Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Author(s): G. F. Hill
Source: The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 6 (1916), pp. 135-169
Published by: Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/296269
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PLATE Xl
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OOINS OF ROMAN
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ADRAA.
is supposed that the panegyriarchs of Adraa whose and Dussaud, loc. cit.
dedicatory inscriptions appear at Petra (Briinnow, 7 Dalman, Petra u.s. Felsbeiligtiimer, p. 50,
i, p .zzo, no. 6o, 2-4) represented Adraa at the thinks they are the remains of pillars supporting
annual festival of Dusares; and one of the inscrip- an arch over the baetyl.
136 THE MINTS OF ROMAN ARABIA AND MESOPOTAMIA.
BOSTRA.
-E. 22 mm.
Princeton Art Museum. C. R. Morey in Rev. Num.
I9II, p. 69=Bostra,p. I2, no. I2, fig. ii (here plate XI, 4).
The bust on the reverse of a coin of Philip, which Morey takes
for Philip Junior, probably represents the same god.
Since Dusares was identified with Dionysos, 1 it has been thought
that he is to be recognised in the god who appears on a coin of
Elagabalus (plate XI, 4 bis), on which the attribute of the god has been
taken for a panther. But there is little doubt that that god is the
same as the one who appears under Trajan Decius (plate xi, 2),2
where the animal accompanying him seems to be more like a ram
than a panther; in fact he is no other than Zeus Ammon (see
below).
Dussaud has explained the type, usually described as a wine-press,
which is found on various coins of Bostra (plate XI, 6, 7), as three
baetyls sacred to Dusares. Kubitschek3 dismisses this interpre-
tation as a ' verlorene Sache ; and recently Morey has endeavoured
to revive the wine-press theory.4 I confess that the arguments
against Dussaud's views seem to me to be quite baseless. The
fact that an anthropomorphic representation of the god occurs
under Commodus is certainly no reason for supposing that an
aniconic representation would not occur later; the evidence of
coinages, such as those of Perga or Ephesus, where primitive cultus
statues existed, proves the precise contrary. Secondly, the object
does not, apparently, bear any very close resemblance to any known
form of ancient wine-press.5 If the central portion is a press,
the two objects at the sides are certainly not in the least like vases.
It is true that no satisfactory explanation has been given of the
flat objects6 of which seven are piled on the central baetyl, and
one on each of the side ones; but such caps to baetyls are known
in other cases, and occur both singly and doubly at Paphos.7 The
number seven may have some religious significance, as Dussaud
remarks.
The platform on which the baetvls rest, and the top of which
is approached by steps, is doubtless, as Dussaud has shown, a sort
of altar, motab or ka'bah. It is true that Suidas or his source (s.v.
1 See e.g. G. Dalman, Petra u. s. Felsheiligtiimer r Since the above was written, the technical
(I908), p. 50. In the dedication by Syllaeus at objections to the wine-press theory have been
Miletus he is identified with Zeus. p ut with convincing force in Rev. Num. I9I6,
2 cf. the coin of Etruscilla, de Saulcy, p. 370, p. I84. All the constructional parts of a press
where the type is also described as Dionysos (cf. (the two summers, the two posts) are lacking; so
Morey, Bostra, p. i6, no. 5 ). also areall the essential elements of the screw (such
3Nurn. Zeit. I908, p. I3I. He still adheres to as transverse lever, hole therefor in the head of
his view in Num. Zeit. I9I6, p. 192. the screw, inclination of the thread, etc.); and
4He publishes an interesting variation of the the base, instead of being solid, as is essential, is a
type, his fig. 20, on which the base looks rather platform.
like a throne (here plate xi, 6). On the left, upwards,
is AOY; in the exergue OC (which is probably
6Dussaud's suggestion of shewbread does not
seem very probable.
for GC [0C] as in Dussaud's reading of the
Ruvier specimen. 7 B.M.C. Cyprus, p. cxxxii.
THE MINTS OF ROMAN ARABIA AND MESOPOTAMIA. 139
C.I.S. ii (i), p- I83, no. I57. bust. On the pre-colonial coin of Elagabalus,
2 B.M.C. Pboenicia, p. lxxvii, plates xvi, I, and mentioned above, his garb is not military.
xli, I 6. 6 p. 365. As Kubitschek remarks (p. I93) it is
De Saulcy, p. 366, no. 3. Cf. Kubitschek, op.
