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Home ▸ Catalog ▸ |Judean & Biblical Coins| ▸ |Hasmonean Dynasty| ▸ |Alexander Jannaeus||View Options:   | | | Aristobulus' was succeeded by his eldest brother, Alexander Jannæus, who was freed from prison, together with his two brothers, by Aristobulus' widow, Queen Salome Alexandra - "And now the king's wife loosed the king's brethren, and made Alexander king, who appeared both elder in age, and more moderate in his temper than the rest." (Josephus, Wars, I, IV:1). To expend his territory, Jannaeus, immediately attacked Ake-Ptolemais, which called Ptolemy of Cyprus to its aid. When it looked as though Jannaeus would be crushed, Cleopatra III of Egypt intervened, driving out her son-and-rival Ptolemy and reluctantly leaving Jannaeus with both Judaea and Ptolemais. Other conquests brought Jannaeus into conflict with Obadas I of Nabataea who soundly defeated him in 90 B.C. Jannaeus became the first High Priest to also hold the title of king, which met with disapproval of many religious Jews. Severely unpopular, he was pelted with citrons (etrog) on the Festival of Tabernacles (Sukkot) and according to Josephus, "being enraged at this, he killed some 6,000." A full scale revolt erupted and rebels called for the aid of the Seleucid King Demetrius II of Damascus in 88 B.C. Demetrius met Jannaeus with an army of 3,000 horse and 14,000 - 40,000 foot soldiers, forcing him into the mountains. At Demetrus' withdrawal, however, Jannaeus gathered reinforcements and re-established his authority, crucifying 800 rebels who were forced to watch the slaughter of their wives and children from their crosses (Josepus, Ant. XIII:380). After the Nabataean king Aretas gained control of Damascus, he used his new power base to inflict a final attack on Jannaeus, forcing the concession of a number of Hellenized towns before Jannaeus' death in 76 B.C. |
The Hasmonean dynasty was a ruling dynasty of Judea and surrounding regions during classical antiquity, from c. 140 BC to 37 BC. Between c. 140 and c. 116 BC the dynasty ruled Judea semi-autonomously in the Seleucid Empire, and from roughly 110 BC, with the empire disintegrating, Judea gained further autonomy and expanded into the neighboring regions of Perea, Samaria, Idumea, Galilee, and Iturea. Some modern scholars regard the Hasmonean realm as an independent Israel. The Hasmonean rulers took the Greek title basileus ("king" or "emperor"). Forces of the Roman Republic conquered the Hasmonean kingdom in 63 BC and made it into a client state.LT112453. Bronze Lot, 8 ancient Judaean prutot, attractive coins, unattributed, no tags or flips, the actual coins in the photographs, as-is, no returns, 8 prutot;
Lead tesserae (tokens) were likely issued by the monarch to the poor to be redeemed for food or other commodities. Meshorer reports the lead tesserae of Alexander Jannaeus are found almost exclusively in Transjordan. This is the plate coin in Meshorer's Jewish Coins of the Second Temple Period (Tel-Aviv, 1967), at which time the coin was in the Grosswirth Collection.JD111754. Lead tessera, Meshorer 2nd Temple pl. II, 7 (this coin), Hendin 6192 (S), Meshorer TJC M, Meshorer AJC D, HGC 10 645, gF, green-gray surfaces, earthen deposits, cleaning scratches, weight 4.019 g, maximum diameter 18.5 mm, Transjordan mint, 95 - 76 B.C.; obverse Greek legend: BAΣIΛEΩΣ AΛEΞANΔPOY (of King Alexander), anchor (upside-down as if hanging on the side of a boat), inside circle; reverse traces of Aramaic inscription, King Alexander, in three lines, within a border of dots; ex CNG e-auction 510 (23 Feb 2022), lot 283; ex Dr. Jay M. Galst Collection; Herb Kreindler (May 1985); ex E. Grosswirth Collection ; very scarce;
Unpopular, Jannaeus was pelted with citrons on Sukkot. Enraged, he killed some 6,000 citizens. A revolt erupted and rebels called on the Seleucid King Demetrius III for aid. Demetrius forced him into the mountains but then withdrew. Back in power, Jannaeus crucified 800 rebels forcing them to watch the slaughter of their wives and children from their crosses.JD111421. Bronze prutah, Hendin 6180, Meshorer TJC Q, Meshorer AJC F, Sofaer 314 ff., HGC 10 639, VF, green patina, earthen deposits, double struck, obv. off center, rev. edge beveled, weight 2.059 g, maximum diameter 14.2 mm, die axis 180o, Jerusalem mint, 104 - 76 B.C.; obverse block style Paleo-Hebrew inscription: Yehonatan the High Priest and the Council of the Jews, surrounded by wreath; reverse two cornucopias splayed outward, adorned with ribbons, pomegranate or poppy between the horns;
 | This type has been reattributed from Hyrcanus II to Alexander Jannaeus by Hendin and Shachar in "The Identity of YNTN on Hasmonean Overstruck Coins and the Chronology of the Alexander Jannaeus Types," Israel Numismatic Research 3, 2008: 87-94. It appears this type was overstruck on earlier coins of Alexander Jannaeus that had never been released from the mint. Most examples have strong undertype effects obscuring the inscription but this coin does not and the inscription is clear. The Paleo-Hebrew inscription, in classic style, on this coin reads, from right to left, as follows: YNTN (Yonatan) / H (the) KHNH (Priest) / GDL (high) W (and) (HH)B/ R (council) [H] (the, omitted) YHD (Jews). See Reading Judean Coins in NumisWiki. |
