A Corpus of Samarian Coinage from the Persian Period, Volumes I & II
By Haim Gitler, Mati Johananoff, and Oren Tal

Numismatic Studies and Researches (NSR) XIII and XIV, Jerusalem 2025, Published by the Israel Numismatic Society

A Comprehensive Re-evaluation of Ancient Levantine Coinage

This two-volume monograph, A Corpus of Samarian Coinage, 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.

The volumes are designed to serve a broad research and professional community, including historians, archaeologists, numismatists, auction-house specialists, and advanced collectors who require a reliable, critically evaluated framework for the study, attribution, and interpretation of ancient Levantine coinages.

The publication of the Corpus of Samarian Coinage originated from an Israel Science Foundation(ISF) Personal Research Grant (No. 2883/20) of the same name, led by Principal InvestigatorOren Tal. Throughout this research project, Mati Johananoff and Haim Gitler contributed asequal partners, sharing joint responsibility for all aspects of the work and accordingly theauthors are listed alphabetically. Our research on the Persian period minting authority ofSamaria, one of the earliest minting authorities in the southern Levant, has culminated in twomonographs (Corpus of Samarian Coinage, Volumes I and II). Volume I provides diverse studieson Samarian coinage, with overviews of the history of research on Samarian coinage in theIntroduction (Chapter 1); the monetization of Samaria and the associated patterns of coin use(Chapter 2); analysis of hoards containing Samarian coins (Chapter 3); and a review of findsfrom controlled archaeological excavations (Chapter 4). The core chapters are supplementedby a series of contributions that explore broader contextual themes: minting coins andmaking payments in Persian period Samaria (Chapter 5 by Jan Dušek); detailed analysis of thecoins' iconography (Chapter 6 by Patrick Wyssmann); the religion and ethnic composition ofPersian period Samaria with an emphasis on the longue durée (Chapter 7 by Magnar Kartveit).The archaeometallurgical component of the project-conducted in collaboration withDana Ashkenazi and Maayan Cohen-focuses on the materials characterization of thecoins through trace element analysis of their chemical composition (Appendix). A varietyof analytical techniques were employed to enhance our understanding of the technologiesinvolved in the production of the coins.

Both volumes of this publication are intended to serve a wide audience, includingacademics-archaeologists, historians, and other researchers-as well as collectors andauction houses. For archaeologists and historians in particular, the coins are examined withintheir broader socio-cultural and geopolitical contexts, offering new insights into their purposeand function in the southern Levant during a complex and turbulent historical period.For both archaeologists and historians, the updated and revised analysis of coin distributionprovides a valuable tool for assessing the significance and implications of Samarian coincirculation. The complexity and often fragmented understanding of this coinage are reflectedVIIin the interpretative nuances presented across the diverse contributions to this publication.For researchers interested in the technological aspects of coin production, a comprehensiveappendix presents the results of hundreds of SEM-EDS analyses conducted on coins fromthe Israel Museum, Jerusalem, including specimens from the Nablus (1968) Hoard.

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