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Denarius
| Issuer | Sabaean Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 100-200 |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | Diademed male head facing right in the Athenian tradition, struck in shallow relief characteristic of South Arabian imitative coinage. The curved symbol of Almaqah, the principal lunar deity of Saba, appears to the left of the effigy, while the star symbol of Athtar occupies the right field. The portrait displays stylized features derived from late Classical Greek prototypes, with the diadem rendered as a plain fillet across the brow. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A schematically rendered antelope head facing front, a motif distinctive of Sabaean coinage and emblematic of the region's fauna and religious iconography. The curved symbol of Almaqah is present to the left of the central device, while a monogram occupies the right field, likely denoting a mint official or issuing authority. The reverse design is executed in the flat, stylized manner typical of South Arabian hammered silver issues of this period. |
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| Additional information |
The Sabaean kingdom, centered on the ancient city of Ma'rib in what is now Yemen, produced coinage heavily influenced by Athenian prototypes — a borrowing that persisted for centuries after the original Attic owl types had ceased to circulate in the Mediterranean. By the first and second centuries AD, these issues had diverged substantially from their Greek models, the stylistic drift accumulated across generations of local die-cutters working far from any Hellenistic mint tradition.
The SNG ANS 6 parallels at 1554–6 document the tight clustering of this variety within a recognizable but evolving series.