Deer and bee

 Silver tetradrachm of Ephesos, 390–380 BC.   

Obverse: A bee

Reverse: A stag kneeling in right profile, looking back towards a date palm tree.

Interestingly, everything depicted on this coin is a calendar marker for autumn, Jul/Aug - Oct/Nov...

Let me explain:

Obverse: The bee

In Eastern Mediterranean, Mesopotamia and Iran, the wild honey harvest season starts with scouting for wild beehives in Aug and then honey collection in Sep/Oct...

Reverse: The stag

Based on the size and shape of the antlers, this is a Persian fallow deer with full antlers during mating season, which in Eastern Mediterranean, Mesopotamia and Iran takes place between Aug and Oct...I talked about fallow deer in these articles...

Reverse: The date palm

Date harvest in Eastern Mediterranean, Mesopotamia and Iran lasts from Aug to Oct...I talked about date harvest in these articles...

Interesting right? 

That's it. To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, start here…Then check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am way way behind...