Sylloge Nummorum Sasanidarum Tajikistan - Sasanian Coins and Their Imitations from Sogdiana and Toachristan

Description

English summary: This volume presents for the first time within the Sylloge Nummorum Sasanidarum (SNS) series a complete coin hoard. The latter was found in 2007 in the Piran-Shahr region in North-Western Iran, and ranks among the largest and most important hoards ever found on the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Containing altogether 1267 drachms, it provides interesting insights not only into the monetary system of the Late Sasanian period, but also into its economic history, for which only very few sources exist. The publication of this hoard was made possible through the cooperation between the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Research Institute of ICHTO (Iran Cultural Heritage, Handcrafts and Tourism Organization). German description: The present catalogue is a witness of the cooperation established between the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Ravenna Campus of the University of Bologna. This study, in fact, finds its origins in the field activities developed by the Italian Mission in the Yaghnob Valley in Tajikistan, which included a significant number of activities, as the systematic recognition of the numismatic heritage preserved in Tajik State collections. The present volume provides a valuable addition to the publication series Sylloge Nummorum Sasanidarum Paris - Berlin - Vienna. The Tajik numismatic material is extremely important for the monetary history of Central Asia and the adjacent regions. Making these coin findings available for further research is a major step in order to reconstruct the Central Asian numismatic landscape in Sasanian times and beyond. This catalogue presents a total of 708 coins minted between the 5th and the 8th century CE, catalogued according to the same typological criteria as in the main series SNS Paris - Berlin - Vienna. Though the number of Sasanian coins is limited, the Iranian model greatly influenced numismatics in Central Asia considering the impressive quantity of coins imitating Sasanian prototypes and the period of time these imitations kept circulating up to the Islamic period. A particular attention has been dedicated to Bukharkhudat coins and their circulation in the Upper Zeravshan Valley. The picture is enriched by the important hoard of Corgul'tepa, discovered in 1977, which consists of 400 imitation drachms of Peroz. The hoard is now preserved in the State Hermitage Museum and has been fully published.