05.31.08
Pontius Pilate & Herod Philip “Heads of Grain” Coin Theory continued…
Well, it seems that my wild theory on the heads of grain on both the coins of Herod Philip and Pontius Pilate is not getting much support based on discussions I started on the Forum of Ancient Coins board. But here is where I am at the moment.
1) I may have to agree that the grains on the coins of Herod Philip may just represent prosperity of the land and nothing more. It was pointed out to me that there are many coins with heads of grains and these coins do not seem to carry a symbolic message beyond that.
2) Although I have minimal support at the moment I still think there is more to the heads of grain on the coin of Pontius Pilate. My reasoning is that Pilate seems to like symbolism and use it to talk about the power of Rome. I will give two examples. He caused great upset in Jerusalem when he let a Legion of his soldiers into the city showing their standards showing the Roman Eagle. It clearly was a desire to show the power of Rome in the area and the result was a riot. He was forced to remove this symbol. Yet later he brought in some gilded shields as decoration which declared Tiberius Caesar and again there was protest – so much so that even the Emperor said he had to remove them. In both cases he was using a symbol to make a statement of power. For this reason, his use of symbolism and its specific message of the power of Rome that I think the heads of grain do speak about power in some way and that the bowing of grains is symbolic.
I will keep reading more about these coins to let you know if I modify this theory even more!
05.21.08
Herod Philip & Pontius Pilate coins: “Heads of Grain” Theory?
The Herod Philip coin I last posted shows a hand holding three “heads of grain” and they are all standing upright. There is also a Pontius Pilate coin that shows three heads of grain but on his coin one “head of grain” is standing upright but the other two are bowing down. What if these coins are symbolic in nature? Meaning, what if Pontius Pilate’s coin was a way of saying that there are three leaders in the area that used to be Herod the Great’s Kingdom: himself, Herod Antipas and Herod Philip? And that he (Pontius Pilate) is the most powerful of the three (one standing grain) and the others should be respectful (bowing) to him? If so then Herod Philips response was that all three grain heads are standing tall and no one is bowing to anyone else!!
Of course this is all speculation since it is difficult to understand what a first century inhabitant of Judea understood the “heads of grain” to mean. Could they have been a reference to the passage in Genesis in Joseph’s dream where he sees one sheaf of grain standing upright and all the other sheaves bowing to him? Could it just mean prosperity and not have leadership connotations? It is an issue I am now discussing with other ancient coin collectors at another web site (www.forumancientcoins.com) and if I find out anything more I will post it in the future!
These are the two coins I am referring to…
05.19.08
Extremely Remote Widow’s Mite: coins of Herod Philip
We have another son of Herod the Great to deal with: Herod Philip. He is a half brother to both Herod Archelaus and Herod Antipas. His territory will be east of Galilee and include the area of Gaulinitis, Trachonitis, Banaea and Paneas.
It would seem logical at first that a few of his coins would travel to Jerusalem since some of his population, who were Jewish, would want to go there to worship. But there is a problem. Philip put living images on his coins, which was strictly forbidden in Jewish law. The image we find on the coin shown below is the head of Livia the mother of Tiberius. He will also mint coins with the portrait of the Emperor and even a portrait of himself. It seems that most of the population he ruled were not Jewish and therefore were comfortable with these images on the coins.
Because of the use of forbidden imagery on his coins, because of the small Jewish population in his territory who would be traveling to Jerusalem and because of the scarcity of these coins in general, they would be considered a long shot for both the Widow’s Mite or to be found on the moneychangers table.
Ruler: Herod Philip
Date: 31 AD
Denomination: Prutah
Obverse: Livia
Reverse: Grains
Reference: Hendin 540
05.15.08
One more coin of Herod Antipas: Cluster of Dates.
There is a third coin of Herod Antipas that I would like to mention because it is the logical next step. Meaning a coin that began as a reed and then was minted as a mature branch would now be a fruit bearing branch. I have not been able to obtain such a coin yet because of its rarity but I can describe it. It is a cluster of dates. It was minted in 38/39 AD. There is another interesting change on the coin and that is it now includes the name of the Emperior Gaius Caligula. Herod Antipas is now trying to reach out to this Emperor and hopefully be named King by him, a title that had not been given since Herod the Great. Actually he did not get the title of King and instead it was given to his brother-in-law Agrippa I. This is not the end of the story because in this transition of power Herod Antipas would be exiled and his territory taken over by Agrippa I. These “cluster of dates” coins of Herod Antipas would have been minted too late to be considered for the widow’s mite and would have found their way to the moneychangers table after the overturning of the tables by Jesus of Nazareth. I mention them however to fill out the story of the coins of Herod Antipas.
05.14.08
Another remotely possible Widows’ Mite: Herod Antipas
We observed in my previous post that a reed placed on a coin of Herod Antipas was symbolic of a new city being founded, namely the city of Tiberias. This connection of a reed and a new city is not new. There was the Jewish story of the Angel Gabriel placing a reed into the sea and around this reed a great sandbar built up and on this was built the city of Rome. In this coin we see a more mature palm branch and not just a reed, just as plants mature so has the city of Tiberius and this coin celebrates that fact. This particular coin is dated 33/34 AD but there were earlier similar editions in 29 AD and 30AD which could be the Widow’s Mite because they were also issued in quarter unit sizes that are similar in size/weight to the prutah. These coins were also common enough to be found on the moneychangers table.
Ruler: Herod Antipas
Date: 33/34 AD
Denomination: Half Unit
Obverse: Branch
Reverse: Wreath
Reference: H.521
05.12.08
A remotely possible Widow’s Mite: Herod Antipas
We now move to the brother of Herod Archelaus: Herod Antipas. He will rule the area of Galilee from 4 BC until 39 AD. One of his most famous building projects will be the founding of a new capital city called Tiberias. This coin commemorates this particular project with a reed on the Obverse. This type of reed was a common plant found near the Sea of Galilee. The placement of the city was a problem because it was put right over an ancient burial ground. Herod Antipas had to force people to live there at first. This coin would be a possible candidate for the Widow’s Mite but actually rather a remote one since it is a little heavier than the prutah size coins in common use at this time. It would however be a coin found on the moneychangers table.
Ruler: Herod Antipas
Date: 20 AD
Denomination: AE 17
Obverse: Reed
Reverse: Wreath