3 probable that the object on which Tyche rests
cit. pp. i9i-z. One of the gods of the Nabataeans her foot is always the same, not a lion on one coin,
seems to have been called i: (Baethgen, Beitr. a prow on another, a human figure on a third. He
z. semit. Religionsgesch. pp .I07 f.) and this may be describes (ibid.) a coin of Otacilia Severa with
represented by the KAN I of the Greek inscription. rev. Bust of Tyche, veiled and turreted, holding
4 Drexler in Zeit. f. Num. xiii (I885), p. 281; a sceptre ending in a flower-shaped or cornuLcopiae-
C. R. Morey, Bostra, p. 8. The cuirass worn shaped head. Is not this the ordinary type with
by the god is best seen on a coin at Paris with his the cornucopiae as seen on many earlier coins ?
140 TIIE MINTS OF ROMAN ARABIA AND MESOPOTAMIA.
CHARACHMOBA.
1 Notes, p. i8o. It is strange, at the same time, very uncertain. Another Nabataean goddess at
that he has mistaken the goddess for a male deity. Petra and Bostra is al-Uzza (ibid. p. 58), but she
2 Briinnow-Domaszewski, i, p. ZZO, fig. 252. is only a hypostasis of Allat (Dussaud, Les
Dalman, Petra u. s. Felsheiligiiimer, p. I45, says Arabes en Syrie avant l'islam, p. I32).
the goddess stands between two panthers; he cannot 4Baethgen, Beitr. p. 97; Dussaud, Les Arabes
see the cornucopiae, and adds that the modius en Syrie avantl'Islam (I907), p. I29.
is conjectural. 5 Littmann, Princeton Univ. Arch. Exped. div.
3 See Baethgen, Beitr. z. sem. Religionsgecbh. iv, sect. A, p. I3.
(I888), p. I07. Littmann (Princeton Univ. Arch. 6 Benzingerin Pauly-Wissowa, iii, ziz2; Babelon
Exp. div. iv, sect. A, p. 57) is inclined to regard in Rev. Num. 1899, pp. 274 f; art. Kir (of Moab)
wnrv (Sharait) as the name of the consort of Dusares in Hastings' Dict. of the Bible; A. Musil, Arabia
at Bostra; but his interpretation is admittedly Petraea,i (I907), pp. 45-6z.
THE MINTS OF ROMAN ARABIA AND MESOPOTAMIA. 14I
rather than a wine-press; but the central object in this case looks
more like a column 1 than an omphalos-shaped baetyl.
DIUM.
EBODA.
ESBUS.
GERASA.
MEDABA.
MOCA.
'de Saulcy, Terre Sainte, p. 358. Mittb. d. k. k. geog. Gesellscb. in Wien, 1900,
2 R. P. Achille Decloedt, Rev. Num. I910, p. 369.
p. 532. He mentions a second specimen in the 5 Terre Sainte, p. 402.
collection of the German Benedictines at Jerusalem. 6 Num. Inip. pp. 44 and 84.
3 B.M.C. Palestine. p. xix. 7 V, p. 586, nos. 40, 41.
TIIE MINTS OF ROMAN ARABIA AND MESOPOTAMIA. I45
PETRA.
PHILADELPHIA.
part I"pp. 34 ff.; div. iii, sect. A, pp. 8 ff. coins of Tyre, B.M.C. Phoenicia, pl. xxxvi.
2 Coernm. ad Hom. Iliad. 332, 19. 8 Cicero, de nat. deor. iii, xvi, 42; Athenaeus, ix,
392 d.
3 Muller's attribution of Alexandrine coins 9 On the other hand, the veiled goddess on
with jpi (nos. I473 ff.) to this mint cannot be certain quasi-autonomous coins, without a star
accepted. above her head, is Demeter; for the reverse types
4 Briinnow-Domaszewski, iii, p. 265 ; Schiirer, associated with her bust are a wicker basket con-
ii4 p. 592. taining two ears of corn between two serpents
(British Museum) and five ears of corn (Mionnet,
According to the LXX, 2 Sam. I2, 30.
v, p. 330, no. 6i).
6
de Saulcy, p. 391 (Caracalla, or rather Ela- 1Variously misread by older authorities.
THE MINTS OF ROMAN ARABIA AND MESOPOTAMIA. I47
PHILIPPOPOLIS.
RABBATHMOBA.
ANTHEMUSIAS.
CARRHAE.
'Wroth, B.M.C. Galatia, etc. p. z63, no. II3, 4 Macdonald, Hunter. Catal. iii, p. 30I, 3-5.
pl. xxxi, 5. 5 Grave doubt attaches to Sestini's description
2 Wroth, op. cit. pl. xxvii, I2; cf. B.M.C. of a word in oriental script on a coin of Elagabalus
Palestine, p. xxxii. (Mus. Hederv. iii, p. 124, 8; cf. Chwolsohn, dia
3 Classes generales, I8zI, p. I56. Ssabier,p. 4I3).
I52 THE MTNTS OF ROMAN ARABIA AND MESOPOTAMIA.
