Weight with the Head of a Lion

The ancient artist carved the lion that decorates this weight in high relief, carefully incising details of the face and mane. A dotted inscription in Greek reads "of Apollo." It was a common practice in antiquity for official weights to be kept in temples for safekeeping. The inscription implies that this weight was kept in a temple of Apollo, the god of music and prophecy. 

The reverse is plain except for a large rectangular hollow, which has been filled with lead. Signs of scraping show that the weight was calibrated. Flat, plaque weights were normally used in a simple balance scale, but here, the lion's mouth has been drilled out at the sides, perhaps for the insertion of a ring handle. Such a handle or loop would also allow the weight to be used on a steelyard scale. The piece weighs a *mina*, the standard common in the eastern Mediterranean region in Late Hellenistic and early Roman Imperial times.