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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;John Anthony, post: 1870506, member: 42773&quot;]Rabbel II Soter (ar-Rabel) was the last of the Nabataean kings, reigning from AD 70 to 106, after which the Nabataean Kingdom was annexed by Trajan as <i>Arabia Petraea</i>. The bronze issues of Rabbel follow a common archetype established by his grandfather, Aretas IV: jugate portraits of the king and queen on the obverse, double cornucopiae with inscriptions on the reverse.</p><p><br /></p><p>Three different legends can be found on the bronzes of Rabbel II, corresponding to the various reigning queens. From AD 70 to 75/6, we find the name of Rabbel’s mother, Shuqailat, who reigned as his regent. After her death, Rabbel married a certain Gamilat, and we find her name on the coins from AD 76 to about 103. These are the most common types owing to their long period of mintage. The last issues of Rabbel, and the last coins of the Nabataean Kingdom altogether, present the name of his second wife and third queen, Hagru. These were issued only briefly, and evidently in small quantities, and are thus exceedingly rare.</p><p><br /></p><p>A key to reading the reverse inscriptions on the bronzes of Rabbel II. I’ve transcribed the lettering on the coins to a proposed unicode version of the Nabataean alphabet by Michael Everson.</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://postimage.org/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://postimage.org/" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://s30.postimg.org/8s7eoeu8h/nableg4.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></a></p><p><br /></p><p>1. Rabbel/Shuqailat. This coin has two of the finest portraits I’ve found on any Nabataean bronzes. Rabbel is portrayed as a young man, and his mother has distinctive, feminine features.</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://postimage.org/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://postimage.org/" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://s12.postimg.org/93tbs9jzh/rabbelshuq.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></a></p><p><br /></p><p>2. Rabbel/Gamilat. This coin is just a place-holder in my collection. It came in a lot of other pieces I was more interested in. These are quite common in much better condition, so I’ll be upgrading it soon.</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://postimage.org/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://postimage.org/" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://s29.postimg.org/ylkmu5s3r/rabbell700.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></a></p><p><br /></p><p>3. Rabbel/Hagru. A new acquisition from the FORVM store. Although Hagru’s portrait is off-flan, the lettering of her name is quite clear on the reverse. This is only the second coin of this type I’ve found for sale in over a year of hunting, so I was quite pleased to make it my own.</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://postimage.org/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://postimage.org/" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://s22.postimg.org/uzcci1gfl/hagru.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></a>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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