Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/708

Rh 650 NUMISMATICS [PALESTINE. dolphin or the king as an archer on a sea-horse, the reverse an owl with the Egyptian symbols of sovereignty, the crook with the flail across it. These are after 400 B.C. and have been given to Tyre, but the Egyptian influence would perhaps suggest some town nearer the southern border of Palestine. A third class of money of the same age is of Persic weight. The earliest pieces have a head sup posed to be of Melkarth and a war-galley, the later examples bearing dates. The dated series continues, but the obverse type changes to Dagon. These are assigned to Aradus. The series bearing the names or symbols of cities would not be difficult to class were it not for their constant interruption by Ptolemaic and Seleucid coins and by the issue of Alexandrine tetradrachms. Berytus has bronze, both autonomous and of the city as a colonia. The types of interest are the founding of the colonia, Poseidon, not always of a purely Greek type, Poseidon and the nymph Berytus, the temple of the same divinity, and the eight Phoenician gods or Cabiri. To Byblus we may class with certainty a Phoenician currency, that of the native kings from about 400 B.C. to Alexander s age. The imperial coinage presents a very curious perspective representation of a temple in Graeco- Phoenician style, with a conical edifice in the court. Cnesarea ad Libanum shows in its imperial money a strange type of Elagabalus, a half-figure of the Syrian goddess in a shrine. She wears a oap like a papyrus head and is enwrapped in shapeless drapery. The shrine is of Egyptian style, and a sceptre with a bird upon it is beside the goddess. Maratlras has a very fine Phoe nician tetradrachm of 226 B.C., with the head of the city turreted and a youth holding an aplustre and seated on bucklers. This is a work of Greek design and style, as is also a small coin of the year following with the head of Queen Berenice II., then reigning. The copper is dated from 198 to 153 B.C. Sidon. The undoubted money of Sidon begins with Alexandrine gold and silver, dated shortly after the king s reign. This was followed by other Alexandrine money, interrupted by that of Ptolemy II., Arsinoe II., and Ptolemy III. Ptolemy IV. also struck here and Antiochus IV. in bronze ; and later Seleucids issued tetradrachms from 151 to 114 B.C. The era of the autonomy of Sidon was 111 B.C. There are tetradrachms dated by this reckoning with the head of the city and an eagle on a rudder, across him a palm. In the bronze we observe the type of Europa carried by the bull. Some pieces of this class have Phoenician as well as Greek inscriptions. The imperial money shows a curious shrine on wheels. In the time of Elagabalus Sidon is characterized as a colonia. The type of a temple of Astarte as a local Aphrodite is worth notice. The series closes with Julia M;vsa. Tripolis has an interesting but limited autonomous and imperial series. The worship of the Dioscuri is here associated with Asiatic religion. Architecturally these coins are highly curious. Tyre. The early money that can be classed with certainty to Tyre exhibits similar historical vicissitudes to that of Sidon. Before she gained her independence the Seleucids struck here from 149 to 125 B. c., and in that very year the autonomous era begins. The tetra drachms dated by this era bear the head of the Tyrian Heracles in a Greek form, and the eagle on a rudder, across him the palm. The latest coin of this series known to us is a didrachm of 66 A.D. There is also autonomous bronze. The imperial class begins with Severus, and under him the constitution of the colonia is shown ; but the most interesting type is a serpent coiled round an egg, between a date-palm (the phcenix or tree of Phoenicia) and a murex, the shell which produced the Tyrian purple. The series ends with Gallienus. Aradus has Alexandrine coins, and acquired its independence in 258 B.C. From this date it struck, first its chief coins with Alexandrine types, then drachms with the types of Ephesus, the bee, and the stag on this side of the date-palm, and lastly tetradrachms with the bust of the city and Nice holding an aplustre and a palm within a wreath. These are of heavy Phoenician weight. The imperial coinage ranges from Tiberius to Gordian III. Palestine. In Galilee there are a few autonomous and imperial coins of Ptolemais, which was a great mint under the earlier Ptolemies ; and other towns are represented. In Perrea there is an imperial series of Gadara. Samaria has money of Csesarea, both autonomous and imperial, the last for the most part colonial, and also imperial of Neapolis, among the types of which occurs the interesting subject of Mount Gerizim surmounted by the Samaritan temple. The coinage of Judsea is an interesting series. The money of Jerusalem is of high interest, and more extensive than appears at first sight. Here was struck the coin of Antiochus VII., with the native lily as a type, the series of the Maccabaean princes, that of the Roman procurators, and the bronze coins countermarked by the tenth legion, quartered by Titus in the ruins of the city. One of these bears the remarkable symbol of a pig. After the reduction of Judrea in the reign of Hadrian, Jerusalem was rebuilt as a colonia with the name JElia Capitolina. The earliest coin commemorates the foundation. The coinage lasts as late as Hostilian. Ascalon strikes autonomous silver and bronze, including remarkable tetradrachms with the por traits of Ptolemy Auletes, of his elder son Ptolemy XIV., and of his daughter Cleopatra. There is also money of Gaza of some import ance, and of Joppa, both previously mints of the earlier Ptolemies. The independent Jewish coinage begins with