AE of SS, Petra

A provincial issue of Septimius Severus, Petra. The most interesting facet of this coin is that Tyche holds a stele, or idol of the Nabataeans. Throughout their history as an independent culture, the Nabataeans maintained a proscription against graven images, akin to but less rigorous than that of their neighbors, the Judaeans. (The Nabataeans did in fact portray their kings and queens on coinage and statuary, and their idols occasionally have crudely anthopomorphic features.)

This coin type is a curious admixture of traditional Nabataean beliefs and Roman religion, the two of which sometimes enjoyed a certain harmony, and at other times were decidedly at war. Certain cults among the Nabataeans would adopt foreign religions and their iconography, only to be persecuted by traditionalists. (Many statues of foreign gods are found intentionally defaced on Nabataean sites.)

Septimius Severus' reign falls long after the assimilation of Nabataea as Provincia Arabia, but still finds the culture of Petra stubbornly adhering to their ancestral beliefs. In fact, their proscription against graven images would be taken up and magnified by Islam.



A Nabataean eye-idol discovered at Ez Zantur. Source

 

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Very interesting. I know so little about the Nabataean culture, but I'm being educated by many of your posts (well, I'm a slow learner).

 

Wonderful coin and narrative JA !!

And, I can't add any more to what Bing already posted---it says it all for me as well

 

Hey, JA => it's a Nabotener coin that I actually like!! (very nice!!)

 

That is a wonderful coin. What are it's dimensions? I'm imagining it's a smaller issue. I particularly like how the coin portrays the old culture of Petra.

 

More medium-sized, 22-24mm. 8-10g. I don't have it in hand yet to measure it.

 

nice Petra (Petra (GreekΠέτρα, Petra, meaning "stone")

 

My dad visited Petra in about 1963. It's on my bucket list but I'm concerned that part of the world isn't going to get safe enough for me to be comfortable traveling again in my lifetime.

 

I was in Jordan once...sadly I couldn't leave the airport. Really wanted to sight-see.

 

I was there about 12 years ago working as a contractor for the DAO. I was kept busy so no time to sight see. Never felt threatened.

 

By all accounts, Jordan is supposed to be one of the safest countries in the ME to visit, since their economy relies heavily on tourism, and the authorities do a great deal to keep tourists safe.

 

When I was there...the airport was heavily guarded. Men with AKs stood watch. It was an interesting time.

And their late night television is not suitable for children.

 

Really? As in too risque?

 

You could say that! Nothing was left to the imagination!

 

That is not what I expected from a Muslim nation.

 

*edit*

 

Me neither. I kid you not, I was very surprised. Maybe it was because I think we had cable? On one channel you have dudes with some kind of head gear, dancing with swords to music I'll never understand and on the next channel an adult advertisement that involved an intimate couple. And like I said, nothing was left to the imagination. Well..almost nothing. There was a scant amount of blurring.

Sigh...I've derailed this thread bad.

 

Yeah well, the Brits do that too - it's called Morris dancing.

 

Is that Martin in the second row!!?

 

Blimey! I believe it is!