Ptolemaic Lead Coinage in Coele Syria (103-101 BCE)

Published by the Israel Numismatic Society Volume 3 Contents 3 JAROS³AW BODZEK: A Note on a Samarian Coin-Type 13 HAIM GITLER, MATTHEW PONTING and OREN TAL: Metallurgical Analysis of Southern Palestinian Coins of the Persian Period 29 JEAN-PHILIPPE FONTANILLE: Extreme Deterioration and Damage on Yehud Coin Dies 45 JEAN-PHILIPPE FONTANILLE and CATHARINE C. LORBER: Silver Yehud Coins with Greek or Pseudo-Greek Inscriptions 51 PERE PAU RIPOLLÈS: The X4 Hoard (Spain): Unveiling the Presence of Greek Coinages during the Second Punic War 65 GEORGES VOULGARIDIS: Some Thoughts on Mints, Monograms and Monetary Magistrates. Two Case Studies: the Mints of ‘Akko-Ptolemais and of Ascalon under the Seleucids 81 OLIVER D. HOOVER: Ptolemaic Lead Coinage in Coele Syria (103–101 BCE) 87 DAVID HENDIN and ILAN SHACHAR: The Identity of YNTN on Hasmonean Overstruck Coins and the Chronology of the Alexander Jannaeus Types 95 MOSHE FISCHER and ZVI GUR: The Coin Finds from Horbat Mazad 117 CECILIA MEIR: Tyrian Sheqels and Half Sheqels with Unpublished Dates from the ‘Isifya Hoard in the Kadman Numismatic Pavilion 125 ALLA KUSHNIR-STEIN: Reflection of Religious Sensitivities on Palestinian City Coinage 137 YEHOSHUA ZLOTNIK: Coin Finds and the Question of the Conquest of Jerusalem by Bar Kokhba 147 ZVI URI MA‘OZ: Ships on Roman Provincial Coins in the Southern Levant: Voyages on the River Styx 163 BRUNO CALLEGHER: A Provincial Weight from after the Monetary Reform of 538 CE 175 D. MICHAEL METCALF: Crusader Numismatics: How Immobilized Types are Classified, How Chronologies are Revised and Verified, and How Coins are Attributed to Their Mints 189 Review: Oliver Hoover, Coins of the Seleucid Empire from the Collection of Arthur Houghton, Part II. New York 2007 (Danny Syon) 192 Review: Bruno Callegher. Cafarnao IX. Monete dall’area urbana di Cafarnao (1968–2003). Jerusalem 2007; Cécile Morrisson, Vladislav Popoviæ † and Vujadin Ivaniševiæ, Les Trésors monétaires Byzantines des Balkans et d’Asie Mineure (491–713). Paris 2006 (Gabriela Bijovsky) 200 Abbreviations Israel Numismatic Research 2008 Ptolemaic Lead Coinage in Coele Syria (103–101 BCE)1 OLIVER D. HOOVER American Numismatic Society numlit@numismatics.org Abstract Two lead series frequently found in the Transjordan and bearing the types of ZeusAmmon/eagle and Zeus/eagle are catalogued and discussed. On the basis of typology and the inscription B–a it is argued that the lead issues imitate and evolved from a Ptolemaic bronze coinage probably produced under Cleopatra III and Ptolemy X. On the basis of the connection to the Ptolemaic bronze series, it is suggested that the lead series were struck as a form of emergency money during the ‘War of Scepters’ (103–101 BCE), which involved Ptolemaic troop movements in Transjordan and elsewhere in Coele Syria. As part of a survey of lead coins in the numismatic collection of the Hebrew University Museum in 1984, Dan Barag published an interesting piece with the following description (Pl. 6:1): Obv. Diademed (?) head r. Rev. Dove standing to left; in r. field, traces of A[Ó] (?). Pb. 5.02 g. Hebrew University 5182; acquired in Jerusalem (Barag 1994:4). Because of the bird-reverse type and the visible letter a in the right field, Barag identified this coin as a probable issue of Ascalon dateable to the first century BCE. However, in the decades since the publication of the Hebrew University specimen, several additional examples have appeared. These allow us to amend Barag’s description as follows: Obv. Diademed head of Zeus r. Rev. Eagle standing l., flanked by B–a. 1. #, weight n.a., 17 mm. Duane Pichler collection, Newark, Texas (Pl. 6:2). 2. #, 4.27 g, 18 mm. Wright forthcoming: No. 245. a faintly visible to r. (Pl. 6:3). 