Obverse. Photo © NumisCorner.com
  • 1/2 Pound 1958, KM# 391, Egypt, Establishment of the United Arab Republic
  • 1/2 Pound 1958, KM# 391, Egypt, Establishment of the United Arab Republic
Description

The United Arab Republic (UAR) was a short-lived political union between Egypt and Syria. The union began in 1958 and existed until 1961, when Syria seceded from the union after the 1961 Syrian coup d'état. Egypt continued to be known officially as the "United Arab Republic" until 1971. The president was Gamal Abdel Nasser. It was a member of the United Arab States, a loose confederation with North Yemen which in 1961 dissolved along with the Republic.

Obverse

Depicts pharaoh Ramesses II driving a war chariot.

Ramesses II (variously also spelled Rameses or Ramses, 'Ra is the one who bore him' or 'born of Ra', c. 1303 BC – 1213), also known as Ramesses the Great, was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. He is often regarded as the greatest, most celebrated, and most powerful pharaoh of the New Kingdom, itself the most powerful period of Ancient Egypt. His successors and later Egyptians called him the "Great Ancestor".

Ramesses II led several military expeditions into the Levant, reasserting Egyptian control over Canaan. He also led expeditions to the south, into Nubia, commemorated in inscriptions at Beit el-Wali and Gerf Hussein. The early part of his reign was focused on building cities, temples, and monuments. He established the city of Pi-Ramesses in the Nile Delta as his new capital and used it as the main base for his campaigns in Syria.

At fourteen, he was appointed prince regent by his father, Seti I. He is believed to have taken the throne in his late teens and is known to have ruled Egypt from 1279 to 1213 BC. Estimates of his age at death vary; 90 or 91 is considered most likely. Ramesses II celebrated an unprecedented thirteen or fourteen Sed festivals (the first held after thirty years of a pharaoh's reign, and then, every three years) during his reign—more than any other pharaoh.

Reverse

Depicts mirrored vulture wings and Egyptian cobra heads (symbols of Ancient Egypt) flanking the disk of the sun (God Amun Ra). The inscription (Remembering the Foundation of the United Arab Republic), value and dates (Hegira and Gregorian) above.

The Egyptian cobra (Naja haje) was represented in Egyptian mythology by the cobra-headed goddess Meretseger. A stylised Egyptian cobra—in the form of the uraeus representing the goddess Wadjet—was the symbol of sovereignty for the Pharaohs who incorporated it into their diadem.

الجمهورية العربية المتحدة
نصف جنيه
١٣٧٧ - ١٩٥٨

Edge

1/2 Pound

United Arab Republic

Establishment of the United Arab Republic

KM# 391 Fr# 43
Characteristics
Type Commemorative Issue (Non-circulating)
Material Gold
Fineness 0.875
Weight 4.25 g
Diameter 20 mm
Thickness -
Shape round
Alignment Medal
Mint
Cairo Mint

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