The Handbook of Greek Coinage series is comprised of 13 handbooks:
The Handbook of Syrian Coins represents the first volume to be published in a larger series of handbooks that will ultimately cover the coins produced throughout the world known to the Greeks—from Celtic Britain in the west to the borders of India in the west and from Armenia in the north to Egypt in the south. The time period covered by the handbook series begins with the Lydian invention of electrum coinage in the late-seventh century BC and ends with the battle of Actium in 31 BC, which signalled the end of the last Hellenistic kingdom and heralded the establishment of the Roman Empire of Augustus. However, as no coinage was produced in Syria before the fourth century BC, and the logical terminal points for several of the Syrian civic series fall somewhat later than 31 BC, the period of interest is slightly modified in the present handbook.
Although the geographical extent of Syria (with Koile Syria) varied at different times, for the purposes of the present work the region is delimited in the north and the west by the Amanos and Lebanon mountain ranges. The former separates the region from Kilikia and the latter from the Phoenician coast. The Euphrates River provides the eastern border with Babylonia and Mesopotamia, while the Anti-Lebanon range roughly represents the southern limit of Syria.
The idea for the Handbook of Syrian Coins grew out of a passing conversation between my longtime friend and numismatic colleague, Arthur Houghton and myself in January of 2002, just after Seleucid Coins, Part 1 had appeared in print. At the time, we thought that it might be useful if the contents of Seleucid Coins were distilled into a simple catalogue form. Such a catalogue might be a valuable tool for both collectors and academics (particularly archaeologists in the field) concerned with coin identification. Later, this idea piqued the interest of Victor England, who suggested that not only the royal Seleukid issues but also the civic coins of Syria should be included, particularly since many of the latter are underrepresented in museum and sale catalogues. Thus the basis for the Handbook of Syrian Coins was formed.
True to the original concept, the present handbook is designed to aid the user in the quick, accurate, and relatively painless identification of Seleukid and Syrian civic coins. If one has some idea whether a coin-in-hand is likely to be Seleukid or civic and can identify the metal, it is possible to search the catalogue sections by size and weight module in order to find the coin type, rather than wading through a list of types in chronological order, as in most catalogues. Even without knowing any details of weight, size, or metal, the handbook makes accurate identification possible by providing illustrations of almost all of the 1,460 coins listed in the catalogue. Every entry also provides references to major works so that interested parties can seek out fuller discussion of the coins in the catalogue. It is hoped that when placed in the hands of collectors and scholars—historically natural friends and allies in the advancement of the discipline of ancient numismatics—the Handbook of Syrian Coins will serve as a point of departure for deepening interest in the coinage of the Seleukid kings and the Syrian cities.
A rarity guide developed and introduced here by Arthur Houghton features a dual system for determining the rarity of precious and base metal coins.
In keeping with modern scholarly practice, Greek names are normally given throughout the catalogue in their Hellenized, rather than their Latin forms (i.e., Seleukos rather than Seleucus, Laodikeia rather than Laodicea, etc.) except for non-Greek ethnic and dynastic names (i.e., Ituraeans and Hasmonaeans), which retain their Latin forms.
Oliver D. Hoover
Burlington, Ontario
May, 2008
The Handbook of Coins of the Southern Levant represents the second volume to be published in a larger series of handbooks that will ultimately cover the coins produced throughout the world known to the Greeks—from Celtic Britain in the west to the borders of India in the east and from Armenia in the north to Egypt in the south. The time period covered by this handbook series begins with the Lydian invention of electrum coinage in the late-seventh century BC and ends with the battle of Actium in 31 BC, which signalled the end of the last Hellenistic kingdom and heralded the establishment of the Roman Empire of Augustus. However, as no coinage was produced in the southern Levant before the Phoenician issues of the fifth century BC, and the logical terminal points for several of the Phoenician and southern Koile Syrian civic series fall somewhat later than 31 BC, the period of interest is slightly modified in the present handbook.
