Anonymous Arab Kingdom of Nabataea PETRA 270BC Athena Nike Greek Coin i46933

Item: i46933

Authentic Ancient

Coin of:

Arab Kingdom of

Bronze 17mm (3.31 grams) Petra mint, circa 270-72 B.C.
Reference: HGC 10, 671; Meshorer, Nabataea 1-4
Helmeted head of Athena right.
Nike advancing left, holding wreath and cornucopia; crescent above
Λ in field to left.

The north-Arabian kingdom of the Nabataeans, with their capital at Petra,

continued in existence until the early years of the 2nd Century A.D., when

emperor Trajan created the Roman province of Arabia.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured,

Authenticity.

In
Greek religion
and
mythology
, Athena or Athene,
also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom,
courage, inspiration, civilization, law and justice, just warfare, mathematics,
strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, and skill.
Minerva
is the
Roman goddess

identified with
Athena.

Athena as the goddess of philosophy became an aspect of the cult in Classical
Greece during the late 5th century B.C. She is the patroness of various crafts,
especially of
weaving
, as Athena Ergane, and was
honored as such at festivals such as
Chalceia
. The metalwork of weapons also
fell under her patronage. She led battles (Athena
Promachos or the warrior maiden Athena Parthenos) as the
disciplined, strategic side of war, in contrast to her brother
Ares
, the patron of violence, bloodlust
and slaughter—”the raw force of war”. Athena’s wisdom includes the cunning
intelligence (metis) of such figures as
Odysseus
. Not only was this version of
Athena the opposite of Ares in combat, it was also the polar opposite of the
serene earth goddess version of the deity, Athena Polias.

Athena appears in Greek mythology as the patron and helper of many heroes,
including
Odysseus
,
Jason
, and
Heracles
. In
Classical Greek
myths, she never consorts
with a lover, nor does she ever marry,earning the title Athena Parthenos.
A remnant of archaic myth depicts her as the adoptive mother of
Erechtheus
/Erichthonius
through the foiled rape by
Hephaestus
. Other variants relate that
Erichthonius, the serpent that accompanied Athena, was born to
Gaia
: when the rape failed, the semen
landed on Gaia and impregnated her. After Erechthonius was born, Gaia gave him
to Athena.

Though Athena is a goddess of war strategy, she disliked fighting without
purpose and preferred to use wisdom to settle predicaments.The goddess only
encouraged fighting for a reasonable cause or to resolve conflict. As patron of
Athens she fought in the Trojan war on the side of the Achaeans.

Judgment of Paris

All the gods and goddesses as well as various mortals were invited to the
marriage of
Peleus
and
Thetis
(the eventual parents of
Achilles
). Only
Eris
, goddess of discord, was not invited.
She was annoyed at this, so she arrived with a golden apple inscribed with the
word καλλίστῃ (kallistēi, “for the fairest”), which she threw among the
goddesses. Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena all claimed to be the fairest, and thus
the rightful owner of the apple.

The goddesses chose to place the matter before Zeus, who, not wanting to
favor one of the goddesses, put the choice into the hands of Paris, a
Trojan
prince. After bathing in the spring
of
Mount Ida
(where Troy was situated), the
goddesses appeared before Paris. The goddesses undressed and presented
themselves to Paris naked, either at his request or for the sake of winning.

Still, Paris could not decide, as all three were ideally beautiful, so they
resorted to bribes. Hera tried to bribe Paris with control over all
Asia
and
Europe
, while Athena offered wisdom, fame
and glory in battle, but Aphrodite came forth and whispered to Paris that if he
were to choose her as the fairest he would have the most beautiful mortal woman
in the world as a wife, and he accordingly chose her. This woman was
Helen
, who was, unfortunately for Paris,
already married to King
Menelaus
of
Sparta
. The other two goddesses were
enraged by this and through Helen’s abduction by Paris they brought about the
Trojan War
.

In
Greek mythology
,
Nike
was a
goddess
who personified
victory
, also known as the Winged Goddess of
Victory. The Roman equivalent was
Victoria
. Depending upon the time of various
myths, she was described as the daughter of
Pallas
(Titan) and

Styx (Water) and the sister of
Kratos
(Strength),
Bia
(Force), and
Zelus
(Zeal). Nike and her siblings were close
companions of Zeus
, the dominant deity of the
Greek pantheon
. According to classical (later)
myth, Styx brought them to Zeus when the god was assembling allies for the
Titan War
against the older deities. Nike
assumed the role of the divine
charioteer
, a role in which she often is
portrayed in Classical Greek art. Nike flew around battlefields rewarding the
victors with glory and fame.

Nike is seen with wings in most statues and paintings. Most other winged
deities in the Greek pantheon had shed their wings by Classical times. Nike is
the goddess of strength, speed, and victory. Nike was a very close acquaintance
of Athena
, and is thought to have stood in
Athena’s outstretched hand in the statue of Athena located in the Parthenon.
Nike is one of the most commonly portrayed figures on Greek coins.

Names stemming from Nike include amongst others:
Nicholas
, Nicola, Nick, Nikolai, Nils, Klaas,
Nicole, Ike, Niki, Nikita, Nika, Niketas, and Nico.

