A small coin from the heart of Christianity

Twelve Tribes of Israel

The book of Genesis notes that Jacob, son of Abraham, wrestled God and was renamed Israel. He went on to have 12 sons:

1. Reuben.
2. Simeon.
3. Levi.
4. Judah.
5. Dan.
6. Naphtali.
7. Gad.
8. Asher.
9. Issachar.
10. Zebulun.
11. Joseph.
12. Benjamin.

In Joshua Chapter 13, the first verse reads: “When Joshua had grown old, the Lord said to him, ‘You are now very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over.’” The remainder of Joshua 13 – 22 details the division of land between the twelve sons of Jacob. The twelve tribes of Israel.

(Map of the 12 tribes areas, from BibleOdyssey.org).

The cities included in the map from BibleOdyssey, are mentioned in the Bible as important during the premonarchic period, and many of them were used to define boundaries between tribes. During this period, Jerusalem was called Jebus and was not yet the capital of the Davidic kingdom.

Bible.ca includes a map with links to bible versions related to various cities. CasualEnglishBible.com includes a map overlaid over modern borders of Israel, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.

Over time, 10 of the tribes formed the northern kingdom of Israel and two of the tribes formed the southern kingdom of Judah. Due to their breaking of His laws, God allowed the northern kingdom to be taken captive by the Assyrians and, later, the southern kingdom to be taken by the Babylonians.

After 70 years, many of the captives of Judah returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt the city. Because of this and their renewed diligence in keeping God’s Sabbath, their history continued. However, the northern 10 tribes largely disappeared from history. As a result, they are sometimes referred to as the lost 10 tribes of Israel. But while their nation disappeared, the descendants of these people continued to exist.

Judaea

David had been the first king of Judah. His line ruled the kingdom from around 1,000 BC, until it was taken by the Babylonians in 586 BC.

When the Persian king Cyrus conquered the Babylonians in 539 B.C., he secured the periphery of his empire by allowing his new subjects to return home. Although some Judaeans stayed in Mesopotamia, those who returned rebuilt Jerusalem, the temple, and Judaean society.

Yehud is the Aramaic version of ‘Judah’ (Hebrew Yehudah). In the Persian empire, where Aramaic was the common language of the western part of the empire, it was the name of the administrative province succeeding to some, but by no means all, of the former territory of the kingdom of Judah. In recent scholarly work it has become common to refer to Judah by this name when dealing with the Persian period (539-323 BCE), just as it is called Judaea in reference to the Roman period.

Yehud (and its capital Jerusalem) is mentioned numerous times during the Persian period in the book of Ezra, and in the book of Nehemiah.

Alexander the Great arrived in Israel in approximately 329 BC, during the reign of the great High Priest, the last of the Men of the Great Assembly, Simon the Just. The Jews were not about to defeat Alexander in battle; therefore, the correct way to deal with the matter was to come to an accommodation with him.

As long as they would be his loyal vassals and pay their taxes they could remain autonomous. That was an enormous concession because Alexander was rarely that accommodating to anyone.

Out of gratitude to Alexander, the Jews did a few things. First, they agreed to name every child born the next year “Alexander.” That is why the name Alexander, or Sender for short, became a common Jewish name even to this day.

The northern empire was ruled by Seleucus and became known as the Seleucid Dynasty. He was headquartered in the city that is today Damascus. The southern empire was ruled by Ptolemy and was headquartered in the city of Alexandria, which had been renamed in honour of Alexander.

The two generals agreed upon virtually everything — except the line that divided the northern empire from the southern. That put the Land of Israel smack in the middle of their disagreement. The Jews were caught in this tremendous power struggle. The story of the next 130 years would be the balancing act of the Jewish people between the two giants. Sometimes the Jews teetered to the south and sometimes to the north. The south attempted to win the Jewish people by persuasion and culture. The north attempted to do so by force. Both would fail.

The Romans conquered Jerusalem in 63 B.C. This brought the region under Roman control, though they used local leaders to govern. The most famous was a ruthless military commander named Herod the Great (37-4 B.C.). After Herod’s death in 4 B.C.E., his son Herod Antipas ruled Galilee in the north. He is the Herod mentioned in accounts of Jesus’ ministry. Another son ruled the south until 6 C.E., when the Romans began sending their own governors to Judaea. Pontius Pilate was one of these. The Romans used local agents to collect taxes. The agents made a profit by adding their own fees, which made most people resent them.

In 135 AD, after stamping out the province of Judaea’s second insurrection, the Romans renamed the province Syria Palaestina—that is, “Palestinian Syria.” They did so resentfully, as a punishment, to obliterate the link between the Jews (in Hebrew, Y’hudim and in Latin Judaei) and the province (the Hebrew name of which was Y’hudah). “Palaestina” referred to the Philistines, whose home base had been on the Mediterranean coast.

The term “Palestine” was used for millennia without a precise geographic definition. That’s not uncommon—think of “Transcaucasus” or “Midwest.” No precise definition existed for Palestine because none was required. Since the Roman era (until recently), the name lacked political significance.

Coins were issued in the “Syria Palaestina” province until at least 251 AD, through the Byzantine period and into the Umayyad Caliphate, after Jerusalem was lost to the Arabian Khalif Omar in 637 AD. Today, coins are still minted in Jerusalem (and Israel generally) by the Israel Coins and Medals Corp. (ICMC), which produces commemorative coins, medals, and bullion for the Bank of Israel and collectors, though the main production of everyday currency for Israel often involves overseas mints like South Korea.

The vision of David

Daniel 7 starts: “2 Daniel said: ‘In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. 3 Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea.’”

After descriptions of the four beasts, Daniel 15-18 states: “15 “I, Daniel, was troubled in spirit, and the visions that passed through my mind disturbed me. 16 I approached one of those standing there and asked him the meaning of all this.

“So he told me and gave me the interpretation of these things: 17 ‘The four great beasts are four kings that will rise from the earth. 18 But the holy people of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever—yes, for ever and ever.’”

According to Jewish tradition (Midrash, Leviticus Rabbah 13:5), each beast represents one of the four major empires that would exile the Jews: Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome.

Obverse

The obverse contains an inscription within wreath, bottom tied with Χ, “NEP WNO C”, which translates to “of Nero”. The coin was issued during the reign of Roman Emperor Nero

Nero reigned from 54 AD (when he was just 16) to 68 AD. This coin is an interesting juxtaposition – issued from the city at the heart of Christendom, yet under one of the Roman Emperors most famous for persecuting Christians.

Reverse

The reverse features a Palm branch, with lettering “LΕ ΚΑΙCΑΡΟC”, which means “Year 5 of Caesar” (dating it to 58 – 59 AD, the fifth year of Nero’s reign.

Palm branches and trees were not uncommon on coins from this region. The branch on this particular coin is quite prominent and tactile, with the coin being slightly convex on this side (fatter in the middle) and flat on the obverse. I must admit, I was particularly interested in this coin because of the amazing history of the region it came from. What is a region of the world you find fascinating and enjoy the coins from for that reason? Do let us know below!