Roman era tetradrachms from the Gaza mint were struck by only two emperors, Caracalla & Macrinus; they are rare, popular, and usually bring high prices at auction. The only reason these coins were struck was to pay the military for Caracalla's proposed invasion of the Parthian Empire, AD 215-217. I believe the popularity of all the Gaza mint coinage is due in part because of the 2,500 year enmity between Jews and Palestinians that still exists today. The only time there was a moderation of hostilities between Judaea and Palestine happened after the end of the 1st Jewish War in AD 70. Throughout its history Gaza was an important seaport for trade and military expeditions. It was used by Alexander the great, the Ptolemies, & the Seleucids for their continuous warfare. In the Greco-Roman era the Palestinians worshipped Haddad, better known as Zeus Marnas. Nearly all the coinage from the Gaza mint bears the peculiar mintmark of Marnas, a cross symbol with an added arm to each side of the horizontal arm of the cross. Most of the Roman era coinage from the Gaza mint is crude an hastily struck. The tetradrachms were made from billon with a silver fineness of 35%. JUDAEA, Gaza. Caracalla, AD 198=217. Billon Tetradrachm: 13.64 gm, 25 mm, 2 h. The reverse depicts a heifer with the sign of Marnas above, supported by an eagle. The heifer refers to an amusing myth of Zeus. After having sex with a nymph, Zeus turned her into a heifer to avoid the anger of his wife Hera . Prieur 1684. This coin is from the 1st issue of Caracalla from the Gaza mint. Ex CNG Triton XVIII, lot 903. Price realized $40,250.00 with buyers fee ! Photo courtesy of CNG. JUDAEA, Gaza. Caracalla AD 198-217. Billon Tetradrachm: 14.24 gm, 26 mm, 12 h. Sign of Marnas below eagle. Prieur 1686. Ex CNG 118, lot 853; Ex Dr. Jay M. Galst Collection. Price realized with buyers fee $4,425.00. Photo courtesy of CNG. JUDAEA, Gaza. Caracalla, AD 198-217. Billon Tetradrachm: 12.49 gm, 26 mm, 12 h. Reverse: Sign of Marnas below eagle, star in right field. Prieur 1685. Al Kowsky Collection. I won this coin at auction last year . Photo courtesy of CNG. JUDAEA, Gaza. Macrinus, AD 217-218. Billon Tetradrachm: 10.30 gm, 26 mm, 12 h. Reverse: Sign of Marnas below eagle, star in right field. Roma E-Sale 89, lot 792. Photo courtesy of Roma Numismatics Ltd. JUDAEA, Gaza. Diadumenian as Caesar (son of Macrinus), AD 217-218. Billon Tetradrachm: 13.25 gm, 26 mm, 1 h. Reverse: Sign of Marnas below eagle, star in right field. Prieur 1697. CNG 118, lot 854, price realized $560.50 with buyers fee. Ex Dr. Jay M. Galst Collection. Photo courtesy of CNG. References: The Syro-Phoenician Tetradrachms and Their Fraction, Michel & Karen Prieur. 2000. Essay: The Dated Coinage of Gaza in Historical Context. Oliver Hoover. (62) The Dated Coinage of Gaza in Historical Context | Oliver D Hoover - Academia.edu Wikipedia Classical Numismatic Group, LLC Roma Numismatics Ltd. CT members are welcome to post any of their coins from the Gaza mint .
The first tet. with the heifer would be a dream tet. to own. I always thought they were cool. But unless one gets listed on ebay by someone who doesn't know ancients and it's cheap, it won't be in my collection anytime soon. Nice write-up, Al.
Those are wonderful Gazan Roman tetradrachm examples, Al, and very rare to boot! I have nary one from Gaza, only owls which are probably from Gaza, but the jury is still out on that.... Congrats on securing one!
