Aradus (’Arwad) was a Phoenician seaport situated on the island today called Ru’ad, off Syria’s northern coast. The city was the center of a small state which included villages in the region both on the coast and on several offshore islands. Classical sources say little about the role of Aradus in the commercial, political, and military life of Persian period Phoenicia. Strabo writes that the city was founded by Sidonians in the eighth century bce. Aradus was under Persian hegemony in the fifth and fourth centuries bce, when coinage first was used in the region. The histories of the Greeks tell us only of the circumstances surrounding the surrender of the city to the armies of Alexander the Great in 332 bce.
No systematic archaeological excavations have yet occurred, which would help historians better understand the history of Aradus. Comparisons with the coin types from Sidon, Tyre, and Byblos enable us to make some suggestions concerning the coins traditionally associated with this mint.
Some early coins from ca. 430–410 bce depict a marine deity, human to the waist, bearded with plaited hair, lower body that of a fish (figure 25.3). The reverse type depicts the usual Phoenician galley with rudder astern and a row of shields along the bulwark. The types are interesting. Scholars have been baffled by the identity of the marine deity, and have referred to him in various ways, as a “type de Dagon ichthyomorphe” (Babelon 1910: 511ff.), a “marine deity” (Hill 1910: xx), or a “Phoenician Neptune” (Maury 1848: 551). Alfred Maury (1848: 548–56) also speculated that the deity was a form of Dagon, the Phoenician grain god who was associated with the Philistine cities farther south on the coast. Perhaps the best way to describe this god is to call him simply Milqart—“king of the city.” He is probably a marine form of Ba‘l—as the traditional storm-god and lord over the fertility processes of the land and sea. To call him Dagon is to connect him to the underworld, and there is no notion here of connection to the dead (Albright 1969: 243). Others believe that this deity could be Yamm, the god of the sea, as argued by the French scholar René Dussaud (1947: 201–25). We simply do not know how Yamm was worshiped by the Phoenicians to make any clear, decisive arguments one way or the other. The Aradian series continues with these types, adding some inscriptions, including mem-’aleph for Mamlakt-Arwad, “kingdom of Aradus.” A Hellenized depiction of a deity’s head replaces the half-man, half-fish figure. This depiction of the deity had been called the “Baal Arvad” by some and Melqart by others (Betlyon 1982: 78–83).
Figure 25.3 A stater of Arados (Arwad), depicting a marine deity on the obverse, the galley and winged sea horse on the reverse.
Source: Public domain.
As had the other Phoenician cities, Aradus abandoned the Persic standard in the revolt of ca. 361 bce, turning to the Attic standard. Some later coins depict the prow of a galley on the reverse with shields along the bulwark. The last pre-Alexandrine coins struck in Aradus were once again struck on the Persic standard. The city fell to Persian arms quickly in the Tennes Rebellion. Artaxerxes III slowly regained control of the entire region. Aradus functioned as the port city for the Persian court. The abbreviations on the last of the pre-Alexandrine Aradian coins include a gimel, probably to be associated with Gir‘aštart’s reign—the Gerostratus of the Classical sources. Coins bearing his inscription are dated to years 1–7, which probably coincide with ca. 339–332 bce.
Byblos
Byblos was a small city during the Persian period, and was located in central Phoenicia between Tripolis and Berytus on the Mediterranean coast. The city claimed great antiquity, having traditionally been founded by Kronos, according to the cosmogonies of Sanchounyaton (as reported by Philon of Byblos). Historically, Byblos is mentioned in documents dating back to the sixth dynasty of Egypt (ca. 2345–2181 bce).
Using the Phoenician standard, a mint struck coins at Byblos late in the fifth century bce. Although the city did not rival Sidon, Tyre, or Aradus in importance as a commercial center in this period, a number of coin types are known. From the existing denominations, we may surmise that the Byblian mint was a secondary one, its coinage probably intended for local use. The coins may have supplemented the issues of the larger, regional trading centers such as Sidon and Tyre (in general see Elayi and Elayi 2014).
