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Æ15 - Aretas III
| Issuer | Nabataean Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 87 BC - 71 BC |
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| Composition | Bronze |
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| Obverse description | Helmeted head of Athena in right profile, rendered in the Hellenistic tradition adopted by Nabataean coinage under Aretas III. The helmet is depicted with visible cheek guards, and a dotted border surrounds the design within the irregular flan. The portrait is bold and schematic, consistent with the provincial Hellenistic die-cutting style of the period. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Aretas III seized Damascus around 85 BC after the Seleucid collapse left the city effectively ungoverned, giving the Nabataean kingdom its northernmost reach and prompting him to adopt the Hellenistic title "Philhellenos." This bronze issue belongs to that expansionist phase, when Nabataean coinage was just beginning to develop a consistent civic identity — earlier kings had struck almost nothing in bronze at all.
Meshorer's corpus remains the foundational reference for Nabataean numismatics, though attribution within the series is complicated by inconsistent die-cutting and the kingdom's heavy reliance on itinerant engravers trained in the broader Hellenistic tradition.