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Hasmonean coinage are the coins minted by theHasmonean kings. Only bronze coins in various denominations have been found; the smallest being aprutah or a half prutah.
One Roman silver denarius is associated with the Hasmoneans, bearing a supplicant man bowing before a camel with a palm branch in his hand and the inscriptionBACCHIVS IVDAEVS (Bacchius the Jew). The individual on the coin has often been identified asAristobulus II.[1]
TheHebrew inscriptions found onHasmonean coins are:
The era ofHasmonean rule lasted for 127 years. It was founded by High PriestSimon son ofMatityahu, and consolidated by his sonYochanan surnamed Hyrcanus. Thereafter followedYehuda Aristobolus,Salome Alexandra,Alexander Yannai and then feuding brothersHyrcanus II andAristobulus. Hyrcanus and Aristoblulus each asked theRoman Republic to intervene on their behalf; as a result Judea fell under the greater rule of Rome as an autonomous province but still with a significant amount of autonomy. The last Hasmonean king was Aristobulus's sonMatityahu Antigonus.
In 138 BCE, theSeleucid KingAntiochus VII Sidetes published a royal decree, granting Simon Maccabaeus the right to mint his own coinage.[3]
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John Hyrcanus (in HebrewYochanan Hyrcanus; reigned 134–104 BCE, until his death). Minted prutot that said:
He also had monograms on some prutot on the cornucopia side, just left of the cornucopia, some resembling Ά, Π or Λ.
The Jerusalem-minted bronze prutah had on the reverse a double cornucopia adorned with ribbons with apomegranate between horns, with borders of dots.[5]
Alexander Jannaeus (also known asAlexander Jannai/Yannai), king ofJudea from (103 to 76 BCE), son ofJohn Hyrcanus, inherited the throne from his brotherAristobulus, and married his brother's widow,Shlomtzion or "Shelomit".
The Jannaeus coins are the most typical Jewish coins found at archeological sites in the former lands of the Hasmonean kingdom. They represent over 87% of the coins discovered in Jerusalem and 39% of the Hasmonean, Herodian, and Byzantine coins found in the southern Levant.Gamla was the site of the largest-ever discovery of Jannaeus coins from a single location.[6]
Antigonus the Hasmonean (also known asMatityahu Antigonus)[7] was the son of KingAristobulus II ofJudea.
Obv:Menorah with Greek inscription "BASILEWS ANTIGONOY" (King Antignus).
Rev:Showbread Table (Shulchan) with Hebrew inscription"Matityahu HaKohen" (Matityahu the High Priest).[8]
Obv: Double cornucopia with ancient Hebrew script; reading"Matityahu Kohen Gadol Chever Hayehudim" (Matityahu the High Priest, Council of the Jews).
Rev: Greek inscription; reading "BASILEWS ANTIGONOY" (King Antignus).