1 I observe that, as at Edessa, it is easy to confuse loyalty to Rome, before the foundation of the
the portrait of Septimius Severtss on these poor colonv, and retained afterwards. But the titlc
coins with those of some of the Antonines. remains otiose in the case of colonists, however
2 Chwolsohn, die Ssabier, i, p. 394, sees the unreal their Roman character may have been.
difficulty and attempts to explain it away. Prof.
Reid also suggests to me that the title may have 3 Rev. Suisse, 1908, p. I3 1, taf. v (ix), 3 and 4.
been taken by the Carrhenes, to declare their They were obtained from Aleppo.
THE MINTS OF ROMAN ARABIA AND MESOPOTAMIA, I53
1 Mionnet, Suppl. viii, 394, z6. to Aelia Capitolina, following Lajard); Chwolsohn,
2 Herodian, iv, 8, I. die Ssabier, i, p. 401.
3Jeremias in Roscher, art. Sclarnascb, col. 535, 7 H. A. Strong and J. Garstang, The Syrian
and Sin, col. 92zI cf. the types at Phrygian cities Goddess, frontispiece, no. I, and p. 70; A. B. Cook,
mentioned above. Zeus, p. 586. Six and Imhoof-Blumer, Gr. Mijnzen,
4 This is the origin of Pellerin's 'fly with p. 759, recognise the legionary standard.
spread wings' on his coin reading AY PH A/0 "See Daremberg et Saglio, Dict. s.v. Signa,
KAP H NW ; the streamers have suggested the p. 1324. A. L. Frothingham, on the other hand,
wings. See Hirsch, Katal. xxi, 433z. writes (Amer. Journ. Arch. xx, 1916, p. 2ao):
5 Macdonald, Hunter. Catal. iii, p. 301, 2. 'Numismatics (sic) have more or less half-heartedly
6 Mionnet, v, 5ZO, 24 (he attributed the coin accepted the opinion of Six that this is a Roman
I54 THE MINTS OF ROMAN ARABIA AND MESOPOTAMIA.
standard or legionary eagle. No archaeologist there is a continuity and not a solution of the
can agree to this after reflecting for a moment on curved lines.' Mr. Frothingham is too positive.
the absolute impossibility of supposing a Roman Certain details, which he considers have been added
standard to have been substituted for a god in by the draftsman responsible for the drawing in
the sanctum sanctoruns of so holy and ancient a Strong and Garstang, are confirmed by the half-
city as Hierapolis. Besides, there is in this image tone illustration in the same book made directly
not the least resemblancc to Roman standards from a cast of the coin.
or to their commonly known coin types. The I At Hieropolis, similarly, by a dove, for 'the
fact-of the matter is that the circles are not the Syrian goddess.
solid medallions of Roman standards but are 2Nuin. Col.i,p. I79.
serpent coils. The shadows and lines show that 3 Hunter. Catal. iii, p. 303 note.
THE MINTS OF ROMAN ARABIA AND MESOPOTAMIA. 155
was founded. They cannot, as Eckhel has shown,' mark the month
in which the local era begins.
EDESSA.
been corrected bv Babelon with the help of the coins, as will be seen
from the following comparative table 1
I79-2I4 Abgar IX the Great, son Abgar VIII the Great, son
of Ma'nu (35 years). of Ma'nu, alone, after-
wards with his son
Ma'nu (35 years).
2I4-2I6 Abgar IX and Severus Abgar IX Severus.
Abgar, his son (i year
7 months).
The coinage begins with the expulsion of Ma'nu VIII from the
throne of Edessa by the Parthian king Volagases III. Three classes
of bronze coins appear now to have been struck at Edessa: (i) Coins
with the bust of Volagases on the obverse, and the symbol 2 as
reverse type. These bear the name of 'Volagases Arsaces king
of kings' in the local script (Wroth, B.M.C. Parthia, p. 236).
(2) Coins with the bust of Volagases on the obverse, and the bust
of Wad (with inscription Wail Malka2) on the reverse (plate xii, 6).
