Herodes, f. Diophantes (Gaza)

Gaza

1/4 Mina

Lead

Cast

Square

6.60 cm

6.40 cm

0.70 cm

Mass (g)	Mass (grain)	Date of measurement	Reference	fragmented	cleaned	reference weight
179.00	-	Jan. 18, 2019	Autopsy Louise Willocx	No	No	Yes
179.11	-	-	Kushnir-Stein 2002	No	No	No
178.50	-	-	Babelon & Blanchet 1895 ; BnF ; Michon 1907	No	No	No

Symbol	Technique	Direction	Position	Number	Synecdoche

BnF: Quart de mine de Gaza quadrangulaire. Plomb. L. 6,46 cm; l: 6,35 cm: ép. 0,75 cm; Poids: 178,5 gr. KOΛWNI/AC ΓAZHC/EΠI HPW/ΔOY ΔIO ΦANTOV. Au centre du bord inférieur, en contremarque, la date IЄ (= 15) (?) ou les restes de deux personnages (?); au pourtour une bordure en relief scandée d’ornementations. Revers: Lettre phénicienne M ou monogramme dans un cercle en relief. Tranche: En biseau. L’an 15 de l’ère de Gaza correpond à l’an 46 avant J.-C. Monogramme M: selon Seyrig (archives) symbole de la ville de Gaza .
Babelon & Blanchet 1895: Poids quadrangulaire. Quart de mine de Gaza. Les bords taillés en biseau forment un cadre en relief autour de la face principale. Cette face porte une inscription: ΚΟΛΩΝΙ ΑCΓΑΖΗC ΕΠΙ ΗΡΩ ΔΟΥ ΔΙΟ ΦΑΝΤΟV (Κολωνίας Γάζης, ἐπὶ Ἡρώδου Διοφάντου). Sur le bord, en contremarque la date IE (=15). L’an 15 de l’ère de Gaza correspond à l’an 46 avant J.-C. Au revers, la lettre symbole de Gaza est placée dans un grand cercle en relief. Plomb. Poids, 178 gr. 50. Long. des côtes, 65 mil!. Donné par W.-H. Waddington, en 1870.
Kushnir-Stein 2002: Square lead weight. A handle or loop at its top has been broken off. The reverse has a large Phoenician mem inside a circle. The obverse has a raised square frame within which is a 5-line inscription: ΚΟΛWΝΙ|ΑC ΓΑΖΗC | ΕΠΙ ΗΡW|ΔΟΥ ΔΙΟ|ΦΑΝΤΟΥ, "of the colony of Gaza, (under the supervision of) Herodes son of Diophantes". In the centre of the lower border is a stamp with the letters ΙΕ.

Yes

Language	Technique	Legend type
Greek	Relief	Authority, Mint
Phoenician	Relief	Mint
Greek	Stamped / Countermarked	Unidentified

ΚΟΛΩΝΙ
ΑCΓΑΖΗC
ΕΠΙΗΡ󰃫
ΔΟΥΔΙΟ
ΦΑΝΤΟV

{Phoenician letter mem}

Countermark: ΙΕ

Κολωνί|ας Γάζης, | ἐπὶ Ἡρώ|δου Διο|φάντου. || {Phoenician letter mem}
Countermark: ΙΕ

GREEK , ROMAN

FROM 250 TO 350

Year 15 of the Gaza’s era is 46 BC.
Gaza was not yet a colony in 241/2 when it issued its last coins. Thus the weight must have been manutctured after that date, probably in the later 3rd or early 4th c. The letters IE puzzled earlier scholars and have been interpreted by some as a date, but since the belong to a stamp they are most likely to involve the start of the name of an official who functioned sometime later as agoranomos or as a magistrate charged with similar tasks.

Name	Date of acquisition	Inventory number
National Library of France (Paris)	Dec. 31, 1870	Bronze 2255

Reference	Page/Column	Reference (number)	Plate / Figure	Comment
Le Bas and Waddington 1847–77	None	1904	None	None
Babelon and Blanchet 1895	688	2255	None	None
Michon 1907	556, n. 11	None	None	None
Kushnir-Stein 2002b	41–42	8	fig. 8	None

Lettre phénicienne M ou monogramme dans un cercle en relief.

http://medaillesetantiques.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/c33gb1b6p1