105

ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SYMBOL: THE DATE PALM IN ROMAN PALESTINE AND THE JEWS 1

Steven Fine
14 Lod Street

Jerusalem, Israel

Introduction

Numerous forces influence the appearance and maintenance of a 2 visual symbol.2 These include economic, political and mythic elements. The intention of this article is to trace the development of one small symbol, the date palm (phoenix dactyIifera),3 as it appears on coins which are related to Eretz Israel and the Jewish people from the period of the Roman governors until the close of the Bar Kokhba revolt, a period of 129 years. Through the use of numismatic, literary, and archaeological evidence the Sitz im Leben of the date palm coin type in Eretz Israel from 6 CE until 135 CE will be traced. In his monumental work, lVumismata Graeca: Greek Coin ?ypes, L. Anson notes 86 coin types which bear the palm tree as the only or the most important symbol on one of their faces. Another 69 exemplars show the palm combined with some other symbol.4 Of these, only six are related directly to Palestinian coinage.
The Date Palm Coin

Type

The date palm coin type seems to have appeared for the first time between 480 and 445 BCE in Carystus.5 During the fourth century the palm, one of several symbols used extensively in Phoenicia, was particularly popular in the Punic colonies.6 From the end of the third century BCE until well into the second century CE the palm, laden with two clumps of dates, was a particularly important Tyrian coin type7 Five, seven, and nine branched palms are represented, though seven-fronded date palms predominates This phenomenon may

106

reflect formal considerations: the image of a date palm with less than seven fronds is difficult to identify as a date palm, or at least as a hearty date palm suitable to represent a fruitful land. The date palm, heavy with two clusters of dates hanging beneath a large round comb of fronds, served as a symbol for the fecundity of Phoenicia, and particularly of Tyre. In fact, the use of the date palm type on Phoenician and Punic coins was a sort of short hand, a punning type, for Phoenicia itself.9 The Greek phoenix means both palm tree and Phoenician (or Carthaginian). Of Ansons 128 palm types, 69 derive from Phoenicia or the Punic colonies.10 The date palm type occurred on Roman coinage in Palestine four times between 6 and 59 CE: on lepta of Coponius in 6 CE,l1 of Ambibulus between 9 and 12,12 on a series struck by Herod Antipas in 38/9 CE,i3 and of Antonius Felix between 52 and 59 cE.l4 The palm types usually have seven branches, as in the Tyrian examples. C. Roth has correctly noted that the gubernatorial lepta were neither distinguished in design or execution.15 Perhaps the Roman minters simply borrowed the date palm type from Tyrian issues as a matter of convenience. Tyre is known to have exerted considerable economic influence in ancient Palestine. The Tyrian tetradrachm, which maintained the Ptolemaic standard even through later Roman devaluations, was probably the standard currency for the Holy Shekel tax paid by Jews to support the Temple.l6 Further, both this silver standard and the legends of Tyrian tetradrachms ultimately served as models for the Jewish tetradrachms of the first revolt.l7
The Date Palm in Second

Temple 1eriod Art

and Literature

a conceptual standpoint, it would have been expedient for the Roman minters to utilize the date palm. As we will see, the date palm type reflected much about the economic life of Palestine. In addition, Jews could raise no objection to the date palm as a graven image in violation of the second commandment.lg In fact, Jews had used the date palm in their own artisticl9 and literary creations,2o where it often held an important position. In this regard, a most interesting example is a bulla published by N. Avigad in 1975.21 This piece shows a date palm encompassed from the upper left to the upper right by the paleo-Hebrew inscription, Jonathan (the) king. Avigad attributes the bulla to Alexander Jannaeus (103-76 BCE), noting that this Hasmonean king borrowed the symbols for his coins (anchor, comucopiae and flower) from the current Seleucid coinage, and

