Phoenicia, Sidon, Elagabal SNG Cop. 255
Elagabal AD 218-222
AE 30, 20.23g
obv. IMP CAESAR - M AV ANTONINVS
bust, draped and cuirassed, laureate r.
rev. AVR PIA - SID - COL MET
Two-wheeled cult cart of Astarte r., with roof on four columns, two palms emerging from it; holy stone (baetyl) from Sidon within. 
SNG Copenhagen 255
about EF, nice sand-patina

The holy stones (baetyls) were meteorites. Especially in Semitic religions they were worshipped as deities. The most famous was the stone of Emesa, worshipped as the sol god Elagabal, and the Kaaba in Mecca, a pre-islamic sanctuary.


Contributed by Hans-Joachim, 2006.