Kaiser Gordian mit dem Pfeil in Edessa

Abstract

Under Gordian III and Abgar X, Edessa issued large bronzes with the following design: on the obverse the laureate bust of Gordian, on the reverse the emperor seated on a chair raised on a podium, a sceptre-like object in his left hand, before him Abgar holding up a statuette to him. The literature calls that object a sceptre, a haste or a spear. On closer inspection none of these fits: the form of the point and a length far too short for a lance show it unmistakably to be an arrow. The paper therefore asks what notions could have led to placing an arrow in a Roman emperor's hand, and finds that in the Near East bow and arrow often serve on coins as an attribute of rulers.

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Suggested citation

Gesche, Helga: Kaiser Gordian mit dem Pfeil in Edessa. In: Jahrbuch für Numismatik und Geldgeschichte 19 (1969), pp. 47–77, Tf.3-5.

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