the famous shekels. Jewish They have been assigned to various periods, but the preponderance coinage, of evidence would class them to Simon Maccabaeus, to whom the right of coining was granted by Antiochus VII. The series is of shekels and half-shekels, of the weight of Phoenician tetradrachms and didrachms. The obverse of the shekel bears the inscription &quot;the shekel of Israel,&quot; and for type the pot of manna, or it may be a sacred vessel of the temple, above which is the initial of the word year, and the letter indicating the year of issue. The reverse reads &quot;Jerusalem the Holy,&quot; and the type is a flowering branch, either Aaron s rod that budded or a native lily. The half-shekel differs in having the inscription &quot;half-shekel&quot; on the obverse. The types are markedly peculiar ; the obverse inscription is equally so, for the regular formula of the neighbouring cities would give nothing but the name of the city ; but the reverse inscription is like that of Tyre and Sidon, for instance, of Tyre sacred and inviolable, &quot; of Sidon the same. This agreement is confirmatory of the assign ment to Simon Maccabreus. This coinage bears the dates of years 1, 2, 3, 4 (rare), and 5 (one specimen only). There is great diffi culty as to the date. It may be reckoned from the beginning of Simon s actual rule (142 B.C. ), or from that of his official rule, which is stated to have been used by the Jews as an era (141 B.C.), or from the decree of Antiochus VII. granting him the right of coinage (c. 140-139 B.C.). On the whole, the evidence in favour of the official date is best. Any one of the three modes of dating would allow five annual issues. There is another explanation which must not be hastily dismissed. It may be that the computation is by sab batical years, and the fact that there are two types of year 1 lends some colour to this supposition, though if it be admitted there would be a gap of six years between the first and second issues, as both types of year 1 have an inscription modified on the coins of years 2 to 5. There are bronze &quot;half-shekels&quot; and &quot;quarter- shekels &quot; of the year 4. These may be later. The certain coins of the successors of Simon are small bronze pieces of John Hyrcanus, of Judas Aristobulus, of Alexander Jannreus, who strikes bilingual Hebrew and Greek and also Hebrew coins, showing his native name to have been Jonathan, and of Antigonus, who has the Hebrew name Mattathiah. The Maccabsean coinage is followed by that of the Herodian family, equally of bronze, the two most important issues being those of Herod the Great and Herod Agrippa II. The money of the procurators of Judnea, in part parallel with the Herodian, is of small bronze coins, struck between 6-7 A.D. and 58-59 A.D., the latest period of their administration being as yet unrepresented. These are followed by two important classes, the money of the first revolt (66-70 A.D.) and that of the second (suppressed 135 A.D.}. Both risings caused the issue of native silver coinage, some of which may be assigned with certainty to each, while the assignment of others is doubtful. Of the first revolt are silver and bronze pieces with the name of Eleazar the priest, silver of Simon, and largo and smaller bronze pieces with the name of Simon the prince of Israel. Of the second revolt are restruck denarii with the name of Simon, which appears to have been that of the leader surnamed Bar-cochab or Bar-coziba. Of the first or second revolt are shekels with the name of Simon, the obverse type a gate of the temple, and on the reverse a bundle of branches and a citron, symbols of the feast of tabernacles. Though these differ, it is rash to assign one variety to the earlier and another to the later revolt. Besides this native currency there are coins struck in Palestine by Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian. (See Madden s Jewish Coinage, new ed. ) Of Roman Arabia there are bronze imperial coins of Bostra and Arabia, less important mints. In Mesopotamia the colonia of Carrhae Assyria, deserves notice, and the city of Edessa, which issues imperial Baby- money as a colonia, and has a series of coins of its kings, striking Ionia, with Roman emperors in silver and bronze. Curiously, this and the colonial issue are long contemporary. The colonial coinages of Nisibis and of Rhessena, which became a colonia, close the group. Assyria is remarkable for the imperial money of the ancient city of Nineveh, which appears as a colonia with the name Niniva Claudiopolis. The money of Babylon struck by the usurpers Molon and Timarchus has been noticed under the Seleucids. The coins of Africa are far less numerous than those of the other two continents, as Greek, Phoenician, and Roman civilization never penetrated beyond Egypt and the northern coast to the west. The series of Egypt is first in geographical order. As yet no coins have Egypt. been here assigned of a date anterior to Alexander. The old Egyptians kept their gold, electrum, and silver in rings, and weighed them to ascertain the value. During the Persian rule the Persian money must have been current, and the satrap Aryandes is said to have issued a coinage of silver under Darius I. In the papyri of this age the argenteus of the temple of Ptah is mentioned, and this has been thought to be a coin of Persian type generally assigned to Phoenicia. (Revillout, in Revue iZgyptologiquc.) With Alexander a regular Greek coinage must have begun, and some of his coins may be of Egyptian mints. With Ptolemy I. the great Ptolemaic currency begins which lasted for three centuries. The characteristics of this coinage are its splendid series of gold pieces and the size of the bronze money. The execution of the earlier heads