دراسة لمجموعة العملات الأثينية و البطلمية بمتحف طنطا

Abstract EN

This research deals with the collection of Athenian and Ptolemaic coins preserved in Tanta Museum.

This group is studied and published here for the first time.

The main motivation behind choosing this group for study was the scarcity of Athenian and Ptolemaic coins- known for their significance- that were found in the regions of the middle of the delta.

This group includes thirty-one silver and bronze coins of various denominations, multiple versions, and different sources.

The data of this research are based on the current state of the currency in terms of the clarity of the inscriptions and images on its face back.

In addition, the group includes coins whose condition has been damaged.

Therefore, it is impossible to read these coins as their inscriptions are eroded or obliterated.

This study aims to observe and document this rare collection in the Tanta Museum.

It is expected that it might be damaged or eroded due to their current poor condition.

Moreover, the study attempts to link the sources of the currency, its places, the mint and the year of issuance if any, and to determine the categories.

The study is based on the descriptive and inductive analytical approach adopting a descriptive study that documents the current state of the currency, its images, inscriptions, denominations, and mint.

The study is supported by measurements, weight and images.

The coins are arranged historically and compared with their counterparts.

Investigating this group of coins, which were published for the first time, shows that they represent styles of early Alexandrian coins, in addition to a single Athenian coin.

The coins are minted in the mint of Alexandria, Baphos and Athens.

The materials for their manufacture varied from silver and bronze.

None of them were gold coins.

Despite the small number of coins of the Ptolemaic group in Tanta Museum, they are diverse categories.

Besides, they are characterized by the diversity of the elements depicted on them, where the face bears the official image of Alexander the Great or King Ptolemy the First, as well as the goddess Athena on the face of a single silver coin, and the images of the idol Zeus Amun on other coins.

On the other hand, the subjects depicted on the back are gods, religious symbols and deities' allocations in accordance with the sacred official character of the Alexandrian coin.

In sum, the collection of the Ptolemaic currency in Tanta Museum deserves to be examined and published, in order to avoid being exposed to damage.

Since that collection has multiple sources, including what is loaned from the Greek and Roman Museums in Alexandria and Port Said Museum, most of it came from the central Delta region, hence its semantic status which confirms the use of currency in the early Ptolemaic period in the cities and regions of the Delta.