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Drachm
| Issuer | Gaza |
|---|---|
| Year | 400 BC - 350 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 3.7 g |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Athenian-style owl standing to the right with head turned to face the viewer, rendered in high relief with carefully delineated feather detail on the wings and breast. Two ears of grain flank the owl on either side in the field. An Aramaic inscription appears in the field, reading the letters Ayin, Zayin, and He, likely a mint or magistrate abbreviation associated with the city of Gaza. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Gaza operated as a significant Achaemenid administrative and commercial hub during this period, and its coinage reflects that dual function — produced to facilitate trade rather than assert purely local authority. The city's coins drew heavily on Athenian weight standards and Attic typological conventions precisely because Athenian silver dominated eastern Mediterranean commerce. A local authority imitating that trusted currency was making a practical commercial calculation.
The Gitler/Tal classification system for Philistian coinage, published in 2006, substantially reorganized how scholars attribute these issues, and the Gaza 3D designation places this piece within a specific die-study grouping rather than a loose regional category.