An early coin from the Byblian mint depicted a sphinx wearing the double crown of Egypt on the obverse, and the lightning bolt of Ba‘l Hadad on the reverse (Betlyon 1982: pl. 8; figure 25.4). This is a silver didrachm struck on the Attic standard. Several smaller denominations on this type are known in the one-fourth shekel, one-sixteenth shekel, and one-thirty-second shekel. Some of these coins were found by Maurice Dunand in his excavations at the archaeological site of Byblos. They bear a striking resemblance to Greek or East Greek types; use of the Attic standard was short lived, however, and the mint converted to the Phoenician standard complying with the mints at Sidon and Tyre.
Figure 25.4 Early coin of Byblos, depicting the sphinx on the obverse and a lightning bolt of Ba‘l on the reverse, ca. 425–410 bce.
Source: Public domain.
The sphinx is typical of the Egyptian heritage which pervaded parts of Phoenicia, as commercial ties between Byblos and the Nile Delta were strong. The sphinx probably represented the cherubim that supported the throne of the god, like those seen on the famed sarcophagus of ’Ahiram. The sphinxes may have supported the throne of Ba‘l Šamem, known from the Yahimilk inscription; the “lord of the heavens” was the chief deity of Byblos. The lightning bolt compares favorably with those known from reliefs and seals from throughout the Near East, and similar images appear on coins from Elis (Greece) of the fifth century bce (Cf. Seltman 1921). Lightning bolts were the common equipment of the storm-god, and numerous representations of Ba‘l Hadad—or his local manifestation—are known in similar poses (Betlyon 1982: 113, nn. 20–21).
A lion appears on the reverse of the smallest coins of this series. Lions were associated with the cult of ‘Ašerah, who by this time was known in Byblos as the Ba‘lat-Gubl/Gubal—the “lady of Byblos.” Some representations of ‘Ašerah (as Qudšu in Egypt) show her mounted upon the backs of lions.
A second series of coins was struck late in the fifth century, depicting a galley with three warriors carrying shields on the obverse, a vulture with outstretched wings over the body of a ram in the reverse (see Betlyon 1982: pl. 8). These silver coins were struck in a series of denominations. The Byblian galley is depicted with a battering ram, a prow with the head of a horse, shields along the bulwark, and three soldiers with crested helmets riding in the ship. The style of their armor is Hellenic, suggesting an influence from Greek or East Greek technology.
The scene with the vulture on the reverse has been interpreted differently by various numismatists. Babelon (1893: clxvi) saw it as an allusion to Euagoras I of Salamis, who ruled over the entire Levant for a time. Other scholars (Harden 1971: 109a) saw the bird as representative of some religious motif, perhaps the syncreticism of the goddesses ‘Ašerah (with her lions) and the violent goddess ‘Anat. The Ba‘lat-Gubl—the holy lady of Byblos—may have been a syncretistic goddess combining aspects of both deities. The Egyptian vulture goddess, nhbţ, was sometimes represented in this manner. She was—as the vulture—a symbol for Egyptian royal power. In the crown of Tutankamun, for example, the cobra and vulture symbolically represent the pharaoh’s rule over both Lower and Upper Egypt. The scene depicting the animal combat is not new, but the use of the vulture is unique.
The ram upon which the vulture stands is engraved in incuse—a technique probably adopted from Magna Graecia. The period from ca. 430–380 bce witnessed considerable use of this method in Phoenician mints, especially in Sidon and Tyre.
The Byblian sequence of denominations was unbroken from the quarter shekel to the thirty-second shekel. But in the fourth century, probably by 375 bce, a new series of coins was struck, depicting the galley on the obverse (figure 25.5). The reverse shows a lion standing over the body of a bull, after combat. Encircling this scene is a lengthy inscription in script
typical of the coin series of the early fourth century. The inscription is clear, and reads ’Elpa‘ol milk Gubl—“’Elpa‘ol, King of Byblos.” This pattern of royal attribution appears to have been borrowed from the coins of the Cilician satraps. Paleographically, the coin script falls into the period 375–365 bce, in keeping with the numismatic evidence. Coins from Byblos are known from other rulers, including ‘Uzziba‘l (ca. 365–350 bce), ‘Addirmilk, and ‘Iyyen’el (ca. 348–332 bce). These coins show no real variations in type, other than the inscriptions for different kings. The coins were struck in Byblos by a series of local rulers in support of the commercial activity of the important Byblian port. Although the city never reached the prominence of Sidon or Tyre in the Persian period, it remained important, carrying on ancient traditions and important connections to Egypt until the coming of Alexander the Great, who authorized new series of coins on his own types.
