Doliche — A settlement in Syria
During the Hittite period, it was a stop on the road connecting the Mediterranean to Mesopotamia. It was also a religious center. The sanctuary of the Hittite god Teshub was just to the north of the village.

In the literary sources, the existence of the Hellenistic colony is not attested before the 2nd century BC. The Seleucids adopted the worship of the local storm-god as Zeus Dolichenus, identified with Baal. At this time it was a small city on the road from Germanicia to Zeugma. It was ruled by the Kingdom of Commagene "for about 35 years"; after being governed by Antiochus Theos, it might have been incorporated into the Roman province of Syria as early as 31 BCE.

Commagene was definitively annexed and incorporated into the Roman province of Syria in 72 CE. The worship of Jupiter Dolichenus became widespread from the mid-second to the mid-third century CE, particularly though not exclusively in the Roman army. A number of religious monuments of Jupiter Dolichenus refer to him as the "god of the Commagenians".

The town, of strategic importance, was conquered by Iyad ibn Ghanm during the first decades of the Muslim conquests. It hence became a frontier outpost of the nascent Islamic Caliphate against the Byzantine Empire. In the middle of the 10th century, it played a role in the conflict between resurgent Byzantium and the Hamdanid emirate of Sayf al-Dawla, and was retaken by the Byzantines in 962. The town again became a battleground during the Crusades until it was definitely captured by atabeg Nur al-Din of Aleppo in 1155; by that time, it had declined to obscurity, its fortress in ruins and the once prosperous town reduced to a small village.

Modern location: Dülük, Turkey
An AE Uncertain struck 161 AD in Doliche
Obverse: Uncertain Inscription, Confronted Heads of Lucius Verus at left and Marcus Aurelius at right

Reverse: ΔΟΛΙΧΑΙⲰΝ Α, inside laurel wreath

Diameter: 22 mm
Die Orientation: 12 H
Weight: 8.23 g
No notes for this coin
RPC Online IV.3 8602 (temp)