Hellenistic Bronze Coin of Olympia or Elis

323 BCE to 191 BCE

7/8 in. (diameter) x 1/8 in. (2.3 cm x 0.3 cm)

This object has the following keywords:

• Animalia - Kingdom containing multicellular organisms having cells bound by a plasma membrane and organized into tissue and specialized tissue systems that permit them to either move about in search of food or to draw food toward themselves. Unable to make their own food within themselves, as photosynthetic plants do, they rely on consuming preformed food. They possess a nervous system with sensory and motor nerves, enabling them to receive environmental stimuli and to respond with specialized movements.
• Aves - The class of vertebrate animals that are typically bipedal and warm-blooded, lay large-yolked hardshelled eggs, often arboreal, and possessing feathers, hollow bones, forelimbs adapted for flight (although some have lost the ability to fly) and hindlimbs for perching and locomotion, a four-chambered heart, keen vision, a horny beak without teeth, and a large muscular stomach. Birds arose from theropod dinosaurs, which were an order of carnivorous dinosaurs.
• bronze - Refers to a broad range of alloys of copper, specifically any non-ferrous alloy of copper, tin, and zinc or other trace metals. Bronze was made before 3,000 BCE -- possibly as early as 10,000 BCE, although its common use in tools and decorative items is dated only in later artifacts. The proportions of copper and tin vary widely, from 70 to 95 percent copper in surviving ancient artifacts. Because of the copper base, bronze may be very malleable and easy to work. By the Middle Ages in Europe, it was recognized that using the metals in certain proportions could yield specific properties. Some modern bronzes contain no tin at all, substituting other metals such as aluminum, manganese, and even zinc. Historically, the term was used interchangeably with "latten." U.S. standard bronze is composed of 90% copper, 7% tin and 3% zinc. Ancient bronze alloys sometimes contained up to 14% tin.
• coins - Pieces of metal stamped by government authority for use as money.
• Hellenistic - Refers to the ancient Greek period, culture, and art of ancient Greece that lasted from about 330 BCE to 31 BCE, when Augustus defeated Cleopatra and Mark Antony. It is characterized by an international culture that was ushered in by Alexander the Great's conquest of India, Egypt, and the Near East. In architecture and art, the style is marked by greater sophistication, complexity, and diversity than was known in earlier Greek styles. Architecture diverges from strict rules of earlier periods. Sculptors emphasized more realistic figures in a greater variety of poses than in earlier Greek art.
• Strigiformes - Order containing around 180 species in two families of nocturnal raptorial birds with hooked beaks, strong talons, and soft plumage. All owls have the same general appearance, which is characterized by a flat face, small hooked beak, short tail, round wings, and large, forward-facing eyes. The bird became associated with Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and also owls became symbolic of intelligence because it was thought that they could forsee events. Also, because of their nocturnal existence and hooting sounds, owls have also been symbols associated with the occult. In the Middle Ages, the owl became a symbol of the darkness before the coming of Christ.