Asia Minor, Ionia, Phocaea, EL Hekte

Asia Minor
Ionia/City of Phokaia
EL-Hekte
Minted from: 387-326 B.C.
Av.: Athens bust l.
Rs.: Quadratum Incusum

Historical

Hekte translated from the Greek means sixth and generally refers to the sixth part of a unit. The term is used in a narrower sense for ancient coins from the 6th and 5th centuries BC to 1/6 electron stater from Cyzicus, Mytilene and Phokaia.

Athena, as the goddess of wisdom, battle strategy, crafts, law, agriculture and art, is one of the main gods of Greek mythology. Unlike Ares, the god of war, she does not want war at any cost, but chooses her battles wisely. Because of her intelligence, she is often symbolized by an owl. In addition, Athena is the patron goddess of Athens. The famous statue Athena Parthenon, which stood in the temple built in her honor on the Acropolis, translates as "Virgin Athena". In fact, unlike most of the other Olympian gods, she never entered into a love affair.

Athena is the daughter of Zeus, the supreme Greek god, and Metis, his first lover. But since, according to a prophecy, Zeus would be overthrown by his own son and Zeus' daughter would be the god's equal, Zeus devoured his pregnant lover. When he suffered from a severe headache with connection, he ordered the smith god Hephaistos to split his head. When he opened Zeus' skull, Athena emerged in full armor. Since she came directly from Zeus' head, she became the symbol and goddess of wisdom. On coins Athena is often depicted with helmet shield, spear, aigis, snake, owl, han or olive tree.

The quadrum incusum denotes a depression in uneven on the still imageless reverse of early Greek coins.  Over time, a square divided by several lines emerged. In many places, the quadrum incursum was retained even after it was replaced by an image representation. Thus, the coin image appears in a recessed square.