(3) Coins with the bust of Wad (Wa&l Malka) on the obverse and
a temple containing a cult object on the reverse (plate XII, 7). The
inscription accompanying the reverse type has been read by Babelon
as 9i9xrim,and the remains of the inscription on the British Museum
specimens do not contradict this reading, and certainly support
it more than any other that has been suggested. The star which
appears in the pediment of the temple indicates the god's celestial
character, and the object by which the deity was represented was
1 In the following discussion, I retain Babelon's to the Ma'nu whom he assumes to have reigned
notation, adding the number according to that only with Abgar VIII (IX), and, to avoid confusion,
of A. von Gutschmid in brackets. Thus by Abgar I have followed his example.
VIII (IX) I mean the son of Ma'nu who reigned 2 On the name, see G. A. Cooke, Nortb-Senzitic
from 179 to 214 A.D. Babelon gives no number Inscriptions, pp. ic6-7,
TIHE MINTS OF ROMAN ARABIA AND MESOPOTAMIA. I 57
from the coins ? Or are they Abgar IX Severus and his son, who,
according to Dionysius of Tellmahre, reigned together for one year
and seven months, beginning A. Abr. 2203 (A.D. 2I4): 'and after
Abgar, there reigned his son Ma'nu, for 26 years.' ? The Abgar
whose portrait is associatedwith the boy Ma'nu is bearded, and
resemblesAbgar VIII, whereasall the portraitswhich can with any
probability be identified with Abgar IX (see below) are beardless.
We arethereforeconstrained,in spite of the undesirabilityof inventing
an otherwise unknown Ma'nu son of Abgar VIII, to follow Babelon
and adopt the former alternative. It is curious that the beardless
portraits are entitled simply MAN N OC, and the bearded one
MANNOC TTAIC; possibly, when the son had grown a beard, it
was thought necessaryto indicate hlis juniority in the inscription.
Von Gutschmid,by an arbitraryalterationof the text of Dionysius,
makes Abgar VIII (IX) continue to reign after A.D. 2I4 for one
year and seven months with his son SeverusAbgar. Now we know'
that Caracalladeposed ' Abgar king of the Osroenes' who, as soon
as he had establishedhis power over his people, began to treat them
with great cruelty. Therefore this Abgar, who is Severus Abgar,
must have been reigning for some little time before his deposition;
in other words, Abgar VIII (IX) must have ceased to reign; and
there is no reason to emend Dionysius or extend the reign of
Abgar VIII (IX) beyond A.D. 214. It was, as Babelon maintains,
SeverusAbgar who reigned for one year and seven months from 214
to 2I6, not with his father Abgar VIII (IX) but with a son, possibly
the Ma'nu who was afterwardstitular king of Edessa for 26 years.
An epitaph at Rome"2 tells us that Abgar, son of the former
king Abgar, died there aged 26 years; the epitaph was put up by
his brother Antoninus. According to von Gutschmid and von
Rohden3 this young Abgar was the Abgar IX (X) Severus who was
deposed by Caracalla,and Antoninus was the Ma'nu who appears
on the coins with Abgar the Great. But we should, in that case,
expect to find Abgar called by his Roman name Severus (especially
since his brother calls himself Antoninus); and, also, the fact that
he had actually,reigned for a time would hardly be ignored. It is,
much more probable that o 7ptv /a&o-LXEVv 'A,8yapog of the epitaph
was Abgar IX (X) Severus. Whether the Abgar buried at Rome
was the son who, according to Dionysius, was associatedwith his
father on the throne, may be doubted, since such a fact, again,would
hardlyhave been ignoredin the epitaph. Probablyhe was a younger
brother of Antoninus; for Abgar IX being named after Septimius
Severus would appropriately name his elder son after Caracalla.
It is accordingly not unreasonableto assume that Antoninus was
Abgar X (XI)
Phrahates (?) reigned
A. D. 242-244.
MAIOZOMALCHA.
NESIBI.
'Eckhel. Cat. Mus. Caes. Vind. i, p. Z59. no. I0. agrees with the literary form. Stephanus, s.v.
2 They also occur beside the bust of Tychc on NIOtq3s, quotes Uranius for the spelling Neotqts;
some coins of Gordian III (Babelon, pl. viii, 2). cf. also Plin. N.H. vi, 13 (42).
3 Babelon, pl. vii, 7. 7 The modern name is Nesibin. See . S.
4 See Mionnet, Supp.Viii, 414. Buckingham, Travels in AMesopotamia.(I827), i,
6 B.M.C. Cilicia, p. ioi, nos. 30, 31. pp. 44 -446; Max von Oppenheim, Vom Mitiel-
6 Macdonald, Hlsnter. Catal. iii, p. 315, no. I meer zum Persiscben Golf (i900), ii, pp. 29-36.
,(plate lxxix, 3), gives the only known coin which 8 B.M.C. Selescid Kinzgs,p. 42, nos. 86-88.
