Hasmonean coinage

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Coin of Antigonus (40 to 37 BCE)

Hasmonean coinage are the coins minted by the

prutah or a half prutah. Two Roman silver denarii are associated with the Hasmoneans; one has the inscription BACCIVS IVDAEAS; with its exact meaning unclear (short for "BASILEOS IUDAEAS", King Judas?)[citation needed]. Both show a man thought to be Yehuda Aristobolus bowing before a camel with a palm branch in his hand.[citation needed
]

The

Hasmonean
coins are:

  • "Yehochanan Kohen Gadol Chever Hayehudim" (Yehochanan the High Priest, Council of the Jews).[1]
  • "Yehochanan Kohen Gadol Rosh Chever Hayehudim" (Yehochanan the High Priest, Head of the Council of the Jews).[1]
  • "Yehonatan Kohen Gadol Chever Hayehudim" (Yehonatan the High Priest, Council of the Jews).[1]
  • "Yehonatan Hamelech" (Yehonatan the King).[1]
  • "Yehudah Kohen Gadol Chever Hayehudim" (Yehudah the High Priest, Council of the Jews).[1]
  • "Malka Aleksandros" (King Alexander)[1]
  • "Matityahu Kohen Gadol Chever Hayehudim" (Matityahu the High Priest, Council of the Jews).[1]
  • "Matityahu HaKohen" (Matityahu the High Priest).[1]
  • "Mattityah"[1]

The Hasmonean dynasty and era (164–37 BCE)

The era of

Matityahu Antigonus
.

In 138 BCE, the

Seleucid King Antiochus VII Sidetes published a royal decree, granting Simon Maccabaeus the right to mint his own coinage.[2]

John Hyrcanus

John Hyrcanus (in Hebrew Yochanan Hyrcanus; reigned 134–104 BCE, until his death). Minted prutot that said:

  • Yehochanan the High Priest and council of the Jews (Sanhedrin)
  • Yehochanan the High Priest and the head of council of the Jews
  • Yehochanan the High Priest and the [council of the] Jews
  • 'A' (may have stood for
    Antiochus VII
    ) Yehochanan the High Priest and council of the Jews.

He also had monograms on some prutot on the cornucopia side, just left of the cornucopia, some resembling Ά, Π or Λ.

The Jerusalem-minted bronze prutah had on the reverse a double cornucopia adorned with ribbons with a pomegranate between horns, with borders of dots.[3]

Alexander Jannaeus

Alexander Jannaeus (also known as Alexander Jannai/Yannai), king of Judea from (103 to 76 BCE), son of John Hyrcanus, inherited the throne from his brother Aristobulus, and married his brother's widow, Shlomtzion or "Shelomit".

The Jannaeus coins are the most typical Jewish coins found at archeological sites in the former lands of the Hasmonean kingdom. They represent over 87% of the coins discovered in Jerusalem and 39% of the Hasmonean, Herodian, and Byzantine coins found in the southern Levant. Gamla was the site of the largest-ever discovery of Jannaeus coins from a single location.[4]

Seleucid
anchor and Greek Legend: BASILEOS ALEXANDROU "King Alexander".
Rev: Eight-spoke wheel or starburst within diadem. Hebrew legend inside the spokes: "Yehonatan Hamelech" (Yehonatan the King).

Matityahu Antigonus

Antigonus the Hasmonean (also known as Matityahu Antigonus) was the son of King Aristobulus II of Judea.

Obv:

Menorah
with Greek inscription "BASILEWS ANTIGONOY" (King Antignus).
Rev: Showbread Table (Shulchan) with Hebrew inscription "Matityahu HaKohen" (Matityahu the High Priest).

Obv: Double cornucopia with ancient Hebrew script; reading "Matityahu Kohen Gadol Chever Hayehudim" (Matityahu the High Priest, Council of the Jews).
Rev: Greek inscription; reading "BASILEWS ANTIGONOY" (King Antignus).

See also

Judaean coinage

Historical currencies in Judaea

  • Ma'ah, Aramaic for gerah, ancient Hebrew unit of weight and currency
  • Prutah
  • Shekel, ancient Near Eastern unit of weight and coin
  • Zuz
    , ancient Jewish name for certain silver coinage

Other

References

  1. ^ .
  2. ^ Reifenberg, A. Ancient Jewish Coins, Jerusalem, 1965, p.10
  3. ^ "Bronze Prutah of King John Hyrcanus I (Yehohanan) (134-104 BCE)". URSA Collection, Mercer University. Accessed 5 March 2024.
  4. .

External links