For the purposes of the Handbook of Coins of the Southern Levant, the region consists of the Phoenician coast, delimited in the north by the Eleutheros River and in the east by the Lebanon Mountains and southern Koile Syria, bounded in the north by the Asamon Mountains of Galilee, and in the east and south by the Syrian and Negev Deserts, respectively. The Galilean and Samarian districts of Koile Syria border Phoenicia to the west, while Judaea and Idumaea were connected to the Mediterranean through Philistia. Northern Koile Syria, consisting of Damaskos and the Massyas Plain, was treated in the Handbook of Syrian Coins because of the region’s closer political and ethnic connections to Syria proper. Arabia here refers to the entirety of the Arabian peninsula.
True to the original concept of the preceding Handbook of Syrian Coins, the present volume is designed to aid the user in the quick, accurate, and relatively painless identification of the royal and civic coins of Phoenicia, Koile Syria, and Arabia. If one has some idea whether a coin-in-hand is likely to be from a particular region and can identify the metal, it is possible to search the catalog sections by size and weight module in order to find the coin type, rather than wading through a list of types in chronological order, as in most catalogs. Even without knowing any details of weight, size, or metal, the handbook makes accurate identification possible by providing illustrations of almost all of the 734 coins listed in the catalog. Every entry also provides references to major works so that interested parties can seek out fuller discussion of the coins in the catalog. It is hoped that when placed in the hands of collectors and scholars—historically natural friends and allies in the advancement of the discipline of ancient numismatics—the Handbook of Coins of the Southern Levant will serve as a point of departure for deepening interest in the coinage of the region.
A rarity guide developed by Arthur Houghton features a dual system for determining the rarity of precious and base metal coins.
In keeping with modern scholarly practice, Greek names are normally given throughout the catalog in their Hellenized, rather than their Latin forms (i.e., Berytos rather than Berytus, Hyrkanos rather than Hyrcanus, etc.) except for non- Greek names or names that have long-established Latin forms in English (i.e., Nabataeans, Hasmonaeans, Maccabaeus, etc.). The latter retain their Latin forms here.
This handbook has benefitted from the assistance of many individuals and organizations. I am particularly grateful to Michel Amandry, Andrew Burnett, and Pere Pau Ripollès for permission to reproduce images from Roman Provincial Coinage, volume 1; Rachel Barkay for permission to use images from The Coinage of Nysa-Scythopolis (Beth-Shean) and several Nabataean articles; Fréderique Duyrat, for permission to use the images for Arados and its peraia published in Arados hellénistique and Les monnayages syriens; Joe Cribb, Vesta Curtis, and Amelia Dowler for images of coins in the collection of the British Museum obtained thanks to a grant from the Royal Numismatic Society; Josette Elayi for permission to use images of Achaemenid Persian period Phoenician coins from Le monnayage de la cité phénnicienne de Sidon à l’époque perse and numerous articles; Haim Gitler and Oren Tal for permission to use images from The Coinage of Philistia in the Fifth and Fourth Centuries BC as well as images of coins in the collection of the Israel Museum; David Hendin for various images used throughout the catalog; Martin Huth for images in the south Arabian sections; Ziad Sawaya for images of the civic coins of Berytos; Abraham Sofaer for images used to illustrate the civic coins of Gaza and Askalon; and Bernhard Weisser and Karsten Dahmen for images of rare coins of Ake-Ptolemaïs and Tyre (nos. 7 and 342) in the collection of the Münzkabinett der Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.
Thanks are also due to Donald Ariel, Rachel Barkay, Fréderique Duyrat, Josette Elayi, Haim Gitler, David Hendin, Arthur Houghton, Alla Kushnir-Stein, Catharine Lorber, Ziad Sawaya, Danny Syon, Peter van Alfen, D. Scott VanHorn, and Petr Veselý for reading parts of the early manuscript and offering comments on various aspects of the catalog and rarity scales, and to Travis A. Markel, of Classical Numismatic Group, Inc., for overseeing production of this volume. Nevertheless, any errors that remain are the sole responsibility of the author.
Lastly, but most importantly, I would like to thank my wife Alpina for her constant love and Job-like patience, without which this book and so much else would not have been possible.
The Handbook of Coins of the Southern Levant is dedicated to the memory of Ya’akov Meshorer (1935–2004), whose work on various aspects of the region’s coinage fueled my initial interest in ancient numismatics.
Oliver D. Hoover
Burlington, Ontario
December, 2009