Rabbel to Trajan and a mysterious fouree...

Rabbel II enjoyed a long reign (70-106 AD), but he was the last of the Nabataean kings. During his tenure, Nabataea had already become a de facto Roman province, and after 106, the history of the Nabataeans becomes the history of Arabia Petraea.

Here he is in a jugate portrait with queen Gamilat.

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The reverse of the coin spells RBAL at the top (read from right to left. Gamilat's name is between the cornucopiae, GMLT. I've highlighted the Aramaic letters in alternating colors since it's a bit harder to read...

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Once Rome officially took over, the Nabataean coinage was demonetized, and there is evidence that the earlier silver drachms were either overstruck with Roman provincial designs, or melted altogether, which might account for their present scarcity.

So who would have made this fouree denarius of Trajan with Provincia Arabia devices? The obvious guess is the Nabataeans themselves. After all, they already had the minting technology in Petra, and where would this coinage be more needed? Was it overstruck on a Nabataean drachm? Was it sanctioned by Rome? Unfortunately, as with all fourees, all we have is questions...

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Neat coins!

 

Interesting

 

If it were a fourree, why would you think it might be an overstrike? By definition fourrees are not pure silver. If you tried to overstrike a fourree, first the original coin would not have been an official issue to begin with, and second the silver plating would most likely crack and flake off.

However, , interesting post.

 

Very nice coins, but your Nabataeans fourée theory is pretty much based solely on the coincidence that the reverse type relates to Arabia. There is no evidence that fourées were ever issued in an official capacity, save for perhaps a very brief period in Athens. Now, if plated copies of THIS type were regularly found IN the region, you might have something. But this does not appear to be the case.

 

Cool additions

 

I don't really have a theory - just questions. I think I expressed myself poorly.

The denarius is clearly a fouree as some of the silver is flaking off, exposing the bronze or copper layer.

It's tempting to guess that it was made somewhere in Arabia as it copies a provincial Arabian type, but of course that's just a guess. It would be good to know if these were found in any quantity in Arabia Petraea, but I don't have any information on that.

I confused my terms when I was talking about possible overstrikes - but a few sources suggest that the older drachms were in fact occasionally overstruck. I have yet to find one though. By the time of Rabbel, the Nabataean drachm had become quite debased, so it would have made for a rather sorry denarius.

 

Well, JA, your musings over these coins and their origins is interesting and shows you are putting some thought behind your collection. I have to be honest. I know next to nothing about these Nabataea coins, so I have learned something new today. Thanks

 

Yet another great thread about Naba coins !!! GREAT !

 

HOORAY for John !

 

The reason the Nabataeans fascinate me is because they came out of a nomadic culture that relied on trading, and even though they eventually became a sedentary society, they still managed to retain their nomadic roots by trading all over the Arabian peninsula. They were in some ways an economic glue in the entire area.

In one sense they were chameleons in that they adapted various cultural elements from other societies in order to make themselves more appealing to trade partners. And they had trade partners as far south as the Sabaeans and eventually Himyarites, and as far east as India also. They are even mentioned in a couple of Chinese texts.

They tried to maintain a certain amount of neutrality so as to not alienate their economic partners, but that wasn't always possible of course. Their real culture was hidden from the outside world, which is what makes it intriguing - they left no literature, and archeologists can only guess at their inner world by the objects they left behind.

Eventually they couldn't resist the influence of Rome, but that holds true for many of the societies in the region.

 

Lol. Is it happy hour, Rudi?

 

Yup ! cheers mate LOL

 

:cheers:

 

i only had a few ugly poor little things, but i just love the style of the Naba coins... so reading about it, like ur latest post, makes me happy (yah, i'm a sensitive guy, snifff...)

 

That's mostly what you get from Nabataeans: poor ugly little things!

 

My next paper for the TCACC will be on sogdians. Sound pretty much like your description of Nabateans.

 

My Nerva fouree -
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-GaVAf6ytuVA/UBlRbcWGNFI/AAAAAAAAyCY/9padJFJhtr8/s800/IMG_2716.jpg
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ysQsTAmwp8A/UBlRbfYMxNI/AAAAAAAA3R4/DVYUlf9pfw8/s713/IMG_2717.jpg

 

JA => man, those sure are "cool" poor ugly little things

 

What do you have of Sogdians? As far as I can see there's very little out there to collect. I thought the Nabataeans were obscure and difficult, but the Sogdians make them look like Romans.