three unpublished collections of south arabian coins

Three unpublished collections of SouthArabian coins

BARBARA DAVIDDEIstituto Centrale per il Restauro

The author presents the South Arabian holdings of three museums in Israel,

forty-eight coins in all. The coins comprise one Qatabanian coin and severalcoins each of three very common Himyarite and Sabaean types (two issues of

‘Amdan Bayyin Yuhaqbid_, kingdom of Saba’ and dhu Raydan, and various

coins of the Sabaean Bucranium series). The paper gives the opportunity to

make some remarks on South Arabian Coinage.

IntroductionEpigraphical studies, archaeological sur-veys and stratigraphic excavations carriedin the Republic of Yemen during the lastdecade have all been extremely significantfor the study of South Arabian numismat-ics. For example, stratigraphic evidencefrom Qana’ has permitted the developmentof a chronological framework for the Had-ramawt issues (1). In addition, the analysisof some texts and studies on the chronologyof the South Arabian dynasties has provi-ded new information about the kings whoissued coins in South Arabia (2). The 1994discovery of a hoard of over 300 silver coinsnear Ta’izz, attributed to the early period ofQatabanian coinage (early fourth centuryBC) and imitating the Athenian tetra-drachm in weight and shape, has over-thrown the once firmly held belief thatSaba’ was the first kingdom in Arabia Felixto issue coins imitative of Athenian tetra-drachms (3). Finally, studies of hoardsand public collections have allowed forimproved classification of numismatic

types and for the determination of chrono-logical criteria (4).

In this paper I present three unpub-lished collections of South Arabian coinswhich are housed in the Israel Museum(IM) (Jerusalem), the Coin Department ofthe Israel Antiquities Department (IAA)(Jerusalem) and the Eretz-Israel Museum(EM) (Tel-Aviv) (5). All of the coins wereoriginally donated by private collectorsand it is not known whether they werecollected in South Arabia or bought on themarket (6). As the catalogue shows, thesecoins are not rare and are comparablewith known examples. Nevertheless, it isimportant to publish them in order toenrich our knowledge of coin frequencyand typology, as an aid to statisticalstudies (7). Example no. 710, from theIsrael Museum Collection, is probably thefirst example of a Qatabanian coin, imita-ting an Athenian tetradrachm in shapeand weight, to appear in a public collec-tion, apart from the as-Surayrah coinhoard (8).

Arab. arch. epig. 2003: 14: 63–70

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63

CatalogueKingdom of Qataban. Early 4th century BC.

Type: Old Style Athenian imitation. AR,oblong flan, tetradrachm (9) (Fig. 1).

Obv: Head of Athena facing right, wear-ing a crested helmet adorned with oliveleaves and with a circular earring. Triangu-lar eye. On the left the South Arabian letterL.

Rev: Owl standing to the right, headfacing forwards, in the upper left corner anolive spray and a crescent, pseudo-Greekinscription H on the right.

Kingdom of Saba’ and dhu Raydan,‘Amdan Bayyin Yuhaqbid

_(80–100 AD).

Type: Series with two heads or Royalseries. AR, scyphate, standard coin ofMunro-Hay type 3.4i ¼ ANS 1595-1601 ¼BMC Pl. XI.11 (Figs. 2–4, 18–19, 21, 25–27,30, 35, 37, 39).

Obv: Beardless male head facing right,South-Arabian headdress with ringlets onneck. All within a circular dotted borderinterrupted on the left by the South Arabianmonogram Hadur.

Rev: Small beardless male head facingright, South-Arabian headdress with ring-lets on neck. On right the symbol of theHimyarite kingdom , above the name of

Fig. 1.

inv. no. 710 IM, " dia. 27 � 15.0 mm, wt. 16.5767 g.

Fig. 2.

inv. no. 3603 IM, #, dia. 1.30 mm, wt. 1.42 g.

Fig. 3.

inv. no. 10464 IM, !, dia. 1.40 mm, wt. 1.43 g.

