Prior to his promotion by the new Persian King Darius III (r. 336-330) to being the Satrap of Birît nârim ("Between the rivers”) or Mesopotamia and Syria, Mazaeus ruled the land of Cilicia from around 361 BC. It was at this time that he sponsored the striking of this interesting stater.  As one of the largest mints of the time for the Achaemenid Empire, the mint at Tarsos actually produced a vast array of coin types. Many of the later types struck under Mazaeus depict an enthroned Baaltars facing left. This particular design is an interesting blend of local divine imagery centering on the god Baaltars on the obverse, and older, more established royal imagery of a Lion fighting a Bull on the reverse..

Baaltars, which means “Baal of Tarsos” or “God of Tarsos”, was a local fertility god worshiped by the residents in Cilicia. A somewhat enigmatic god it is believed that it was a fertility deity, as exhibited by the ear of corn and grapevine held in his right hand on this coin. It is almost certain that the famous Alexandrian tetradrachmai struck only 15-30 years later copied this design for their highly recognizable reverse design featuring enthroned Zeus. Interestingly, it is unclear whether or not the “Baal” worshiped from Egypt to Cappadocia were different gods, or simply different aspects of the same god.

This merging of imagery was not at all unknown in the ancient world, especially as empires rose and fell. In fact only a few years later, in 331, Mazaeus surrendered Babylon to Alexander the Great without a fight. An act which prompted the conquering Greek King to retain him as the Satrap of Babylonia.