A Comprehensive Re-evaluation of Ancient Levantine Coinage
This two-volume monograph, A Corpus of Samarian Coinage, is the definitive culmination of a major research program focused on the Samarian minting authority during the Persian period. This coinage represents one of the earliest and most varied official coinages produced in the southern Levant, likely being issued from the late fifth century BCE until after the Greco-Macedonian conquest.
While building on earlier scholarship, this work offers a substantive re-evaluation of the field. It incorporates numerous newly identified coin types and establishes a robust, modern classification system essential for all future study. The data is based on an exhaustive, multi-year study of the entire corpus of known Samarian issues, involving the global examination of specimens in publications and in public and private collections.
Volume I: Studies in Samarian Coinage
Volume I provides historical and analytical framework and the crucial context for understanding this coinage within the socio-cultural and geopolitical environment of the Persian-period Levant. Core studies include:
- Introduction: History of Research
- Monetization: Process and Patterns of Coin Use
- Hoard Analysis: Detailed analysis of all relevant hoards
- Archaeological Finds: Critical review of finds from controlled excavations
These core numismatic studies are augmented by specialized thematic contributions by leading experts:
- Economic and Geo-Political Context (by Jan Dusek)
- Iconography (by Patrick Wyssmann)
- Socio-Cultural Identity (by Magnar Kartveit)
A comprehensive Appendix details the archaeometallurgical investigation (in collaboration with Dana Ashkenazi and Maayan Cohen), featuring the extensive results of hundreds of SEM-EDS analyses.
Volume II: Catalogue of Samarian Coin Types
Volume II presents the most significant numismatic contribution: a vastly expanded new typology and repertoire of Samarian issues organized into a new, authoritative typology. This critical classification system is divided into seven comprehensive categories to clarify the mint's output and chronology:
- Category I: Place Name, Abbreviations Thereof and Related Types
- Category II: Personal Names, Deity Names, Abbreviations Thereof, and Misc. Letters
- Category III: Anepigraphic with Achaemenid and Regional Influences
- Category IV: Athenian-Styled Probably Minted in Samaria
- Category V: Sidonian-Styled Possibly Minted in Samaria
- Category VI: Uncertain Attributions to Samaria
- Category VII: Reattributions
A Corpus of Samarian Coinage is indispensable for academics-archaeologists, historians, and numismatic researchers-as well as collectors and auction houses. The fully updated and revised analysis provides a powerful and essential tool for assessing the circulation and wider implications of this pivotal coinage in the ancient Levant.