EGYPT. Alexandria. Hadrian (117-138). Ae Obol. Coptite nome. Dated RY 11 (AD 126/7).

Obv: ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙ ΤΡΑΙ ΑΔΡΙΑ ϹЄΒ.
Laureate bust right, with slight drapery.
Rev: ΚΟΠΤ / L ΙΑ (date).
Sobek-Geb/Kronos standing left, bearded and veiled, wearing sun disk, holding harpa and dorcas gazelle.

RPC III 6276; Dattari (Savio) 6231; Emmett 1256.11.

Egypt was structured into districts called ‘nomoi’, territories that orbited around a main city, united by the worship of a specific local divinity. Each nome had its own main god and often generated antagonism with the gods of neighboring districts, often giving rise to fierce enmities and fights. Only three Egyptian cities were outside the nomes: Alexandria, Naucratis, and Ptolemais. This system dated back to the Pharaonic period and continued until Roman times, undergoing changes in the number and names of the districts. Under Alexander the Great, an Egyptian nomarch remained at the head of the nome, but from the early Ptolemies onwards, he was replaced by a Greek military governor (strategos). In Roman times, between Domitian and Marcus Aurelius, a series of coins was struck that reproduced the ‘nomoi’ with different personifications, accompanied by the image or distinctive sign of the sacred animal peculiar to each district, or by the statue of the main deity worshipped in the district.

Condition: Very fine.

Weight: 5.32 g.
Diameter: 19 mm.