Joe Cribb and Georgina Herrmann (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263846
- eISBN:
- 9780191734113
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263846.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Asian and Middle Eastern History: BCE to 500CE
This is a study of the history, archaeology, and numismatics of Central Asia, an area of great significance for our understanding of the ancient and early medieval world. This vast, land-locked ...
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This is a study of the history, archaeology, and numismatics of Central Asia, an area of great significance for our understanding of the ancient and early medieval world. This vast, land-locked region, with its extreme continental climate, was a centre of civilization with great metropolises. Its cosmopolitan population followed different religions (Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Buddhism), and traded extensively with China, India, the Middle East, and Europe. The millennium from the overthrow of the first world empire of Achaemenian Persians by Alexander the Great to the arrival of the Arabs and Islam was a period of considerable change and conflict. The book focuses on investigations in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, providing a complex analysis of the symbiosis between the city life based on oases, and the nomadic peoples grazing their animals in the surrounding semi-deserts. Other topics include the influence of the Greek colonists on military architecture, and the major impact of the Great Kushans on the spread of Buddhism and on the development of the Central Asian metropolis. Although written documents rarely survive, coinage has provided essential evidence for the political and cultural history of the region.Less
This is a study of the history, archaeology, and numismatics of Central Asia, an area of great significance for our understanding of the ancient and early medieval world. This vast, land-locked region, with its extreme continental climate, was a centre of civilization with great metropolises. Its cosmopolitan population followed different religions (Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Buddhism), and traded extensively with China, India, the Middle East, and Europe. The millennium from the overthrow of the first world empire of Achaemenian Persians by Alexander the Great to the arrival of the Arabs and Islam was a period of considerable change and conflict. The book focuses on investigations in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, providing a complex analysis of the symbiosis between the city life based on oases, and the nomadic peoples grazing their animals in the surrounding semi-deserts. Other topics include the influence of the Greek colonists on military architecture, and the major impact of the Great Kushans on the spread of Buddhism and on the development of the Central Asian metropolis. Although written documents rarely survive, coinage has provided essential evidence for the political and cultural history of the region.
André Lemaire
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780197265895
- eISBN:
- 9780191772023
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265895.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Our knowledge of Phoenicia during the Achaemenid period has made important progresses during the last thirty-five years thanks to new epigraphic discoveries and researches: the succession of several ...
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Our knowledge of Phoenicia during the Achaemenid period has made important progresses during the last thirty-five years thanks to new epigraphic discoveries and researches: the succession of several kings has been précised as well as the chronology of their reigns and the extent of their kingdoms. Although all of them used the Phoenician language and writing in their administration, each kingdom kept its originality within the huge Achaemenid empire with various orientations of their political, economic and religious spheres. Their political, economic and cultural influence was very strong on Persian period Cisjordan, especially in Galilee, the Sharon plain and Ashkalon.Less
Our knowledge of Phoenicia during the Achaemenid period has made important progresses during the last thirty-five years thanks to new epigraphic discoveries and researches: the succession of several kings has been précised as well as the chronology of their reigns and the extent of their kingdoms. Although all of them used the Phoenician language and writing in their administration, each kingdom kept its originality within the huge Achaemenid empire with various orientations of their political, economic and religious spheres. Their political, economic and cultural influence was very strong on Persian period Cisjordan, especially in Galilee, the Sharon plain and Ashkalon.
Christopher J. Howgego
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197262962
- eISBN:
- 9780191734533
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262962.003.0012
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Methodology and Techniques
The systematic study of coinage at the level of individually engraved die revolutionized numismatics; however the laborious nature of such work has severely limited its application. Die studies are ...
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The systematic study of coinage at the level of individually engraved die revolutionized numismatics; however the laborious nature of such work has severely limited its application. Die studies are important for attribution and chronology as well as for quantification. Exhaustive study on coinage reveals great evidences particularly in economic history. This chapter discusses the potential posed by image analysis and photography on the field of numismatics. It discusses the principal technique challenges, with a view to stimulating discussion as to the best way forward.Less
The systematic study of coinage at the level of individually engraved die revolutionized numismatics; however the laborious nature of such work has severely limited its application. Die studies are important for attribution and chronology as well as for quantification. Exhaustive study on coinage reveals great evidences particularly in economic history. This chapter discusses the potential posed by image analysis and photography on the field of numismatics. It discusses the principal technique challenges, with a view to stimulating discussion as to the best way forward.
Anna J. Clark
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199226825
- eISBN:
- 9780191710278
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199226825.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter focuses on the late second and early first centuries bc and considers the temple foundations and refoundations that are attested for this period, including the competition of Marius with ...
