Judaea, Hasmonean Kingdom. Mattathias Antigonos (Mattatayah). Æ 8 Prutot (13.90 g), 40-37 BCE. Jerusalem. 'Mattatayah the High Priest and Council of the Jews' (Paleo-Hebrew), double cornucopiae. Rev. BA[CIΛEOC ANTIΓONOY], ivy wreath tied with ribbons. Hendin 1162; TJC 36. Glossy dark green patina and well centered. Choice Very Fine. Estimate Value $400 - UP
From the Palm Desert Collection. Purchased from Superior in the 1980s.
In 40 BCE, at the head of a Parthian army, Mattathias II Antigonus drove Herod the Great and his puppet, the Hasmonaean ethnarch, John Hyrcanus II, out of Jerusalem and was proclaimed king and High Priest by the Parthians and his Jewish supporters. Unfortunately, the wily Herod was not so easily defeated and returned in 39 BCE armed with recognition as the Roman client-king of Judaea. The hapless Mattathias II was ultimately defeated and crucified for his troubles, leaving Judaea to begin a new period in its troubled history under the often hated Herodian dynasty.