Article

The coins minted in Judea during the Achaemenid period are a valuable source of information for the history of this region in the fifth and fourth centuries BCE. For brief historical introduction and background, see:

E. Stern, The Persian Empire and the Political and Social History of Palestine in the Persian Period, The Cambridge History of Judaism 1, 1984, 70–88; G. Widengren, The Persian Period, in: J. H. Hayes – J. M. Miller (ed.), Israelite and Judaean History (1977) 489–538; I. Eph‘al, Syria-Palestine under the Achaemenid Rule, ²CAH 4, 1988, 139–164; P. R. Ackroyd, Israel under Babylon and Persia (1970) 162–344; L. I. Levine, Jerusalem. Portrait of the City in the Second Temple Period (538 b.c.e.–70 c.e.) (2002) 3–45. : L.L. Grabbe, A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period vol. I: Yehud: A History of the Persian province of Judah, 2004. See also a collection of articles in: O. Lipschits, G. N. Knoppers, R. Albertz, Judah and the Judeans in the Fourth Century B.C.E, 2007.

1. These coins bear the ancient Hebrew legends »YHD«, »YHWD« and various igurative representations which were widespread in the Eastern Mediterranean in the irst millennium BCE (Meshorer (1982) 21). In general they demonstrate the inluence of three main traditions – Greek, Achaemenid and Jewish: S. N. Gerson, A Transitional Period Coin of Yehud. A Relection of Three Cultures, IsrNumJ 15, 2006, 34; The basic studies of this group of coins are: Mildenberg (1979) pl. 21. 22; Meshorer (1982) 13–34 pl. 1–3; Meshorer (1997) 11–29. See also: P. Machinist, The First Coins of Judah and Samaria: Numismatics and History in the Achaemenid and Early Hellenistic Periods, in: H. Sancisi-Weerdenburg, Continuity and change. Proceedings of the last Achaemenid History Workshop, 6.–8. April 1990, Ann Arbor, Michigan, Achaemenid History 8 (1994) 365–379; L. Mildenberg, Yehud und šmryn. Über das Geld der persischen Provinz Juda und Samaria im 4. Jahrhundert, in: H. Cancik (ed.), Geschichte, Tradition, Relexion. Festschrift für Martin Hengel zum 70. Geburtstag (1996) 119–146.
2. The coin shows an image of a divinity seated on a winged wheel on the reverse thought then (and still thought by many) to be a unique and unparalleled representation of the God of Israel (Yahweh). The reading of the last letter is controversial and three alternative interpretations are possible. It could be read not only as »D«, but also as »W« and even »R«.

OBVERSE

The identiication of the head on the obverse is, of course, very important for the understanding of the coin. Despite its uniqueness, it has near parallels in contemporary numismatic material. The apparent resemblance to coins minted in Cilician Tarsos in the first quarter of the fourth century BCE was noted by Pilcher at the beginning of the last century (E. J. Pilcher, The Coin of Gaza and the Vision of Ezekiel, Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology 30, 1908, 46). It is plausible that the BM drachm could have been minted by a Greek mercenary general who held some administrative or military position in the fifth satrapy of Abar-Nahara in the fourth century BCE. Stern proposes that this was probably the satrap of Abar Nahara himself:

E. Stern, The Assyrian, Babylonian and Persian Periods, in: E. Stern – A. Mazar, Archaeology of the land of the Bible II (2001) 567.

This coin was probably part of a very limited minting intended to pay salaries to local mercenaries in the Persian army, which were recruited for the campaign against Egypt. Stern who accepts the reading »YHD« obviously thinks that they were Judean: Ibid. 568. However see Mildenberg (2000) 12 n. 15, who thinks that »the coins cannot be proven to be special issues to pay mercenaries«.

Scholars have suggested identifying the deity on the winged wheel as Dionysus, Baal of Tarsos or the ancient Sicilian god Hadranos (Kienle (1975) 30–39). However, since the late nineteenth century the most popular version has been that the deity was a unique image of the God of Israel:

B. Kanael, Ancient Jewish Coins and their Historical Signiicance, BibAr 26, 1963, 41; Barag (1991) 264; D. V. Edelman, Tracking Observance of the Aniconic Tradition Through Numismatics, in: D. V. Edelman (ed.), The Triumph of Elohim. From Yahwisms to Judaisms (1995) 204. passim. See also: E. Blum, Der ‘Schiqquz schomem’ und die Jehud-Drachme BMC Palestine, S. 181, Nr 29, Biblische Notizen 90, 1997, 13–27; S. Petry, Die Etngrenzung JHWHs, 2007; J. Kutter, nūr ilī. Die Sonnengottheiten in den nordwestsemitischen Religionen von der Spätbronzezeit bis zur vorrömischen Zeit, 2008, 409 who emphisize his solar and heavenly aspects.

