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Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. Alexander Jannaeus (Yehonatan). Æ Prutah (2.35 g), 104-76 BCE.
Jerusalem. ‘Yehonatan the King’ (Paleo-Hebrew), lily, within circular beaded border. Rev.
BASILEWS
ALEXANDROU
, inverted anchor within circle. (TJC grp. N; Hendin 1148). Dark green patina.
Extremely fine.
$ 250
Purchased privately, May 1991.
This emission seems to look back to the Seleukid coinage struck at Jerusalem by John Hyrcanus I for his ostensible overlord, the
Seleukid king Antiochos VII Sidetes in 132-130 BCE. Both feature a lily on the obverse as a symbol of Jerusalem and an anchor as
a badge of royal (Seleukid) authority. Here, however, Jannaeus seems to use it as a means of indicating his legitimacy as the successor
to the now feeble and virtually extinct line of Seleukid kings. It is no accident that the Paleo-Hebrew legend appears alongside the
Jewish emblem of the lily while the Greek legend is associated with the anchor.
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Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. Alexander Jannaeus (Yehonatan). Æ Prutah (1.85 g), 104-76 BCE.
Jerusalem.‘YehonatantheKing’(Paleo-Hebrew),lily,withincircularbeadedborder.Rev.
BASILEWSALEX−
ANDROU
, inverted anchor within circle. (TJC grp. N; Hendin 1148). Black patina. Extremely fine. $250
ex Moreira Collection, Part 1 (Superior, 31 May-1 June 1988), lot 1562.
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Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. Alexander Jannaeus (Yehonatan). Æ Prutah (2.11 g), 104-76 BCE.
Jerusalem. ‘Yehonatan the King’ (Paleo-Hebrew) between the rays of star with eight rays, all within diadem.
Rev.
BASILEWS ALEXANDROU
, inverted anchor. (TJC grp. K; Hendin 1150). Lovely sandy light green
patina.
Rare in such high grade.
Superb extremely fine.
$ 300
Purchased privately at the NYINC, December 1991.
Easily the most well known of Alexander Jannaeus’ prutah coinages, this issue boldly advertises his status as king while paying
attention to Jewish prohibitions against graven images of living things which had evolved since the time of the Yehud coinages in
the fourth century BCE. While contemporary Seleukid and Ptolemaic kings regularly had their diademed portraits shown on their
coins, Jannaeus was forced to content himself with depicting a star - apparently as a cipher for his image - surrounded by a diadem.
It is unclear whether the star was meant to give a messianic flavor to Jannaeus’ somewhat brutal style of kingship, but the anchor
reverse casts him as a successor to dying Seleukid power in the Southern Levant.
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