Mat, Another example of the famous "heifer tet" was auctioned by CNG several months ago at Triton XXV, & struck from the same dies as the other one posted earlier on this thread. Unfortunately the 2nd example shows excessive die wear & only a faint trace of the sign of Marnas is visible . The coin didn't even reach the traditional low estimate that CNG is known for. JUDAEA, Gaza. Caracalla, AD 198-217. Billon Tetradrachm: 13.64 gm, 25 mm, 2 h. CNG Triton XXV, lot 707, price realized including buyers fee $2,280.00. Ex Dr. Jay M. Galst Collection.
robinjojo, You would be very lucky to score an Owl tet from Gaza or one of the Owl fractions , they are beyond the means of most collectors. The "holy grail" of Gazan Owl tets was recently auctioned by Nomos AG, Auction 22. PHILISTIA (Palestine), Gaza, 5th-4th centuries BC. AR Tetradrachm: 24 mm, 17.49 gm, 11 h. Obverse: Head of Athena with full crest facing right. Reverse: Front facing Owl with olive sprig on either side. The two letters spell "Zayin", the Phoenician name for Gaza. The reverse design copies the tiny Athenian triobols that were circulating at that time. BMC pl. XLII. This example is the finest of 4 known coins. Price realized with buyers fee $88,677.00 ! Photo courtesy of Nomos AG, June 22, 2021. Pictured below are a couple of Gazan Owl fractions recently auctioned by Roma. PHILISTIA (Palestine), Gaza, circa 450-333 BC. AR Drachm: 3.00 gm, 13 mm, 11 h. Obverse: Bearded male head facing left. Reverse: Owl standing to right, olive sprig & crescent in field, Phoenician letters for Zayin (Gaza) in left field. Extremely rare & possibly unique. Gitler & Tal XIV.16 var. Roma Auction XXIII, lot 509. Price realized with buyers fee $5,338.00. Photo courtesy of Roma Numismatics Ltd. PHILISTIA (Palestine), Gaza, circa 450-400 BC. AR Drachm: 2.95 gm, 16 mm, 9 h. Obverse: Head of Athena facing right, Phoenician letters "mem" (?) and "beth" on cheek. Reverse: Forepart of horse facing right, the Phoenician letters for Zayin (Gaza) in upper right field. Two test cuts are visible on the reverse. Gitler & Tal Group XIII.Da. Extremely rare. Roma Auction XXIII, lot 510, price realized $2,514.00 with buyers fee. Photo courtesy of Roma Numismatics Ltd.
The "sign of Marnas" is generally seen as the Aramaic letter mem, and understood as the initial of M(arnas). This letter was already visible on Philistian Athenian-style obols or hemiobols minted in the 4th c. BC, like this one : (Numismatica Ars Classica 64.1555, AR 0.34 g) not my coin... In the same period, under Persian rule, Gaza issued silver coins with the two Phoenician letters 'ayin zayin which are beyond doubt the initials of 'Aza, i.e. Gaza. I have never seen the mem and the 'ayin zayin associated on the same coin: the mem is always on Athenian types, the 'ayin zayin always on non-Athenian types. I never heard of any Athenian-style coin with mem found in Gaza, it seems that all known specimens are of unknown provenance. Gitler and Tal (Philistian Coins) attribute them to Gaza just because the mem later appeared on Gaza coins from the 2nd c. BC to the 3rd c. AD, not counting the lead weights, and became the very symbol of Gaza mint under Roman rule. Under the Ptolemies, royal tetradrachms minted in Gaza had the mintmark ΓA, in Greek. It is under the Seleucids that the mark mem appears on Gaza coins. Reverse of an AE coin of Demetrius II Nicator minted in Gaza (mintmark ΓA), dated AoP (171 sel. = 142 BC). I suppose the circular legend is BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΔHMHTPIoY, Apollo standing left nude, holding arrow and bow, ΓA / AoP in left field, retrograde mem in right field. This coin is in the BNF in Paris, but not in any catalogue it seems... Another unpublished AR tetradrachm dated ΓoP (173 sel. = 140 BC) with the same retrograde mem : Demetrius II Nicator, tetradrachm, 140 BC. AR 24 mm, 12.75 g. CNG 109.317, from the MNL collection (what is it?). Unique and unpublished. Not my coin of course ! In the end of the Hellenistic period, some AE coins from Gaza show this mem, most do not. In the Roman period, the mem is almost systematic on all Gaza coins, sometimes in the legend, sometimes in the field, and on several small module coins the reverse type is just a single large mem (with the date). This symbol is also used on lead weights. The problem is : what does this mem mean??? Everybody thinks it is a mem for M(arnas), the main deity worshipped in the city, Marnas being the Greek form of Aramaic Maran which means "Our Lord". If it is true, it means that Marnas should have been the main god of Gaza already in the 4th c. BC., or, if the 4th c. BC Athenian-style obols with mem are not from Gaza, at least since the 2nd c. BC. But no epigraphic, numismatic or literary source ever mentions the name of the god Marnas before Hadrian (large Gaza coins with the legend ΓAZA MAPNAC or ΓAZA MAPNA) and, after this, before St Jerome in the late 4th c. AD! All texts mentioning Marnas and his Gaza temple are of late date : 4th, 5th, 6th c. AD. According to Josephus, when Gaza was stormed by the Jewish army of Alexander Jannaeus c. 100/99 BC, the 500 members of the city boule were seeking protection in the temple of Apollo. Josephus does not mention any Marnas in Gaza. The signification of the Gaza mint-mark is a real puzzle... The only source we can rely on is a short passage of Damascius who says that the Egyptians have a symbol to signify a god, "the Heliopolitans (of Baalbek) have another one, and the Gazaeans another one for Zeus". A graphic symbol to signify Zeus in Gaza, this must be this mem ! George Clooney would say "What else?". I even suspect Marnas of having been an aniconic religion, like Islam whose god is only represented by the monogram ﷲ, because on all Gaza coinage there is no representation that may be clearly identified with Marnas without any doubt, and when the Marneion (temple of Marnas) was stormed, sacked and destroyed by the Christians in 401 or 402, Mark the Deacon who was present at the scene and tells it at length with much details does not mention the destruction of the idol...
Dr. Taco Terpstra, associate professor of classics & history at Columbia University, tells us "The literary texts represent Marnas as a sky god who also preformed oracles. He also notes the depictions in coin iconography are not consistent. At times he is shown naked, similar to a naked & bearded Zeus, either seated on a throne or standing while holding a lightening bolt. Other images of Marnas show him holding a bow, standing on a pedestal in front of a female deity. Regardless of the variety of depictions, the abundance of them on coins indicates that the inhabitants of Gaza held him in high esteem & associated this god with their city. Gazan overseas traders were still adhering to this cult well into the 5th century of CE."
But are there any depictions of Marnas on coins, in the first place? In the Hellenistic period there were sometimes coins with a bearded and laureate head of Zeus. In the Roman period the coins of Gaza show Apollo and Artemis, Io, the Tyche, Herakles and Minos. Under Marcus Aurelius a new deity is introduced: young, unbearded nude male standing (never seated) holding a long vertical tortuous thing that can be a long lightning bolt or a mere branch, and pouring libation on altar. He looks like a genius more than like a Zeus (does Zeus make sacrifices?). Under Elagabalus only there is a nude unbearded Zeus standing, holding thunderbolt. None of these deities is explicitly labelled "Marnas". Some numismatists want to see Marnas on Hadrianic large bronzes showing Artemis and Apollo standing in distyle shrine, just because MAPNAC or MAPNA is written on the Apollo side, but it does not make sense : the legend is ΓAZA MAPNAC or ΓAZA MAPNA and means "Treasury of Marnas", probably because these coins were minted in the Marneion with bronze from the temple treasury.
But are there any depictions of Marnas on coins, in the first place? You'll have to take that subject up with Dr. Taco Terpstra, he's more learned on the subject than we are . taco.terpstra@northwestern.edu
You sure are right on that! The Gaza owl, with the facing owl on the reverse is exceedingly rare. I guess I was wrong about any of my owls possibly being from Gaza, because the best attribution that can be made, arguably, is that they may be from the region of Philistia. And, the attributions more often than not are made based on style, absent any identifiable marks. It's all really a big bowl of mushy oatmeal, gastronomically speaking.
Is that an Aramaic "N" or "D" on the obverse of this coin? I am not knowledgeable on the nuances of ancient script styles.
