A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF EARLY AND LATE SASSANIAN COINAGE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25159/1013-8471/2532Abstract
Sassanian coinage is one the best sources for information on the individual kings from this Persian dynasty. This is because the coins are primary sources that are unaltered. The way in which the Sassanian coins changed is not a topic that has been dealt with extensively.1 A stylistic analysis and comparison of the coins from the different Sassanian ages will be done. In this study the coins from the Sassanian rulers of the early period (224–302 C.E.) and the late period (628–652 C.E.) will be analysed for stylistic characteristics that differentiated them from other Sassanian coins. Trends that were common to coins from each period will be identified as well so that the continuity and breaks in coin design from each period can be illustrated and compared. The factors behind some rulers following the standards set by predecessors and others reinventing it will be exposed by the study.References
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_______ 2010. Early Sasanian coinage, in Curtis & Stewart 2010:17–29.
Bacharach, J L & Gordus, A A 1972. The purity of Sasanian silver coins: an introduction, Journal of the American Oriental Society 92/2:280–283.
Bosworth, C E (trans.) 1999. The history of al-Ṭabari Volume V: The SÄsÄnids, the Byzantines, the Lakhmids, and Yemen. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Canepa, M 2009. The two eyes of the earth: art and ritual kingship between Rome and Sasanian Iran. Berkeley and Los Angeles (USA): University of California Press.
Canepa, M 2010. Technologies of memory in early Sasanian Iran: Achaemenid sites and Sasanian identity, American Journal of Archaeology 114/4:563–596.
Chegini, N N 1996. Political history, economy, and society, in Litvinsky, Guang-Da & Shabani Samghabadi 1996:40–57.
Compareti, M 2010. The spread wings motif on Armenian steles: its meaning and parallels in Sasanian art, Iran & The Caucasus 14:201–232.
Curtis, V S 2011. Kingship and religion: the coins of Sasanian Iran, Part 4. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fzcw31S7jBo [Accessed 2015/02/18].
Curtis, V S & Stewart, S (eds) 2010. The Sasanian era. London: I.B. Tauris.
Daryaee, T 1998. SÄsÄnian Persia (224–651 A.D.), The Journal of Society for Iranian Studies 31/3/4:431–461.
_______ 2009. Sasanian Persia: the rise and fall of an empire. London: I.B. Tauris.
_______ 2010. Kingship in early Sasanian Iran, in Curtis, & Stewart 2010:60–68.
Dignas, B & Winter, E 2007. Rome and Persia in late antiquity: neighbours and rivals. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Emrani, H 2009. Like father, like daughter: late Sasanian imperial ideology & the rise of BÅrÄn to power, e-Sasanika 5:1–16.
Litvinsky, B A, Guang-Da, Z & Shabani Samghabadi, R (eds) 1996. History of civilisations of Central Asia – the crossroads of civilisation: A.D. 250–750. Paris: UNESCO.
Markowitz, M n.d. Late Roman and Byzantine silver coinage, c.330–1200. Available: http://www.academia.edu/3455580/Late_Roman_and_Byzantine_Silver_Coinage_c._330–1200 [Accessed: 2015/10/02].
Nikitin, A V 1996. Custom, arts and crafts, in Litvinsky, Guang-Da & Shabani Samghabadi 1996:59–77.
Potts, D T (ed.) 2013. The Oxford handbook of ancient Iran. New York: Oxford University Press.
Pourshariati, P 2008. Decline and fall of the Sasanian Empire: the Sasanian-Parthian confederacy and the Arab conquest of Iran. London: I.B. Tauris.
Schindel, N 2013. Sasanian coinage, in Potts 2013:814–840.
Soudavar, A 2009. The vocabulary and syntax of iconography in Sasanian Iran, Iranica Antiqua 44:417–460.
_______ 2012. Looking through the two eyes of the earth: a reassessment of Sassanian rock reliefs, Iranian Studies 45/1:29–58.
Wiesehöfer, J 2001. Ancient Persia. London: I.B. Tauris Publishers.
_______ 2010. Early Sasanian coinage, in Curtis & Stewart 2010:17–29.
Bacharach, J L & Gordus, A A 1972. The purity of Sasanian silver coins: an introduction, Journal of the American Oriental Society 92/2:280–283.
Bosworth, C E (trans.) 1999. The history of al-Ṭabari Volume V: The SÄsÄnids, the Byzantines, the Lakhmids, and Yemen. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Canepa, M 2009. The two eyes of the earth: art and ritual kingship between Rome and Sasanian Iran. Berkeley and Los Angeles (USA): University of California Press.
Canepa, M 2010. Technologies of memory in early Sasanian Iran: Achaemenid sites and Sasanian identity, American Journal of Archaeology 114/4:563–596.
Chegini, N N 1996. Political history, economy, and society, in Litvinsky, Guang-Da & Shabani Samghabadi 1996:40–57.
Compareti, M 2010. The spread wings motif on Armenian steles: its meaning and parallels in Sasanian art, Iran & The Caucasus 14:201–232.
Curtis, V S 2011. Kingship and religion: the coins of Sasanian Iran, Part 4. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fzcw31S7jBo [Accessed 2015/02/18].
Curtis, V S & Stewart, S (eds) 2010. The Sasanian era. London: I.B. Tauris.
Daryaee, T 1998. SÄsÄnian Persia (224–651 A.D.), The Journal of Society for Iranian Studies 31/3/4:431–461.
_______ 2009. Sasanian Persia: the rise and fall of an empire. London: I.B. Tauris.
_______ 2010. Kingship in early Sasanian Iran, in Curtis, & Stewart 2010:60–68.
Dignas, B & Winter, E 2007. Rome and Persia in late antiquity: neighbours and rivals. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Emrani, H 2009. Like father, like daughter: late Sasanian imperial ideology & the rise of BÅrÄn to power, e-Sasanika 5:1–16.
Litvinsky, B A, Guang-Da, Z & Shabani Samghabadi, R (eds) 1996. History of civilisations of Central Asia – the crossroads of civilisation: A.D. 250–750. Paris: UNESCO.
Markowitz, M n.d. Late Roman and Byzantine silver coinage, c.330–1200. Available: http://www.academia.edu/3455580/Late_Roman_and_Byzantine_Silver_Coinage_c._330–1200 [Accessed: 2015/10/02].
Nikitin, A V 1996. Custom, arts and crafts, in Litvinsky, Guang-Da & Shabani Samghabadi 1996:59–77.
Potts, D T (ed.) 2013. The Oxford handbook of ancient Iran. New York: Oxford University Press.
Pourshariati, P 2008. Decline and fall of the Sasanian Empire: the Sasanian-Parthian confederacy and the Arab conquest of Iran. London: I.B. Tauris.
Schindel, N 2013. Sasanian coinage, in Potts 2013:814–840.
Soudavar, A 2009. The vocabulary and syntax of iconography in Sasanian Iran, Iranica Antiqua 44:417–460.
_______ 2012. Looking through the two eyes of the earth: a reassessment of Sassanian rock reliefs, Iranian Studies 45/1:29–58.
Wiesehöfer, J 2001. Ancient Persia. London: I.B. Tauris Publishers.
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Published
2017-05-09
How to Cite
Vollgraaff, Stephanus. 2017. “A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF EARLY AND LATE SASSANIAN COINAGE”. Journal for Semitics 25 (1):165-98. https://doi.org/10.25159/1013-8471/2532.
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