Double cornucopiae; pomegranate between horns // Paleohebrew inscription in wreath Yeho(natan) hacohen hagadol haver hayehudim (“Yehonatan the High Priest (and) the Council of the Jews”). 15mm, 1.98 grams. Mint of Jerusalem (?). Hendin 474-475. SKU X324-48271
With the name abbreviated to YHO.
Alexander Jannaeus (born Jehonatan) 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 generalized 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.