TELL KALAK

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Location

City

Amman

County

Region

Country

Jordan

Lat/Long/Alt

32.031 / 35.898 / 940.95 view

Location details

Centred on village/city

Find spot comment

Found in a village near Amman, but no site of the name Tell Kalak is known from this area.

Information

5282

Permalink

https://chre.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/hoard/5282

Hoard name

TELL KALAK

Alternative names

'Tel Kallak'; near Amman

Data type

Hoard

Date of discovery (from)

Sep 1956

Total number of coins

2350

Summary

A hoard of 1985 denarii (Nero-Julia Mamaea); 310 drachms of Arabia (242 of which depict Arabia and 68 show a camel, some overstruck on Nabataean kings); 1 Caesarean drachm (Domitian); 31 tetradrachms of Antioch (Nero-Hadrian); 2 Lycian drachms (Trajan); 2 Amisus drachms (Hadrian), found in a village near Amman.

Details
Coins Summary
Coins
Rating
Archaeological context
Containers
Objects
References
Reports
Images
Credit

Discovery method

Unknown
Disposition

American Numismatic Society (2333, 2321 of which are still listed in ANS records), American University in Beirut (17)
Comment

The ANS acquired 2350 coins from the Lebanese dealer Armenak A. Poladian, which were from a hoard said to have been found in a village near Amman called 'Tell Kalak'. Neither Metcalf, the ANS nor the local authorities at the time, knew of any site of this name from this vicinity, but a find spot near Amman may be assumed with reasonable confidence.
Closing reign (earliest)

Severus Alexander
Terminal year (earliest)

222
Closing reign (latest)

Severus Alexander
Terminal year (latest)

225
Opening year (earliest)

64
Opening year (latest)

65
Coin-level data

Entered

Fetching coin data

Numismatic rating

Excellent
Rating comment

The 2350 coins identified by BMCRE numbers were published by Metcalf in 1975 and since the hoard is owned by the ANS, a record is available online via MANTIS. However there is not total agreement between the two sources. The total number of Caesarean drachms is the same (310), but the identification is slightly different. Metcalf describes 67 of RPC III 4074, but ANS lists 68; Metclaf lists 27 of 4075, but ANS lists 29; Metcalf lists 2 of 4081, but ANS lists 3, metcalf lists 53 of 4073, but the ANS lists 51; Metcalf lists 3 of 4072, but ANS records show 2. In regards to the imperial coinage Metcalf's publication omits the following specimens: one denarius of Hadrian RIC 280a, one of Antoninus Pius RIC 251 and one of Commodus RIC 73. Also, in order for the total number of Hadrianic denarii listed by the ANS and Metcalf to agree, one specimen of RIC 181d and one of 77c recorded by Metcalf have been omitted. There are some minor discrepancies in the identification of the BMCRE numbers. Some of the coins listed by Metcalf are not currently listed by ANS records, probably because they are no longer part of the collection.
Context rating

Poor
Findspot rating

Poor

Recovery method

Non-archaeological intervention
Site class

Uncertain
Period

Uncertain
End period

Uncertain

Containers belonging to this hoard

Untitled

References

Reference

Metcalf, W.E. - 1975 - The Tell Kalak hoard and Trajan's Arabian mint

Ref

39-108

Reference

1976 - Coin Hoards: volume II

Ref

p. 67, no. 243

Reference

RPC II

Ref

p. 274, no. 8

Reference

Butcher, K. - 2004 - Coinage in Roman Syria: Northern Syria, 64 BC - AD 253

Ref

p. 275, no. 40b

Reference

RPC III

Ref

p. 437, no. 9

W. E. Metcalf dataset; K. Huber for data up to and including Nero; updated by J. Goldman 17.08.16, coin level data checked and references to the ANS collection inserted by R. Bennett August 2019. RPC reference added by M. Spoerri (Aug. 2022).

Coin Hoards
of the Roman Empire

TELL KALAK

Data not added to the map

Containers belonging to this hoard

Untitled

References

Coin Hoardsof the Roman Empire

TELL KALAK

Data not added to the map

Containers belonging to this hoard

Untitled

References

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Coin Hoards
of the Roman Empire