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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;John Anthony, post: 8293558, member: 42773&quot;]Malichos I (59/8-30 BC) issued the first properly Nabataean coinage - that is, coinage official to the Nabataean Kingdom, struck in Petra, using Nabataean script. Previously, there had been some anonymous bronze issues modeled after the staters of Alexander III, and coins struck by Aretas III in Damascus which are viewed as a continuation of the city coinage, and nothing uniquely Nabataean.</p><p><br /></p><p>Malichos I did not strike coinage for the first 27 years of his reign, and then we see a series of bronze and silver issues, right around the time of his military conflicts with Herod. It&#039;s conjectured that that bronze issues were struck to pay soldiers [Meshorer, 1975], while the silver coins celebrated the Nabataean victory over Herod at Kana with the assistance of Cleopatra&#039;s general Athenion [Huth 2010]. The palm-of-hand coins were the smallest of three bronze types, and I&#039;ve been searching for one for some time now. They are rare enough that only one or two come up for auction per year. I wanted an example with a very clear and crisp palm...</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center">[ATTACH=full]1466257[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center"><b>NABATAEA. Malichos I. </b>59/8-30 BC. Æ (15mm, 2.09 g, 12h).</p> <p style="text-align: center">Petra mint. Dated RY 27 (33/2 BC).</p> <p style="text-align: center">Obv.: Diademed head right.</p> <p style="text-align: center">Rev.: Palm of hand; “27” (date, in Aramaic) to across field.</p> <p style="text-align: center">Ref.: CN 14; Meshorer, <i>Nabataea</i> 17; HGC 10, 685 .</p> <p style="text-align: center"><i>CNG Auction 513, Lot 217.</i></p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p><p>This is an almost unique type among ancient coins. (There exists a Palmyrean tessera of the same design cataloged by Ingholt et al.) Patrich suggested it could symbolize Idâ-rûmâ, meaning &quot;strong hand&quot; or &quot;high hand,&quot; the angel of the chief Nabataean deity Dushares. It has also been suggested that it represents the Arabic ḥamsa, a means of protection against the &quot;evil eye,&quot; or simply a greeting from the royal house to the citizenry [Barkay, 2019].</p><p><br /></p><p>One detail scholars have not mentioned is that the hand usually evinces a very feminine character - slender palm and long, delicate fingers. There are other Nabataean coins that feature the queen raising her right hand, showing her palm with fingers extended...</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center">[ATTACH=full]1466291[/ATTACH]</p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p><p>Perhaps the palm-only coins are another iteration of the &quot;greeting from the queen&quot; motif...</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center">[ATTACH=full]1466296[/ATTACH] </p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p><p>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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