Small bronze from Phoenicia, Tyre - RPC Online 'plate coin'

Recently I acquired this little bronze coin, struck in the Phoenician city of Tyre during the early Roman Empire.

PHOENICIA, TYRE
Time of Nero
AE (13.75mm, 3.06g, 12h)
Struck AD 54/5
Obverse: Veiled head of Tyche with palm right
Reverse: ΤΥ ΙΕΡΑ ΑΣΥ, , ΡΠ, palm tree
References: RPC Online, Vol. I, No. 4739 (this coin)
A scarce type with good surfaces and detail.
​

People have been calling the city of Tyre home for more than 4,700 years. The city is located along the eastern Mediterranean coast and rose to great prominence as an independent maritime trading center in the second millennium B.C.


Aerial view of the modern city of Tyre.

Tyre is frequently mentioned in the Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments. Its first mention, in Joshua 19:29, refers to it as "the strong city of Tyre". 2 Samuel 5:11 records that Hiram I, king of Tyre, sent an embassage to King David in Jerusalem and established a mutually beneficial trade agreement with the Israelites. According to the account, Hiram and David became fast friends, and when Solomon became king after David's death, Hiram honored Solomon as well and sent him supplies, raw material, and skilled workmen for the building of the Temple in Jerusalem. (1 Kings 5:1-12)
In fact, the master bronzeworker on the Temple project was a Tyrian craftsman, sent by Hiram, who grew up in the trade under his father and was "highly skilled and experienced in all kinds of bronze work."(7:13 & 14)


Phoenician craftsmen building a temple for Solomon. From Hutchinson's History of the Nations, published 1915.

Later in the biblical account, we are told that the infamous Jezebel, wife of King Ahab, was the daughter of Ithobaal I, king of Tyre and the founder of a new dynasty. (1 Kings 16:31)

As a maritime power, Tyre founded numerous colonies throughout the region, including Carthage and Lepcis Magna.

Tyre was famous throughout this period for its strength as a defensible city, surrounded by ocean and high walls, but these defenses weren't enough to stop Alexander the Great from conquering the city in an epic siege in 332 B.C. The siege lasted for 7 months, during which Alexander actually built a causeway to the island citadel, nearly half a mile long and up to 900 feet wide, using the rubble from the mainland portion of the town. It was a monumental achievement, and the causeway is still there - now a permanent feature of the coastline.


Alexander the Great's Siege of Tyre.

In the Roman period, Tyre remained an important city, famous for its dyes which were produced by certain marine snails. Jesus visited the region briefly (Matthew 15:21, cf. Mark 7:24) and it seems a number of his followers were from Tyre (Mark 3:8) Later, the apostles Luke and Paul landed at Tyre and stayed for a week with the Tyrian Christians during Paul's third missionary journey. (Acts 21:3 & 4) This would likely have been around the time this coin was struck.

Tyre continued to flourish into the Byzantine period up until a series of devastating earthquakes in the 6th century A.D., which crippled but did not destroy the city. Like the palm tree that symbolized the ancient city, Tyre was able to rebound and recover and, owing to its strong influence on the Silk Road trade, thrived under the later Muslim and Crusader empires.

********************​

This coin is pretty rare, at least as far as I was able to ascertain. RPC Online lists only 4 specimens (including this one) - and I found one on the Forum Ancient Coins Member's Gallery, making a total of 5 that I was able to find.

Interestingly, there were no pictures of the other 3 RPC coins, so I submitted my specimen photo, and now it is the (only) illustrated example of this type:



Thank you for looking!

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Got too hold a Tyrian Shekel the other day. The dealer just bought it for his personal collection.
Really liked the write up!

 

Great little write up.

Out of interest, how long did it take for RPC to get back to you? I submitted a few coins recently.

 

Thanks!
RPC had the coin listed within 24 hours. Of course, I was only providing an additional example, not an entirely new type. But still I have been impressed with their speed and efficiency.

 

I have been to Lebanon, it is sad how little of the Phoenicians remains there, there is way more Roman than Phoenician heritage to see there.

 

Thanks! I'd love to own a Tyrian Shekel...but wow they are pricey! Maybe someday.

 

The Romans did have a tendency to absorb/obliterate the remains of previous cultures.

 

Tyrian stater (thick fabric), AR 12.80g, c. 400-380 BC. I bought it (after much discussion) in an obscure shop in the old city of Jerusalem.
Obv.: Melqart holding bow riding hippocamp right, over two lines of waves, dolphin (out of flan) below.
Rev.: Egyptian-style owl right, head facing, crook and flail over shoulder. To right: IIII (year 4 ?).

You should not be surprised seeing so few Phoenician remains. The country has considerably developed in Hellenistic, Roman and Early Byzantine times. Most of the monumental archaeological remains in Lebanon date back to the late Roman / Byzantine times. It's like visiting Paris and finding there are very few remains of the 17th c. city when D'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers were living there...
The most impressive ancient monument in Lebanon is the 1st - 3rd c. temple complex of Heliopolis, today Baalbek. Roman period...
Most of the oldest Phoenician remains come from tombs. You can see, in the National Museum, Beirut, the sarcophagus of Ahiram, king of Byblos, c. 1000 BC.