ARABIA, Eastern. Gulf Region. [.]SLHZBR, circa 180-140 BCE. Tetradrachm (Silver, 27 mm, 13.42 g, 12 h), imitating Alexander 'the Great' (336-323 BCE). Head of Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headdress. Rev. 𐪊𐪁𐪂𐪘𐪈𐪇[.] ('[.]S¹LḤZBR' in Ancient North Arabian script) Zeus/Shams seated left on low throne, holding long scepter in his left hand and eagle standing right with closed wings in his right; to lower left, antelope or stag standing left; to lower left, 𐪆 ('S²' in Ancient North Arabian script). CCK -, cf. 142-143 (with AΛΕΞANΔPOY). Huth, Al Jawf Hoards, -, cf. 212-226 (with AΛΕΞANΔPOY). Unpublished and unique. A spectacular discovery of the greatest historical interest, bearing the name of a hithero unattested Arabic ruler. Minor scratches, otherwise, good very fine.


The discovery of this exceptional Arabic tetradrachm is of great significance. The coin type featuring an antelope or deer is well-known (see lot 264 below), but it normally adopts the legend of its Macedonian prototypes, namely AΛEΞANΔPOY (CCK 142-145 and Huth, Al Jawf Hoards, 212-227). Only in one instance does the legend diverge, reading ΒAΣΙΛEΩΣ OBOM (Huth, Al Jawf Hoards, 228). The importance of this coin, which clearly bears the name of an indigenous ruler, is only hinted at by Huth: '[this coin] is of potential importance due to its reference to a ruler 'Obom...' (?)” (ibid., p. 97). He may have been uncertain whether, despite the precise engraving, it could be a barbarized inscription.

However, with the appearance of our piece, the perspective on this series changes dramatically. For the first time, we now have a coin from this series featuring Arabic script rather than Greek. The inscription reads [.]S¹LḤZBR, with an additional letter at the beginning that could be a 𐪄 (q), 𐪛 (ṯ), or 𐪚 (y), though it is unclear if there were further letters off the flan. Unlike most other ancient Arabic coins, this one is not in South Arabian script but rather in unmistakably North Arabian script. This constitutes a numismatic novelty and is particularly noteworthy because North Arabian script - unlike South Arabian - directly leads to the development of classical Arabic script via Nabataean.

The comparison with coins from Hagar, South Arabia, and Oman suggests that [.]S¹LḤZBR is also the name of a ruler, not a deity, especially since the letter 𐪆 (S²) likely refers to the depicted god Shams, although this letter was originally borrowed from Milesian models, where it represented a Greek 'M'.

Interpreting the name is difficult, particularly as the first letter is not preserved. A connection to 'zubr' (زُبُر), meaning 'fortress' or 'castle', or to 'zabara' (زَبَرَ), meaning 'to carve', 'to fortify', or 'to write', is possible. The first readable component of the name, S¹LḤ, may derive from a root common to many Semitic languages, meaning 'to succeed' or 'to be well' - as seen in classical Arabic **ṣalaḥa (صلح: 'to be good', 'to be just') or Hebrew **ṣālēaḥ (צָלֵחַ: 'to succeed'). Thus, the likely ruler’s name, [.]S¹LḤZBR, could combine the concepts of success or well-being with strength, possibly meaning 'the Successful and Strong'.

The extraordinary historical importance of this find lies not only in the first evidence for the use of North Arabian script on coins but also in the preservation of the name of a previously unknown indigenous ruler. Unfortunately, we do not know exactly where these coins were minted. The Al Jawf hoards, which come from Wadi al-Jawf in Yemen, include both South, North, and East Arabian coins. Earlier pieces from our series were discovered in Susa. As Huth notes, this suggests a provenance from the Gulf region, possibly from the west coast or Oman, although the coins in this series stylistically differ from other Omani pieces.

Therefore, while we do not know precisely where this 'successful' and 'strong' Arab ruler reigned, this unique find has brought his name to light after more than two millennia. The use of North Arabian script in preserving this historical heritage is not only significant from a numismatic standpoint but also underscores the origins and evolution of the Arabic script, which continues to play a crucial role in Arab cultural history to this day.