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Mehama was the fourth king mentioned in the Schøyen copper scroll inscription and he was mentioned twice, since it appears that the stupa
referred to in the inscription was located in his kingdom, somewhere north of the Hindu Kush mountains.
The coins of Mehama seem to form two parallel series, one in a fine style and one in a crude style. These perhaps reflect manufacture in two different
mints, or at least the work of two different die cutters.
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Mehama, fine style |
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Mehama silver drachm, c. late-5th century
Bare-headed bust of king right, with ribbon ends attached to necklace
"bull" tamgha at left, fire altar at right,
Brahmi legend at left: shahi, at right: mehama /
Fire altar, flanked by armed attendants
Weight: 3.94 gm, Diameter: 29 mm., Die axis: 3:30 o'clock
Ref: Vondrovec (Type 316), similar to Göbl 71
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This coin type was first published by Vondrovec, who listed it as a "later stage" issue.
However, I would like to argue that this was probably an early issue, because it ties in with the anonymous
issues at the start of the whole Alchon series. As on the early coins, this coin has a more prominent "tall head" than the other Mehama coin
types (see below), the king does not wear a diadem with the forehead crescent ornament and instead has ribbon ends tied to the king's
necklace, and has the small decorative scroll or "wings" below the bust. Working against this argument is the presence of a different symbol (the fire altar) in the
right field, forcing the bull/lunar tamgha to the left. Nevertheless, it seems to me that this is easier to explain than the other features. Remember
that Khingila's first coins also pushed the tamgha to the left to accommodate his name in the right field.
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Mehama silver drachm, c. late-5th century
Crowned bust of king right, with crescent forehead ornament and hanging ribbon ends
"bull" tamgha at right,
Brahmi legend at left: shahi, at right: mehama /
Fire altar, flanked by armed attendants
Weight: 3.22 gm, Diameter: 28.5 mm., Die axis: 3 o'clock
Ref: Göbl --- (similar to Göbl 74)
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This is an unpublished type which is the fine style version of Göbl 74. Göbl had
read the legend on those coins as mepama as the letter ha on the coins he had was not formed quite correctly (see below). Thanks
to the Schøyen copper scroll, however, we now know for certain that the king's name was Mehama, and this and the previous coin confirm
this reading.
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Mehama silver drachm, c. late-5th century
Crowned bust of king right, with crescent forehead ornament and hanging ribbon ends
"bull" tamgha at right,
Brahmi legend at left: shahi, at right: mehama /
Fire altar, flanked by armed attendants
Weight: 3.15 gm, Diameter: 29 mm., Die axis: 3 o'clock
Ref: Göbl --- (similar to Göbl 74)
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This coin appears to be die-identical to the previous one, a rare finding in the Alchon series. The two
coins were purchased years apart from different sources.
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Mehama, crude style |
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Mehama silver drachm, c. late-5th century
Bare-headed bust of king right, with ribbon ends attached to necklace ?
"bull" tamgha at left, fire altar at right,
Brahmi legend at right: mepama /
Fire altar, flanked by armed attendants
Weight: 3.42 gm, Diameter: 29 mm., Die axis: 3 o'clock
Ref: Göbl 71
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This is the "crude style" version of the first coin shown above. It shares the characteristics
of that coin, particularly the absence of a diadem and its forehead crescent ornament, although the ribbon ends, expected to be attached to the
necklace, are only hinted at here because of the large tamgha occupying that space. The legend is rendered as mepama in crudely
formed letters. (photo courtesy CNG)
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Mehama silver drachm, c. late-5th century
Crowned bust of king right, with crescent forehead ornament and hanging ribbon ends
"bull" tamgha at right,
Brahmi legend at left: shahi, at right: mehama /
Fire altar, flanked by armed attendants
Weight: 2.60 gm, Diameter: 28.5 mm., Die axis: 3 o'clock
Ref: Göbl 74
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This is the crude style version of the second coin shown above. The king's bust is now
crowned, with the diadem, the crescent forehead ornament and the hanging ribbon ends. Note, however, the crude style: the ribbons just jut
out horizontally behind the head and then fall downward. In the fine style version above, the ribbons have a nice wave to them. The word
shahi is not seen at the top left on any of these coins, and the king's name at top right is slightly blundered as mepama.
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Mehama silver drachm, c. late-5th century
Crowned bust of king right, with crescent forehead ornament and hanging ribbon ends
"bull" tamgha at right,
Brahmi legend at left: shahi, at right: mehama /
Fire altar, flanked by armed attendants
Weight: 2.70 gm, Diameter: 27.5 mm., Die axis: 4 o'clock
Ref: Göbl 74
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This is an even cruder version of the previous coin where the king's name at top right has
been reduced to mapa. Note, however, that this coin (as do other examples of this type in Göbl) shows the decorative scroll or
"wings" under the bust that the early Mehama coins showed, but which the later fine-style coins shown above did not.
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