Jannaeus' anchor coins were probably struck after the conquest of the coastal cities (with the exception of Ashkelon) in 95 B.C. The anchor probably publicized the annexation of these areas. -- Ancient Jewish Coinage by Yaakov MeshorerJD111362. Bronze prutah, Hendin 6189, Meshorer TJC K, Hendin 6189, Sofaer 221, Hendin 6189, Meshorer TJC K, Meshorer AJC C, HGC 10 637, aVF, attractive dark patina with highlighting red earthen deposits, obv. off center, obv, edge beveled, weight 2.372 g, maximum diameter 16.8 mm, Jerusalem mint, 95 - 76 B.C.; obverse star of eight rays and central pellet surrounded by diadem, Paleo-Hebrew inscription 'Yehonatan the king' between rays; reverse Greek legend: BAΣIΛEΩΣ AΛEΞANΔPOY (of King Alexander), upside-down anchor;
Unpopular, Jannaeus was pelted with citrons on Sukkot. Enraged, he killed some 6,000 citizens. A revolt erupted and rebels called on the Seleucid King Demetrius III for aid. Demetrius forced him into the mountains but then withdrew. Back in power, Jannaeus crucified 800 rebels forcing them to watch the slaughter of their wives and children from their crosses.JD111359. Bronze prutah, Hendin 6180, Meshorer TJC Q, Meshorer AJC F, Sofaer 314 ff., HGC 10 639, F, dark patina, highlighting earthen deposits, rev. edge beveled, remnants of flan casting sprues, weight 1.974 g, maximum diameter 13.6 mm, die axis 0o, Jerusalem mint, 104 - 76 B.C.; obverse block style Paleo-Hebrew inscription: Yehonatan the High Priest and the Council of the Jews, surrounded by wreath; reverse two cornucopias splayed outward, adorned with ribbons, pomegranate or poppy between the horns;
Hendin 6182 is easily identified by its unique cursive style inscription. Meshorer wrote of this cursive style, "The letters appear is if they were written with pen and ink. They are schematic, elongated, oblique, and very small. Some are so minute as to be little more than points. Although small, the shapes of the letters are simple and quite legible. The inscription is mostly complete and contains no errors."JD99437. Bronze prutah, Hendin 6182, Meshorer TJC R, Meshorer AJC G, SNG ANS 116, HGC 10 640, F, highlighting desert patina, porous, remains of casting sprues, reverse edge beveled, weight 1.989 g, maximum diameter 14.6 mm, die axis 180o, Jerusalem mint, 104 - 76 B.C.; obverse Paleo-Hebrew inscription: Paleo-Hebrew inscription: Yehonatan the High Priest and the Council of the Jews, cursive style script, within wreath; reverse two cornucopias splayed outward, adorned with ribbons, pomegranate or poppy between the horns; from the Michael Arslan Collection;
 | Meshorer wrote of the inscriptions on this type, "The style of the script is distinctive. The letters are large and slight oblique, with sharp lines and edges; they tend toward systematization. The shapes are strong and clear...and contain few variants. The legend is mostly incomplete and contains many errors. Certain characters such as  (B),  (R), and  (D) are almost indistinguishable." On this coin the inscription is nearly complete. The Paleo-Hebrew inscription on this coin reads, from right to left, as follows: YHWN/TN (Yehonatan) [K]HN (Priest) / G/DWL (high) W (and) (HH) (council) Y/HWD/M (Jews). See Reading Judean Coins in NumisWiki. |
Unpopular, Jannaeus was pelted with citrons on Sukkot. Enraged, he killed some 6,000 citizens. A revolt erupted and rebels called on the Seleucid King Demetrius III for aid. Demetrius forced him into the mountains but then withdrew. Back in power, Jannaeus crucified 800 rebels forcing them to watch the slaughter of their wives and children from their crosses.JD111161. Bronze prutah, Hendin 6180, Meshorer TJC Q, Meshorer AJC F, Sofaer 314 ff., HGC 10 639, VF, dark patina, highlighting earthen deposits, rev. off center, weight 1.695 g, maximum diameter 13.6 mm, die axis 0o, Jerusalem mint, 104 - 76 B.C.; obverse block style Paleo-Hebrew inscription: Yehonatan the High Priest and the Council of the Jews, surrounded by wreath; reverse two cornucopias splayed outward, adorned with ribbons, pomegranate or poppy between the horns;
Unpopular, Jannaeus was pelted with citrons on Sukkot. Enraged, he killed some 6,000 citizens. A revolt erupted and rebels called on the Seleucid King Demetrius III for aid. Demetrius forced him into the mountains but then withdrew. Back in power, Jannaeus crucified 800 rebels forcing them to watch the slaughter of their wives and children from their crosses.JD111420. Bronze prutah, Hendin 6181, Meshorer TJC P, Meshorer AJC E, Sofaer 274 ff., HGC 10 638, F, light earthen deposits, rev. edge beveled, edge cracks, sprue remnant, weight 1.542 g, maximum diameter 13.2 mm, die axis 0o, Jerusalem mint, 104 - 76 B.C.; obverse classical style Paleo-Hebrew inscription within wreath: Yehonatan the High Priest and the Council of the Jews; reverse two cornucopias splayed outward, adorned with ribbons, pomegranate or poppy between the horns;
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