1. A Hoard from the Time of Yazdgard III in Kirmān
- Author
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Heidemann, Stefan, Riederer, Josef, and Weber, Dieter
- Abstract
AbstractThe analysis of a hoard from the time of the collapse of the Sasanian Empire offers new insights into the administrative situation within the realm of Yazdgard III during his presence in Kirmān. Interpreting die chains using old or newly engraved dies with the then anachronistic name of the previous shāhānshāhKhusrō II, and finding an unlikely variety of mint abbreviations and dates within one workshop, allows us to infer the processing of huge amounts of silver in an unregulated way, compared with the orderly mint administration before the battle of al-Qādisiyya. A rigorous numismatic conclusion makes the change to a centralised minting in Kirmān likely where coins, rather than the dies, were sent to the districts. The key dates of the hoard coincide with the battle of Nihāvand 642 and the beginning of the invasion of Kirmān. Many of the coins bear dipintiwith legible Pahlavī inscriptions, highlighting a cultural way of marking coins at the end of the Sasanian Empire.
- Published
- 2014
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