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![A Getty Museum photo showing a silver tetradrachm (four-drachma coin) stamped in high relief on the obverse of the coin with a bee viewed from above, within a dotted border. It is dark grey silver against a lighter grey background. Relief details include legs, wings, antennae, segmented abdomen and sting. The Greek letters, Ε (‘epsilon’) and Φ (‘phi’), an abbreviation for ‘Ephesus’, are placed either side of the bee. Diameter 7 mm.
From the museum catalogue:
“The reverse shows the foreparts of a stag kneeling in right profile, looking back towards a palm tree. An inscription to the right reads ΚΑΡΝΩ[Ψ] (‘KARNO[PS]’).
The bee, stag, and palm are all emblems of Ephesus, a Greek city on the west coast of Turkey. This city was an important center of worship for the Greek goddess Artemis, and the images on Ephesian coinage typically promote this association. The bee was originally the symbol of an early Anatolian goddess who the Greeks later identified with their goddess, Artemis; so close was the connection that the priestesses of the goddess were called "honey bees." The two Greek letters, Ε (‘epsilon’) and Φ (‘phi’), are an abbreviation for Ephesus. The palm tree alludes to Artemis' birth beneath a palm tree on the island of Delos. The stag – an animal sacred to Artemis – symbolizes the goddess' role as protector of wild animals, and may also refer to the sculptures that flanked her cult statue in the temple at Ephesus”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:j56ydp325adovobhwpkzc6sp/bafkreigfkyc6eun6laikanqtebliuzqn2rgg3j3gporrijziujkze6nohe)
