. Omphalos Syndrome refers to the misguided 
belief that a place of geopolitical power and currency 
is the most important place in the world.

The omphalos was not only an object of pagan 
religious symbolism and world centrality; it an also one 
of power. Its symbolic references included the
uterus
, the
phallus
, and a cup of 
red wine representing royal blood lines. It may also 
have connections to the
Holy Grail
and the 
Arthurian
Sword in the Stone
.

Delphi

 

The omphalos in museum of
Delphi
.

Most accounts locate the Delphi omphalos in the
adyton
(sacred part of 
the temple) near the
Pythia
(oracle). The 
stone sculpture itself (which may be a copy), has a 
carving of a knotted net covering its surface, and a 
hollow center, widening towards the base. The omphalos 
represents the stone which
Rhea
wrapped in 
swaddling clothes, pretending it was Zeus, in order to 
deceive
Cronus
. (Cronus was the 
father who swallowed his children so as to prevent them 
from usurping him as he had deposed his own father,
Uranus
).

Omphalos stones were believed to allow direct 
communication with the gods. Holland (1933) suggested 
that the stone was hollow to allow intoxicating vapours 
breathed by the Oracle to channel through it.
Erwin Rohde
wrote that 
the
Python
at Delphi was an 
earth spirit, who was conquered by
Apollo
and buried under 
the Omphalos. However, understanding of the use of the 
omphalos is uncertain due to destruction of the site by
Theodosius I
and
Arcadius
in the 4th 
century CE.

Jerusalem

The omphalos at the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
, 
Jerusalem, represents, in Christian mediaeval tradition, 
the navel of the world (the spiritual and 
cosmological centre of the world). Jewish tradition held 
that God revealed himself to His people through the
Ark of the Covenant
in 
the
Temple in Jerusalem
, 
which rested on the
Foundation stone
 
marking the centre of the world. This tradition may have 
stemmed from the similar one at Delphi.

Sozopol (Bulgarian:

Созопол) is an 

ancient town and seaside resort located 35

km

south of

Burgas

on the southern

Black Sea Coast

of

Bulgaria

. Today the town is mostly a seaside resort 

known for the Apollonia art and film festival 

(which takes place in early September) and is named 

after one of Sozopol’s ancient names.

The busiest times of the year are the summer months, 

ranging from May to September as tourists from around 

the world come to enjoy the weather, sandy beaches, 

history and culture, fusion cuisine (Bulgarian, Greek, 

Turkish), and atmosphere of the colourful resort. The 

increasing popularity of the town has led to it being 

dubbed the Bulgarian

St. Tropez

, seeing stars like

Ralph Fiennes

,

Brad Pitt

,

Angelina Jolie

and

Goldfrapp

exploring its beauty and charm.

Part of

Burgas Province

, as of September 2005^[update] 

Sozopol has a population of 4,641. The town is located 

at

42.417°N 

27.7°E /

42.417; 27.7 

/ 42°25′N

27°42′E 

and the mayor is Panaiot Reyzi. One of the most active 

and popular mayors had been

Nikola Kaloyanov

, who initiated numerous 

infrastructure changes to modernize the town in the 70s.

//

 History

Sozopol is one of the oldest towns on

Bulgarian Thrace

‘s

Black Sea

coast. The first settlement on the site 

dates back to the

Bronze Age

. Undersea explorations in the region of 

the port reveal relics of dwellings, ceramic pottery, 

stone and bone tools from that era. Many anchors from 

the second and first millennium BC have been discovered 

in the town’s bay, a proof of active shipping since 

ancient times.

The town, at first called Antheia, was 

colonized in Thrace on the shore of the Pontus Euxinus, 

principally on a little island, by

Anaximander

(born 610-609 BC) at the head of

Milesian

colonists. The name was soon changed to

Apollonia, on account of a temple dedicated to

Apollo

in the town, containing a famous colossal 

statue of the god Apollo by

Calamis

, 30 cubits high, transported later to Rome 

by

Lucullus

and placed in the

Capitol

. At various times, Apollonia was known as

Apollonia Pontica (that is, Apollonia on the 

Black Sea, the ancient Pontus Euxinus) and

Apollonia Magna (Great Apollonia).