From

107

he may have drawn a symbol for his seal from the same Avigad cites small bronze Tyrian coins in support of his contention, noting that this type enjoyed a wide currency in the second century.22 Why did Jannaeus choose the date palm to adorn his seal? Perhaps he thought that it represented his kingdom both to his Jewish subjects and to the outside world. Biblical references to date palms-such as Ps. 92.13 (The righteous will flourish like a date palm), or Sir. 24.14 (... I grow tall like the date palm in Ein Gedi, like rose plants in Jericho), may provide a partial picture. In lEn 24.3-25.6, the tree of life is described. The trees fruit is beautiful, and resembling the clustered fruits of a palm tree 23 In other early Jewish literature trees are frequently mentioned. In the Thanksgiving Scroll, 1QH 8.1-9.36, tree of life and plantation imagery is utilized. An interpretation of this text has been suggested in which the members of the community have been allegorized as trees of the water, indicating that some were cedars, others pines, and others elms. The author of the Psalms of Solomon25 and the Odes of Solomon26 also portray the righteous as trees, but there is no mention of the palm or of any other variety. Palm trees are apparently described in the History of the Rechabites, 27 but not in the verses that have been traced back to an early Jewish source. 28 The parable of the trees in Pseudo-Philo 37, which is built upon the imagery of Judges 9, mentions the fig tree, the vine, the apple tree, the bramble bush, and the trees of the field, but not the palm tree.29 Despite the prevalent references to a variety of types of trees, there are relatively few references in early Jewish literature that help to reduce the options for interpreting the date palzn coin type. Hellenistic interest in Judaean date palms, as reflected in the Greek and Latin authors, may help to explain how this image was understood by non-Jewish authors.

similarly
sources.

Keys to Interpretation Keys to interpreting date palms on Palestinian coins are provided by a series of three denominations issued by Herod Antipas in 38/39 CE.
of each denomination bears one element of the date Like the lepton of the Roman governors, Antipas largest denomination bears a fruit-laden date palm. The middle denomination bears a palm frond, which is a common type, used throughout the oikoumene, by the Hasmoneans, Herod, and by Antipas himself.10 The smallest denomination bears a cluster of dates. 31 The use of the
The
reverse

palm.

108 date cluster seems to have been Antipas innovation. It appears on no other ancient coins of which I am aware. Why did Antipas place such emphasis upon the date palm? Neither close economic relations with Tyre, nor the earlier gubernatorial coins, can explain the phenomenon. The answer to the riddle lies in the smallest of Antipas coins, the lepton with its cluster of dates. Palestinian date palms, and in particular Palestinian dates, were often described by Greek and Roman authors. Theophrastus (372-288/7 BCE), the first Greek author to discuss Palestinian dates, describes the date plantations of Coele-Syria. Coele-Syria is identified by M. Stem as the Jordan Rift Valley.32 Like the authors who followed him, Theophrastus was impressed by the palm groves, but mostly by the product of the trees: the dates.33 In describing the Mediterranean coast, Lucanus (35-65 CE) notes poetically the date plantations of Idume-i.e.: Judaea,34 and compares it with neighboring cities: Idume, rich in palm-plantations, tottering Tyre, and Sidon precious for its purple.3s Our sources suggest that Judaean dates had a considerable following by non-Palestinians, and these dates were even the object of some intrigue. Josephus notes that Herods lucrative plantations at Jericho were much coveted by Cleopatra, who procured them through the help of Antony in 31 BCE. In the autumn of 30, after Cleopatras death, Herod regained them through the intervention of Octavian.36 Anecdotes regarding Judaean dates, and their use in international diplomacy, survive in the writings of Athenaeus37 and Plutarch.3 According to both authors, Nicholas of Damascus, court historian of Herod the Great, sent dates to Augustus in order to further Herods relationship with the emperor. Athenaeus notes that Augustus therefore called them nicholas dates in honor of the historian. Plutarch tells a slightly different story: Herod conferred Nicholas name upon the dates because Nicholas resembled them in sweetness, slenderness and ruddiness. By the fourth century CE the Rabbis did not know why this variety was called nicholas dates.39 The most comprehensive treatment of Judaean dates occurs in the writing of Pliny the Elder (23/24-79 C):40

Judaea is even more famous for its palm trees, the nature of which will now be described. It is true that there are palms in Europe, and they are common in Italy, but these are barren. In the coastal regions of Spain they do bear fruit, but it does not ripen, and in Africa the fruit is sweet, but will not keep for any time. On the other hand, in the east the palm supplies the native races with
But

