Abstract
In the shallow underwater zone adjacent to Naḥal Megadim on the Carmel coast, a concentration of bronze objects, among them coins from the Hellenistic and Mamluk periods, were discovered. The coins belonged to three hoards: 55 medium-sized Ptolemaic bronze coins (Hoard 1), probably from the joint reign of Cleopatra III and Ptolemy IX; 19 silver tetradrachms (Hoard 2), ranging from Ptolemy VIII to Ptolemy X (152/1–100/99 BCE); and 10 bronze coins that were found within an amphora (Hoard 3), dating between c. 180(?) and 168 BCE. It is likely that the Ptolemaic silver coins of Hoard 2 belonged to the ship’s owner, a crew member or a passenger, and were current at the time the ship was lost, thus suggesting that the ship was Ptolemaic. The presence of Ptolemaic, Seleucid and Lycian coins in Hoard 3 attests that the ship visited diverse ports, one of its last stops being in Egypt or, more likely, Cyprus.
Keywords
Mediterranean coast, numismatics, marine archaeology, shipwreck, mint, commerce, trade
Recommended Citation
Syon, Danny; Lorber, Catharine; and Galili, Ehud
(2013)
"Underwater Ptolemaic Coin Hoards from Megadim (pp. 1–8),"
'Atiqot: Vol. 74, Article 1.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.70967/2948-040X.1617
Available at:
https://publications.iaa.org.il/atiqot/vol74/iss1/1
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