Archaios | Medieval Cilician Armenia Seated King Scepter Globe Cross | 31.5

Description

Archaios Numismatics
__________________________________________
Description:
Medieval Bronze coin of Cilician Armenia - King Hetoum II
Obverse:
King seated cross-legged with long scepter in right hand and globe in left ;
+ՇԵԹՈՒՄ ԹԱԳԱ +
Armenian legend around.
Reverse:
Armenian Cross within circle;
+ՇԻՆԵԱԼ Ւ ՍՒՍ +
Armenian legend around
Mint:
Sis
Size:
20 mm
Weight:
4.08 g
Reference:
Inventory:
1907.31.4
Condition:
VF.
As always, Please Use the Picture as your judge as grading is subjective.
Note:
Hetoum II
(Armenian: Հեթում Բ) born in 1266 AD was
king of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia
, ruling from 1289 - 1293, 1295 - 1296 and 1299 - 1303,
while Armenia was a subject state of the Mongol Empire.
He abdicated twice in order to take vows in the Franciscan order, while still remaining the power behind the throne as "Grand Baron of Armenia" and later as Regent for his nephew. He was the son of Leo II of Armenia and Kyranna de Lampron, and was part of the Hethumid dynasty, being the grandson of Hethum I, who had originally submitted Cilicia to the Mongols in 1247. He was assassinated with his nephew and successor Leo III by the Mongol general Bilarghu, who himself was later executed for this by the Mongol Ilkhan ruler Öljaitü.
Since 1247, Cilician Armenia itself had been a vassal state of the Mongol Empire, from an agreement made by Hethum II's grandfather, Hethum I
.
As part of this relationship, Cilician Armenia routinely supplied troops to the Mongols, cooperating in battles against the Mamluks and other elements of the Islamic empire
.
Sis (Armenian: Սիս)
was the capital of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. The massive fortified complex is just to the southwest of the modern Turkish town of Kozan in Adana Province. In the 3rd millennium BC Sis was one of the Hittite settlements on the Cilician plain between the mountains and the Mediterranean coast. Then during the 1st century B.C. Sis appears to have been an unfortified village in the Roman province of Cilicia Secunda. The names Sisan or Sisia are first mentioned in the 5th and 6th centuries in Greek and Latin sources. In 703-04 A.D. the Byzantine settlers repulsed an Arab attack, but were soon forced to abandon the town, which became a frontier post for the Abbasid Caliphate.
The Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas recaptured Sis in 962, only to have it become an Armenian possession in 1113 which it remained and became a capital of Cilician Armeina until 1375
. From the late 12th through the 13th centuries the castle was significantly enlarged during the reigns of King Levon I and King Het‛um I with a "palace," residential buildings, churches, and gardens. Wilbrand von Oldenburg, a Teutonic monk who visited Sis in 1212, found a complete and well-established capital. Het‛um's wife, Zapēl, is credited with building a hospital there in 1241.
The castle at Sis is one of the largest fortified sites in the Levant. If laid from end to end, the circuit walls would measure almost 3 kilometers in length
.
Includes excerpts from Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
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