In their new study Gitler and Tal support this opinion, but propose an attribution to the Jews of Idumea or some gentile groups that included Yahweh in its pantheon (Gitler – Tal (2006) 230). The two Israeli scholars base this suggestion on the close artistic similarity between the BM drachm and coins minted in Philistia in the fourth century BCE.

1. There is probably some evidence for the existence of the cult of Yahweh in Idumea in the Achaemenid period. However, we do not possess such evidence for the coastal cities of Philistia: Thus on an ostracon from the Idumean settlement Khribet el-Kom lemaire reads: »BYT YHW«, »house (temple) of Yahweh«, see: A. Lemaire, Nouvelles inscriptions araméennes d‘Idumée (2002) n. 283; A. Lemaire, New Aramaic Ostraca from Idumea, in: O. Lipschits (ed.), Judah and the Judeans in the Persian Period (2006) 416–417. »House of Yahweh« is also mentioned in many inscriptions dated to the seventh century BCE: E. Stern, Religion in Palestine in the Assyrian and Persian Periods, in: B. Becking (ed.), The Crisis of Israelite Religion (1999) 248; E. Stern, The Religious Revolution in Persian-Period Judah, in: O. Lipschits (ed.), Judah and the Judeans in the Persian Period (2006) 200.
2. There are many anthropomorphic and even deity-like images on the »YHD« coins.
3. The winged disk was not something new for Judea, Samaria and Philistia. In fact, by the time the Achaemenid Empire was formed, it had already represented important deities in the Near East for more than a millennium (See: T. Ornan, A Complex System of Religious Symbols: The Case of the Winged-disc in First-Millennium Near Eastern Imagery, in: C. E. Suter (ed.), Crafts and Images in Contact. Studies on Eastern Mediterranean Art of the First Millennium BCE (2005) 207–241). The winged disk on the »lMlK« jar handle stamps (circa 700 BCE) in Judea was in all probability the symbol of Yahweh.

The grotesque bearded face/mask in the lower right corner is probably the most enigmatic detail of the composition. Scholars have argued that it could be an image of the Egyptian god Bes (Mildenberg (1979) 184), of Penuel, »The Face of God« (Meshorer (1997) 25), or of Silenus. However, there is as yet no satisfactory and acceptable identification (Kienle (1975) 39–43). Thought it seems more likely as YHWH given the collective symbol of the wing occuring in other YHWH coins, as well as other coins emerging the same.

1. Dating
2. Because of its relatively low weight and the fact that the portrait is in three-quarter proile the BM drachm is generally dated to 380–360 BCE (Mildenberg (1979) 184–185; Meshorer (1997) 26). »Three-quarter« representations instead of full proile were a known phenomenon in the Eastern Mediterranean in the irst half of the forth century BCE (Mildenberg (1979) 185). Barag proposed that the coin was minted by Bagoas between 345–343 BCE (Barag (1991) 265). If we accept the reading of the inscription as »YHD«, it was probably minted in Jerusalem or in Gaza, as Barag proposes. Barag‘s proposal seems reasonable since the coins of Philistia are characterized by an eclectic style and the strong inluence of Achaemenid art (H. Gitler, Achaemenid Motifs in the Coinage of Ashdod, Ascalon and Gaza from the Fourth Century BC. Transeuphratène 20, 2000, 73–89).
   Three features of the »YHD« coins set them apart from issues of other regions of Palestine in the fourth century BCE: a special weight system, a denomination based on the shekel standard and the continuation of the mint into the Ptolemaic period (Y. Ronen, Some Observations on the Coinage of Yehud, IsrNumJ 15, 2006, 28–32). It is significant that the BM drachm does not it into the shekel weight standard which means that it was probably not minted in Judea. It is significant that the BM drachm does not it into the shekel weight standard76 which means that it was probably not minted in Judea. According to Gitler and Tal it was minted in Philistia or Idumea: Gitler – Tal (2006) 230.

If the reading »YHW« is correct, the god of Samaria, »Samarian Yahweh«, worshipped on Mount Gerizim, probably is the deity depicted on the BM drachm. In the Hellenistic period Samarian Yahweh was probably identified with Zeus .

Coins