109

wine, and some of them with bread, while a very large number rely
it for cattle fodder. For this reason we are justified in describing palms of foreign countries.... There are several kinds of psalm... the other kinds are rounded and tall, and have compact rows of knobs or circles in their bark which render them easy for the eastern races to climb.... Next to these the most famous [variety of dates] is the caryotae which supply a great deal of food but also of juice, and from them the principle wines of the East are made. But not only are these trees abundant and bear largely in Judaea, but also the most famous are found there, and not in the whole country, but especially in Jericho, though those growing in the valleys of Archaelais and Phaselis and Livias 41 in the same country are spoken of. Their outstanding property is the unctuous juice which they exude and an extremely sweet sort of wine-flavour like honey. The nicholas date, belonging to this class, is not so juicy but exceptionally large in size, four put end to end making a length of eighteen inches. The date that comes next in sweetness is less attractive to look at, but in flavour is the sister of the caryotae and consequently it is called in Greek the sister date.... Of the many drier dates the finger-date forms a class of its own: it is a very long slender date, sometimes of a curved shape. The variety of this class which we offer to honour the gods is called chydaeus by the Jews, a race remarkable for their contempt for the divine powers.
on

the

palms rich in date clusters, or in Antipas case simply a date cluster, were used by the numismatic artist to denote both the impressive palms of Palestine, and pehaps more importantly, the
Date

fruit.

Linguistically, the relationship between the dates and the date palm is clear. The biblical Hebrew tamar, 42 mishnaic Hebrew dekel,13 Aramaic delka, Greek phoenix, and dakuIa,45 and the Latin palma, 46 all denote both the tree and its fruit. The linguistic conflation of the date palm and the date may be followed on our coins by the visual conflation. Further, the date palm, with clumps of dates, is a distinctive image. Antipas date clump, on the other hand, was a less than successful visual image. It was never repeated. Madden, who certainly had a good eye for ancient coins, identified it as a fig tree or an orange-tree laden with fruit.41 For the same reason we might explain the lack of a balsam type. Palestinian balsam is noted often in the literature.48 Pliny the Elder notes that Titus displayed balsam trees brought from Judaea in his triumphal march in ROme.49 There was, however, no standard and readily available balsam type to imitate. In addition, such a visual image would not be

110

Despite its economic and literary presence, balsam translatable into a quickly identified visual symbol. As we have seen, the Greek and Roman authors are clear about the quality and importance of Palestinian dates, and the impressiveness of the local palm plantations. Together with any possible Tyrian influence, this fact explains credibly the presence of date palms on Roman coins in Palestine. Any Jewish input into the choice of numismatic symbols cannot be measured. We do not know what, if any, influence Jews or concern for Jewish needs had upon the minters (be they themselves Jewish or otherwise).
was not

very distinctive.

readily

From the First Revolt

to

Bar Kokhba

In the year 70 CE, year four of the Jewish War, a tetradrachm was issued by the Jewish minting authority which is of particular interest.50 On the reverse appeared two lulav bundles flanking an etrog (citron), representing the festival of Succot.51 According to Mishnah Succah 3.2 the use of lulavs and etrogs in the ritual was particularly tied to the Temple service.52 The inscription above, in paleo-Hebrew script, reads Year four and one half. On the reverse is a date palm, flanked by two baskets full of fruit. The inscription above the tree, in paleo-Hebrew script, reads Lgeulat Zion. For the Redemption of Zion, or simply Zion.53 P. Romanoff, followed by Meshorer, identifies this palm tree with its baskets of fruits as representing the first fruits which were brought to the Temple on the festival of Shavuot, Pentecost.54 He suggests that the reverse represents Succot, and the obverse Shavuot. Two of the three pilgrimage festivals are thus expressed in this coin which is dedicated to the redemption of Zion. Unfortunately the coin had no third face so as to include Passover, and thus complete a festival series. This theory is attractive, though not the final word in interpreting this coin. Perhaps the lulav, a principle component of which is a palm frond, is related to the date palm on the other side. Whether the festival connection is accepted or not, Meshorer notes correctly that the baskets provide an excellent artistic expression of the fertility of the land.55 In regard to the first fruit offering, the second-century patriarch Shimon ben Gamaliel is cited in the Tosefta, tractate Bikku?im 1.5, as saying: First fruits of date [palms] are not brought except for the date [palms] that are in JerichoS6. The quality of Jericho dates, attested by the Greco-Roman sources, is thus attested in an early rabbinic source. It is appropriate to interpret this palm

