Log in or Sign up
Coin Talk
Home
Forums
>
Coin Forums
>
Ancient Coins
>
A Rare and Mysterious Nabataean City Commemorative
>
Reply to Thread
Message:
<p>[QUOTE="John Anthony, post: 8287528, member: 42773"]When Ya'akov Meshorer published the first sylloge of Nabataean coins in 1975, he catalogued a small bronze with the bust of Aretas IV on the obverse, and an uncertain fringed, bell-like object on the reverse. Under the mysterious object was the single word, HAGRA, referring to the second largest Nabataean city (modern-day <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hegra_(Mada%27in_Salih)" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hegra_(Mada%27in_Salih)" rel="nofollow">Hegra</a>, or Madā'in Ṣāliḥ in Saudi Arabia). Meshorer conjectured that the coin was a city commemorative, and that the object was associated with a cult peculiar to that city.</p><p><br /></p><p>At the time, there was only one known specimen. Since then, a few more have surfaced, adding up to ten. Recently I won (to my considerable surprise) one of those handful of coins...</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center">[ATTACH=full]1464489[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center"><b>NABATAEA. Aretas IV. </b>Circa 9/8 BC-AD 40.</p> <p style="text-align: center">Æ13, 2.7g, 12h. Petra mint. Struck circa 8/7 BC–AD 15/6.</p> <p style="text-align: center">Obv.: Laureate head right.</p> <p style="text-align: center">Rev.: Uncertain bell-shaped object with five fringes; [HAGRU] below.</p> <p style="text-align: center">Ref.: CN 149; Meshorer, <i>Nabataea</i> 87.</p> <p style="text-align: center"><i>Ex Classical Numismatic Group Electronic Auction 512 (23 March 2022), <a href="https://auctions.cngcoins.com/lots/view/4-5C6PQI/nabataea-aretas-iv-circa-98-bc-ad-40-135mm-271-g-12h-petra-mint-struck-circa-87-bcad-156" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://auctions.cngcoins.com/lots/view/4-5C6PQI/nabataea-aretas-iv-circa-98-bc-ad-40-135mm-271-g-12h-petra-mint-struck-circa-87-bcad-156" rel="nofollow">lot 243</a>.</i></p> <p style="text-align: center"><i><i>Ex Classical Numismatic Group Electronic Auction 439 (6 March 2019), <a href="https://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=376923" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=376923" rel="nofollow">lot 152</a>.</i></i></p> <p style="text-align: center"><i><i><br /></i></i></p><p>I wish that the lettering on my coin were clearer, as on the one below, but with so few examples to choose from, one can't get choosy...</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center">[ATTACH=full]1464492[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>We all know that rarity doesn't always equate to market value, and my auction win is a case in point. The coin had sold in 2019 for $132, but my opening bid of $60 went unchallenged in Auction 512. I have always refused to pay large premiums for Nabataean coins for the simple reason that archeology has barely scratched the surface of the Arabian environs, and large hoard finds that would make rarities commonplace are always a very real possibility. For instance, it's estimated that only about 25% of Petra has been excavated in any substantial way.</p><p><br /></p><p>The situation is even more pronounced in Hegra. The site had originally been settled by Lihyanite peoples in the 7th century BC, hugely urbanized by the Nabataeans, and eventually incorporated into the Roman province of <i>Arabia Petraea</i>. But the overland trade routes transitioned into sea routes, and the city was gradually abandoned, to lie in obscurity for centuries, much like Petra. Only in 2008 did it become Saudi Arabia's first World Heritage Site, and only recently has it been opened to tourists, <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/hegra-ancient-city-saudi-arabia-untouched-for-millennia-makes-its-public-debut-180976361/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/hegra-ancient-city-saudi-arabia-untouched-for-millennia-makes-its-public-debut-180976361/" rel="nofollow">see this article in the Smithsonian</a>. Click on that article if for no other reason than to look at the fascinating pictures of the rock-hewn structures similar to those of Petra. I give you one...</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center">[ATTACH=full]1464493[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>So what is the inscrutable object on the reverse of the coin? On other examples, the object appears to be made of braided cloth, as in this one, cited from Rachel Barkay's <i><a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/26910342" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/26910342" rel="nofollow">Coinage of the Nabataeans</a></i>...</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center">[ATTACH=full]1464496[/ATTACH]</p><p>In <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Formation-Nabataean-Art-Prohibition-Nabataeans/dp/9004092854" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.amazon.com/Formation-Nabataean-Art-Prohibition-Nabataeans/dp/9004092854" rel="nofollow">The Formation of Nabataean Art, Prohibition of a Graven Image Among the Nabataeans</a></i>, Joseph Patrich suggested that it was a decorative cloth covering for a stele (or baetyl). When it's time for the god to go to bed, you cover him up...