Fig. 4.

inv. no. 12152 IM,&, dia. 16 mm, wt. 2.69 g.

Fig. 6.

inv. no. K-532.91 EM, #, dia. 13.8–14.5 mm, wt. 1.53 g.

inv. no. K-6832 EM (no photo), &, dia. 13.5–14.5 mm,

wt. 1.50 g. inv. no. K-6833 EM (no photo), #, dia.

14.5 mm, wt. 1.65 g.

Fig. 7.

inv. no. IAA 692, ", dia. 15 mm, wt. 1.74 g.

Fig. 5.

inv. no. 501.91 EM, ", dia. 14.9–15.8 mm, wt. 1.55 g.

inv. no. K-6830 EM (no photo), &, dia. 14.5–15.5 mm,

wt. 1.50 g, obv. above letter Y; inv. no. K-6831 EM (no

photo), &, dia. 14.5 mm, wt. 1.60 g.

B. DAVIDDE

64

the king ‘Amdan Bayyin and in exergueRaydan the royal Himyarite palace.

Kingdom of Saba’ and dhu Raydan,‘Amdan Bayyin Yuhaqbid

_(80–100 AD).

Type: Series with two heads or Royalseries. AR, flat, standard coin of Munro-Hay type 3.2ai and 3.2bi ¼ ANS 1575-1594 ¼ BMC, Pl. XI.6-10 (Fig. 5, 8–11, 16–17, 20, 22, 24, 28, 31, 33–34, 36, 38, 40).

Obv: Beardless male head facing right,South-Arabian headdress with ringlets on

Fig. 8.


Fig. 9.

inv. no. IAA 694, ", dia. 15 mm; wt. 1.63 g. inv. no.

IAA 695 (no photo), &, dia. 15 mm, wt. 1.38 g.

Fig. 11.

inv. no. IAA 697, !, dia. 15 mm, wt. 1.46 g, obv.

above letter Y.

Fig. 10.

inv. no. IAA 696, #, dia. 15 mm, wt. 1.59 g, obv. above

letter Y.

Fig. 12.

inv. no. IAA 698, &, dia. 15 mm, wt. 1.46 g.

Fig. 13.

inv. no. K 712.85, !, dia. 16–17 mm, wt. 2.46 g.

Fig. 14.

inv. no. K 4713.85 EM, ! , dia. 16–17 mm, wt. 3.22 g.

Fig. 15.

inv. no. K 714.85 EM, &, dia. 16–18 mm, wt. 2.64 g.

COLLECTIONS OF SOUTH ARABIAN COINS

65

neck. All within circular border open on thehead.

Rev: Small beardless male head facingright, South-Arabian headdress with ring-lets on neck. On right the symbol of theHimyarite kingdom, on the left the mono-gram Yanaf; above the name of the king‘Amdan Bayyin and in exergue Raydan, theroyal Himyarite palace.

Fig. 16.

inv. no. K 715.85 EM &, dia. 16.5–17 mm, wt. 3.11 g.

Fig. 17.

inv. no. K-716.85 EM, ", dia. 13.5–14.5 mm, wt. 1.55 g.

Fig. 18.

inv. no. K-717.85 EM, &, dia. 15 mm, wt. 1.44 g.

Fig. 19.

inv. no. K-718.85 EM, ", dia. 14–15 mm, wt. 1.91 g.

Fig. 20.

inv. no. K-719.85 EM, &, dia. 14–15 mm, wt. 1.62 g.

Fig. 21.

inv. no. K-720.85 EM, &, dia. 14–15 mm, wt. 1.75 g,

obv. above letter Y.

Fig. 22.

inv. no. K-721.85 EM, &, dia. 15–16 mm, wt. 1.61 g,


Fig. 23.

inv. no. K-722.85, #, dia. 14–15 mm, wt. 1.95 g. inv. no.

K-723.85 HM (no photo), #, dia. 14–15 mm, wt. 1.62 g.

