Artifact
Herod the Great — AE Prutah
40–4 BC · Bronze · Hendin 1177
Authentic ancient coin
MATTHEW 2:13
“Get up, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt — for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
Herod I ruled Judaea as a client king of Rome from 37 BC until his death in 4 BC. He rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem into one of the wonders of the ancient world. His reign was marked by political paranoia and dynastic violence; he executed three of his own sons. He ordered the Massacre of the Innocents in Bethlehem. His coins carry no human image — Jewish law forbade it — so the symbols on this prutah reflect the constant compromise between Roman authority and Jewish practice.