Al Khazneh or The Treasury at Petra

Petra (Arabic:
البتراء, Al-Batrāʾ;
Ancient Greek
: Πέτρα) is a
historical
and
archaeological
city in the southern
Jordanian
governorate of
Ma’an
that is famous for its
rock-cut architecture
and water conduit system.
Another name for Petra is the Rose City due to the color of the stone out of
which it is carved.

Established possibly as early as 312 BC as the capital city of the
Nabataeans
, it is a symbol of Jordan, as well
as Jordan’s most-visited tourist attraction. It lies on the slope of
Jebel al-Madhbah
(identified by some as the
biblical Mount Hor
^[4])
in a
basin
among the mountains which form the
eastern flank of Arabah
(Wadi Araba), the large valley running
from the Dead Sea
to the
Gulf of Aqaba
. Petra has been a
UNESCO

World Heritage Site
since 1985.

The site remained unknown to the
Western world
until 1812, when it was
introduced by
Swiss
explorer
Johann Ludwig Burckhardt
. It was described as
“a rose-red city half as old as time” in a
Newdigate Prize
-winning poem by
John William Burgon
. UNESCO has described it as
“one of the most precious cultural properties of man’s cultural heritage”. See:
UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists
.
Petra was chosen by the
Smithsonian Magazine
as one of the “28
Places to See Before You Die”.

The Nabataean kingdom, also named Nabatea(Arabic:نبطية) (many
times spelled Nabatean), was an Arabic political state of the
Nabataeans
which existed during
classical antiquity
and was annexed by the
Roman Empire
in CE 106.

Geography

Located between the
Sinai Peninsula
and the
Arabian Peninsula
, its northern neighbour was
the kingdom of Judea
, and its south western neighbour was
Ptolemaic Egypt
. Its capital was the city of
Petra
in
Jordan
, and it included the towns of
Bostra
,
Mada’in Saleh
, and
Nitzana
.

Petra was a wealthy trading town, located at a convergence of several
important trade routes
. One of them was the
Incense Route
which was based around the
production of both myrrh
and
frankincense
in southern Arabia, and ran
through Mada’in Saleh to Petra. From here the aromatics were distributed
throughout the Mediterranean region.

History

Nabataean origins date from a time when they were nomadic pastoralists in the
Negev
and the
Sinai Peninsula
during
Achaemenid Persian
rule, around the 4th century
BCE.

Nabateans and
Hasmoneans

The Nabataeans were allies of the first
Hasmoneans
in their struggles against the
Seleucid
monarchs. They then became rivals of
the Judaean dynasty, and a chief element in the disorders which invited
Pompey
‘s intervention in
Judea
. Many Nabataeans were forcefully
converted to Judaism
by the
Hasmonean
king
Alexander Jannaeus
. It was this King who, after
putting down a local rebellion, invaded and occupied the Nabataean towns of

Moab and Gilead
and imposed a tribute of an unspecified
amount. Obodas I
knew that Alexander would attack, so
was able to ambush Alexander’s forces near Gaulane (Golan)
destroying the Judean army in 90 BCE. Under the reign of
Aretas III
(87 to 62 BCE) the kingdom seems to
have reached its territorial zenith, but was defeated by a Roman army under the
command of
Marcus Aemilius Scaurus
. Scaurus’ army even
besieged Petra, but eventually a compromise was negotiated. Paying a tribute,
Aretas III received the formal recognition by the
Roman Republic
.

The Nabatean kingdom saw itself slowly surrounded by the expanding
Roman Empire
, which conquered Egypt and annexed
Hasmonean Judea. While the Nabatean kingdom managed to preserve its formal
independence, it became a client kingdom under the influence of Rome.

Roman annexation

 

In 106 CE, during the reign of Roman emperor
Trajan
, the last king of the Nabatean kingdom
Rabbel II Soter
died. This event might have
prompted the official annexation of Nabatea to the Roman Empire, although the
formal reasons, and the exact manner of annexation, are unknown.

Some epigraphic evidence suggests a military campaign, commanded by
Cornelius Palma
, the governor of
Syria
. Roman forces seem to have come from
Syria and also from
Egypt
. It is clear that by 107 CE Roman legions
were stationed in the area around Petra and Bostra, as is shown by a papyrus
found in Egypt. The kingdom was annexed by the empire, becoming the province of
Arabia Petraea
. Trade seems to have largely
continued thanks to the Nabataens’ undiminished talent for trading.

Under Hadrian
, the
limes Arabicus
ignored most of the Nabatæan
territory and ran northeast from Aila (modern
Aqaba
) at the head of the
Gulf of Aqaba
. A century later, during the
reign of
Alexander Severus
, the local issue of coinage
came to an end. There is no more building of sumptuous tombs, owing apparently
to a sudden change in political ways, such as an invasion by the neo-Persian
power under the
Sassanid Empire
.

The city of Palmyra
, for a time the capital of the
breakaway
Palmyrene Empire
(fl. 130–270), grew in
importance and attracted the Arabian trade away from Petra.

See also

• List of rulers of Nabatea
• Nephesh