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This chapter focuses on the late second and early first centuries bc and considers the temple foundations and refoundations that are attested for this period, including the competition of Marius with Catulus and with Sulla. Many of these cluster around the Forum and Capitol. The most important hill in Rome was reshaped in terms of divine qualities, creating and recharging both cognitive and physical spaces. The chapter also explores the flowering of numismatic imagery in the same years, from the 130s bc. This opening up of the coin-field as a resource was itself presided over by moneta, and other divine qualities, represented as female figure, head, or attribute with accompanying legend, began to form a fruitful means of framing and expressing a variety of numismatic messages.Less
This chapter focuses on the late second and early first centuries bc and considers the temple foundations and refoundations that are attested for this period, including the competition of Marius with Catulus and with Sulla. Many of these cluster around the Forum and Capitol. The most important hill in Rome was reshaped in terms of divine qualities, creating and recharging both cognitive and physical spaces. The chapter also explores the flowering of numismatic imagery in the same years, from the 130s bc. This opening up of the coin-field as a resource was itself presided over by moneta, and other divine qualities, represented as female figure, head, or attribute with accompanying legend, began to form a fruitful means of framing and expressing a variety of numismatic messages.
NATASHA SMIRNOVA
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263846
- eISBN:
- 9780191734113
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263846.003.0018
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Asian and Middle Eastern History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter aims to address questions concerning the numismatics of pre-Islamic Merv. Most of the coins from ancient Merv were excavated by the South Turkmenistan Archaeological Multi-disciplinary ...
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This chapter aims to address questions concerning the numismatics of pre-Islamic Merv. Most of the coins from ancient Merv were excavated by the South Turkmenistan Archaeological Multi-disciplinary Expedition (YuTAKE) between 1992 and 2000, but there is not a single reliable coin of the fourth century BC. The Sasanian coinage of the fourth and fifth centuries AD is well represented by coin finds from the city sites of Merv, but there are no registered coins of Ardashir II.Less
This chapter aims to address questions concerning the numismatics of pre-Islamic Merv. Most of the coins from ancient Merv were excavated by the South Turkmenistan Archaeological Multi-disciplinary Expedition (YuTAKE) between 1992 and 2000, but there is not a single reliable coin of the fourth century BC. The Sasanian coinage of the fourth and fifth centuries AD is well represented by coin finds from the city sites of Merv, but there are no registered coins of Ardashir II.
Catherine Homes
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199279685
- eISBN:
- 9780191707353
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199279685.003.0002
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Asian and Middle Eastern History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter begins with a summary of existing scholarship about Basil II. It argues that most interpretations reflect modern historians' reliance on the testimony of the mid 11th-century historian ...
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This chapter begins with a summary of existing scholarship about Basil II. It argues that most interpretations reflect modern historians' reliance on the testimony of the mid 11th-century historian Michael Psellos. It demonstrates the importance of other sources for this period, including the historians John Skylitzes, Yahya ibn Sa'id, and Stephen of Taro. The significance of extant letters, military manuals, and poetry is outlined, as well as evidence provided by the sigillographical, numismatic, and archaeological records. The chapter also illustrates the unevenness of the supply of relevant source materials for the different decades of a long reign, and for the different regions of a vast empire. It is this unevenness of evidence that persuades against charting the history of the reign simply by stitching different sources together. Instead, it is argued that further progress will only be made following a much more profound analysis of the relevant Byzantine historiography.Less
This chapter begins with a summary of existing scholarship about Basil II. It argues that most interpretations reflect modern historians' reliance on the testimony of the mid 11th-century historian Michael Psellos. It demonstrates the importance of other sources for this period, including the historians John Skylitzes, Yahya ibn Sa'id, and Stephen of Taro. The significance of extant letters, military manuals, and poetry is outlined, as well as evidence provided by the sigillographical, numismatic, and archaeological records. The chapter also illustrates the unevenness of the supply of relevant source materials for the different decades of a long reign, and for the different regions of a vast empire. It is this unevenness of evidence that persuades against charting the history of the reign simply by stitching different sources together. Instead, it is argued that further progress will only be made following a much more profound analysis of the relevant Byzantine historiography.
Andrew Burnett and Marion Archibald
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197262788
- eISBN:
- 9780191754210
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262788.003.0013
- Subject:
- History, Historiography
John Kent FBA, Keeper of Coins and Medals in the British Museum from 1983 to 1990, was the world's leading authority on the coinage of the late Roman Empire and presented the coinage of that ...
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John Kent FBA, Keeper of Coins and Medals in the British Museum from 1983 to 1990, was the world's leading authority on the coinage of the late Roman Empire and presented the coinage of that complicated period in a modern and systematic way. He published The Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC) volumes VIII and X. Kent studied the Merovingian coins from the Sutton Hoo Mound 1 ship burial and was able to provide evidence towards a revised interpretation of the mound's historical context. Obituary by Andrew Burnett and Marion Archibald.Less
John Kent FBA, Keeper of Coins and Medals in the British Museum from 1983 to 1990, was the world's leading authority on the coinage of the late Roman Empire and presented the coinage of that complicated period in a modern and systematic way. He published The Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC) volumes VIII and X. Kent studied the Merovingian coins from the Sutton Hoo Mound 1 ship burial and was able to provide evidence towards a revised interpretation of the mound's historical context. Obituary by Andrew Burnett and Marion Archibald.
