411 pages, 123 Plates (c800 illustred coins) ISBN 88-87235-38-4 150 drawings 31 tables 22 figures. Hard bound.

Contents: Preface - Introduction: Re-Framing the Research Paradigm - The First Appearance of Coins in Palestine: Archaic Coins - Athenian and Athenian-styled Coins of the Mid-Fifth and Fourth Centuries BC in Palestine - The Coinage of Philistia (History of Research and a Revised Terminology - A Historical and Archaeological Outline of Persian-Period Ashdod, Ashkelon and Gaza, and the Question of Ethnicity - The Archaeological Evidence for the Coinage of Philistia - Revised Chronology) - Iconography on the Coinage of Philistia: Typology and Classification (Ashdod - Ashkelon - Gaza - Athenian- styled - Philistian-styled - Incerta) - Selected Aspects of the Coins of Philistia (Elusive Motifs - Concealed Owls - Linear Devices - Paleography - Test Cuts - Graffiti - Weight Standards and Axis Preferences - X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis of Philistian Coins) - Summary and Conclusions - Appendix I: Fakes - Appendix II: Index of Selected Motifs on Coin-Types.

This publication is dedicated to the study of the earliest Palestinian coinage minted under Achaemenid rule. These so-called "Philisto-Arabian" coins were issued by the minting authorities of Ashdod, Ashkelon and Gaza, the three coastal cities of Philistia (south-western Palestine), as part of the process of development of the metal economy of Palestine from Hacksilber to coins (Archaic and Athenian) and proper local monetary economy. It examines and reviews past definitions, chronological and terminological aspects based on comparative material, archaeological data and historical considerations. It includes issues from the most important public and private collections, as well as coins retrieved from archaeological excavations in Palestine and neighboring countries. It aims to include all the published material and the numerous previously unrecorded coin-types catalogued according to the minting authorities, and according to their iconography, that is Athenian- styled and Philistian-styled coin-types. The book is lavishly illustrated with over 800 photographs of coins (in 1:1 scale) and some 750 photographs of coin enlargements (in 3:1 scale); out of which 684 Philistian coins appear in the catalogue next to their description and in 17 plates arranged according to groups at the end of the book. 311 Philistian coin-types are catalogued, with some 190 new unpublished types and over 30 types of a previously unrecorded denomination.