Here’s an AE17 I grabbed today for my Nabataean type set. It’s a crude rendition of a bust on the obverse, with an equally crude depiction of Nike on the reverse. As with all early Nabataeans, this coin is shrouded in mystery. At some point during the reigns of Aretas II, Obodas I, Rabbel I, and Aretas III, (120/110 – 60/59 BC), engravers moved away from portraits of Athena, replacing them with distinctly Arabic looking busts. It stands to reason that with the expansion of the Nabataean empire, the kings would want their likenesses on the coins, in the tradition of the Seleucids that had preceded them. But which king is it? Notice the difference in the bust of an early issue of Aretas II… The earliest coins, even the Proto-Nabataean restrikes, exhibited faithful renditions of Athena in the Greek style. I have yet to come across an exception. All the Nabataean authorities, Meshorer, Schmitt-Korte, and Hoover, agree that these unknown bust types were minted after the Athena/Nike series. I believe it’s a fair assessment. After Aretas III, Greek deities disappear altogether from Nabataean coinage, and busts of kings and queens become de rigeur. As scrappy as my example appears, it’s the best coin of this type I’ve seen: well-struck, well-preserved, and almost complete. Meshorer himself laments the poor preservation of these pieces, and none of the examples cited in the literature come close to the quality of my coin. Needless to say, I’m very pleased with the acquisition. The typical example of the type looks more like this, and often they’re far more decrepit (not my coin)… I have various conjectures on the possible history of this type, but I’ll save them for another post.
Whoo! I love this style, 'cept for the middle one. Beauty is in the eye of the holder, I say it's beautiful therefore I want to hold it!
The earlier Aretas II bronzes can be quite lovely, if you come across a nice example... But they're merely an attempt to copy the older Greek style - there's nothing particularly original about them. The Arabian head versions certainly have vivid character, even if they're crudely executed. Meshorer called them quasi-barbarous, by which I think he means that they look barbarous in style, but were probably officially sanctioned by the Nabataean kings.
I've added another of these "Arab head" coins to my collection today. In CCK, Oliver Hoover suggests that a coin of similar portraiture properly belongs to Aretas III, and I'm inclined to agree. Although the style is barbarous, there's a obviously a radical departure from any attempt to portray Athena, and these coins simply don't belong in that group. Neither are they anomalies, because even a quick glance at the three coins I've posted in this thread shows that there are no die matches. An intentional style was being developed here. In fact, after looking at hundreds of early Nabataean coins, I believe they need to be re-categorized in light of all the pieces that have recently come out of the Israeli antiquities market. I might attempt something like that shortly and see what you guys think.
wow => you're back with a vengeance, eh? (buying-up coins like your kids have gone back to school, or somethun'?!!)