Andrew Burnett and Roger Bland
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264348
- eISBN:
- 9780191734250
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264348.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, Historiography
Robert Andrew Glendinning Carson (1918–2006), a Fellow of the British Academy, spent his career at the British Museum, where he rose to be Keeper of the Department of Coins & Medals. He was the ...
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Robert Andrew Glendinning Carson (1918–2006), a Fellow of the British Academy, spent his career at the British Museum, where he rose to be Keeper of the Department of Coins & Medals. He was the leading British expert in Roman numismatics of his generation. Carson was a prolific scholar and his bibliography runs to more than 350 items. He had been set high standards by his mentor, Harold Mattingly, who served as Curator of Roman coins at the British Museum from 1910 to 1947. But perhaps Carson's most influential contribution to the study of Roman coins lay in the work he carried out in collaboration with John Kent. As Curator of Roman coins at the British Museum, it was perhaps inevitable that Carson should take an interest in the coins of the British usurpers Carausius and Allectus, and he published a series of papers on their coinages. Carson had an international reputation: he was actively involved in the organisation of international numismatic congresses from the 1950s.Less
Robert Andrew Glendinning Carson (1918–2006), a Fellow of the British Academy, spent his career at the British Museum, where he rose to be Keeper of the Department of Coins & Medals. He was the leading British expert in Roman numismatics of his generation. Carson was a prolific scholar and his bibliography runs to more than 350 items. He had been set high standards by his mentor, Harold Mattingly, who served as Curator of Roman coins at the British Museum from 1910 to 1947. But perhaps Carson's most influential contribution to the study of Roman coins lay in the work he carried out in collaboration with John Kent. As Curator of Roman coins at the British Museum, it was perhaps inevitable that Carson should take an interest in the coins of the British usurpers Carausius and Allectus, and he published a series of papers on their coinages. Carson had an international reputation: he was actively involved in the organisation of international numismatic congresses from the 1950s.
Christopher Howgego
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199562596
- eISBN:
- 9780191721458
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199562596.003.0014
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter outlines prospective numismatic contributions to the quantification of the Roman economy. Attention is drawn to the potential of the programme of metal analysis of the Roman silver ...
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This chapter outlines prospective numismatic contributions to the quantification of the Roman economy. Attention is drawn to the potential of the programme of metal analysis of the Roman silver coinage being undertaken by Ponting and Butcher. By way of example, four economic topics which may be illuminated by their work are identified: (1) the use of debasement as an indicator of the fiscal inadequacy of the Roman Empire; (2) the analysis of the extent to which price change was driven by monetary change; (3) the relevance to economic modelling of the extent to which monetary change proceeded in parallel across the Roman world; and (4) the significance of the maintenance of a fixed bimetallic system to our understanding of the Roman economy and its potential contribution to economic theory.Less
This chapter outlines prospective numismatic contributions to the quantification of the Roman economy. Attention is drawn to the potential of the programme of metal analysis of the Roman silver coinage being undertaken by Ponting and Butcher. By way of example, four economic topics which may be illuminated by their work are identified: (1) the use of debasement as an indicator of the fiscal inadequacy of the Roman Empire; (2) the analysis of the extent to which price change was driven by monetary change; (3) the relevance to economic modelling of the extent to which monetary change proceeded in parallel across the Roman world; and (4) the significance of the maintenance of a fixed bimetallic system to our understanding of the Roman economy and its potential contribution to economic theory.
Florin Curta and Siu-lun Wong
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748638093
- eISBN:
- 9780748670741
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748638093.003.0003
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
Although the early medieval period is one of great significance for the history of medieval Greece, its systematic study began comparatively late, and only as a reaction to the theories of the German ...
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Although the early medieval period is one of great significance for the history of medieval Greece, its systematic study began comparatively late, and only as a reaction to the theories of the German journalist Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer. The obsessive preoccupation with the problem of ethnic continuity may be at least in part responsible for the lack of interest in any other aspect of the history of early medieval Greece. The foundation of the Ecole Française d’Athènes, the Imperial (later German) Institute in Athens, the American School of Classical Studies, and the British School of Archaeology at Athens had a great impact on the study of the “Middle Byzantine” period in Greece, while Greek contributions focused primarily on sigillography and numismatics.Less
Although the early medieval period is one of great significance for the history of medieval Greece, its systematic study began comparatively late, and only as a reaction to the theories of the German journalist Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer. The obsessive preoccupation with the problem of ethnic continuity may be at least in part responsible for the lack of interest in any other aspect of the history of early medieval Greece. The foundation of the Ecole Française d’Athènes, the Imperial (later German) Institute in Athens, the American School of Classical Studies, and the British School of Archaeology at Athens had a great impact on the study of the “Middle Byzantine” period in Greece, while Greek contributions focused primarily on sigillography and numismatics.