Figure 25.5 A coin of ‘Uzziba‘l, “king of Byblos,” typical of late fifth- and fourth-century bce Byblian types.
Source: Public domain.
Carthage
The coins of the Carthaginians were influenced by Greek coins, and probably also by their Phoenician cousins to the east. Denominations in gold appear to be quite rare. Silver, bronze, and electrum, however, are more common. Numismatists are in general agreement that coins struck in times of political or military stress were usually debased with copper allowing a greater output from the mint. The Carthaginian mint produced coins to support the central Mediterranean economy.
From Carthage, coins appear in a standard silver shekel denomination beginning in the late fifth century bce. Typical types included images of the head of a goddess, presumably Tanit—the Carthaginian version of Asherah/’Elat, a lion, a horse or horse’s head, or a palm tree, often heavily laden with dates (e.g., figure 25.6). These coins were struck in a series of denominations until the fall of Carthage in the mid-second century bce. Coins of these types appeared in Mauretania, Sardinia, and in Punic levels in Sicily.
Figure 25.6 Carthaginian stater of the late fifth and early fourth centuries bce.
Source: Public domain.
Coins associated with the dynasty of Hamilcar Barca in Spain were also produced in silver and bronze in the third century bce. Images of an African elephant or a horse and palm tree are common, as are depictions of male heads in the Greek style. These coins were probably struck in New Carthage (Cartagena). The use of a club or a lion skin suggests the standard depiction of Herakles—who in the Punic world assimilated with Milqart/Melqart, the local manifestation of the storm-god, and consort of Tanit (Robinson 1978). Some scholars have argued that the various male profiles represent Hamilcar, Hasdrubal, and Hannibal, although there is little agreement on their identification.
The debris left behind in Carthage from the conflagration of the city in 146 bce included many coins (Betlyon 2008: 331). While few silver and gold issues were found, abundant bronze coins that supplemented the more valuable denominations were unearthed. Some have suggested these coins were intended to pay for the rebuilding of the Carthaginian artificial ports or for the wars of 150 and 149 bce. The types attest to connections to the Phoenician heartland far to the east.
Conclusions
Coins struck in the Levant before Alexander the Great were long ignored by Classicists and Near Eastern archaeologists. The coins were simply considered numismatic mysteries through the years. Archaeological discoveries in the last half century have enabled us to undertake new studies of these coins and their mints, and to speak with more precision concerning their provenance, types, and use.
Four mints struck coins in pre-Alexandrine Phoenicia: Sidon, Tyre, Aradus, and Byblos. These mints—all under Persian management—were dependent upon each other and other Levantine, Syrian, and Palestinian cities for their economic well-being, trade, and communications. Complex series of coins were issued in the fifth and fourth centuries bce, which have historical, as well as artistic and religious, importance for the study of the ancient Near East.
Sidon was the most important Phoenician city in this period of Persian domination. Sidonian rulers struck coins from the time of the last kings of the dynasty of ’Ešmun’azor until the coming of Alexander the Great. These coins set the standard and example for the other cities granted the privilege of striking coins by the Achaemenid government. By ca. 435 bce, the Sidonian coin types were standardized with a galley over waves on the obverse, and a chariot drawn by horses with a driver and the king of Persia riding as a passenger on the reverse. Numerous parallels for this scene are known from the glyptic art of Achaemenid Persia.
Beginning with King Ba‘lšallim I in ca. 420 bce, royal names were abbreviated on the coin flans using the appropriate conventions of the Phoenician language. Complete series from double shekels through the minute thirty-second and sixty-fourth shekels are extant in some cases. The reverse types were altered to include the supplicant king of Sidon following the Persian king’s chariot.
As Persian power waned under intense Greek pressure, the Phoenician cities joined together in a loosely confederated league bent on gaining independence from Persepolis. In Sidon, traditional royal types were altered to depict the head of the rebellious local monarch. These coins, dated to ca. 365–361, come from the years when the revolt was in full swing. The Sidonians even changed the weight standard for their coinage from the Phoenician to the Attic standard.
