Armenia, Royal . Hetoum I and Zabel. AD 1226-1270

Armenia, Cilician Armenia. Royal . Hetoum I and Zabel. AR Tram (silver, 2.93g, 20mm). AD 1226-1270.

Obv: Zabel and Hetoum standing facing one another, each crowned with head facing and holding long cross between

Rev: Crowned lion advancing right, head facing, holding long cross

Ref: AC 336; CCA 906 (var. Cross Pattern)

Note: Following Levon I’s death in 1219, his three-year-old daughter Zabel inherited the Armenian throne. Her succession was contested by several rivals, including John of Brienne and Raymond-Roupen, who seized Tarsus but was defeated and executed by Gosdantin, Zabel’s regent. After Philip of Antioch was briefly placed on the throne and deposed in 1224, Gosdantin arranged Zabel’s marriage to his son Hetoum in 1226. Their union ultimately reconciled the two leading dynasties of Cilicia and established the Hetoumian dynasty.

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