Here’s a Nabataean bronze I reserved today. It’s not in my possession yet, but I offer you the dealer’s image, and whatever I could piece together about its history. Dealer’s attribution (to be investigated)… NABATAEA. Malichus I. 60-30 BC. Æ 19mm, Petra mint. Very Rare! Diademed head right / Eagle standing left. Meshorer, Nabataea 15; HGC 10, 684 The story of this coin begins with Herod the Great, who had been appointed governor of Galilee by Hyrcanus II Antipater around 42 BCE. However, two years later, Hyrcanus’s nephew, Antigonas, managed to take his uncle’s throne with the help of a few Parthians, and Herod fled to Rome. While there, he managed to convince the Roman Senate to proclaim him “King of the Jews”, which Josephus tells us occurred sometime around 40 BCE. Here’s a picture of Joey Bonifacio’s portrayal of Herod, just because I think he wears it well, and a map of the Hasmonean dynasty around that time. Evidently Herod had been generous to Malichus in the past, although history doesn’t record the details, so Herod expected a little help from the Nabataean king in taking back the throne. It wasn’t forthcoming, however - at least at the start. Malichus did not want to take sides against the Parthians who had helped install Antigonas in Jerusalem. So Herod went to Egypt for help. In the end, Malichus did have a change of heart, and even followed after Herod, but did not catch up with him. Perhaps the Nabataean king concluded that Herod was a more important ally than the Parthians, or perhaps he just wanted to make a show of support, without actually engaging in any work (sort of like when my kids offer to help when I’m almost done with a job). In any case, Herod dispatched Antigonas in 37 BCE and after consolidating his position in Judaea, decided to settle the score with Malichus. The two armies met just outside Jerusalem, and the Nabataeans got trounced. Here’s a totally gratuitous and probably inaccurate picture of ancient Jews fighting ancient Arabs. (I’m pretty sure the Nabataeans weren’t idiots, and wouldn’t have gone into an archery skirmish without armor)… At any rate, Malichus and his armies retreated to Cana with the Herodians in hot pursuit, but the tables were about to be turned. One of Cleopatra’s generals, Athenion, came to Malichus’s rescue and defeated Herod’s army. The remnants of the Nabataean army finished the job. From then on, Herod stuck to guerilla warfare against Malichus. It’s not clear to my why Athenion got mixed up in the fray, but it may have had something to do with that whole business of Marc Antony giving away chunks of Arabia to Cleopatra and her sons. Herod was eventually to become Cleopatra’s rent collector – maybe they were putting him in his place? THE COIN These coins are dated either in the 27th or 28th years of Malichus’s reign, corresponding to 34 and 33 BCE. They were emergency coins, if you will, used to pay the Nabataean army during the conflicts with Herod, and production ceased immediately thereafter. Because of the limited run, they are scarce in any condition. This one is probably a condition rarity, but I can’t say for sure because I’ve seen so few. The dealer calls it EXTREMELY RARE!!! But that’s what dealers do. They came in three sizes, likely corresponding to denominations – mine is the middle size. The inscription goes around the entire rim, but the left side is off the flan of my coin. It translates, “Malichus the king, king of the Nabataeans”. The date is on both sides of the eagle, 20/7. This is the first time a Nabataean inscription appears on a coin - earlier coins used Greek, or were anepigraphic. Thanks for reading another one of my interminable posts.
That's the fear I have of posting. The good stuff is at least very scarce, if not rare. If I generate too much interest, the other pieces I want will disappear. But hey, I've still got a few good years left in me, hopefully, and world is full of interesting coins.
Cool eagle, my Nabataean buddy!! => man, you are becoming quite the word-smith with your coin-speak!! (keep-up the good work!!)
Today in history we were going over some of our favorite time periods and I said ancient roman coins, and he asked why and I showed him. (we have ipads in our school to "help" us learn.) I pulled up some of your topics because you are the expert ancient coin collector, I was the amazement for one class period thanks John Anthony
Hey Ace, thanks for the compliment! I'm not an expert ancient coin collector - there are a few people on this forum that really ARE experts, but I do love digging into history and numismatics.
