Pomegranate or Poppy What Lies between the Cornucopias on Hasmonaean Coins?
The Hasmonaean rulers struck coins, exclusively in bronze, beginning with John Hyrcanus I (135-104 BCE; Hendin 2020). Their most common denomination was a coin with a diameter averaging 15 mm and close to 2 g in weight, which is widely identified with the prutah (PRWṬH) of rabbinic literature (Jacob...
| Authors: | ; |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
University of Chicago Press
2021
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| In: |
Near Eastern archaeology
Year: 2021, Volume: 84, Issue: 3, Pages: 206-215 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Coin
/ History 135 BC-104 BC
/ Maccabees 165 BC-37 BC
/ Hyrcanus, John -104 BC
/ Horn of plenty
/ Pomegranate
/ Horn
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| IxTheo Classification: | HA Bible HB Old Testament |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The Hasmonaean rulers struck coins, exclusively in bronze, beginning with John Hyrcanus I (135-104 BCE; Hendin 2020). Their most common denomination was a coin with a diameter averaging 15 mm and close to 2 g in weight, which is widely identified with the prutah (PRWṬH) of rabbinic literature (Jacobson 2014: 141). In accordance with a strict interpretation of the Second Commandment, which was then the norm, Hasmonaean coins avoid human images (Hendin 2007-2008: 79-82). In place of a ruler portrait, usually found on east Greek coins of that period, there is a Paleo-Hebrew inscription naming the governing authority, the high priest and governing council (ḤBR), enclosed in an olive wreath alluding to their authority (Hendin 2007-2008: 85-86); see figure 1. The reverse of this coin displays a motif consisting of a splayed pair of cornucopias filled with agricultural produce astride a fruit or seedpod on a straight stalk. Filled cornucopias are commonplace on Hellenistic and Roman coins and their symbolic meaning was understood throughout the classical world as indicating fecundity and well-being. Accordingly, cornucopia motifs are rooted in classical Greek rather than Jewish tradition. Specifically, the cornucopia alludes to the horn of Amaltheia, the she-goat wet nurse of Zeus in Greek mythology, a symbol of prosperity and abundance generally associated with “good fortune” (agathê tychê; Jacobson 2013a: 139). It is worth noting that the coins of the Seleucid king Alexander II Zabinas, featuring a splayed and intertwined pair of filled cornucopias (SC II, nos. 2235, 2237), were struck in 125-122 BCE, at about the time that the comparable Hasmonaean motif made its debut., Judaea, John Hyrcanus I. Jerusalem mint, after 125 BCE. Æ “prutah” (13 mm, 2.03 g). Olive wreath, with fruit, enclosing Paleo-Hebrew inscription: YHWḤNN/HKHN HGD/L VḤBR HY/HWDYM = “John the high priest and the assembly of the Jews” with Greek letter “A” above / Pomegranate or poppy seedpod on a stalk between facing, filleted cornucopias, filled with fruit and ears of grain. TJC, no. A7; Hendin, no. 1132. The “A’” may refer to Alexander II Zabinas. Photographs by David M. Jacobson., |
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| ISSN: | 2325-5404 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Near Eastern archaeology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1086/715342 |