197, Lot: 94. Estimate $100. Sold for $98. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

JUDAEA, Gaza. Hadrian. AD 117-138. Æ 22mm (11.15 g, 12h). Dated CY 193 and Epidemia 4 (AD 132/3). Laureate and draped bust right / Tyche standing left, holding scepter and cornucopia; heifer at feet to left, Marnas symbol in right field, dates in legend. Hendin 865 var. (date); Rosenberger 62; SNG ANS -. Near VF, brown patina, minor porosity.

From the J.S. Wagner Collection.

Hadrian visited Gaza more than once, and it was upon such a visit in 128 AD that an additional reckoning date, that of the επιδημία (imperial visit) was added. During one of his trips the great temple of Zeus-Marnas may have been founded, as it first appears on the coins of Hadrian. The presence of the heifer, associated in classical mythology with Io, one of Zeus' many lovers and the distant ancestress of Hercules, may refer to an incarnation of the Egyptian goddess Hathor, whom the ancient Philistines, founders of the city, worshipped.