THE MINTS OF ROMAN ARABIA AND MESOPOTAMIA. I 65
N ICEPHORIITM.
RHESAENA.
SIN GARA.
ZAUiTHA.
1 See Eckhel, Doctrina, iii, pp. 518-5192 for a 5 I cannot verify the statements which I allowed
discussion of the question. to survive in the second edition of Head, Hist.
2 Hunter.Catal.iii, p. 3 I 9, no. I 9. Num. p. 8 I6, that there are coins of Philip with the
inscription IOY. CEFF. KOAfIN. CINrAPA,
3 cf. Mionnet, v, 633, f. Z05-ZII. and that the inscr. MHT. KO. AY. C. CE.
" Num. Col. p. I24. CINrAPA occurs on coins of Gordian's time.
I 68 THE MINTS OF ROMAN ARABIA AND MESOPOTAMIA.
When not otherwise stated, the coins are of bronze, and are in the British Museum.
PLATE XI.
i. Adraa. Commodus. Paris. P. I36.
2. do. Gallienus. P. I36.
3. 'Arabia.' Hadrian. p. I36.
4. Bostra. Commodus. Princeton. p. I37-8.
4.bis.do. Elagabalus. P. I38.
5- do. Trajan Decius. p. I38, I39.
1 Pellerin, Rec. iii, p. 252, pl. cxxxvi, no. I; Stratonicea in Lydia, PATONE I NAE, having
Caylus, Rec. vi, pp. 207-208, p1. lxv, iii. been misread as ZAYOHC NIAC !
2 Since the above was written, M. Dieudonne
kindly informs me that the coin is indeed of 3 Sestini, Mus. Hedervar. iii, p. 132) tab. xxxii, 6.
THE MINTS OF ROMAN ARABIA AND MESOPOTAMIA. I 69
6. Bostra. Elagabalus. Princeton. p. I38.
7. do. Trajan Decius and Herennius Etruscus. P. I38.
8. do. Quasi-autonomous. Paris. P. I39.
9. do. Caracalla. Paris. p. I39.
Io. do. Septimius Severus. p. I39.
I I. do. AntoninusPius. p. I40.
z2. Dium. Geta. p. I4I.
13. Eboda. Nero. Berlin. p. I4I-2.
I4. Esbus. Elagabalus. P. I42.
i5. Gerasa. L. Verus. Formerly in the market. p. I43.
i6. do. Hadrian. p. I43.
17. Medaba. Elagabalus. p. I44.
I 8. Petra. Hadrian. P. I45.
I9. do. Septimius Severus. Formerly in the market. p. I45.
20. Philadelphia. Hadrian. p. I46.
2I. do. M. Aurelius and L. Verus. Paris. p. I47.
22. do. M. Aurelius. p. I47.
23. do. M. Aurelius. p. I46.
24 Philippopolis. Marinus. P. I48.
25. do. Philip Sen. p. I48.
26. Rabbathmoba. Septimius Severus. p. I49.
PLATE XII.
I. Carrhae. Caracalla. p. I53.
2. do. Gordian III. P. I53.
3. do. Septimius Severus. P. I53.
4. do. Caracalla. P. I54.
5. do. Gordian III. P. I54.
6. Edessa. Volagases III and Wae1. p. i56.
7- do. Wtae. p. I56.
8. do. Ma'nuVIIl. p. I59.
9. do. Silver. M. Aurelius and Ma'nu VIII. p. 157.
Io. Edessa? Silver. Lucilla. p. I57.
i i. Edessa? Commodus. P. I57.
iz. Edessa. Abgar VIII (IX) and his son Ma'nu. p. I59.
13. do. Caracallaand Abgar IX Severus. p. i6i.
14. do. Septimius Severus and Abgar VIII (IX). p. I
I 5. do. Elagabalus. p. i55, i62, I64.
i6. do. Severus Alexander and Julia Mamaea. p. I64.
I7. do. Gordian III and Abgar. p. I63.
i 8. do. do. p. I63.
I9. Nesibi. Severus Alexander and Julia Mamaea. p. i65.
20. do. Philip Sen. p. i6S.
21. do. Otacilia Severa. p. I65.
22. Rhesaena. Caracalla. p. i66.
23. do. Severus Alexander. p. i66.
24. do. Trajan Decius. p. i66.
25. do. Herennia Etruscilla. Hunterian Museum. p. i67.
26. Singara. Gordian III and Tranquillina. p. I67.
27. Uncertain Mint. Septimius Severus. Paris. p. i68.