Pomegranate or Poppy

Abstract

The long-debated question of the plant species between the splayed cornucopias on most Hasmonaean coins is revisited. The earliest descriptions in the numismatic literature describe this object as a poppyhead, but more recently opinion has shifted in favor of a pomegranate fruit. The arguments in favor of either identification are examined and the criteria resorted to by their respective proponents explained. At the same time a comparative evaluation is made of these species in Greco-Roman iconography along with their symbolic meaning. It is shown that both alternative identifications—a poppyhead and a pomegranate fruit—sit squarely with the message that the Hasmonaean authors of the composite motif wished to convey.