111
terms of Jewish literature, for this is the first time that the date palm coin type has been used by Jews. It has become a Jewish numismatic type. The Judaea Capta series appeared between 71 and 82 CE in bronze, silver and gold, at mints throughout the Empire, including Caesarea Maritima.5~ The Judaea Capta type probably stems iconographically from the victory coin of Herod and Sosius of 37 BCE.18 There a large trophy is flanked by two seated and bound prisoners. The Judaea Capta series appeared in numerous variations. We will focus on two representative types. The earliest Judaea Capta issue shows a large trophy to the left, a personification of Judaea seated and bound to the right. Following sculptural models,59 later images show the trophy transformed into a date palm. From a formal standpoint, the narrow stalk supporting the heavy upper part of the trophy is here transformed into a date palm, and vice versa. This trophy is tailored specifically to represent Judaea, the newly captured nation. Is the date palm trophy a reaction to the Jewish date palm of 70? Possibly; more likely, however, the date palm appears because Judaea was known for its palm trees and their fruit. This image became the trademark of the Flavian dynasty, the victory over Judaea having boosted the credibility of Vespasian, Titus, and later, Domitian.b The seven-branched date palm appears on the reverse side of a series minted between 80 and 86 at Caesarea Maritima.61 On the obverse appears the bust of Domitian. Carradice has suggested that this issue may have served to facilitate the payment of the Fiscus Judaici, the punitive redirection of the shekel tax to the Roman imperial COfferS.62 The date palm appears to represent Judaea, and perhaps is a continuation of the Judaea Capta series. The date palm appeared three times in Palestine between 81 CE and the Second Jewish Revolt. In all three issues the bust of the emperor appears on the obverse, the date palm on the reverse. These coins echo the Caesarea coins of Domitian. On the Neapolis issue of 81 CE the bust of Domitian himself appears on the obverse, a date palm on the reverse.63 Under Agrippa II in 85-86 Domitian again appears,64 and between 98 and 117 Trajan appears-on Sephoris issues.65 That these coins do not reflect any particular Jewish66 or Jewish-Samaritan6~ iconography. A regional type is represented here, part of series which reflects the fecundity of Palestine and the local importance of the mint at Caesarea. In fact, dates were not important agriculturally in pagan/Samaritan Neopolis nor in Jewish

type in

112

Sephoris. It is possible that Jewish or Samaritan dislike of pagan symbols affected the choice of coin types, but was there any more archetypically pagan an image during this period than the bust of the

emperor?68
In 96 CE Nerva issued bronze sestertii commemorating his decision to relieve the abuses perpetrated in the collection of the Jewish taX.b9 The obverse bears the emperors image, a sevenbranched date palm appears on the reverse. The legend reads: Fisci Iudaici Calumnia Sublata. The date palm of Nervas issue represents a subtle resignification of this symbol. Jews throughout the Empire were required to pay the Jewish tax, not just those in judaea.70 The date palm symbolized the Jewish minority group within the Empire, both Palestinian and Diaspora Jewry being represented. Meshorer makes a similar point, stating that: this design came to symbolize both Judaea and Jewish affairs.71 During the Bar Kokhba revolt of 132-135 seven-branched date palms appeared on Bar Kokhbas bronze denomination. Hart suggests that the frequency of the palm tree on the coins of the Second Revolt is a deliberate rejection of the Roman yoke, a deliberate echo of an answer to the Flavian issues of long ago.~2 On the reverse is a cluster of grapes. The grape and the date are used to reflect the fecundity of Eretz Israel. There is no evidence to suggest any further program.~3 In 1916 Kohl and Watzinger suggested a connection between the numismatic representation of the date palm and the date palms which appear on two consoles from the synagogue at Capernaum and in Jewish funerary reliefs.74 Following upon them, L. Kadman implicitly claimed continuity between the seven-branched image on Bar Kokhba coins and one of the consoles at the Capernaum synagogue, upon which a seven-branched date palm appears L. Mildenberg has suggested a further connection: Noteworthy, however, on Bar Kokhba pieces-and on a rare Herodian bronze coin 76 and a stone architectural fragment from the Capernaum synagogue is the fact that the tree always has seven branches-which can hardly be interpreted as anything but a reference to the menorah.7~ Kohl and Watzingers dating of the Capernaum synagogue which places its building in the late 2nd century CE, would suggest less than a hundred year spread between the Bar Kokhba coins and the Capernaum synagogue. Recent dating of this structure to the fifth century, however, would probably preclude any
...

