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Archive : Maccabean Bronze Coin Minted Under King Alexander Jannaeus
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Maccabean Bronze Coin Minted Under King Alexander Jannaeus - C.454
Origin: Judean Hills, Israel
Circa: 103
BC
to 76
BC
Collection: Numismatics
Style: Maccabean
Medium: Bronze
Additional Information: SOLD
Location: United States
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| Description |
Obverse: Hebrew Legend Translated as
“Yehohanan the High Priest and the Community
of Jews”
Reverse: Double Cornucopias with Pomegranate
Between Horns
The ancient Kingdom of Judea reached the height
of its power during the reign of the Maccabean
(or Hasmonean) King Alexander Jannaeus, who
ruled Ancient Israel from 103-76 B.C. The
youngest son of Jehohanan Hyrcanus, Jannaeus
was imprisoned for a year by his oldest brother,
Aristobulus. Released by his widowed sister-in-
law, Salome, whom he later married, Alexander
conquered a series of coastal cities from Gaza to
Carmel, extending Judean control from the
Mediterranean to Gadara across the Jordan River.
He ruled more territory than any Judean king
since the time of Solomon. Yet he faced
mounting criticism from Jews inside Jerusalem
for embracing the increasing Hellenization of the
Near East. Eventually, a civil war erupted
between those forces loyal to Jannaeus and the
pious rebels who enlisted the aid of King
Demetrios of Syria, whose Kingdom, the
Seleucids, once ruled the lands of Judea and
Samaria before Maccabean Independence.
However, after being led to a stunning victory by
Demetrios’ forces, the rebels soon realized that
the Syrian army planned to march onwards into
Jerusalem and they rallied around their King
Jannaeus. In the end, Alexander met his fate on
the battlefield, on the outskirts of Gadara, ever
battling to secure the borders of his Kingdom.
How many hands have touched a coin in your
pocket or your purse? What eras and lands have
the coin traversed on its journey into our
possession? As we reach into our pockets to pull
out some change, we rarely hesitate to think of
who touched the coin before us, or where the
coin will venture to after us. More than money,
coins are a symbol of the state that struck them,
of a specific time and place, whether
contemporary currencies or artifacts of long
forgotten empires. This stunning hand-struck
coin reveals an expertise of craftsmanship and
intricate sculptural details that are often lacking
in contemporary machine-made currencies. The
coins of Alexander Jannaeus include inscriptions
in both Hebrew and Greek, indicating the
influence of Hellenized areas within Judea.
Depicted on the obverse, the pomegranate was
one of the seven celebrated products of Palestine
and among the fruits that brought to the temple
as offerings of the first-fruits. Two hundred
pomegranates decorated each of the two
columns in the temple and were an integral part
of the sacred vestment of the High Priest, as
bells and pomegranates were suspended from
his mantle. The struggle of Jewish
independence, as represented by this coin, has in
modern times finally come to an end. This coin
reconnects us with the past, with those who
fought to maintain their independence against
oppressive empires that sought to dominate
them and their land.
- (C.454)
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