A Corpus of Samarian Coinage From the Persian Period, Volumes I & II

This two-volume monograph, A Corpus of Samarian Coinage from the Persian Period, is the definitive culmination of a major research program focused on the Samarian minting authority during the Persian period. This coinage represents one of the earliest and most varied official coinages produced in the southern Levant, likely being issued from the late fifth century BCE until after the Greco-Macedonian conquest. While building on earlier scholarship, this work offers a substantive re-evaluation of the field. It incorporates numerous newly identified coin types and establishes a robust, modern classification system essential for all future study. The data is based on an exhaustive, multi-year study of the entire corpus of known Samarian issues, involving the global examination of specimens in publications and in public and private collections. Volume I: Studies in Samarian Coinage provides historical and analytical framework and the crucial context for understanding this coinage within the socio-cultural and geopolitical environment of the Persian-period Levant. A comprehensive Appendix details the archaeometallurgical investigation (in collaboration with Dana Ashkenazi and Maayan Cohen), featuring the extensive results of hundreds of SEM-EDS analyses. Volume II: Catalogue of Samarian Coin Types presents the most significant numismatic contribution: a vastly expanded new typology and repertoire of Samarian issues organized into a new, authoritative typology. This critical classification system is divided into seven comprehensive categories to clarify the mint's output and chronology. A Corpus of Samarian Coinage is indispensable for academics**x2014;archaeologists, historians, and numismatic researchers**x2014;as well as collectors and auction houses. The fully updated and revised analysis provides a powerful and essential tool for assessing the circulation and wider implications of this pivotal coinage in the ancient Levant.