Thirty eight cities in the Land of Israel and Transjordan minted coins at different times during the Roman period (from the middle of the first century BCE until the middle of the third century CE). These coins are referred to as “city coins”.
The image of the Roman ruler – the emperor or one of his family members – is stamped on one side (the obverse) and subjects that are associated with the city appear on the other side (the reverse).

By way of the topics that occur on the reverse of the coins, we are introduced to various cultural elements of the city that struck them, particularly the artistic world that prevailed in the city. The local cult reflects different traditions – some local and some foreign – that manifest diverse cultural influences.

We can divide the cultural influences into a number of groups:
1. Local influences (particularly those of Jews, Samaritans and Nabateans);
2. Phoenician influence;
3. Egyptian influence;
4. Aegean influence;
5. Greco-Hellenistic influence;
6. Influence from the Roman-Latin culture.

In the background there exist more ancient local traditions – Canaanite and Syrian and there are sometimes even influences from the region of Anatolia.

The reverse of the city coins, which reliably mirror the influences that shaped the world of the residents living in the cities of the Land of Israel and Transjordan, also reflects in many instances the syncretism between local and foreign gods, as well as the existence of various contemporary influences.