Double cornucopiae; pomegranate between horns // Paleohebrew inscription in wreath Yehonatan hacohen hagadol haver hayehudim (“Yehonatan the High Priest (and) the Council of the Jews”). 14mm, 2.66 grams. Mint of Jerusalem (?). Hendin 474-475. SKU X261-48267

Alexander Jannaeus (born Jonathan) was the second king of the Hasmonean dynasty, who ruled over an expanding kingdom of Judea from 103 to 76 BCE. A son of John Hyrcanus, he inherited the throne from his brother Aristobulus I, and married his brother's widow, Queen Salome Alexandra. From his conquests to expand the kingdom to a bloody civil war, Alexander's reign has been generalised as cruel and oppressive with never-ending conflict. The major historical sources of Alexander's life are Josephus's Antiquities of the Jews and The Jewish War.