The coins, which begin in the fourth century BC, bear 

the name Apollonia and the image of Apollo; the imperial 

coins, which continue to the first half of the third 

century AD, and the

also contain the name Apollonia; 

but the “Periplus 

Ponti Euxini“, 85, and the

have only the new name 

Sozopolis. In 1328 Cantacuzene (ed. Bonn, I, 326) speaks 

of it as a large and populous town. The islet on which 

it stood is now connected with the mainland by a narrow 

tongue of land. Sozopolis, in Greek Sozòpolis (Σωζωπολις, 

meaning the “preserve” city), in Turkish Sizebolu, 

in Bulgarian Sozopol, is in Burgas Province, 

Bulgaria. Its inhabitants, in the past mostly Greeks, 

lived by fishing and agriculture.

The town established itself as a trade and naval 

centre in the following centuries. It kept strong 

political and trade relations with the cities of

Ancient Greece

 –

Miletus

,

Athens

,

Corinth

,

Heraclea Pontica

and the islands

Rhodes

,

Chios

,

Lesbos

, etc. Its trade influence in the

Thracian territories

was based on a treaty with the 

rulers of the

Odrysian kingdom

dating from the fifth century BC.

The symbol of the town – the anchor, present on all 

coins minted by Apollonia since the sixth century BC, is 

proof of the importance of its maritime trade. The rich 

town soon became an important cultural centre. At these 

times it was called Apollonia Magna.

Ruled in turn by the

Byzantine

,

Bulgarian

and

Ottoman

Empires, Sozopol was assigned to the newly 

independent Bulgaria in the 19th century. Almost all of 

its

Greek population

was exchanged

with Bulgarians from

Eastern Thrace

in the aftermath of the

Balkan Wars

.

 Ecclesiastical 

history

Sozopol was Christianized early. Bishops are recorded 

as resident there from at least 431. At least eight 

bishops are known (Le 

Quien, Oriens christianus, I, 1181): 

Athanasius (431), Peter (680), Euthymius (787) and 

Ignatius (869); Theodosius (1357), Joannicius, who 

became

Patriarch of Constantinople

(1524), Philotheus 

(1564) and Joasaph (1721).

From being

suffragan

to the

archbishopric of Adrianopolis

, it became in the 

fourteenth century a

metropolis

without suffragan sees; it disappeared 

perhaps temporarily with the Turkish conquest, but 

reappeared later; in 1808 it was united to the See of

Agathopolis

. The titular resided at

Agathopolis

, in Ottoman days called Akhtébolou, in 

the

vilayet

of

Adrianopolis

(Edirne, in European Turkey).

Eubel

(Hierarchia catholica medii ævi, I, 

194) mentions four Latin bishops of the fourteenth 

century.

The city remains a

titular see

of the Roman Catholic Church, that of

Sozopolis in Haemimonto, suffragan of Adrianopolis. 

The seat has stood vacant since the death of the last 

titular bishop in 2000.^[2]

Art flourished in the Christian era. The ancient 

icons and magnificent woodcarving in the

iconostases

are a remarkable accomplishment of the 

craftsmanship of these times. The architecture of the 

houses in the old town from the

Renaissance period

makes it a unique place to visit 

today.

 Names

The original name of the city is attested as

Antheia.^[3] 

Coins were minted in the town bearing the inscription 

Apollonia, which date from the sixth century BC to the 

first half of the third century AD. During this period, 

appellations such as Apollonia Pontica (Apollonia 

on the Black Sea) and Apollonia Magna (Great 

Apollonia) have been recorded. By the first century 

AD, the name Sozopolis began to appear in written 

records (e.g., in the

). After the town became 

part of the Ottoman Empire, the name was Turkified to

Sizeboli, Sizebolu or Sizebolou. After 

Bulgaria took possession of the town, it was Slavicized 

to Sozopol.

Sozopol Gap

on

Livingston Island

in the

South Shetland Islands

,

Antarctica

is named after Sozopol.