ca.
370 B.C.E.
Abd'ashtart
I's coin is of a type issued by several previous rulers:
Abd'eshmun (ca. 410-400
B.C.E.),
Ba'na (ca. 400-384/85 B.C.E.)
Ba'lshallim II (ca. 386/5-372 B.C.E.)
(3)
This
is significant when combined with the fact that Abd'ashtart issued another one-sixteenth
shekel during his lifetime. The other's obverse was dated with the year minted
according to Abd'ashtart's reign (1-9) and had no letter above the war galley;
instead, the b was with the o between the legs of
the Persian king and the lion. (4)
Here is the date above the war galley; year 3 of Abd'ashtart's reign. 8/11 of Betlyon's Abd'ashtart coins have dates.
Here, Abd'ashtart's initials are side-by-side; 8/11 of Betlyon Abd'ashtart coins are arranged so.
So it seems likely that the coin under study,
so similar to Ba'lshallim II's, was minted at the very beginning of Abd'ashtart's
reign; he may have modified the former ruler's coin to bear his initial before
taking the time to mint his own (
21)
.
As he began ruling ca. 375-370 B.C.E. (
22)
,
this dates the coin to within that period or shortly after.
Abd'ashtart I's 1/16 shekel
Image
from http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/phoenicia/sidon/BMC_008.jpg.
Image
from Betlyon, Plate 2.
Photos
courtesy of Bruce Zuckerman.
Image
from http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/phoenicia/sidon/SNGCop_199.jpg.
Image
from http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/phoenicia/sidon/BMC_017.1.jpg.
1/16 shekel of Baal'shallim II, who reigned just previous to Abd'ashtart I.
The designs are identical except for the o between the legs of Abd'ashtart's king and lion. Baal'shallim also has the b above the galley, although it isn't visible on this particular example.
Abd'eshmun
Ba'na
Double shekel of Abd'ashtart I
Image from http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/phoenicia/sidon/BMC_034.jpg
These coins have the same lion-fighting scene as Abd'ashtart's coin, but both have the war galley in front of a towered city, an earlier design. (see war galley timeline)