1 I am very grateful to Dan Barag (Hebrew University), Haim Gitler (Israel Museum), David Hendin and Duane Pichler for drawing my attention to specimens in their respective institutional and private collections. Thanks are due to Donald T. Ariel and Danny Syon of the Israel Antiquities Authority for providing information from the IAA database and discussion of the finds from the Gamla and Western Wall excavations. I am especially indebted to Catharine Lorber for her helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper. Nevertheless, all conclusions remain the sole responsibility of the author. INR 3 (2008): 81–85 81 82 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. OLIVER D. HOOVER #, 5.13 g, 16×21 mm. Private North American collection (Pl. 6:4). #, 4.77 g, 15×16 mm. New York commerce (Amphora) (Pl. 6:5). #, 3.74 g, 16 mm. Israel Museum inv. 1768. Inscription illegible (Pl. 6:6). #, 1.67 g, 15 mm. Israel Museum inv. 1767. Inscription illegible (Pl. 6:7). #, 1.22 g, 12×15 mm. Israel Museum inv. 15367. Inscription illegible (Pl. 6:8). The long legs and thin neck of the bird on these coins makes it clear that we are dealing with an eagle and not the dove associated with the Astarte cult of Ascalon which appears on the Hellenistic coins of that city (Pl. 6:9). The letter B in the left field and the total absence of the supposed Ó after the letter a in the right field removes the original bases for attribution to the Philistian port-city. Indeed, the apparent Transjordanian sources for two of the new specimens seem to completely rule out an Ascalonite origin for the coins. One example appeared in connection with a large group of Nabatean lead pieces (Hoover 2006a:112 n. 27), while another occurred in a bronze hoard from the environs of Damascus closed in c. 72/1 BCE (Wright forthcoming: No. 245). These pieces are related to another lead series, which also seems to have a Transjordanian origin. Issues of this second series have the following description: Obv. Head of Zeus-Ammon r. Rev. Eagle standing l., flanked by B–a. 1. $, 5.44 g, 17 mm. Hebrew University numismatic collection, inv. 6615. Inscription illegible (Pl. 6:10). 2. #, 3.62 g, 18 mm. Hebrew University numismatic collection, inv. 6641. Top of B visible to l. Rectangular incuse punch on obv. and rev. (Pl. 6:11). 3. #, weight n.a., 18 mm. Duane Pichler collection, Newark, Texas (Pl. 6:12). The Pichler collection specimen (No. 10) reputedly appeared in the same group of Nabatean lead pieces as specimen No. 1 of the Zeus/eagle lead series. A Transjordanian context for these coins is not entirely unexpected since lead issues appear to have enjoyed some popularity in the region in the first century BCE. What is peculiar is that the types used for this series are drawn directly from a Ptolemaic bronze coinage struck at Alexandria (Svoronos 1904:246, Nos. 1732–1733; Pls. 6:13–14). The mint of the bronze coinage seems assured as some 43 specimens (one twelfth of the Ptolemaic coin finds) have been found in the excavations carried out by the Centre d’Études Alexandrines (Picard 2005:85). The small Alexandrian bronzes upon which the lead pieces are modeled feature the horned head of Zeus-Ammon on the obverse and the Ptolemaic eagle standing on a thunderbolt flanked by either K–Ë (presumably for KË[EOÐATPAÓ]) or B–a (presumably for BA[ÓIËEÙÓ ÐTOËEMAIOY]) on the reverse.2 2 The frequently poor preservation of many specimens makes it difficult to be certain which legend appears (Picard 2005:85). PTOLEMAIC LEAD COINAGE IN COELE SYRIA 83 Traditionally these bronze coins have been attributed to the reign of Cleopatra III and Ptolemy X (107/6–101 BCE), but recently Olivier Picard has argued for their reattribution to Cleopatra VII (51–30 BCE) on the basis of typology and a possible metrological relationship to that queen’s Alexandrian denominated bronzes of 80 and 40 drachms (Picard 2005:85). However, if the Zeus/eagle lead piece (No. 2) in the Damascene hoard is not considered to be intrusive, the attribution of its Ptolemaic bronze model to Cleopatra VII becomes difficult to accept. The fact that an example of Svoronos 1733 was found in the excavations of Gamla may also tend to support the earlier attribution to Cleopatra III and Ptolemy X. Although the remains at Gamla primarily date to the first century CE, it has been noted that the Ptolemaic coins from the site clearly divide into third and second century BCE groups (Syon 2004:97–98 and 301–302, Nos. 1–14; Danny Syon, pers. comm.). Ptolemaic coinage did not normally enter Coele Syria for local circulation following the Seleucid conquest of the region in 202–195 BCE (Houghton and Lorber 2000–2002:57–58). Thus if we are correct in attributing Svoronos 1733 to Cleopatra III and Ptolemy X, it seems likely that the bronze model for the lead pieces came to Coele Syria in the context of the so-called War of Scepters (103–101 BCE). This conflict