Fig. 24.


Fig. 25.

inv. no. K-724.85, ", dia. 14–14.5 mm, wt. 1.37 g.

B. DAVIDDE

66

Kingdom of Saba’, 2nd–3rd century AD.Type ‘with Bucranium’ (10) AR ‘denar-

ius’ Standard coin of Munro-Hay type

Fig. 26.


Fig. 27.

inv. no. K-726.85 EM, ", dia. 14–15 mm, wt. 1.50 g,


Fig. 28.

inv. no. K-727.85, %, dia. 14–14.5 mm, wt. 1.51 g.

Fig. 29.


Fig. 30.

inv. no. K-729.85 EM !, dia. 14–14.5 mm, wt. 1.44 g,


Fig. 31.

inv. no. IAA 682, &, dia. 18 mm, wt. 2.93 g. inv. no.

K-9156 EM (no photo), ", dia. 15.5–18 mm, wt. 3.00 g.

Fig. 32.

inv. no. IAA 683, #, dia. 17 mm, wt. 3.03 g.

Fig. 33.

inv. no. IAA 684, !, dia. 17–18 mm; wt. 3.21 g.

Fig. 35.

inv. IAA 686, &, dia. 14–15 mm, wt. 1.62 g.

Fig. 34.

inv. no. IAA 685, #, dia. 16–19 mm, wt. 2.45 g.


67

2.2i ¼ ANS 1503-1522 ¼ BMC, Pl. X.12-14.(Figs. 6–7, 12–15, 23, 29, 32).

Obv: Beardless male head facing left,South-Arabian headdress with ringlets on

neck; hair bound with taenia. On the leftthe sign ‘Almaqah, the so-called ‘twistedoblong symbol’; on the right the symbol ofAl-Athtar. All within circular dotted borderinterrupted above by crescent and pellet.

Rev: bucranium or antelope (?) headfacing front with long horns and plumebetween them; on right the sign of‘Almaqah, on left a South Arabian mono-gram. All within circular border of twovertical lines alternating with one pellet,interrupted above by crescent and pellet.

Kingdom of Saba’, 2nd–3rd century AD.Type ‘with Bucranium’ AR ‘denarius’.

Standard coin of Munro-Hay type 2.9i ¼ANS 1525-1530 ¼ BMC, Pl. X.15-16, Pl.XLVIII.2.


Standard coin of Munro-Hay type 2.6i ¼ANS 1531-1549 ¼ BMC, Pl. XLVIII.4 withthe monogram of the obv. on the right.


Standard coin of Munro-Hay type2.8i ¼ ANS 1550-1553 ¼ BMC, Pl.XLVIII.5with the monogram of the obv. on the right.


Standard coin of Munro-Hay type 2.10i ¼ANS 1554-1555 ¼ BMC, Pl. XLVIII.6 withthe monogram of the obv. on the right.

References1. Sedov AV. New archaeological and epigraphical

material from Qana’ (South Arabia). AAE 3: 1992:

110–137; Sedov A.V. Qana’ (Yemen) and the

Indian Ocean: The archaeological evidence. In:

Ray HP & Salles J-F, eds. Tradition and Archaeology:Early Maritime Contacts in the Indian Ocean. Pro-ceedings of the International Seminar Techno-Archaeo-logical Perspectives of Seafaring in the Indian Ocean4th cent. B.C.–15th cent. A.D., New Delhi, Feb. 28-March. 4, 1994. New Delhi: Manohar, 1996: 11–35;

Sedov A & ‘Aidarus U. The coinage of ancient

Hadramawt:Thepre-Islamiccoins intheal-Mukalla

Museum. AAE 6: 1995: 15–60. Sedov AV. Sea-trade

Fig. 39.

inv. no. IAA 690, &, dia. 15 mm, wt. 1.54 g.

Fig. 37.

inv. no. IAA 688, , dia. 24 mm; wt. 1.25 g.

Fig. 40.

inv. no. IAA 691, !, dia. 14–15 mm, wt. 1.58 g.

