Notae Numismaticae - Zapiski Numizmatyczne (6.2011)

RECENZJE / REYIEWS

KHATCHATUR MOUSHEGHIAN (f), ANAHIT MOUSEGHIAN, CECILE BRESC,

GEORGES DEPEYROT, FRANęOIS GURNET, History> and Coin Finds in Armenia;

Coins from Duin, Capital of Armenia (4-13lh c ); Inventory of Byzantine and Sasanian

Coins in Armenia (6~7,h c.j, Collection Moneta 18, Wetteren 2000 216 pp., 32 photo tables

To datę, this is the only available work to discuss the problem of monetary
circulation and economic relations of the city of Duin, the Capital of Armenia in
the early Middle Ages. It is based on research on coins from archeological exca-
vations and hoards discovered in and around Duin. The data gathered by the late
K. Mousheghian conceming coin finds in Duin with their precise descriptions permit
a comprehensive analysis of the numismatic materiał gathered. Group one includes
pieces discovered in 1962-1983 and identified by K. Mousheghian (302 pieces).
This group is complemented with coins published in 1962 and newly published
finds developed by Pakhomov and others. Described in the catalog are morę than
a thousand loose coins discovered in the Duin digs, and 15 hoards. We are intro-
duced to the history of Duin in chapter one which supplies a calendar of crucial
events of Armenia’s early medieval Capital.

The work consists of two main parts: part one is on coins found in Duin (fourth-
thirteenth centuries), part two supplies an inventory of Sasanian and Byzantine coin
hoards (sixth-seventh centuries) discovered in Armenia.

The monetary circulation of Duin is presented in a diachronic way. The entire
materiał is divided into four groups.

The first group are coins of the Persian Sasanian dynasty and the Byzantine
empire (fifth-seventh centuries). Here belong Byzantine hexagrams (hoards Nos
1 and 2) and Sasanian drachms (hoard No. 1). The hexagrams discovered in Duin
were circulated in Armenia in two periods: 625-629 and 642-647. The dies were
probably manufactured in Constantinople, while the pieces could also have been
struck in a mobile military mint that followed the Byzantine army.

Among the Sasanian drachms, the main component are coins of Khusru II.
In an analysis of the hoard’s structure, the authors discuss each monetary type of
Khusru II and places where the drachms were struck, while comparing the Duin
hoard with Sasanian coin hoards from Gurnri and Tsiteli.

The centuries from eight to tenth were marked by a domination of Arab coins
- dirhams and falses. Duin was the site of one of the first mints in the caliphate; dir-
hams were struck with the province’s fuli name: [Arminlyya], while falses borę the
Arab name of Duin: [Dabll]. Conspicuously absent form hoards and finds are early
['Abbasid] dirham issues from AH 132-180. The authors surmise that the cause
might have been the city’s peaceful life. Still, it could be speculated that this situ-
ation arose out the enormous taxes levied by the caliphate on Armenia’s Christian