pitted the forces of Cleopatra III and Ptolemy X against those of the deposed Ptolemy IX Lathyrus and caused devastation throughout much of Coele Syria. The war is also recognized as the occasion for an influx of Ptolemaic bronze coins from Cyprus brought with the army of Ptolemy IX (Gitler and Kushnir-Stein 1994–1999:46–53; Syon 2005:31). Considering that Ptolemy IX found it necessary to import bronze coinage to pay his troops, it seems likely that Cleopatra III and Ptolemy X were forced to make similar arrangements to support their armies. This would account for the examples of Svoronos 1733 found at Gamla and in the Southern Wall excavations in the Old City of Jerusalem (IAA 40173). Clearly the bronze type was available in Coele Syria for imitation in lead. The lead issues might have been struck as a form of emergency money during operations in northeastern Coele Syria. The late Hellenistic lead series of the Seleucid king Demetrius III Eucaerus (Pl. 6:15) and the Hasmonean priest-king Alexander Jannaeus (Pl. 6:16) also give the impression of special military currencies, while accounts of emergency token coinages issued to pay armies are not uncommon in Greek literature (TJC:47–48, Group M; SC 2:594, No. 2458.1; Hoover 2006b:32–33; [Arist.] Oec. 1349a:33–37 and 1350a:23–30; Polyaenus Strat. 3:10.14 and 4.10.2). A possible occasion for the beginning of production might have been an expedition of Ptolemy X from ‘Akko-Ptolemais to Damascus that took place in September of 103 BCE (Whitehorne 1994:140–141; Van’t Dack et al. 1989:50–61). The exact purpose of this expedition is unknown, but it may be that Ptolemy was attempting to make contact with his Seleucid brother-in-law, 84 OLIVER D. HOOVER Antiochus VIII Grypus, in hopes of crushing the forces of Ptolemy IX in a pincer movement (Whitehorne 1994:141).3 Presumably the Zeus-Ammon/eagle series (Nos. 8–10), which is virtually identical to Svoronos 1733, was produced first and then followed by the Zeus/eagle series (Nos. 1–7), which departs from the Alexandrian model. If the lead series were struck for the army of Ptolemy X while in the environs of Damascus, ostensibly friendly Seleucid territory, that might account for the removal of explicit Ptolemaic features from the types. Whereas the bronze prototype and the initial lead series feature the typical Ptolemaic representation of Zeus-Ammon on the obverse, the second lead series depicts the head of Zeus without the distinctive horns of Ammon. Likewise, the eagle on the reverse of the second lead series does not stand on a thunderbolt as it does on the bronze model, thereby making it look less like the badge of the Ptolemaic dynasty and more like the eagle type used on the ubiquitous bronze coinage of Antiochus VIII struck at Antioch from 121/0–114/3 and 112–111/0 BCE (SC 2:500–501, and 504, Nos. 2300, and 2307; Pl. 6:17). The use of the abbreviation B–a, rather than a legend naming Ptolemy X in full further disguised the Ptolemaic character of the lead issues. By making these modifications to the original types for the second lead series, Ptolemy X developed an emergency coinage that would have been immediately recognizable to the Egyptian forces it was intended to pay, but would not infringe excessively on the sovereignty of the fragile kingdom of Antiochus VIII. The modified types made the Zeus/eagle issues look somewhat more like Seleucid coins, rather than Ptolemaic coins, perhaps enhancing their ability to pass with merchants in the environs of Seleucid Damascus. This may account for the presence of a lone example in a Damascene bronze hoard dominated by Seleucid royal coins of the early first century BCE. REFERENCES Gitler H. and Kushnir-Stein A. 1994–1999. The Chronology of a Late Ptolemaic Bronze CoinType from Cyprus. INJ 13:46–53. Hoover O.D. 2006a. A Reassessment of Nabataean Lead Coinage in Light of New Discoveries. NC 166:105–119. Hoover O.D. 2006b. A Late Hellenistic Lead Coinage from Gaza. INR 1:25–35. Houghton A. and Lorber C. 2000–2002. Antiochus III in Coele-Syria and Phoenicia. INJ 14:44–58. 3 Whitehorne was uncertain whether Ptolemy’s intention was to reach Antiochus VIII or to capture Damascus from Antiochus IX Cyzicenus. However, the dated coins of Damascus make it clear that Antiochus VIII controlled the city in 103 BCE. 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