113 direct connection.&dquo; This, however, is not the real problem. The second console at Capernaum does not have seven fronds, but eieven!8 Seven does not now appear to have been chosen with great intentionality. 81 If it had been, then both consoles might be expected to display seven-branched date palms. Already in 1964 P. Romanoff argued against interpreting the seven branched date palm as a menorah, stating that none of the symbols of this period suggest the Menorah. 82 The question why, when other cult objects were used by the minters of the two Jewish revolts, the menorah did not appear is certainly worthy of further consideration. 83

Conclusion The history of the date palm coin type is not a pivotal question in the academic study of late antiquity. The hermeneutical issues which the interpretation of this coin type raises, however, do have broader implications for the interpretation of Jewish symbols, and visual images in general. The correlation of historiographic approaches, ancient literature, archaeological remains and the coins themselves, in the development of a cogent interpretation requires extreme caution, and to my mind the minimalist interpretation is to be preferred.84 As J. Charlesworth has recently noted:

literary data, which is couched in a language which tends to display an intended meaning, are characteristically different from archaeological symbols, which belong to a language that only points toward an intended but often inexpressible thought....
...

NOTES
1. A preliminary version of this essay was delivered at the W.F. Albright Institute for Archaeological Research, Jerusalem on January 5, 1989.I thank the following individuals for their insights during the of this paper: Prof. Dan Barag, Mrs Leah B. Fine, Mr Arthur Houghton, Prof. Stephen S. Kayser, Prof. Lawrence H. Schiffman, Dr. Daniel R. Schwartz, Dr. Bruce Zuckerman. Thanks also to Prof. James H. Charlesworth for his encouragement and assistance in the final editing process. This study was completed during the authors tenure as a Lady Davis fellow at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It is dedicated to the memory of Professor Menahem Stem. 2. On the definition of symbol see A. Funkenstein, Nachmanides

preparation

114

Reading of History, Studies in Jewish Mysticism, eds. J. Dan and F. Talmage (Cambridge, 1982), pp. 131 and n. 11.
3. On the palm tree in the classical world, see H.F. Fracchia, The Iconography of the Palm in Greek Art: Significance and Symbolism, Ph.D. dissertation, Berkeley, University of California, Department of Art History, 1979), pp. 59-67, and bibliography cited in n. 279; I. Löw, Die Flora der Juden (Vienna and Leipzig, 1924), pp. 303-62; idem, Aramaeische Pflanzen namen (Leipzig, 1881), pp. 109-27. 4. L. Anson, Numismata Graeca: Greek Coin Types (London, 1911), vol. III, pp. 37-44, nos. 370-441. No. 440 shows two palms, the reverse of 441 has three palms with one root.
5. Anson, Numismata 6. Anson, Numismata 440. M. Narkiss, Coins

Graeca, vol. III, p. 32, nos. 309-310. Graeca, vol. III, pp. 30-41, nos. 284-308, 364, 375of Palestine (Jerusalem, 1938), vol. II, p.38 (in

Hebrew).
7. G.F. Hill, A Catalogue of the Greek Coins of Phoenicia in the British Museum (London, 1910), nos. 253-254, 258-259, 265-267. 8. E. Rogers, The Second and Third Seleucid Coinage of Tyre (New York,

1927).
9. There is some discussion as to the derivation of this word. Phoenix can refer to both the color purple and to the date palm. Refer to sources cited in

3; LSJ, p. 1948; S. Segert, A Grammar of Phoenician and Punic (Munich, 1976), pp. 17-18; Y. Meshorer, Ancient Jewish Coins (Dix Hill, 1982), vol. II, p. 145 n. 218.
note

10. Anson, Numismata Graeca, vol. III, pp. 30-44. 11. Meshorer, Ancient Jewish Coins, vol. II, p. 281, nos. 1-2. On the obverse is an ear of grain. 12. Meshorer, Ancient Jewish Coins, vol. II, p. 281. nos. 3-5a. On the obverse is an ear of grain. 13. Meshorer, Ancient Jewish Coins, vol. II, p. 243, nos. 17-19. 14. Meshorer, Ancient Jewish Coins, vol. II, p. 284, nos 29-31a. On the obverse are two shields and two spears crossed. Caesarea issue: p. 286, no. 7, obverse: amphora: no. 8. obverse: inscription with wreath. Cf. Meshorers comments pp. 188-89. 15. C. Roth, The Historical Implications of Jewish Coinage of the First IEJ 12 (1962), p. 24; H. St. Hart, Judaea and Rome: The Official Revolt, Commentary, JTS n.s. 3 (1952), p. 181 n. 5. 16. Tosefta, Tractate Ketubot, ed. S. Lieberman (New York, 1967), 12(13):6 and parallels. Compare Meshorer, One Hundred and Ninety Years of Tyrian Shekels, Studies in Honor of Leo Mildenberg, ed. A. Houghton et al. (Wetteren, 1984), pp. 171-79; A. Ben David, Jerusalem and Tyros (Basel, 1969); C. Roth, The Historical Implications, p. 34. 17. C. Roth, The Historical Implications, p. 24. 18. For a most interesting discussion of this issue see J. Gutmann, The

