A treasure trove of 2,300-year-old silver coins discovered in the desert

An archaeological excavation in the Mleiha area of the United Arab Emirates has yielded a significant discovery: a 9-kilogram container of silver coins dating back to the 3rd century BC. It contained a total of 409 massive silver coins of the tetradrachm type, inspired by the coins minted by Alexander the Great.

The treasure jar is shaped like a flattened shell. It has a small hole at the neck, where a wire handle or rope could have been threaded through, for example. It weighed 9 kilograms, including the coins, and its contents were extracted in the research laboratory of the Archaeological Office in Sharjah. It was found to contain 387 single-sided and 22 double-sided coins. Each of the coins weighed between 16 and 17 grams.

The oldest coinage in the hoard depicts Alexander the Great in the skin of a Nemean lion on the obverse, and the god Zeus on a throne and an eagle on a staff on the reverse. The single-sided coins depict Zeus on his throne. More recent coins have Aramaic inscriptions instead of Greek and depict local iconography.

The coins are made of high quality silver. Their placement in a ceramic vessel suggests that the owner valued them highly and planned to retrieve them. It was therefore probably a kind of safe-keeping for a rainy day. Given their good condition, it can be assumed that the coins were not in circulation for very long.

The hoard also speaks of the economic strength of the area. It shows that Mleiha was a prosperous centre with contacts far beyond the borders of the present-day Emirates. Indeed, the coins may have entered circulation through trade routes linking Mesopotamia, Persia and India with the Arabian Peninsula.

Due to its strategic location between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, Mleiha was an important settlement and trading centre in ancient times. Archaeologists have unearthed a number of buildings, burials and artefacts that prove that the area played a key role in connecting the Arab hinterland with the outside world.

Indeed, it has long been assumed that the rich trading activities in this part of the world began only during the Islamic Caliphate. However, the discovery clearly shows that centuries before that, economic structures existed in the region that allowed for the accumulation of wealth. Mleiha was probably the capital of the Omani kingdom. Spice, textile and precious metals traders travelled here and needed a single currency. So the coinage was inspired by the Greek originals.

The iconography and inscriptions of the various mints are now being studied. The plan is also to analyse the composition of the metal, which may give clues about the origin of the silver and the processing technologies. Equally important is the analysis of the pottery vessel itself and the soil context in which it was found. The new findings will provide a detailed insight not only into the coins themselves, but also into the economic and cultural environment in which they were created.

The treasure jar

The coins were minted in Mleiha

one of the coins in the set

The first issues of coins struck bear icons from the period, including the heads of Hercules (represented by Alexander the Great) and Zeus (the Greek god sitting on a throne), as well as the word 'Alexander' in Greek