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Æ15 - Aretas IV
| Issuer | Nabataean Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 9 BC - 40 AD |
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| Composition | Bronze |
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| Obverse description | Laureate head of Aretas IV facing right, rendered in the schematic Nabataean style characteristic of the period. The facial features are summarily depicted, with the laurel wreath clearly discernible atop the head. The flan is irregular and slightly scyphate, with a patinated bronze surface exhibiting typical green encrustation. No legend appears on the obverse. |
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| Reverse description | A caduceus flanked by a double cornucopiae, the paired horns of plenty curving outward symmetrically to either side of the central winged staff. Beneath this emblematic group appears the royal monogram or initial of Aretas IV in Nabataean script. The design is executed in the bold, schematic style typical of Nabataean bronze coinage, with the devices occupying most of the reverse field. |
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| Additional information |
Aretas IV ruled the Nabataean Kingdom for nearly five decades — one of the longest reigns in the dynasty's history — and oversaw a period of considerable commercial expansion along the incense and spice routes connecting Arabia to the Mediterranean. His coinage was prolific by Nabataean standards, produced across multiple issues that scholars have worked to sequence chronologically, largely through the changing portraiture of his queens Huldu and Shaqilat.
Meshorer's classification of this type as Nab#76 places it within the broader bronze series whose precise mint attribution remains debated; most scholars favor Petra, though Bostra has not been ruled out.