John Hyrcanus I, Hasmonean Dynasty

For sometime now I've been working on building a small collection of Biblical coins from Jerusalem. The collection is nowhere complete but I thought I would share some with the group.

The two coins that are posted here are from John Hyrcanus I of the Hasmonean Dynasty.

John Hyrcanus I (Hebrew name: Yehohanan), was the High Priest and ruler of the Jews in Jerusalem from 135-104 BCE.

During this time the region was under the control of the Seleucid empire in Syria. Shortly after Hyrcanus reign began the king Antiochus VII Sidetes of Syria besieged Jerusalem. The Jews suffered from a lack of food, but the Syrians were suffering from a lack of water. They were also fighting the Parthians in the east which put a severe drain on their resources.

Antiochus seeing that that he could not maintain a siege and fight the Parthians at the same time entered into a peace treaty with Hyrcanus. Hyrcanus agreed to supply mercenary troops to help Antiochus fight the Parthians. And Antiochus agreed not to suppress the Jews and allowed them a degree of Independence which included being allowed to strike their own coins for the first time.





John Hyrcanus I & Antiochus I Sidetes VII
135-104 BC
Hebrew Name: Yehohanan
AE Prutah (Lepton)
Obverse: Seleucid Anchor Greek legend: Of King Antiochus
Reverse: Lily, symbol of the Jews
Date struck 132/31 BCE
16mm x1.8g x1h
Henden 1131




AE Prutah (Lepton)
Obverse: Cornucopia with pomegranate in center.
Reverse: Paelo Hebrew legend in four lines: Yehohanan the High Priest.
14mm X2.7g x 12h
Henden 1141.

Please feel free to post your coins of John Hyrcanus I