Although coming under imperial (direct and indirect) rule, the highly advanced cities of Philistia (or Philistin) were the first to develop a monetary system in Palestine, and Philistia was the first region in the country to witness a movement from bullion to a coin economy and Palestinian currency struck in Gaza from 538 BC until the occupation of Palestine by Alexander the Great in 332 BC. Subsequently an ancient Greek-style currency, drachma, was struck in several Palestinian cities, including Gaza, Ascalon, Joppa (Jaffa) and Acre. The drachma gave rise to the silver dirham, the Arab Islamic coin whose name derives from the drachma.

The coinage of Philistia of the 6th‒4th centuries BC refers to the much-discussed group of silver coins of the 6th, 5th and 4th centuries, minted by the autonomous rulers of the Palestinian cities of Gaza, Ascalon and Ashdod, and these coins represent the earliest and most significant phase of the development of money in Palestine. This monetary development continued in the 4th century until the end of the Achaemenid (Persian)

rule over Palestine. Philistia’s early coinage consisted of silver and silverplated coins. Some of the famous and unique pieces of this large collection are housed in the British Museum. The coins issued in Philistia circulated and were traded widely in the Philisto-Arabian region and became known as Philisto-Arabian coins.

The iconography of the coinage of Philistia was influenced by a melange of Greek, Sidonian, Achaemenid, Egyptian and local Palestinian sources and patterns (Hill 1914, 2011; Tal 2016; Gitler and Tal 2006). The presence of Greek Archaic silver coins, with strong Athenian artistic influences, was noted by several authors and the ‘most striking influence on the Philistia coinage is notably Athenian. The people of Philistia observed these foreign motifs and frequented adopted and adapted them to local use’ (Tal 2016:

253). The iconography also represents the most miscellaneous assemblage of deities of Assyria, Egypt, Greece and Palestine.