</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center">[ATTACH=full]1464505[/ATTACH]</p> <p style="text-align: center"><font size="3">Image By Anderson, Bjorn. University of Iowa - Private collection, CC BY-SA 3.0, <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45382306" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45382306" rel="nofollow">https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45382306</a></font></p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p><p>If so, it's an odd thing to put on a coin, but no odder than the religious implements we find on Roman coins I suppose. Perhaps the new archeological interest in Hegra will one day unravel the mystery of this coin's reverse.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="John Anthony, post: 8287528, member: 42773"]When Ya'akov Meshorer published the first sylloge of Nabataean coins in 1975, he catalogued a small bronze with the bust of Aretas IV on the obverse, and an uncertain fringed, bell-like object on the reverse. Under the mysterious object was the single word, HAGRA, referring to the second largest Nabataean city (modern-day [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hegra_(Mada%27in_Salih)']Hegra[/URL], or Madā'in Ṣāliḥ in Saudi Arabia). Meshorer conjectured that the coin was a city commemorative, and that the object was associated with a cult peculiar to that city. At the time, there was only one known specimen. Since then, a few more have surfaced, adding up to ten. Recently I won (to my considerable surprise) one of those handful of coins... [CENTER][ATTACH=full]1464489[/ATTACH][/CENTER] [CENTER][B]NABATAEA. Aretas IV. [/B]Circa 9/8 BC-AD 40. Æ13, 2.7g, 12h. Petra mint. Struck circa 8/7 BC–AD 15/6. Obv.: Laureate head right. Rev.: Uncertain bell-shaped object with five fringes; [HAGRU] below. Ref.: CN 149; Meshorer, [I]Nabataea[/I] 87. [I]Ex Classical Numismatic Group Electronic Auction 512 (23 March 2022), [URL='https://auctions.cngcoins.com/lots/view/4-5C6PQI/nabataea-aretas-iv-circa-98-bc-ad-40-135mm-271-g-12h-petra-mint-struck-circa-87-bcad-156']lot 243[/URL]. [I]Ex Classical Numismatic Group Electronic Auction 439 (6 March 2019), [URL='https://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=376923']lot 152[/URL]. [/I][/I][/CENTER] I wish that the lettering on my coin were clearer, as on the one below, but with so few examples to choose from, one can't get choosy... [CENTER][ATTACH=full]1464492[/ATTACH][/CENTER] We all know that rarity doesn't always equate to market value, and my auction win is a case in point. The coin had sold in 2019 for $132, but my opening bid of $60 went unchallenged in Auction 512. I have always refused to pay large premiums for Nabataean coins for the simple reason that archeology has barely scratched the surface of the Arabian environs, and large hoard finds that would make rarities commonplace are always a very real possibility. For instance, it's estimated that only about 25% of Petra has been excavated in any substantial way. The situation is even more pronounced in Hegra. The site had originally been settled by Lihyanite peoples in the 7th century BC, hugely urbanized by the Nabataeans, and eventually incorporated into the Roman province of [I]Arabia Petraea[/I]. But the overland trade routes transitioned into sea routes, and the city was gradually abandoned, to lie in obscurity for centuries, much like Petra. Only in 2008 did it become Saudi Arabia's first World Heritage Site, and only recently has it been opened to tourists, [URL='https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/hegra-ancient-city-saudi-arabia-untouched-for-millennia-makes-its-public-debut-180976361/']see this article in the Smithsonian[/URL]. Click on that article if for no other reason than to look at the fascinating pictures of the rock-hewn structures similar to those of Petra. I give you one... [CENTER][ATTACH=full]1464493[/ATTACH][/CENTER] So what is the inscrutable object on the reverse of the coin? On other examples, the object appears to be made of braided cloth, as in this one, cited from Rachel Barkay's [I][URL='https://www.jstor.org/stable/26910342']Coinage of the Nabataeans[/URL][/I]... [CENTER][ATTACH=full]1464496[/ATTACH][/CENTER] In [I][URL='https://www.amazon.com/Formation-Nabataean-Art-Prohibition-Nabataeans/dp/9004092854']The Formation of Nabataean Art, Prohibition of a Graven Image Among the Nabataeans[/URL][/I], Joseph Patrich suggested that it was a decorative cloth covering for a stele (or baetyl). When it's time for the god to go to bed, you cover him up... [CENTER][ATTACH=full]1464505[/ATTACH] [SIZE=3]Image By Anderson, Bjorn. University of Iowa - Private collection, CC BY-SA 3.0, [URL]https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45382306[/URL][/SIZE] [/CENTER] If so, it's an odd thing to put on a coin, but no odder than the religious implements we find on Roman coins I suppose. Perhaps the new archeological interest in Hegra will one day unravel the mystery of this coin's reverse.[/QUOTE]
Your name or email address:
Do you already have an account?
No, create an account now.
Yes, my password is:
Forgot your password?
Stay logged in
Coin Talk
Home
Forums
>
Coin Forums
>
Ancient Coins
>
A Rare and Mysterious Nabataean City Commemorative
>
Home
Home
Quick Links
Search Forums
Recent Activity
Recent Posts
Forums
Forums
Quick Links
Search Forums
Recent Posts
Competitions
Competitions
Quick Links
Competition Index
Rules, Terms & Conditions
Gallery
Gallery
Quick Links
Search Media
New Media
Showcase
Showcase
Quick Links
Search Items
Most Active Members
New Items
Directory
Directory
Quick Links
Directory Home
New Listings
Members
Members
Quick Links
Notable Members
Current Visitors
Recent Activity
New Profile Posts
Sponsors
Menu
Search
Search titles only
Posted by Member:
Separate names with a comma.
Newer Than:
Search this thread only
Search this forum only
Display results as threads
Useful Searches
Recent Posts
More...
