377. ARABIA, Southern. Qataban. Unknown ruler(s). Circa 350-320/00 BC. AR Tetradrachm (20mm, 16.59 g, 9h). Imitating Athens. Helmeted head of Athena right / Owl standing right, head facing; to left, olive spray and crescent above uncertain monogram in circle; ~Q[E] to right. Unpublished. VF, toned, a couple tiny flan flaws on obverse, indications of undertype on reverse. Unique with this monogram. ($2000) This is the first known Qatabanian tetradrachm with a monogram on the reverse that is not the Royal Qatabanian monogram (see next lot).
378. ARABIA, Southern. Qataban. Unknown ruler(s). Circa 350-320/00 BC. AR Tetradrachm (20mm, 16.74 g, 9h). Imitating Athens. Helmeted head of Athena right; on neck guard, monogram of mq (mq in South Arabian) / Owl standing right, head facing; olive spray and crescent to left, 0 (Royal Qatabanian monogram) and ~Q[E] to right. Unpublished. VF, toned, shallow cut on obverse, indications of undertype on reverse. Unique with monogram on obverse. ($2500)
379. ARABIA, Southern. Qataban. Shahr Hilal Yuhan’im. Circa 50-25 BC. AR Hemidrachm (14mm, 1.95 g, 12h). ḤRB mint. Bare male head right; my3 llh rh3 (ŠR HLL ŠYM in South Arabian) above / Bearded head right; [...]my3 (ŠYM [...] in South Arabian) above, ∫ behind neck, brh (ḤRB in South Arabian [mint name]) below neck, [monogram before neck]. Unpublished. Good VF, lightly toned. Unique coin of this king with obverse legend. ($1000) Shahr Hilal Yuhan’im ruled the South Arabian kingdom of Qataban, with its capital Timna’, from circa 50–25 BC. He was the successor of Yad’ab Dhubyan Yuhan’im, whose previous dates (c. 155–135 BC, cf. CCK 358-62) have now been convincingly revised by Prof. Christian Robin to circa 75–50 BC (forthcoming publication). Yad’ab Dhubyan was the issuer of a spectacular tetradrachm (cf. Triton XVI, lot 404). The present coin is the first ever known coin of Yad’ab’s son and successor. He himself was succeeded by Hawaf’am Yuhan’im of whom two coins with the Qatabanian mint-mark ḤRB are known (CCK 377 and 378), and whose dates may now have to be raised by about 50 years. Robin’s research on the Qatabanian rulers, partially based on coins from the CCK collection and the extremely rare tetradrachms of Yad’ab, has firmly established the succeding kings of the dynasty of Waraw’il Ghaylan, thus providing a much-needed anchoring ground within an as yet uncertain chronology. The legend on these Qatabanian coins almost always consists of the king’s name followed by the verb šym, meaning ‘has made’ or has erected’ (thus corresponding to the Latin ‘fecit’). However, it is as yet unclear as to what achievement this formula refers to. Another thorny question is the identification of the head on the reverse (cf. M. Huth, “Gods and Kings” in CCK).
380. ARABIA, Southern. Saba’. Late 4th–mid 2nd centuries BC. AR nsf – Unit (16mm, 4.76 g, 7h). Imitating Athens. Helmeted head of Athena right, n (n in South Arabian [mark of value]) on cheek / Owl standing right, head facing; olive spray and crescent to left, © and ÅQE to right. Huth, Athenian, Symbol 32 var.; Van Alfen, Studies, Series SII.B.24 = Huth 224 var. (monogram); CAF –; HGC 10, –. VF, softly struck on obverse. Unique with this monogram. ($300) 99