Mattatayah Antigonus

Bronze prutah, 14mm, 1.53g. Jerusalem mint. O: Retrograde Paleo-Hebrew inscription, Mattatayah, surrounded by wreath and border of dots. R: Double cornucopia adorned with ribbons, barley grain between horns, border of dots. Hendin 1164

In 40 BCE, Mattatayah Antigonus, youngest son of Aristobulus II, bribed the Parthians to assist him in his invasion of Jerusalem. Josephus reports that after their conquest, Mattatayah tore into Hyrcanus II ears with his teeth in order to permanently disqualify him from being High Priest. Later this same year, the Roman Senate and Octavian appointed Herod King of Judaea.

After years of fighting, Herod, with the help of Roman troops under Gaius Sosius, took Jerusalem and captured Antigonus in 37 BCE. His later execution at Antioch ended five generations of Hasmonean rule, now replaced by what would become the Herodian Dynasty.