Coins from Tell es-Safi/Gath (1996–2010)

COINS FROM TELL ES-SAFI/GATH (1996–2010) S DONALD T. ARIEL the 14th–15th and 17th–18th centuries CE. Most of those were contextualized in graves, suggesting that burial in the “modern Muslim cemetery” that Maeir (2012:58) referenced in Area F began in the Mamlūk period. In fact, of the three graves in which coins were found, only one (L95602, below) seems to have been modern. Moreover, the dates of most of the coin finds are barely in accord with the excavators' dating for the graves in which they were found. Four coins found in Grave L75212 have the full range of dates in the late Islamic assemblage, from the 14th–15th to the 17th–18th centuries CE (Nos. 9–10, 15–16). The excavators considered the grave to be Mamlūk in date. Another grave (L75306), with one coin (No. 17) is given a Mamlūk date by the excavators. The coin, however, is from the 17th or 18th century CE, and the excavators noted that the coin seemed to be intrusive. A third grave (L95602), dated by the excavators to the late-Ottoman or early-Mandate periods (late 19th/early 20th century CE), yielded three coins: two billon paras struck in Miṣr by Abdūlḥamid I (1814 CE; No. 14). The dates of the coins from this last grave do conform to the excavators' date. eventeen coins were found, all appear in the catalogue below (Table 9.1). 1 Two coins were uncovered in Area C and 14 in Area F (including a stray find at the adjoining summit, the site of the Crusader period fortress Blanche Garde). A 17th coin is a stray find without exact details of its findspot. That is the earliest coin, a common issue of Antiochus IV of 'Akko-Ptolemais from 173/2–168 BCE (No. 1). Two of the three Roman period coins were found in Area F, where small quantities of Roman and Byzantine ceramics were also found. One of the Area F Roman-period coins is the abovementioned stray find from the site of the Crusader fortress (No. 2). That coin, minted in Antioch, is not rare, but nevertheless interesting, as only 28 others of the general type (laureate head of Zeus r./Zeus seated l. on throne), spanning the 1st century BCE, are found in the Israel National Collection (or otherwise known to me) as provenanced finds.2 Although no date is legible on the coin, it seems to belong to a subtype (characterized by the inscription and the breaks separating the words) dating to 41/40 BCE. No. 2 is one of the most southerly appearances of the type. Most of the Tell es-Safi/Gath coins were uncovered in Area F (Nos. 10–17) and date between REFERENCES Ariel D. T. 1990 Excavations in the City of David 1978–1985 Directed by Yigal Shiloh II: Imported Stamped Amphora Handles, Coins, Worked Bone and Ivory, and Glass. Qedem 30. Jerusalem: Hebrew University. BMC Gal.: Wroth, W. 1899 Catalogue of the Greek Coins of Galatia, Cappadocia, and Syria. London: British Museum. Butcher K. 2004 Coinage in Roman Syria: Northern Syria, 64 BC–AD 253. Royal Numismatic Society Special Publications 34. London: Royal Numismatic Society. Carradice, I. A. 1994 The Coins. Pp. 311–30 in Die Ausgrabungen unter der Erlöserkirche im Muristan, Jerusalem (1970–1974), ed. K.J.H. Vriezen Abhandlungen des deutschen Palästina-Vereins 19. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. CHL: Meshorer, Y. Bijovsky, G. and Fischer-Bossert, W. 2013 Coins of the Holy Land: The Abraham and Marian Sofaer Collection at the American Numismatic Society and the Israel Museum, eds. D. Hendin and A. Meadows. New York: American Numismatic Society. The coins were cleaned by Miriam Lavi of the Hebrew University, and in the laboratories of the IAA, by Ilya Reznitsky. The coins were photographed by Maria Eniukhina of Bar-Ilan University. I am grateful to Ariel Berman who identified the Islamic coins. 2 Fourteen are published: six from Gamla (Syon 2014: 192, Nos. 4902–4907); four from Samaria (Kirkman 1957: 52–53); three from Jerusalem (Ariel 1990: 105, No. C66; Carradice 1994: 313, No. 8; Gitler 2003: 466, No. 360); and one from Masada (Meshorer 1989: 126, No. 3817). 1 543 CHAPTER 9: COINS FROM TELL ES-SAFI/GATH (1996–2010) DOC 2/1: Grierson, P. 1968 Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection 2/1: Phocas and Heraclius (602–641). Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks. Gitler, H. 2003 The Coins. Pp. 453–92 in Jewish Quarter Excavations in the Old City of Jerusalem Conducted by Nahman Avigad, 1969–1982 II: The Finds from Areas A, W and X-2, ed. H. Geva. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society. Kirkman, J. S. 1957 The Evidence of the Coins. Pp. 43–70 in The Objects from Samaria. Samaria-Sebaste 3, eds. J. W. Crowfoot, G. M. Crowfoot and K. M. Kenyon. London: Palestine Exploration Fund. LRBC II: Carson, R. A. G. and Kent, J. P. C. 1960 Part II: Bronze Roman Imperial Coinage of the Later Empire, A.D. 346–498. Pp. 41–114 in Late Roman Bronze Coinage A.D. 324– 498. London: Spink. Mitchiner M. 1988 Jetons, Medalets & Tokens I: The Medieval Period and Nuremberg. London: Seaby. Pere N. 1968 Coins of the Ottoman Empire. Istanbul: Kubbealti Fotokopi (in Turkish). Syon D. 2014 The Coins. Pp. 109–231 in Gamla III. The Shmarya Gutmann Excavations 1976–1989: Finds and Studies 1, ed. D. Syon. IAA Reports 56. Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority. Fig. 9.1: Coins from Tell es-Safi/Gath 544 ARIEL: COINS FROM TELL ES-SAFI/GATH (1996–2010) 545 CHAPTER 9: COINS FROM TELL ES-SAFI/GATH (1996–2010) 546