Rovescio inusuale e spettacolare

[Illyricum65]

Buongiorno,

vi presento questi due esemplari monetali provinciali dall'iconografia a rovescio particolare e che non rientra nella tradizione greco-ellenistica.

PHRYGIA. Apameia. Philip I, 244-249. Pentassarion (Bronze, 36 mm, 22.45 g, 7 h), Aur. Alexander, archon for the second time. •AYT•K•IOYΛ•ΦIΛIΠΠOC•AVΓ• Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Philip I to right, seen from behind. Rev. ЄΠ M AYP AΛЄΞANΔP//OY B•APXI•AΠ/AMЄΩN• The story of Noah: on the right, half-length figures of Noah and his wife, in tunic and stola, standing left in square chest representing the Ark, inscribed NΩЄ and floating on waves; above to right, a seated bird; on the left, Noah and his wife standing left upon dry land, raising hands in supplication; above, a bird returning from land with olive branch in its talons. BMC 182. SNG von Aulock 8348 ( this coin ). Extremely rare and undoubtedly the finest known. A magnificent example of this tremendously important issue, beautifully struck on a broad flan and preserving incredible reverse details. Insignificant flan fault on the obverse and with some very minor flatness on the reverse, otherwise, nearly extremely fine.

From a German collection, privately purchased in the 1980s, ex Auctiones 8, 27-28 June 1978, 445 (expertly cleaned since) and from the Hans von Aulock Collection.

Text & Provenance Leu Numismatik 7 of 24 October 2020, lot: 1457.

Estimate: 35.000 CHF; Starting price: 28.000 CHF; Price realized: 240.000 CHF.

P.S.: Apameia was founded by the Seleukid King Antiochos I (281-261 BC) in honor of his mother Apame, the daughter of the Baktrian rebel Spitamenes and wife of Seleukos I. The city was home to a Jewish community, the ancestors of which were probably settled in the area by the Seleukid general Zeuxis, who deported 2,000 Jewish families from Babylon to Asia Minor at the behest of Antiochos III 'the Great' (223-187 BC) (Jos. Ant. XII, 3.4). It was long believed that the astonishing emergence of the story of Noah on 3rd century AD coins of the Phrygian Apameia grew out of a supposed Jewish character of the city, but the literary sources are extremely sparse, and the fact that no Jewish names and only a single Jewish inscription are known from the local necropolis urges caution. On the other hand, sources attesting a large early Christian community in Apameia are abundant: not only are Christian epitaphs numerous, but the bishop Julian of Apameia attested by Eusebios (Euseb. HE 5.16.17) proves that Christianity had gained a strong foothold in the city as early as the late 2nd century. The sudden appearance of Noah's Ark on the civic coinage of Apameia at a time when all sources point towards a growing influence of the Christian community in the area must thus, despite cultural overlapping, reflect the increasing importance of Christian traditions to a greater degree than those of a century-old local Jewish community.

Apameia differentiated itself from other cities of the same name by its epithet ή Kίβωtός, literally 'the chest', a reference to its importance as a trading post. The fact that Noah's Ark was also known in Greek as Kίβωtός hence apparently led to a pseudo-etymological local myth, which proclaimed that the mountain behind the city was the true Mount Ararat, on which Noah's Ark landed after the flood. Our coin thus shows, on the right, Noah and his wife in the Ark - in the form of the locally enrooted ή Kίβωtός - and once more on the left, after the landing of the Ark on the Mount Ararat, with the land-seeking bird above holding an olive branch in its talons. It is the only Graeco-Roman coin type to show a scene from the bible and an incredibly important testimony to the history of the early Judeo-Christian communities in Asia Minor.

 

Septimius Severus Æ 8 Assaria of Apameia, Phrygia. AD 193-211. AVT K Λ CЄΠT CЄOVHPOC ΠЄP, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind / ЄΠI AΓΩNOΘE TO V APTEMAΓ APAMEΩN, representation of the story of Noah: to right, upper parts to waist, tunicate and stolate respectively, of Noah and his wife, latter also veiled, seen standing left in enclosing square chest (Lat., arca; Gr. kibotos) floating on waves, inscribed with NΩE and with raised lid, on which perches a dove(?) facing left; to left, standing figures as above but full-length, of Noah and spouse raising right hands in salutation and gazing upwards at dove flying right above them, grasping olive-branch in claws. Head, Historian Numorum, p. 667, 313; Lanz sale 150, 2010, 330 (same obverse die). 16.97g, 35mm, 12h.

Very Fine; light bend in flan at 8 o'clock obv. Extremely Rare.

From the collection of V.B., United Kingdom.

Text & Provenance: Roma Numismatics Limited Auction XV of 05.04.2018, lot: 584.

Estimate: 7.500 GGP; Price realized: 34.000 GBP.

P.S.: This reverse depiction of the Noah and the Ark saga is the only event recorded in the Old Testament to be commemorated on an ancient coin and is unique to Apameia, Phrygia. Founded by Antiochus I in 270 BC, the city was well located at the source of the Maeander and the central point from which many trade routes were accessed. Goods arriving from the caravan routes in the east were purchased in bulk by the city's merchants and repackaged into kibotoi (chests) to be forwarded to other ports. The distinctive wooden shipping crates became the symbol of the city's economic activity and eventually the city was known by the nickname 'ή Kίβωtός' (the chest).

A local myth claimed, perhaps by the large Jewish community living within the city, that the mountain situated behind the city was Ararat, the place where Noah's ark (ή Kίβωtός) rested after the deluge. The depiction of Noah and his wife standing within an Apamean kibotos floating above water and inscribed 'NΩE' (Noah) is a visual representation of the connection between the Old Testament parable and the city itself. This reverse type provides visual evidence for the double meaning of the city nickname 'ή Kίβωtός' as both chest and ark.

The acceptance of this Jewish tradition by the city of Apameia and its portrayal on the coins can be seen within the context of the city's relatively recent foundation. Paul R. Trebilco has argued that the association between Apameia's nickname and the Noah's ark saga gave the city a foundation story with ancient significance, something it had previously lacked (Jewish Communities in Asia Minor, 2006), endowing it with famous ancestors and evoking commercial importance.

 

Saluti

Illyricum

 

[petronius arbiter]

Anche per Gordiano III (bronzo (Æ 39 mm., 27.51 gr.)

moneta di cui si è parlato in questa vecchia discussione sul diluvio universale.

petronius