PHILISTIA. Central Mint. Athenian-styled, circa 420-350 BCE. Half Mʿh = Hemiobol (Silver, 9 mm, 0.34 g, 6 h). Horned head of a griffin to left.
Rev. Owl standing right, head facing; to left, olive sprig; to right, AOE; all within incuse square. Gitler & Tal XIV.23HOa corr. (
same dies, obverse described as a 'monster'). Hendin -. Jeselsohn -. Kraay, Abu Shusheh, 16 and pl. 29, E = Lambert, Palestine, 16 and pl. I, 16 corr. (
same dies, obverse described as an 'elephant's head r. (? or helmet)'). Shoshana -. Sofaer -. Extremely rare and in spectacular condition. A true gem, beautifully toned and sharply struck on excellent silver, with exceptional detail and remarkable iconography. Very minor weakness on the griffin's horn
, otherwise, good extremely fine.
Ex Leu 75, 25 October 1999, 1315 (with original ticket), and previously from the so-called 'Abu Shusheh hoard' of 1930 (IGCH 1507).
This magnificent hemiobol, or half-ma'ah, surely ranks among the most impressive and beautiful Philistian coins known. On tiny dies, the artist has compressed a wealth of detail that stands comparison with the work of the finest Greek die-engravers. The reverse in particular, with its beautifully struck complete incuse square and exceptionally fine owl, immediately evokes the classical Athenian tetradrachms, which exerted such a profound influence on the numismatic iconography of the Levant.
The obverse, by contrast, shows a left-facing animal head with horns and beak, which Lambert completely misunderstood and misidentified as an 'elephant’s head r. (? or helmet)'. Kraay had already pointed out this error and at the same time offered a new interpretation, identifying the head as that of a griffin. Gitler and Tal were more cautious, describing it as a 'horned monster’s head'. In this case, however, Kraay’s interpretation should be preferred: comparison with the magnificent gilded Achaemenid rhyton in the British Museum (BM 124081) reveals a striking resemblance. The beak, wide-open eyes, horns, pointed ears, and the suggested plumage above and behind the eye all closely recall the depiction on our coin. Kraay’s identification of the head as that of a griffin therefore seems highly plausible.