Persian retribution was swift and harsh. The mint was seized by Persia, and from ca. 361–358, Mazday, the Persian satrap of Cilicia, and “Abernahara” controlled it. In the late 350s, rebellion erupted again, when Sidon joined with Egypt, Cyprus, and most of Phoenicia and Palestine in revolt. A massive military campaign defeated the rebels and destroyed many cities and towns in the region.
Tyre was relegated to second position behind Sidon in this era. Tyre’s coins emphasized motifs such as the dolphin and the murex shell—symbolic of the city’s famed purple-dye industry. The owl, with crook and flail, became the standard reverse motif on most denominations. It was probably modeled on the Athenian use of the owl as its iconographic symbol.
The Tyrian mint’s shift from the Phoenician to the Attic standard has attracted some attention from numismatists and historians. Some have claimed that the alteration must have coincided with the forced introduction of Alexander’s own standard after his conquest of 332 bce. Others have argued that this shift occurred before the Macedonian conquest. The preponderance of evidence concerning Alexander’s monetary policies in conquered lands and the available epigraphic and archaeological data points to a pre-Alexandrine date for this shift. These coins were struck by the Tyrians before Alexander’s conquest—Phoenician eyes were turning away from Persia and toward the west.
The seaport of Aradus in Phoenicia’s north is not a well-known site. Ancient sources are mute concerning its commercial, political and military role in the Persian period. A series of coins appeared after 410 bce with the two Phoenician letters, mem-’aleph, which probably abbreviated mamlakt ‘Arvad, “the kingdom of Aradus.” Aradus, just as had Sidon, Tyre, and Byblos, sought to identify its coins with an ethnic—a means to identify the minting authority.
Byblos was a small city in the Persian period. Its coinage was more limited in scope and may have served to supplement the larger regional currencies of Sidon and Tyre. Coins depicting a galley carrying warriors above a seahorse on the obverse, also depict a lion standing over the carcass of a bull or a stag on the reverse. Lengthy inscriptions in Phoenician giving the name of the king, and his title, milk Gubl (“king of Byblos”), appear on these coins.
Mints were also opened in Carthage and in Carthaginian holdings in the western Mediterranean, presumably in New Carthage (Qart hadasht). Not enough is known of these mints and the coins they struck.
The coins of all the Phoenician and Punic cities were used extensively in the commercial transactions of the period. Persian economic growth was controlled by the trade and commerce of the Phoenician
city-states and the cities on the trade routes leading inland from the Mediterranean which the Phoenician and Punic ports served. The coinage provides a historical and religious backdrop for developments which transpired in the waning years of Persian hegemony immediately preceding the conquests of Alexander the Great. These coins also represent some of the earliest introduction of coins into the central and western Mediterranean, where early Roman coinage would become the standard currency.
References
Albright, W. F. 1969. Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
Babelon, E. 1893. Catalogue des monnaies grecques: Les Perses achéménides, les satrapes et les dynastes de leur empire: Chypre et Phénicie. Paris: Follin et Feuerdent.
Babelon, E. 1910. Traité des monnaies grecques et romaines. Volume 2, part 2. Paris: E. Leroux.
Betlyon, J. W. 1982. The Coinage and Mints of Phoenicia: The Pre-Alexandrine Period. Chico, CA: Scholars.
Betlyon, J. W. 1996. “Money.” In HarperCollins Bible Dictionary, edited by P. J. Achtemeier, 695–700. San Francisco: HarperCollins.
Betlyon, J. W. 2008. “The Coins from the 1975–1978 Seasons in the Punic Port and Tophet of Carthage, Tunisia.” Revue numismatique 6, no. 164: 321–53.
Chehab, M. 1954. Les Terres cuites de Kharayeb. Bullein du Musée de Beyrouth 10–11. Paris: Librairie d’Amérique et d’Orient.
Dunand, M. 1965. “Nouvelles inscriptions phéniciennes du temple d’Echmoun à Bostan ech-Cheikh, près Sidon.” Bulletin du Musée de Beyrouth 18: 105–109.
Dunand, M. 1973. “Le temple d’Echmoun à Sidon. Essai de chronologie.” Bulletin du Musée de Beyrouth 26: 7–25.
Dussaud, R. 1947. “Astarté, Pontos et Ba’al.” Comptes rendues des séances de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 91.1: 201–24.
The Oxford Handbook of the Phoenician and Punic Mediterranean Page 57