On the other hand, the uncertainty in mint location of these unmarked issues contributes to the fact that they can be had much more cheaply. Both of these were less than $30 each. Philistia (Palestine). Uncertain mint (possibly Gaza). Circa Mid-Fifth Century to 333 BC. AR Obol (0.86g and 0.63g). Imitating Athens. Obv: AΘE; Helmeted head of Athena right, with profile eye. Rev: AΘE; Owl standing right, head facing, two olive leaves behind. Ref: SNG ANS 18; HGC 9, 610.
These unmarked pseudo-Athenian coins can only be attributed if we know where they are found. The question is complex. The Ashkelon 1989 hoard (CH 9.369) contained 21 Athenian-style obols struck with the same reverse die. It should mean that these die-linked obols had not circulated much and were found very near their mint location, i.e. Ascalon. But other Athenian-styled similar obols or hemiobols were found in the Samaria Hoard (CH 9.413). In Tell Rafah hundreds of die-linked Athenian-style drachms have been found (imitating Athens' pi-style), there again the most likely mint-location is Raphia. No hoard of this sort has been reported from Gaza city, but there is a beach just near the Shatteh refugees camp (AKA Beach Camp) where tiny minute silver coins are very often found. I have a sample of these finds, silver coins 7 to 10 mm in diameter, weight more or less 1 gram. These are mostly 4th c. BC Phoenician coins from Byblos, Sidon (4 coins), an unmarked Athenian-style one and an Alexander hemiobol (uncertain eastern mint, perhaps Byblos or Arados). There was also a Samaria coin but I don't have it anymore, and another Athenian-style obol or hemiobol. On this beach, which corresponds to the ancient port of Anthedon (probably part of the ancient port of Gaza), it was a mixture of Phoenician, Samarian and Philistian coins that circulated in the 4th c. BC. The unmarked Athenian-style coins are not predominant, but they should have been if they had been minted in Gaza.
Yesterday while browsing through an email from Forum Coins I stumbled on this slabbed Athenian drachm attributed to Gaza . I wonder how this coin can be attributed to the Gaza mint with certainty instead of another one of the many mints imitating these coins ?
The style does not look Athenian too much, thus an imitation. There is a circular incuse countermark on Athena's cheek, they probably understood this circle as the Phoenician letter 'ayin, which is the initial of 'Aza (Gaza) in Phoenician. But this attribution remains hypothetical. After all, it's just a circular incuse countermark !
Hi All, My earliest Gazan Ptolemaic tetradrachm, 258/257 BCE. Date: Year ΚΗ (28) = 258/257 BCE References: Paris, Z.2884, 256 (Dattari coll.). Specimen with only guide dots cut for Gaza monogram (THIS) is noted in Lorber's CPE. Obverse die link with CPE 684. From Hoover's "The Dated Coinage of Gaza in Historical Context (264/3 BC - AD 241/2" (SNR, vol 86, 2007): "No coinage appears to have been struck by the city following the Macedonian conquest, but during the long Ptolemaic domination of Coele Syria (281-198 BCE), the mint of Gaza struck coins (octadrachms, tetradrachms, and bronzes) under Ptolemy II Philopator (281-246 BCE) and Ptolemy III Euergetes (246-222 BCE). The regnal years 25 (262/1 BCE), 28-33 (259/8-254/3 BCE), and 36-38 (251/0-249/8 BCE) that date the Gazaean silver and the year 29 that dates the gold of Ptolemy II suggest that these coins were produced largely to support military operations against the Seleucids during the Second Syrian War (261-253 BCE), as well as to pay the expenses of the peace agreement that ended the conflict. As part of the settlement, Ptolemy married his daughter, Berenice Syrus, to Antiochus II Theos and sent her to her new husband along with so much gold and silver that she received the popular epithet, Phernophoros ("Dowry-bringer")." From Lorber's CPE: "In 261/0 Sidon, Ptolemais, Ioppe, and Gaza adopted the Tyrian practice of producing annual, dated issues of tetradrachms with identifiable mintmarks, supplemented by occasional mnaieia in the name of Arsinoe Philadelphus. The five mints thus collaborated to provide a stock of coinage with highly consistent features. The beginning of this province-wide reform in 261/0 suggests a connection with the outbreak of the Second Syrian War and the wide dispersion of Syro-Phoenician tetradrachms in Greece and throughout the Ptolemaic kingdom probably indicates that this coinage was used in the pay of mercenaries." - Broucheion
