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The Syriac coinage by Wael includes an issue representing the bust of King Wael, on the reverse, and the head of the Parthian king, Vologases IV, on the obverse, arguably celebrating Parthian friendship before the end of the Roman–Parthian war (161–166), as a result of which Osrhoene became a satellite kingdom of Rome (see ssss1); the only Syriac inscription on these coins indicates the identity of the sovereign with the label “King Wael” (Co1). Another issue by Wael presents his bust similarly identified in Syriac as “King Wael,” and, on the reverse, a temple accompanied by the inscription “the God Nah∙ay” (this god is also mentioned in Bs 2, a funerary monument for a religious functionary, a budar, of Nah∙ay; Healey 2019: 53–54). In the best-preserved examples of this issue, the temple is seen in three-quarters perspective, with a star depicted on the pediment, and with a cube-shaped betyl lying on a pedestal beneath the doorway (Co 2). The only other known coins with Syriac inscriptions, by the kings Ma‘nu VIII and Abgar VIII, have a simpler iconography; they all represent the bearded bust of the king on the obverse, wearing a tall tiara, and, on the reverse, the Syriac legend “King Ma‘nu,” or “King Abgar,” encircled by a wreath (Co 3 and Co 4). The representations in coins of Edessene kings shows a clear debt to Parthian royal iconography (Winkelmann 2007).

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