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Byzantine coins from Hadrianoupolis in Paphlagonia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2016

Ergün Laflı ,
Chris Lightfoot  and
Max Ritter
Ergün Laflı
Affiliation:
Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi, İzmir [email protected]
Chris Lightfoot
Affiliation:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York [email protected]
Max Ritter
Affiliation:
Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz [email protected]
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Abstract

This paper gives a brief report on the 21 Byzantine coins recovered during archaeological fieldwork at Hadrianoupolis in southwestern Paphlagonia between 2005 and 2008. One coin is silver and the rest are all bronze or copper alloy. Chronologically, the latter are divided between the Early and the Middle Byzantine periods. Although the assemblage is small, it provides useful information about the distribution of Byzantine coins from one of the more remote rural areas of northern Asia Minor.

Keywords

Byzantine coinsHadrianoupolisPaphlagoniaHonoriasnorth-central TurkeyAsia Minor6th–7th centuries A.D.
Type
Articles
Information
Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies , Volume 40 , Issue 2 , October 2016 , pp. 187 - 206
Copyright
Copyright © Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies, University of Birmingham, 2016 

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24 A different perspective is provided by the Byzantine coin finds from Amorium in Phrygia: Katsari, C., Lightfoot, C. and Özme, A., The Amorium Mint and the Coin Finds: Amorium Reports 4 (Berlin 2012)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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26 Cf. to a similar picture in Galatian Pessinus: Devreker, J., Thoen, H. and Vermeulen, F., Excavations in Pessinus: the so-called Acropolis. From Hellenistic and Roman Cemetery to Byzantine Fortress (Ghent 2003) 382–97.Google Scholar

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30 Casey, J., Sinope: A Catalogue of the Greek, Roman and Byzantine Coins in Sinop Museum (Turkey) and Related Historical and Numismatic Studies, Royal Numismatic Society Special Publications 44 (London 2010)Google Scholar 3f.

31 D. S. Lenger and S. Atasoy, ‘Tios kazιlarιnda bulunan sikkeler’, in: Ş. Yιldιrιm and S. Atasoy (eds.), Zonguldak’ta bir antik kent: Tios (Ankara 2015) 391–95.

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34 Casey, Sinope.

35 Both of these homogeneous local collections, established first in 1950s (Amasra inaugurated in 1955 and opened to the public in 1982; Amasya inaugurated in 1958 and opened to the public in 1980), consist of acquisitions made mostly by local antique sellers or inhabitants who happened to find Byzantine coins in their farms. Almost no excavated coins or hoards exist among them, as systematically excavated Byzantine sites are not many in these landscapes. These two publications are not clear enough with regard to the provenance of the Byzantine coins presented. In addition to the published collections at Amasra and Amasya there are further Byzantine coin collections in the local museums at Ereğli, Bolu, Kastamonu and Çankırı. Collections in Sinop and Ereğli especially are of great importance since they contain unpublished coin finds from the ongoing excavations at Tium, and Balat Church in Sinop. A private museum with some Byzantine coins is located at Çanakçı near Gökçebey (Tefen), on the way to Tium. None of these Turkish collections, however, has been published so far.

36 After the conquest of Theodosioupolis/Erzurum in A.D. 607/608, Asia Minor became a theatre of war, and until 613 the fight was taking place in Cilicia, Cappadocia and Pontus. In 615/616 the Persians reached Chalcedon, but most strongholds like Ancyra were still in Byzantine hands. The winter of 621/622 was the first one the Persians stayed in Asia Minor – in the Pontus region. Only in March 624 did Heraclius go to the offensive, first to Cappadocian Caesarea, campaigning in the Caucasus thereafter. Meanwhile, the Persians amassed forces and besieged Constantinople in 626. Heraclius was able to intercept one of their armies in Armenia, after Sharvaraz’ failed siege. The Persians left Asia Minor at the end of 626. See Howard-Johnston, J. D., ‘Heraclius’ Persian campaigns and the revival of the East Roman empire, 622–630’, War in History 6 (1999) 1–44;Google Scholar and Belke, Paphlagonien, 68–9.

37 Ireland, Amasya, 108–10.

38 Callot, O., Les monnaies. Fouilles de la ville 1964–1974, Salamine de Chypre 16 (Paris 2004) 54–75 Google Scholar.

39 Cf. to a thorough analysis of this situation in other parts of Asia Minor, which is in line with our own interpretation: Drauschke, J., ‘Bemerkungen zu den Auswirkungen der Perser- und Arabereinfälle des 7. Jahrhunderts in Kleinasien’, in Heinrich-Tamaska, O. (ed.), Rauben – Plündern – Morden. Nachweis von Zerstörung und kriegerischer Gewalt im archäologischen Befund (Hamburg 2013) 126–37Google Scholar.

40 Casey, Sinope, 112–113; strangely, all the decisive coins of this hoard were misidentified or confused: the Heraclian coins have to be corrected as no. 7 is MIB 5 fifth officina, no. 8 is MIB 1a tenth officina, no. 9 is MIB 48/49 third officina and the latest coin of the hoard minted in 638/39, no. 10 is MIB 39, second officina.

41 E.g. Sanders, G. D. R., ‘Recent developments in the chronology of Byzantine Corinth’, in Williams, C. K. and Bookidis, N. (eds.), Corinth, the Centenary: 1896–1996 (Princeton, NJ 2003) 387–88Google Scholar.