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Æ20 - Hadrian ΜΕΝΔ, L ΙΑ

Issuer Alexandria (Egypt)
Year 117-138
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Composition Bronze
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Obverse lettering ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙ ΤΡΑΙ ΑΔΡΙΑ ϹΕΒ
(Translation: Emperor Caesar Trajan Hadrian Augustus)
Reverse description The ram-headed deity Ba-neb-djedet (Mendes) is depicted standing to the left in a hieratic posture, wearing the composite atef crown surmounted by a sun disk flanked by two uraei set upon ram horns. In his right hand he holds a live ram facing left, while his left hand raises the chlamys. This syncretistic Egyptian deity was the divine patron of the Mendesian nome, and his representation here reflects the Alexandrian mint's practice of celebrating local nome cults on provincial coinage. The reverse legend identifies the nome and regnal year.
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Additional information

Hadrian visited Egypt in 130 AD, the trip during which his favourite Antinous drowned in the Nile — an event that prompted an empire-wide deification cult and the founding of Antinoöpolis. Alexandrian bronze production under Hadrian was prolific and systematically dated by regnal year, with "L ΙΑ" placing this piece in his eleventh year, 126/127 AD. The Egyptian dating convention, tied to the local calendar beginning in late summer, means Alexandrian year-dates rarely align cleanly with Roman consular years.

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