In the year B.C. 37 Herod I, surnamed the Great, after the execution of Antigonus, ascended the throne. Considering the position and resources he attained, there
Later Coin of Alexander Jau- ua!us.
greatly incensed them. His second coinage, therefore, substitutes the sacerdotal for the royal titles, and re- turns to the Hebrew language. It resembles that of his immediate predecessors. Obverse, '•Jonathan the High- Priest and the Confed- eration of the Jews," in five lines, and Avithin a wreath ; reverse, the cornucopiai and poppy-head or cit- ron. A variety of this coin leaves out the word " con- federation."
On the death of Alexander Jannoeus, his queen, Alex- andra, succeeded to his authority. By the help of the Pharisees she reigned nine years — B.C. 78 to G9. We have one coin which — singu- larly enough, since she seems to have continued in the fa- vor of the Pharisees — bears her name in Greek characters, gives her the title of queen, and recurs to the heathen type of the anchor. Obverse, AAEaANA : BASIAI2 ("Alexandra the Queen"); reverse, a star with eight rays; some traces of an inscription in Hebrew, which L)e Saulcy considers may have been a royal title {Num. Jud. pi. iv. No. 13). To her succeeded her son Hyrcanus II. of whom we have no coins. Then for a short period Aristobulus II and Alexander II, the brothers of Hyr- canus, reigned. The latter struck coins of the same type as the Greek ones of his father, bearing the anchor, the star, and the vase, and giving the name in Greek only with the royal title. From the year B.C. 47 to 40 Hyrcanus was restored, but we have no coins extant which can be attributed to him.
The last coins of the Asmonaan dynasty are those of Antigonus, B.C. 40 to 37. This prince was the son of Aristobulus II; and by the aid of the Parthians and the support of Antony he drove Herod out of Jerusa-
Copper Coin of the Queen Alex- andra.
money, therefore, of Herod and his family is all of cop- per. The coins of Herod the Great do not exhibit his head. The most common represents on the obverse what it seems most reasonable to call a helmet with cheek-pieces ; above it, on each side, a palm-branch ; in the centre between them is sometimes a star. Re- verse, a tripod, BA2IAEQ2 HPQAOT; on one side of the tripod the year of the reign, on the other a mono- gram. See Herod the Great. Another gives the legend round the helmet, and the Macedonian shield on the reverse. Another presents the name and titles round a caduceus, with the date and monogram in the
Medium-size Copper Coin of Ilernd the Greiit.
field. Reverse, a leaved pomegranate. Another, a tripod, a palm-branch on each side. Reverse, a cross within a wreath or fillet. The cross is probably the Greek letter X, the ini- tial of ;^oX/for»r, the de- nomination of the coin. Others, again, bear the anchor, the double cornu- copia, the vase, and palm- branch.
Of Herod Archelaus, B.C. 4 to A.D. G, there are coins
Smallest Coin of Herod the Great.
Copper Half-shekels of Antigonus (or Mattathias).
lem, and was proclaimed king of Judcea. His coins are copper shekels and half-shekels. The first present a Hebrew inscription on the reverse, and a Greek on the obverse — BASIAEQSANTI TON or, written roiuid a wreath: reverse, two cornucopiae, "Mattathias the High-
Coin of Herod Archelaus.
bearing his name in Greek, and evidently to be assigned to him, as they express the title of ethnarch. They are various in type, displaying the anchor, the helmet, the galley with five oars, the prow of a ship, the caduceus, and the bunch of grapes, from which hangs a leaf. They are all of small size.
Herod Antipas succeeded in A.D. 4, and his reign terminated in A.D. 39. He is distinguished by the title tetrarch. His coins exhibit — obverse, a palm-branch, with his name and title ; reverse, a wreath encircling the name of the city which he built on the Lake of Gennesareth, and called after the reign- ing emperor " Tiberias." Others gite on the reverse the name of Germanicus Caisar in a wreath.
NUMISMATICS
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NUMISMATICS
Copper Coin of Herod Antipas.
Herod Philip II was the son of Herod the Great and Cleopatra. He reigned over Auranitis, Batana^a, and Trachonitis, with some parts about Jamnia, from B.C. 4 to A.D. 34. We have a few coins of this prince ; more of Philip I. They exhibit the head of Tiberius on the obverse, and on the reverse a tetrastyle temple with the name and title of Philip as tetrarch. Tlie temple represented is that which Herod the Great had built near Panium, and dedicated to Ctesar. See Philip.
Herod Agrippa I, called in the Acts Herod the king, and on his coins Agrippa the Great, reigned from A.D. 37 to A.D. 44. Of his coinage we have many tj'pes. One of these only is Jewish. It bears — ob- verse, BASIAEQS ArPIHA; the name is spelled with one n, and the legend surrounds an umbrella fringed at the edge : reverse, three ears of corn springing from one stalk ; in the field the date A. 2., year 6. There are sev- eral coins of Agrippa I not bearing Jewish types, some of which call him " the Great," and others designate him as Philo-C:esar or Philo-Claudius. Some coins