Fig. 36.

inv. no. IAA 687, - dia. 14–15 mm, wt. 1.44 g.

Fig. 38.

inv. no. IAA 689, & dia. 15–16 mm; wt. 1.44 g.

B. DAVIDDE

68

of the Hadramawt Kingdom from the 1st to the 6th

Century A.D. In: Avanzini A, ed. Profumi d’Arabia.

Bretschneider: Rome, 1997: 365–384.

2. For the chronology of the Himyarite kings who

minted coins with the indication of their name see

Robin Ch. ‘Amdan Bayyin Yuhaqbid_

roi de Saba’

et dhu-Raydan. Etudes Sud-Arabes. Recueil offert aJaques Ryckmans. Louvain: Peeters, 1991: 167–205.

The author (p. 184) dated the kingdom of ‘AmdanBayyin Yuhaqbid to 80–100 AD. This king minted

a kind of issue that was used, without any

changes, by several Himyarite rulers of the second

century AD. The other Himyarite kings, Karib’il

Yuhan’im Watar I, Shamnir Yuhan’im, Tha’ran

Ya’ub, reigned in the first-second centuries AD as

shown by Robin in the chronological table (p. 191).

The reign of Karib’il Watar Yuhan’im I is dated to

c.40–50 AD, the reign of ‘Amdan Bayyn Yuhaqbid_to 80–100 AD, the reign of Ta’ran Ya’ub to c.150

AD and the reign of Shamnar Yehun’im to c.145AD with a question mark. See also Davidde B. Le

monete di ‘Amdan Bayyin Yuhaqbid_

rinvenute

nelle tombe di Harabat-al-Ahgar, presso Waraqah

(Damar). Yemen. 1: 1992: 41–54; Robin Ch. Yas-

hur’il Yuhar’ish, fils d’Abiyasa‘, mukarrib du

Hadramawt. Raydan 6: 1994: 101–111; Robin Ch.

The date of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea in

the light of South Arabian evidence. In: de

Romanis F & Tchernia A, eds. Crossings: EarlyMediterranean Contacts with India. Delhi: Manohar,

1997: 41–65; ‘Abdullah YM et al. Early Qatabani-an coinage: The as-Surayrah coin hoard. AAE 8:

1997: 203–229; Sedov AV & Davidde B. Das

sudarabische Munzwesen. In: Seipel W, ed.

Jemen. Kunst und Archaologie im Land der Koniginvon Saba’. Vienna: Kunsthistorisches Museum,

1999: 195–199.

3. ‘Abdullah et al., Early Qatabanian coinage: 203–

229.

4. Sedov AV & Aydrus O. Rare Himyaritic coins

from Hadramawt. AAE 3: 1992: 177–182; Munro-

Hay SC. The coinage of Shabwa (Hadhramawt)and other ancient South Arabian coinage in the

national Museum, Aden. In: Breton JF, ed. Fouillesde Shabwa, ii. Paris: Geuthner, 1991: 394–418;

Davidde B. Commento alla collezione di monete

sudarabiche conservate nel Medagliere Milanese.

Rassegna di Studi del Civico Museo Archeologico e delCivico Gabinetto Numismatico di Milano 51–52: 1993:

55–70, Pls. 36–38; Munro-Hay SC. Coins of

Ancient South Arabia. NC 154: 1994: 191–203;

Davidde B. The Bajil hoard. AAE 6: 1995: 246–258;

Davidde B. The influence of Roman Coinage onSouth Arabian issues. In: Kluge B & Weiser B, eds.

Proceedings of the XIIth International NumismaticCongress, Berlin 1997. Berlin: Staatliche Museen zu

Berlin, 2000: 11–16.

5. I am grateful to the Israel Museum, the Israel

Antiquities Authority and the Eretz-Israel

Museum for permission to study these collections.

