King Aretas IV Queen Shaqilat Nabataean 9BC Ancient Greek Coin i24027

Item: i24027

Authentic Ancient

Coin of:

Nabataean Kingdom
Aretas IV – King: 9 B.C. – 40 A.D.

Aretas IV, with Shaqilat

Bronze 15 mm (3.23 grams) Petra mint: 9 B.C. – 40 A.D.

Reference: Meshorer, Nabataea 97

Aretas standing facing, head left, wearing military attire, holding spear and
placing hand on hilt of sword;
palm frond to left, monogram to right.
Shaqilat standing left, raising hand; wreath to left; to right, name in Aramaic
in three lines.

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.

Originally named

Aeneas, he seized the throne on the death of Obodas III and thereafter styled

himself Aretas Philopatris. His daughter married Herod Antipas, whose territory

he later invaded without Roman permission, 37 A.D. However, he managed to obtain

the favor of Caligula who granted him control of Damascus.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured,

Authenticity.

Aretas IV Philopatris was the

King of the Nabataeans

from roughly 9 BC to AD 40.

His full title, as

given in the inscriptions, was “Aretas, King of the Nabataeans, Friend of his

People.” Being the most powerful neighbour of

Judea
, he

frequently took part in the state affairs of that country, and was influential

in shaping the destiny of its rulers. While on not particularly good terms with

Rome – as intimated

by his surname, “Friend of his People“, which is in direct opposition to

the prevalent φιλορώμαις (“Friend of the Romans“) and φιλόκαισαρ (“Friend

of the Emperor“) – and though it was only after great hesitation that

Augustus

recognized him as king, nevertheless he took part in the expedition of

Varus

against the Jews in the year 4 BC, and placed a considerable army at

the disposal of the Roman general.

His daughter

Phasaelis

married

Herod

Antipas
(4 BC – AD 39), otherwise known as Herod the Tetrarch. When Herod

divorced Phasaelis to take his brother’s wife

Herodias
,

mother of Salome
,

in 36, Phasaelis fled to her father. Relations between Herod and Aretas IV were

already strained over border disputes, and with his family honour shamed, Aretas

IV invaded Herod’s holdings, defeating his army

and capturing territories along the

West Bank

of the Jordan River

, including the areas around

Qumran
.

The classical author

Josephus

connects this battle, which occurred during the winter of AD 36/37, with the

beheading of

John the Baptist

, which occurred about the same time.

Herod Antipas

then appealed to Emperor

Tiberius
,

who dispatched the governor of Syria to attack Aretas. But because of the

emperor’s death in AD 37 this action was never carried out.

The Christian Apostle,

Paul

, mentions that he had to sneak out of Damascus in a basket through a

window in the wall to escape King Aretas. (2

Corinthians 11:32, 33, cf

Acts

9:23, 24).