A Note on a Samarian Coin Type. A Royal Horseman?

Year 2022, Volume: 24 , 143 - 149, 15.11.2022

Jarosław Bodzek

https://doi.org/10.37095/gephyra.1174953

Abstract

Some new, unlisted types of Samarian coins have appeared recently on the antiquities market. In the present paper I would like to discuss some points concerning one of them, which is especially interesting because of its iconography. The coin appeared on the market in Autumn 2021. Its reverse shows an image of a cavalryman with a spear or a javelin. Unlike the other images of the Iranian cavalrymen depicted on Samarian coins, the exemplar probably shows "the Great King like figure" having long beard and wearing a kidaris. So far, such an image is not only unique in Samarian coinage, but finds only one analogy in the coinages of the Achaemenid period in general. The image of "the Great King like figure" on horseback is, on the one hand, an interesting extension of the iconographic repertoire of Samarian coins, and on the other hand, it complements my earlier findings concerning the images of the Iranian horseman on Samarian, but also broadly speaking, on satrapal coins.

Keywords

Samaria, coinage, Iranian horseman, Royal Horseman, Achaemenid period

Thanks

I would like to express my deepest thanks to Johannes Nollé for his valuable comments on my text. All errors and omissions remain my own.

Samarian Sikke Tipi Üzerine Bir Not. Bir Kraliyet Atlısı mı?

Abstract

Son zamanlarda eski eser piyasasında bazı yeni, listelenmemiş Samiriye sikke tipleri ortaya çıkmıştır. Bu makalede, ikonografisi nedeniyle özellikle ilginç olan bir tanesiyle ilgili bazı noktaları tartışmak istiyorum. Sikke 2021 Sonbaharında piyasaya çıktı. Arka yüzünde mızraklı ya da ciritli bir süvari resmi yer alıyor. Samiriye sikkelerinde tasvir edilen diğer İranlı süvari imgelerinden farklı olarak, bu örnek muhtemelen uzun sakallı ve kidaris giyen "Büyük Kral benzeri bir figürü" göstermektedir. Şimdiye kadar, böyle bir görüntü sadece Samiriye sikkelerinde benzersiz olmakla kalmayıp, genel olarak Akamenid dönemi sikkelerinde sadece bir benzerini bulmuştur. At sırtındaki "Büyük Kral benzeri figür" imgesi, bir yandan Samiriye sikkelerinin ikonografik repertuarının ilginç bir uzantısıdır, diğer yandan da Samiriye sikkelerindeki ve genel olarak satraplık sikkelerindeki İranlı atlı imgelerine ilişkin daha önceki bulgularımı tamamlamaktadır.

Keywords

Samiriye, sikke, İran atlısı, Kraliyet atlısı, Akamenid Dönemi

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