1 One of the most important cities of Syria and probably the oldest city in the world.

2 The epithet Ouranios (“of Heaven”) indicates Zeus as ruler of the heavens. The star and crescent probably represent the Sun and Moon. According to Zahle, Religious Motifs on Seleucid Coins, Zeus Ouranios is a new Hellenistic creation and he testifies to the advanced syncretism of the late 2nd and early 1st century BC.

Nevertheless, according to Iossif and Lorber, Celestial Iconography on the Eastern Coinage of Antiochus IV (footnote 78), the star can be a symbol of Antiochos VIII’s epithet Epiphanes, not an attribute of the god himself, representing his role as governor over the movements of the stars and the celestial orbs. So, the type should also (or instead) be understood as Zeus holding the star of epiphany of King Antiochos Epiphanes.

3 The Seleukid Era is based on a lunar calendar, beginning with the autumn of 312 BC. It means that if x is a Seleukid year (and x<312) then the corresponding BC time interval is from 313–x to 312–x.

The beginning of the Seleukid Era was set as follows: In 311 BC, shortly after capturing Babylon, Seleukos I Nikator began the enumeration of his satrapal years there. However, after his decisive victory over Antigonos Monophthalmos in 307/6 BC, he backdated his “fictitious” first regnal year to coincide with Nisanu 1, 311 BC (New Year’s Day in the Babylonian calendar). This marked the antedated epoch of the Seleukid calendar according to the Babylonian reckoning. Later in 305/4 BC, when Seleukos I took the diadem and assumed the royal title “King”, he retained the numbering of his regnal years in Babylon but employed the Makedonian calendar and thus pushed his accession year back to Dios, 312 BC (Dios was the first month of the Makedonian calendar; it corresponds to October-November). This became the antedated epoch of the Seleukid era on the Macedonian calendar. (Assar, Recent Studies in Parthian History, Part I, p. 6)

The Seleukid Era was used at least until the first century AD in some Eastern countries.

4 Antioch was founded about 300 BC by Seleukos I Nikator, the founder of the Seleukid Dynasty, and it became the principal capital of the Seleukid Empire. The city was named after a family name Antiochos, passed from his father to his son (Antiochos I Soter). There were a number of other cities by the same name and this Antioch was known as Antioch-on-the-Orontes (i.e. the Orontes River, along which it was located).