115
Second Commandment and the Image in Judaism, HUCA 32 (1961), pp. 161-74. 19. For example, P. Figueras, Decorated Jewish Ossuaries (Leiden, 1983), pp. 42-43, plates 11-13; M. Avi-Yonah, Art in Ancient Palestine, eds. H. Katzenstein and Y. Tsafrir (Jerusalem, 1981), pp. 71-156; V. Sussman, Ornamented Jewish Oil Lamps (Jerusalem and London, 1982), pp. 48-49,

101-103. 20. Deut. 34.3; Judg. 1.16, 3.13; 2 Chron. 28.15; Sir. 24.13-14; Rabbinic sources are collected in J. Taglicht, Die Dattelpalme in Palästina, Adolf Schwarz Festschrift, eds. V. Aptowitzer, S. Krauss (Vienna, 1917), pp. 49316 ; M.D. Gross, Ozar ha-Midrashim (Jerusalem, 1954), vol. I, pp. 1402-1403 (in Hebrew). Naturally, rabbinic materials are difficult to use in interpreting the 1st century, and must be employed with the utmost caution. 21. N. Avigad, A Bulla of King Jonathan, IEJ 25 (1975), pp. 245-46. Thanks to Prof. Dan Barag for bringing this piece to my attention.
22. Avigad, A. Bulla, p. 246, n. 8. 23. 1En 24.4, tr. E. Isaac in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, ed. J.H. Charlesworth (Garden City, 1983), vol. I, p. 26. 24. Cf. J. Licht, The Thanksgiving Scroll (Jerusalem, 1957), pp. 131-42 (in Hebrew); S. Holin-Nielsen, Hodayot: Psalms from Qumran (Copenhagen, 1960), pp. 142-70; and especially n. 3, pp. 148-49. See sources cited in n. 3. Cf. also Charlesworths forthcoming article in the S. Talmon Festschrift. Thanks to Prof. Charlesworth for bringing this source, and the Pseudepigraphic sources, noted below, to my attention. 25. Pss. Sol. 14.3-4, in OTP, vol. II, p. 663. On tree symbolism in the ancient Near East see E.R. Goodenough, Jewish Symbols in the GrecoRoman Period (New York, 1953-68), vol. VII, pp. 87-134 and bibliography cited. 26. Odes Sol. 11.16a-24, in OTP, vol. II, pp. 745-46. 27. Hist. Rech 3.1-4; 17.4, in OTP, vol. II, pp. 451, 461. 28. On the text history of this work, see Charlesworth, OTP, vol. II pp. 444-45. 29. Charlesworth, OTP, vol. II, pp. 350-51. 30. Meshorer, Ancient Jewish Coins, vol. II, pp. 38-39, 242-243, nos.13-16. Meshorer suggests that Antipas usage may relate to the founding of Tiberias. Cf. also vol. I, p. 147; and vol. II, p. 25. 31. Meshorer, Ancient Jewish Coins, vol. II, p. 243, nos. 16-19 and note 22. 32. Historia Plantarum, 2.6.2-8, tr. A. Hort in M. Stem, Greek and Latin Authors on Jews and Judaism (Jerusalem, 1974), vol. I, pp. 13-14, and n. 2. 33. Greek and Latin authors who touch upon these issues are collected by Taglicht, Die Dattelpalme in Palästina, pp. i-xiv; M. Stem, Greek and Latin Authors, vol. I, p. 494, n. 26; E. Schürer (rev. edn, G. Vermes et al.), The History of the Jewish People in the Age ofJesus Christ (Edinburgh, 1973-86),

