God on the Winged Wheel coin

The God on the Winged Wheel coin, referred to in Levantine numismatics as the British Museum drachma is a 4th-century BCE silver coin attributed by scholars to the Gaza mint, with a deity seated on a winged wheel. It is considered one of the most unique and enigmatic artifacts from the Abar-Nahara province of the Achaemenid Empire. Currently housed in the British Museum, with ID number TC,p242.5.Pop,^[1] the silver coin has sparked intense scholarly debate and has been reclassified several times since its first appearance in the literature in 1814. Its iconography, inscription, and uncertain provenance have prompted scholars to engage in a deep investigation of its origin and significance.

It has been described by Stephen Herbert Langdon as "the only known representation" of Yahweh.^[2]

^ "coin". The British Museum. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
^ Langdon 1931, pp. 43–44: "A coin from Gaza in Southern Philista, fourth century BC, the period of the Jewish subjection to the last of the Persian kings, has the only known representation of this Hebrew deity. The letters YHW are incised just above the hawk(?) which the god holds in his outstretched left hand, Fig. 23. He wears a himation, leaving the upper part of the body bare, and sits upon a winged wheel. The right arm is wrapped in his garment. At his feet is a mask. Because of the winged chariot and mask it has been suggested that Yaw had been identified with Dionysus on account of a somewhat similar drawing of the Greek deity on a vase where he rides in a chariot drawn by a satyr. The coin was certainly minted under Greek influence, and consequently others have compared Yaw on his winged chariot to Triptolemos of Syria, who is represented on a wagon drawn by two dragons. It is more likely that Yaw of Gaza really represents the Hebrew, Phoenician and Aramaic Sun-god, El, Elohim, whom the monotheistic tendencies of the Hebrews had long since identified with Yaw…Sanchounyathon…based his history upon Yerombalos, a priest of Yeuo, undoubtedly the god Yaw, who is thus proved to have been worshipped at Gebal as early as 1000 BC."

[k593-1] "coin". The British Museum. Retrieved 2024-09-10.

[FOOTNOTELangdon193143–44-2] Langdon 1931, pp. 43–44: "A coin from Gaza in Southern Philista, fourth century BC, the period of the Jewish subjection to the last of the Persian kings, has the only known representation of this Hebrew deity. The letters YHW are incised just above the hawk(?) which the god holds in his outstretched left hand, Fig. 23. He wears a himation, leaving the upper part of the body bare, and sits upon a winged wheel. The right arm is wrapped in his garment. At his feet is a mask. Because of the winged chariot and mask it has been suggested that Yaw had been identified with Dionysus on account of a somewhat similar drawing of the Greek deity on a vase where he rides in a chariot drawn by a satyr. The coin was certainly minted under Greek influence, and consequently others have compared Yaw on his winged chariot to Triptolemos of Syria, who is represented on a wagon drawn by two dragons. It is more likely that Yaw of Gaza really represents the Hebrew, Phoenician and Aramaic Sun-god, El, Elohim, whom the monotheistic tendencies of the Hebrews had long since identified with Yaw…Sanchounyathon…based his history upon Yerombalos, a priest of Yeuo, undoubtedly the god Yaw, who is thus proved to have been worshipped at Gebal as early as 1000 BC."

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