DOI Artikel:
Krzyżanowska, Aleksandra: Remarks on the coins of Ptolemy VI found in Egypt
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21230#0046
earlier, or that the earlier motif on the reverse, even though now out-
dated, was taken from Ptolemy VI's coins and simply duplicated later.
Coin fmds from Egypt, and especially those which have been discov-
ered during regular excavations, can shed a certain light on this prob-
lem. However, the relatively smali number of archeological projects con-
ducted on a regular basis in Egyptian cities from the Greco-Roman pe-
riod has so far provided limited materiał for detailed study. The poor
state of preservation of the extant specimens has freąuently been a hin-
drance in their precise identification, and has prevented the analysis of
style, a factor of great importance in dating Ptolemaic coins.2 The large
number of coins found during Polish excavations has enabled me to
make a series of observations regarding precisely this period.
From 1987 to 1995, archeological work was conducted in the area of
the rillage of Atrib, in the eastern portion of the Nile Delta, in the vicinity
of the so-called „Tell Atrib," which is a fragment of the former ancient city
of Athribis. The work, directed by Prof. Karol Myśliwiec, was concentrated
around the hillock known as „Kom Sidi Youssef," and led to uncovering
part of the city from Greco-Roman times. In addition to the significant
number of other kinds of artifacts - such as pottery fragments and whole
vessels, lamps, terra-cottas, stamped handles, etc. - a large number of coins
were found there. In the course of all these campaigns, over 1800 scat-
tered bronze coins were discovered, mostly corroded; of these, over 900,
after cleaning, could be identified as Ptolemaic. A large percentage of
these last had the image, easy to discern, of two eagles standing next to
- Earlier reports from the excavations in progress that mention Ptolemaic coins limit
themselves primarily to listing the number of coins and the reigning monarch, not always
even indicating the metal; see B. Haed, "CoinsDiscovered on the Site ofNaukratis ", Num. Chroń.
1886; Abd el Mohsen el Kashab, Ptolemaic and Roman Baths ofKom elAhmar, Cairo 1949. See
also R. A. Haatvedt and E. E. Peterson, Coins from Karani s: The University of Michigan Excava-
tions, 1925-1935, Ann Arbor, 1964, who in discussing the coins found in Karanis cali atten-
tion to the poor state of preservation of these coins.
J. G. Milne, in "Report on Coins Found at Tebtunis in 1900", Journal of Egyptian Archaeolo-
gyXXI (1935), pp. 210-216, labels the coins \vifh Svoronos's catalogue numbers, but, among
other things, writes on p. 211, "The cwerage state of preseruation is very poor: there are not more than
a dozen good specimens in the hoard. "
Cf. M. J. Price, "Coins," in: Geoffrey Thorndike Martin, The Sacred Animal Necropolis at
North Saqqara: The Southern Dependencies oftheMain Tempie Complex, London 1981; in Saqqara,
Price must have been dealing with coins that were only slightly destroyed by corrosions, if he
was able to distinguish even the state of wear of the specimens found.
46
dated, was taken from Ptolemy VI's coins and simply duplicated later.
Coin fmds from Egypt, and especially those which have been discov-
ered during regular excavations, can shed a certain light on this prob-
lem. However, the relatively smali number of archeological projects con-
ducted on a regular basis in Egyptian cities from the Greco-Roman pe-
riod has so far provided limited materiał for detailed study. The poor
state of preservation of the extant specimens has freąuently been a hin-
drance in their precise identification, and has prevented the analysis of
style, a factor of great importance in dating Ptolemaic coins.2 The large
number of coins found during Polish excavations has enabled me to
make a series of observations regarding precisely this period.
From 1987 to 1995, archeological work was conducted in the area of
the rillage of Atrib, in the eastern portion of the Nile Delta, in the vicinity
of the so-called „Tell Atrib," which is a fragment of the former ancient city
of Athribis. The work, directed by Prof. Karol Myśliwiec, was concentrated
around the hillock known as „Kom Sidi Youssef," and led to uncovering
part of the city from Greco-Roman times. In addition to the significant
number of other kinds of artifacts - such as pottery fragments and whole
vessels, lamps, terra-cottas, stamped handles, etc. - a large number of coins
were found there. In the course of all these campaigns, over 1800 scat-
tered bronze coins were discovered, mostly corroded; of these, over 900,
after cleaning, could be identified as Ptolemaic. A large percentage of
these last had the image, easy to discern, of two eagles standing next to
- Earlier reports from the excavations in progress that mention Ptolemaic coins limit
themselves primarily to listing the number of coins and the reigning monarch, not always
even indicating the metal; see B. Haed, "CoinsDiscovered on the Site ofNaukratis ", Num. Chroń.
1886; Abd el Mohsen el Kashab, Ptolemaic and Roman Baths ofKom elAhmar, Cairo 1949. See
also R. A. Haatvedt and E. E. Peterson, Coins from Karani s: The University of Michigan Excava-
tions, 1925-1935, Ann Arbor, 1964, who in discussing the coins found in Karanis cali atten-
tion to the poor state of preservation of these coins.
J. G. Milne, in "Report on Coins Found at Tebtunis in 1900", Journal of Egyptian Archaeolo-
gyXXI (1935), pp. 210-216, labels the coins \vifh Svoronos's catalogue numbers, but, among
other things, writes on p. 211, "The cwerage state of preseruation is very poor: there are not more than
a dozen good specimens in the hoard. "
Cf. M. J. Price, "Coins," in: Geoffrey Thorndike Martin, The Sacred Animal Necropolis at
North Saqqara: The Southern Dependencies oftheMain Tempie Complex, London 1981; in Saqqara,
Price must have been dealing with coins that were only slightly destroyed by corrosions, if he
was able to distinguish even the state of wear of the specimens found.
46