Bis vor einigen Monaten hielt ich es noch für sehr unwahrscheinlich, daß einmal eine der wenigen ägyptischen Münzen aus pharaonischer Zeit den weiten Weg in meine Sammlung finden würde.
Doch dann kam sie :
[ externes Bild ]
Egypt, Nektanebo II (XXXth Dynasty, the last native ruler and Pharaoh of Egypt 361-343 BC.), Memphis (?) mint, struck 361-343 BC.,
Æ 15 (Æ-Tetartemorion?) (15 mm / 3,39 g), bronze, axes coin alignment ↑↓ (ca. 180°),
Obv.: ram running left, head turned back, dotted border.
Rev.: scales (balance) with two pellets below, dotted border.
Weiser, Cologne/Köln university coll., p. 16, 1 - otherwise unlisted .
Probably the earliest bronze coin of Egypt. Nectanebo II´s gold coinage has long been known but his extremely rare bronzes have only been recently identified, maybe produced as small change for the mercenary troops that protected the kingdom.
probably the 6th known specimen
5th: LHS Numismatik AG Auction Auction 102 (29.04.2008) Lot 317,
http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=23985 ;
4th: ANS 2010.56.1 (
http://numismatics.org/collection/2010.56.1, ex. Source Freeman & Sear Auction Mail Bid Sale 14 (21.06.2007,
http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=7869) Lot 285),
two others are in private collections (3rd: ex Triton VIII, 11 January 2005, 570 and
2nd: ex Gorny & Mosch 56, 6 March 2007, 1634),
1st.: Köln university coll. (Weiser no. 1) .
Nectanebo II (Manetho's transcription of Egyptian Nakhthorheb (Nḫht-Ḥr-Ḥbyt, "Strong is Horus of Hebit"), ruled in 360—342 BC.) was the third and last pharaoh of the Thirtieth dynasty, as well as the last native ruler of Ancient Egypt. Under Nectanebo II, Egypt prospered. During his reign, the Egyptian artists delivered a specific style that left a distinctive mark on the relief sculpture of the Ptolemaic era. Like his indirect predecessor Nectanebo I, Nectanebo II showed enthusiasm for nearly every Egyptian cult and more than a hundred Egyptian sites bear evidence of his attentions. Nectanebo II, however, undertook more constructions and restorations than Nectanebo I, commencing in particular the enormous temple of Isis (Iseum).
For several years, Nectanebo II was successful in keeping Egypt safe from the Achaemenid Empire. Betrayed by his former servant Mentor of Rhodes, however, Nectanebo II was ultimately defeated by the combined Persian-Greek forces in the 343 BC Battle of Pelusium. In 342 BC, the Persians occupied Memphis and the rest of Egypt, incorporating the country back into the Achaemenid Empire. Nectanebo fled south and preserved his power for some time; his subsequent fate is unknown.
