A hoard of Seleucid bronze coins from Southern Dagestan

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Abstract

The paper presents a hoard of 46 Seleucid bronze coins found in 2021 in the south of the Republic of Dagestan (Russia). The core of this complex consists of 43 bronze coins of Antiochus IV, minted at Antioch on the Orontes. All of them belong to the so-called ‘Egyptianizing’ series, produced in the period from autumn 169 to autumn 168 BC. In addition to these coins, the hoard includes two coins of Antiochus IV from Seleucia on the Tigris. A unique feature of this hoard is the presence of a coin of Seleucid usurper Timarchos, probably issued in 162–160 BC. Most likely, the hoard was formed outside of Caucasian Albania and reflects the composition of the coin circulation in the eastern regions of the Seleucid kingdom in the second half of the second century BC.

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About the authors

Evgeniy V. Zakharov

The State Historical Museum

Author for correspondence.
Email: zakharov.evg@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-5530-2231

старший научный сотрудник отдела нумизматики

Russian Federation, Moscow

Svyatoslav V. Smirnov

Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: smirnovSv3@yandex.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-9205-9493

кандидат исторических наук, старший научный сотрудник отдела сравнительного изучения древних цивилизаций

Russian Federation, Moscow

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Supplementary files

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2. Fig. 1. Coins from the Sharakun treasure of 2021 after the discovery

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3. Fig. 2. Coins of Antiochus IV and Timarchus from the Sharakun hoard 2021 before restoration

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4. Fig. 3. Coins of Antiochus IV from the Sharakunka hoard of 1964: 1 – “Serapis/eagle” type (IEM 1577); 2 – “Isis/eagle” type (IEM 1578). Natural size. Historical and Ethnographic Museum of Dagestan State University

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5. Fig. 4. Treasures with coins of the Seleucid and Ptolemaic states, found in Dagestan and Transcaucasia: 1 – Sharakun treasure 1964; 2 – Sharakun treasure 1985; 3 – Sharakun treasure 2021; 4 – treasure from Barda (IGCH 1736); 5 – Kabala treasure (IGCH 1737); 6 – treasure from Khinisla (IGCH 1745); 7 – Sarnakunk treasure (IGCH 1746)

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6. Fig. 5. The main treasures with coins of the Seleucid and Ptolemaic states, found in Dagestan and Transcaucasia, and the mints where the Seleucid coins from the Sharakun hoard of 2021 were minted.

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7. Table 1. Coins of Antiochus IV from the Sharakun hoard 2021. Natural size

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8. Table 2. Coins of Antiochus IV (13, 37–41, 44) and Timarchus (46) from the Sharakun hoard 2021. Full size

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