116
vol. I, pp. 298-300, n. 36. On Palestinian trade during the Greco-Roman period see M. Rostovtzeff, The Social and Economic History of the Hellenistic World (Oxford, 1941), p. 1439, nn. 148-149; and L.C. West, Commercial Trade under the Roman Empire, Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association 55 (1924), pp. 159-89. 34. M. Stem, Greek and Latin Authors, vol. I, p. 440. 35. Pharsalia, 3.216-217, tr. J.D. Duff in M. Stem. Greek and Latin Authors, vol. I, p. 439. 36. Jewish War, tr. H. St. J. Thackery (Cambridge and London, 19561957), 1.396-7; Antiquities of the Jews, tr. H. St. J. Thackery and R. Marcus (Cambridge and London, 1956-1957), 15.217; E.M. Smallwood, The Jews under Roman Rule (Leiden, 1976), pp. 62, 70. 37. The Delphosophists 14.652, tr. C.B. Gulich (London and Cambridge,

1950), p. 523. 38. Quaestiones Convivales 8.4 in Moralia, tr. P.A. Clement and H.B. Hoffleit (London and Cambridge, 1969), vol. XVI, pp. 144-47. See also B.Z. Wachholder, Nicholas of Damascus (Los Angeles, 1962), p. 1 n. 1. 39. S. Lieberman, Palestine in the Third and Fourth Centuries, JQR 37 (1946-47), pp. 51-52.
40. Historia Naturalis 13.26-46, tr. H. Rackham in M. Stem, Greek and Latin Authors, vol. I, pp. 490-94. Cf. H. Kohl and C. Watzinger, Antike Synagogen in Galilaea (Leipzig, 1916), pp.186-87; Hart, Rome and Jerusalem, p. 185; J. Meyshan, (An Unknown Variant and Date of the Judaea Capta Coins, Essays in Jewish Numismatics (Jerusalem, 1968), p. 137. 41. The Transjordanian city of Livias, noted by Pliny for its dates, was renamed by Antipas for Augustus wife. Cf. Smallwood, The Jews under Roman Rule, p. 119. 42. BDB, p. 1071. 43. Nathan b. Yehiel, Arukh Completum, rev. ed. A. Kohut (Philadelphia, 1955), vol. III, pp. 123-25. 44. Cf. note 8. 45. H. Lewy, Die Semitischen Fremdwörter im Griechischen (Berlin, 1885), pp. 20-21. A Latin Dictionary, eds. C.H. Lewis & C. Short (Oxford, 1890), 46.

p. 1293.
47. F.W. Madden, Rare or Unpublished Jewish Coins, Numismatic Chronicle, N.S. 19 (1879), p. 19; cited by Y. Meshorer, Jewish Coins of the Second Temple Period (Tel Aviv, 1967), p. 73; and idem, Ancient Jewish Coins, vol. II, p. 205 n. 22. 48. Stem, Greek and Latin Authors, vol. I, pp. 489-90. 49. Historia Naturalis 12.111-124; Stem, Greek and Latin Authors, vol. I, pp. 485-90; M. Avi Yonah, The Jews under Roman and Byzantine Rule (Jerusalem, 1984), p. 16; M. Broshi, The Role of the Temple in the Herodian Economy, JJS 38 (1987), pp. 35-36; Smallwood, The Jews under Roman Rule, p. 340 n. 2.

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50. Meshorer, Ancient Jewish Coins, vol. II, p. 262, no. 27. 51. Compare m. Sukkah 3.4,8. A bundle consisting of a palm frond ), lulav ( myrtle and willow twigs bound together. 52. Cf. Shisha Sidrei Mishnah, ed. Ch. Albeck (Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, 1959), comment on m. Sukkah 3.4,8, vol. 2, pp. 266, 268, 476; 2. Macc. 2.7. 53. Meshorer, Ancient Jewish Coins, vol. II, p. 262, no. 28, which has nine fronds. 54. Romanoff, Jewish Symbols on Ancient Jewish Coins (Philadelphia, 1964), pp. 19-20; Meshorer, Ancient Jewish Coins, vol. II, pp. 120-22, and n. 75. 55. Meshorer, Ancient Jewish Coins, vol. II, pp. 121-22. 56. The Tosefta, ed. S. Lieberman, vol. I, p. 287. 57. Hart, Judaea and Rome, pp. 178-90, pl. 1-4; C.M. Kraay, The Judaea Capta Sestertii of Vespasian, Israel Numismatic Journal 3 (1963), pp. 4546. 58. Hart, Judaea and Rome, p. 164, pl. 181. 59. Hart, Judaea and Rome, pp. 172-73, 180-81, 190, pl. 6; A.C. Levi, Barbarians on Roman Imperial Coins and Sculpture (New York, 1952),

p. 10.
60.