A special word of thanks goes to Haim Gitler,

curator of Numismatics at the Israel Museum,

who introduced me to the other institutions andsent me the material and the photographs from

the archive. I must also mention Donald Ariel,

head of the coin department at the Israel Antiqui-

ties Department in Jerusalem, and Cecilia Meir,

curator of the coin collection at the Eretz-Israel

Museum in Tel Aviv, who have helped me with

data and information on the coin collections.

6. Donald Ariel informed me that the coins in the

Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums

belong to an accession of approximately 1800

coins. The accession was a purchase by the IsraelDepartment of Antiquities and Museums in

August, 1955, from Mr. Pavel, an engineer resi-

ding in Tel Aviv. He had purchased the coins from

the widow of Sir Flinders Petrie and the coins

comprised Petrie’s personal collection. Cecilia

Meir informed me that most of the coins in the

Eretz-Israel Museum collection come from private

donations. Coins no. K6830–8634, K50191 and

K9156 were donated in 1962 by M. Kadman who

was also the founder of the Museum. Coins no.

K712.85–K729.85 were donated by Mr. Mosberg in1985. Nobody knows whether they were pur-

chased on the market or not. The coins of the Israel

Museum, according to Haim Gitler, are all from

the donations of private collectors (no. 710

received in 1971, no. 3603 in 1981, no. 10464 in

1987, no. 12152 in 1988).

7. Abbreviations used in the catalogue are: BMC ¼Hill GF. Catalogue of the Greek Coins of Arabia,Mesopotamia and Persia, A Catalogue of the GreekCoins in the British Museum. London: British

Museum, 1922; ANS ¼ Sylloge Nummorun Graeco-rum. The collection of the American NumismaticSociety. Palestine, South Arabia and Persia. New

York: American Numismatic Society, 1981; Munro

Hay ¼ Munro Hay SC. Coins of Ancient South

Arabia. NC 154: 1994: 191–203. For a summary of

the South Arabian coinage and the dating of the

different issues see Sedov A. The coins of pre-

islamic Yemen: General remarks. Adumatu 3: 2001:

27–38.

8. I would like to thank Alexander Sedov who

confirmed this identification for me.9. Cf ‘Abdullah et al., Early Qatabanian coinage.


69

10. Concerning this typology I would like to make

some observations: generally it is called ‘with

Bucranium’ (see BMC, ANS, Munro Hay, Coins of

Ancient South Arabia: 193–194) because the ani-

mal on the obverse is always interpreted as a

bucranium with the horns of an antelope and

three or even five plumes between the horns; see

Davidde, Le monete di ’Amdan Bayyin: 50 n. 29

and Davidde, Commento: 57 n. 14. The animal onthe coin is unlike other representations of bulls or

bucrania, e.g. on reliefs (the bucranium has its ears

down and a short, smooth horn), and is more

similar to an antelope. For this reason Alexander

Sedov and I have suggested the identification of

this animal as an antelope. Cf. Sedov & Davidde,

Das sudarabische Munzwesen: 197; Sedov &

‘Aidarus, The coinage of ancient Hadramawt:

15–60; Sedov, The coins of pre-islamic Yemen:

31. Robin was also inclined to this interpretation

when I discussed this with him but in Sheba.

Supplement au Dictionnaire de la Bible 1996: 1202 he

did not investigate the matter further and he calls

the type ‘monnaie au bucrane’ without describing

the animal. As for the date of this issue I agree

with him when he says ‘leur frappe pourrait

commencer vers la fin du Ier s.e.chr.2 ou au debut

du IIe et se poursuivre pendant une periode assez

longue, peut-etre jusqu’a la fin de l’independance

sabeenne (275 env.). Elles correspondent, selontoute vraisemblance, au renouveau sabeen des IIe–

IIIe siecles’.

Address

Dr. Barbara Davidde

Istituto Centrale per il Restauro

Piazza San Francesco di Paola 9

I-00184 Rome

Italye-mail: [email protected]

B. DAVIDDE

70

three unpublished collections of south arabian coins

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