A hoard of silver coins from the 3rd century B.C. stashed tightly in a pottery jar has been discovered at the archaeological site of Mleiha in the United Arab Emirates. The pot contained 409 silver coins of the tetradrachm type, the designs inspired by the coins minted by Alexander the Great and his Seleucid heirs.The pottery jar was unearthed in 2021. Shaped like a clamshell with one flattened half, it has a small opening at the neck flanked by two pierced tabs where a handle or rope may have been threaded. When archaeologists excavated it, they were surprised at how heavy it was, weighing 9 kg (just shy of 20 lbs). The pot was then opened at the Sharjah Archaeology Authority research laboratory, revealing 387 single-sided coins and 22 two-sided coins weighing between 16 and 17 grams apiece.The earliest of the coins depict Alexander the Great wearing the Nemean lion skin, trademark of Hercules, on the obverse, and Zeus enthroned with the eagle on his staff on the reverse. The single-sided coins feature Zeus enthroned. The more recent coins chance so that the Greek inscription is replaced by Aramaic inscriptions and local iconography.Located between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, Mleiha was one of the most important cities in the Arabian Peninsula during the pre-Islamic period. Believed to have been the capital of the Kingdom of Oman, it was a thriving desert farming community sustained by an underground irrigation system known as falaj, and a stop on the trade routes that connected India and the Mediterranean. Merchants carrying spices, textiles and precious metals traveled through Mleiha, and needed identifiable currency that would be accepted no matter where they were. Hence the minting of money inspired by Greek originals.Similar Hellenistic-style coins have been found at other ancient sites on the Persian Gulf, evidence that the Hellenistic commercial and cultural power extended to the Arabian Peninsula where it was altered and personalized to incorporate local culture. The Mleiha hoards transition from imitation to customization is a microcosm of the regions shift from Greek dominance to the evolution of Arabia as a cultural and economic power player in its own right.The coins and the pot have been extensively photographed to create 3D models. This is the first coin hoard Ive seen where every piece can be explored digitally close-up from every angle. Its interesting to see the progression of