Meshorer,

Hart, Judaea and Rome, p. 177, 183; Kraay, Judaea Capta, p. 46. Ancient Jewish Cones, vol. II, p.190-97; D. Barag, The

Palestinian "Judaea Capta" Coins of Vespasian and Titus and the Era of the Coins of Agrippa II Minted Under the Flavians, Numismatic Chronicle 138 (1978), pp. 14-21. 61. Meshorer, Ancient Jewish Coins, vol. II, pp. 194-97, 290-91, nos. 9, 9a, 9b 62. Smallwood, The Jews under Roman Rule, pp. 371-78, 380, 385. 63. Y. Meshorer, The City Coins of Eretz Israel and the Decapolis (Jerusalem, 1985), p. 48, nos. 123-24. 64. Meshorer, Ancient Jewish Coins, vol. II, p. 254, nos. 28-29. 65. Meshorer, The City Coins, p. 36, nos. 88-89. 66. Meshorer, The City Coins, p. 36; Y. Meshorer, Sephoris and Rome, Greek Numismatics and Archaeology: Studies in Honor of Margaret Thompson, eds. O. Mørkholm and N.M. Waggoner (Wettern, 1979), pp. 15972. 67. Meshorer, The City Coins, p. 48. 68. On the emperor cult, see S.R.F. Price, Rituals and Power: The Roman Imperial Cult in Asia Minor (London, 1984), and the bibliography cited there. In addition see: E.E. Urbach, Rabbinical Laws of Idolatry in the 2nd and 3rd Century in Light of the Archaeological and Historical Facts, IEJ 8 (1959), pp. 149-65, 229-45; E. Netzer, The Augusteum at Samaria-Sebaste, Eretz Israel 19(1987), pp. 97-105 (in Hebrew with English summary). 69. Hart, Judaea and Rome, p. 190, pl. 4, no. 8.

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70. Smallwood, The Jews under Roman Rule, pp. 371-78, 380, 385. 71. Meshorer, Ancient Jewish Coins, vol. II, p.145; Avi-Yonah, The Jews under Roman and Byzantine Rule, p. 38. 72. Hart, Judaea and Rome, p. 185 n. 2. 73. Meshorer, Ancient Jewish Coins, vol. II, p. 145; compare Gary G. Porton, The Grape-Cluster in Jewish Literature and Art in Late Antiquity JJS 27.2 (1976), pp. 159-76; J. Patrich, Reconstructing the Temple, Bible Review 4.5(1988), p. 24. 74. Kohl and Watzinger, Antike Synagogen, pp. 185-88. 75. L. Kadman, Coins of the Jewish Revolt of 66-73 C.E. (Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, 1960), p. 90; P. Romanoff, Jewish Symbols, pp.28-31; Cf. Meshorer, Ancient Jewish Coins, vol. II, p. 111n. 56. 76. That of Herod Antipas, discussed above. 77. L. Mildenberg, The Coins of the Bar Kokhba War (Frankfurt am Main and Salzburg, 1984), p. 48. As previously noted, there is no evidence to suggest that Bar Kokhbas minters had earlier usages of the date palm coin type in mind. 78. This piece appears in H. Shanks, Judaism in Stone (New York, 1979), p. 61. The fact that this console is not reproduced in Kohl and Watzinger, Antike Synagogen, probably accounts for the assumption that the palm trees on both consoles have seven fronds. 79. S. Loffreda, The Late Chronology of the Synagogue at Capernaum, IEJ 23 (1973), pp. 37-42. 80. Kohl and Watzinger, Antike Synagogen, pp. 14-21; G. Foerster revises this dating somewhat, suggesting a 2nd or 3rd century date (Recent Excavations at Capernauan, IEJ 21 (1971), pp. 207-209). 81. R. Hachlili. Unidentical Symmetrical Composition in Synagogue Art, Ancient Synagogues Symposium Abstracts (Haifa, May, 1987), p. 12. 82. Romanoff, Jewish Symbols, pp.28-30; Compare Meshorer, Ancient Jewish Coins, vol. II, p. 111 n. 56. 83. In personal correspondence, dated 15 September 1986, Dr. Mildenberg has explained that I simply think that the rebels may have had in mind also the Menorah, not only the other date palm coins.