(Vol. iv., pp. 255. 427. 491.)
Since the publication of my last note on the coins of Vabalathus, I have
obtained the _Lettres Numismatiques_ du Baron Marchant, 1850. The
original edition being very rare, and I believe only three hundred of
this one having been printed, I have thought it might be as well to
record some additional information from it in your pages. Marchant
reads, "Vabalathus Verenda Concessione Romanorum Imperatore Medis datus
Rex." It is needless to remark on this, further than on the more ancient
interpretations. He points out that the Greek letters, or rather
numerals, show the coins to have been struck in a country where Greek,
if not the popular language, was that of the government, along with
Latin. This country was necessarily an Oriental one, and I think this
observation would rather lead to the inference that the word VCRIMDR,
occupying the place usually filled by Cæsar, Augustus, ϹΕΒΑϹΩϹ,
&c., might be an Oriental title, though expressed in Latin letters.
Millin, to whom he had communicated his view, thought correctly "que ça
sentait un peu le père Harduin," and it was only published in the
posthumous edition of his works. De Gauley has published coins struck by
the Arabs in Africa, which have Latin legends, in some of which the
Arabic titles are given in Latin letters. The Emir Musa Ben Nasir
appears thus, MυSE. F. NASIR. AMIRA. The coins of Vabalathus
offer a more ancient example of the same. I have given what appears to
me the clue, and I hope it will be followed out by Orientalists. M. de
Longperier, in his annotations to the 28th letter, shows that the
name Ἀθηνᾶς is derived from Ἀθηνόδωρος, and appears to
think ΑΘΗΝΟΥ or ΑΘΗΝΥ the genitive of ΑΘΗΝΑϹ. The difficulty, he says,
is, that names in ᾶς have, in the Alexandrian dialect, the genitive
ᾶτος. He does not appear to have noticed the reading as
ΥΙοϹ (or ΟΥ as Ο ΥΙοϹ?), which appears to me to remove the difficulty,
but also to obviate the necessity of the name Ἀθηνᾶς at all. He
remarks on the similarity of name between Αθηνας, Αθηνατος,
and Odenathus.
"If," he says, "we examine comparatively Vabalath (ΟΥΑΒΑΛΑΘ)
and Odenath, or rather Odanath, as in Zosimus, we see
an analogous formation; Ou-baalat, Ou-tanat, the feminine of Baal
or Bel, and of Tan, Dan, or Zan, preceded by the same syllable.
Baalat is a Scripture form (Jos. xix. 44.; 1 Kings ix. 48.; Paral.
ii. viii. 6.). De Gauley has found the name of Tanat in a
Phoenician inscription, and Lenormant remarks that this feminine
form of Zan, or Jupiter, corresponds to Athéné. Thus Ou-tanat is
the equivalent of Athenas, consequently of Athenodorus."
Vabalathus is thus, if these etymological considerations be correct, the
son of Odenathus. Longperier proposes to read ΕΡΩΤΑϹ for ϹΡΩΙΑϹ,
and to consider this the equivalent of Herodes, mentioned by
Trebellius Pollio. With all deference to M. de Longperier,
I venture to oppose the following objections. First, Some coins read
ϹΡΙΑϹ, which would read ΕΡΤΑϹ on his principle. Since, in
the coins of Zenobia, Vabalathus, and those bearing the name of
Athenodorus, whether struck by Vabalathus or not, is not material at
present, we find the names at full length, not omitting the vowels, it
is natural to suppose that the same would here take place, if the word
really were the name of Herodes. To explain, if we found
ΖΗΝΟΒΙΑ and ΖΝΟΒΙΑ, ΑΘΗΝΟΔΩΡΟϹ and ΑΘΝΔΡΟϹ, or similar contractions,
we might consider ΕΡΩΤΑϹ and ΕΡΤΑϹ identical. Secondly, On my
specimens of this coin I find the ι in this word distinctly formed,
and the Τ in the next word ΑΥΤ _as_ distinct. All authors have read this
letter ι, although varying in the rest. Thirdly, On the obverse
of these specimens the Ε is larger and more open than the Ϲ,
as may be seen in the conclusion ...ΝΟϹ . ϹΕΒ, where it is preceded
by two sigmas, and is easy to compare with them. We should naturally
expect to find it having the same form on the reverse, if the
reading ΕΡΩΤΑϹ were correct. But it is of the same size as the
other letters, on my specimens at least. I need not say that
there is no trace of the central stroke.