Dear
Peter,
it has been a long time now I have not been present in this
thread, although, you know, being one of my favorites. During the last months I
had to use all my numismatic free-time fixated on man-faced bulls with my friend
Nick Molinari, to reach the finish line of our
work, which finally we almost see.
Well, first of all congratulations for all your new amazing acquisitions, your
collection is growing more and more beautiful and interesting.
In the future time I will check my notes and my volumes to see if I find something interesting on the
types you acquired, or to give you some more references to add in descriptions.
Today I want to use my time to comment on the
hemiobol you posted here:
the latest addition to my Taras gallery is this strange little hemiobol...
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-124593
the meaning of the symbols escape me, nor can i find anything written about this type. why the cup? what does the 'P' in the wreath stand for? (other symbols are known) is it even Tarentine?
whatever the answers to these questions may be, i have had this rare type targeted for some time and was finally able to find one at an almost reasonable price.
and that makes me happy!
~ Peter
To my knowledge there is no specific terminology for this vascular form, beyond the generic term "one-handled
jug", used by archaeologists to define these kind of
pottery attested in southern
Italy among the tableware ceramics found in tombs dating back since the early Iron Age.
About the centuries related to the
hemiobol, we know some samples found in samnite tombs, dated 5th c. BC: also many samples have been found during excavations at the Kerameikòs of
Metapontion, dating 4th BC; and a specimen was found in a tomb at Tarentum dated by archaeologists to the second quarter of 4th BC.
About the coin, the
denomination hemiobol is correct, it corresponds to 1/24
stater (a.w. 0.27g), on the
weight standard defined as
Nomos Italiotikòs. These fractionals were issued starting shortly after the foundation of the tarentine colony of
Heraclea, so the correct dating should be c. 430-380 BC.
Many variants are known for both obv and rev, with different
symbols and letters in
field and/or within
wreath (one variant has no letters or
symbols within
wreath), so the meaning of the letters within
wreath is to be identified not as symbolic devices, but rather as signs of recognition relating either to magistrates or workshops.
The only constant devices are the main
types: the
jug on
obverse, and the
wreath on
reverse. Let's try now to make some iconological assumptions on them.
The symbology of the
wreath is simple to solve, as it is clearly a symbol of cyclicality related to passage and rebirth, of near eastern origin, as seen on archaic levantine gems found in the tyrrhenian
area. (its symbology related to
victory is later).
But what is the meaning of the
jug?
The solution is seen on the coinage of
Heraclea Lucaniae and
Kroton. See the pics I attached to this post, they are all coins issued from 5th to 3rd BC. In all of these
types the
jug in question is always connected to
Herakles, we can state it is an attribute of the hero, we see it in
field during
his battle with the
nemean lion, and holded in
his hand during
his rest after the
victory, and even during a ritual libation he performs. A further evidence that this kind of
jug was an attribute of
Herakles for the
Greeks living in south
Italy comes from a
rare bronze
type issued at Heraklea, where we see it depicted on
obverse, paired with bow and quiver, which we all know to be, along with the club, typical attributes of the hero! We even know that at Tarentum
Herakles had a strong cult, with worship places in which were performed rites of passage from
youth to adulthood. These jugs were probably used during those rites of passage, as we see on the
type from Heraklea. These jugs were also buried in tombs, probably as symbol of death as passage to another dimension.
So dear
Peter, now we can possibly assume that the symbology of the
types of your coin is to be related to the
hope of the Tarentine citizens, asking to
Herakles a
good passage for their polis, just at a time when, by the founding of the newborn colony Heraklea, its political power in the
area was growing stronger.
Any comment is welcome.
Here is a list of references for almost all the known samples and variants of this
hemiobol (if anybody knows any more, or if anyone should find errors in my list, please
help me to update it):
HN Italy 867;
Vlasto 1739-1753;
Pozzi 429;
Weber 577-578;
BMC 464-472;
Winterthur 313-314;
McClean 780-781;
Torino 825; Napoli
Fiorelli 2144-2148; Napoli Santangelo 3321-3325;
SNG Evelpidis 178;
SNG Brasil 362;
SNG Hungary 199-200;
SNG Fitzwilliam 373-374;
SNG Lockett 309;
SNG Ashmolean 593-595;
SNG Manchester 151;
SNG Dreer 227;
SNG Munchen 794-795;
SNG Tubingen 418;
SNG Cop 1019-1022;
SNG France 2224-2228
High-res pics of the
SNG France specimens are available at these links:
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b85981404.r=tarente%20g%C3%A9n%C3%A9ral%20995http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8598139g.r=tarente%20g%C3%A9n%C3%A9ral%20994http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8475209z.r=tarente%20luynes%20376http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b84752074.r=tarente%20luynes%20374http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8475208j.r=tarente%20luynes%20375The informations I provided in this post are summarized from my notes for a future
work on the coinage of
Magna Graecia, using for reference and bibliography various sylloges, catalogues, and the works of the following authors: F. D'andria, A.
Siciliano, S. Garraffo, G. Sarcinelli, M.
Taliercio Mensitieri.
As far as I know no scholar has ever questioned the
attribution of these
types to Tarentum.
Best
Nico