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Prutah - John Hyrcanus I
| Issuer | Judea |
|---|---|
| Year | 135 BC - 104 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Orientation | Variable alignment ↺ |
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| Obverse description | Five-line Paleo-Hebrew inscription contained within a wreath of olive or laurel branches, the legend reading the name and titles of the issuing authority. The inscription is arranged horizontally across the field in five registers, enclosed by a circular wreath border. The lettering is rendered in the ancient Paleo-Hebrew script characteristic of Hasmonean coinage, with the individual characters showing the angular, lapidary style typical of late second century BC Judean bronzes. The wreath is tied at the base and frames the entire epigraphic design without a figurative portrait, consistent with Jewish religious prohibitions against graven images. |
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| Obverse lettering | יהו חנן הכהן הגדל רח ש חבר ה יהדם |
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| Additional information |
John Hyrcanus I ruled as both High Priest and ethnarch following the murder of his father Simon Maccabaeus at a dinner party in Jericho in 134 BC — a killing orchestrated by his own brother-in-law, Ptolemy son of Abubus. These small bronzes represent the first independent Jewish coinage, a direct assertion of political autonomy made possible by the Seleucid Empire's accelerating collapse under Antiochus VII Sidetes, who died campaigning in Parthia in 129 BC and left Judea free of foreign tribute obligations almost overnight.
Hyrcanus never struck silver — that privilege was withheld by Hasmonean convention from rulers who had not yet claimed the royal title.