Descendants of alexanders general seleukos ruled persia after alexanders death. Parthian and inscriptional pahlavi build up numbers out of 1, 10, 20, 100, and. An introduction to collecting parthian coins this article provides some basic information about parthian coins, as well as some of the pros and cons of collecting them. Sassan it all began with sassan, the high priest of the great fire temple at istakhr, the capital city of the province of pars in the parthian empire. Yolamira was the first parataraja king to issue coins. The crown is still the parthian cap with earflaps, but heavily bejewelled. The fall of the graecobactrians, sakas and indoparthians. He has worked as a technical writer, editor and trainer for a variety. The use of parthian coins does not seem to be necessarily tied to parthian control as duraeuropos in the parthian period used money from syrian antioch. Alexander of macedons conquest of the achaemenid satrapies of bactria and sogdia in central asia and the indian territories south of the hindu kush hendukosh plunged these regions into a political upheaval with farreaching consequences. Dec 15, 2004 indo parthian dynasty, rulers over a large part of northwestern india from seistan portions of the presentday border provinces of that name of iran and of afghanistan to sindh on the indus river at the beginning of the 1st century c. Coin of arsaces i of parthia with inscriptions in greek and aramaic. Parthian silver coins can be a little complicated to sort out when one first starts to study them, as few issues name the king whose. Welcome to parthian sources online, a digital collection of texts from the ancient parthian empire coin of arsaces i of parthia with inscriptions in greek and aramaic.
He has worked as a technical writer, editor and trainer for a variety of aerospace. Parthian art was iranian art made during the parthian empire from 247 bc to 224 ad, based in the near east. The coins from the long reign of mithridates ii 12488 bce are known in both northern and southern media although these coins from the. Offering roman coins, greek coins, ancient coins, british coins, medieval coins, coin auctions, renaissance coins, indian coins, rare coins, celtic coins, european. Parthian sources online a collection of texts from the. At first he made mithridates king of media but then deposed him. An introduction to collecting coins from elymais by robert l3 bob l the coinage of the many ancient cultures beyond the grecoroman world is often underappreciated.
The fi rst offi cial announcement of the discovery was made by sellwood in late 1968. We have coins in such abundance that they have become the largest and most important source of information on the parthian empire. The coins illustrated are from many different collections and are not for sale. The piecing together of the second life of anglosaxon coins is a curious and fascinating study in its own right. If you know the sellwood type number of a coin, go to the sellwood type numbers page for navigation to the page illustrating coins of that type. C, begining with the seccession of the satrapy of parthia from the selucid empire, when the satrap, andragoras, rebelled and declared the province an independent kingdom. The romanparthian war of 5863 ce was sparked off when the parthian empires ruler imposed his own brother as the new king of armenia, considered by rome to be a quasineutral buffer state between the two empires. Not content with the practice of zarathushtrianism, solely in the. Paratarajas were local indo parthian satraps, who ruled an area between modern loralai in baluchistan and multan.
A revised parthian chronology of the period 16591 bc. Dates of local rulers who struck coins and the areas they controlled are difficult to determine, but it seems that. This is surprising, because parthia played an important part in the ancient history of the east, including the land of palestine, which they ruled for many years just prior to. A revised parthian chronology of the period 9155 bc. For more information on coins from the sasanian culture, please visit thomas mallonmccorgrays site. I own only rpc i, but for the time it covers it is absolutely essential. Moses of chorene and the early parthian chronology. Supplement ii is the second supplement to rpc i and the first supplement for rpc ii. They came after the indogreeks and the indoscythians and were, in turn, defeated by the kushans in the second half of the 1st. Dilmaghani plate 24 n o period of arsacid rule in iran is more challenging than the years between mithradates ii and orodes ii.
My first parthian coin won in a recent cng auction. In 238 bc arshak, king of the skythian parni tribe, overthrew the governor of parthia, and the parthians took over most of the seleukid realm during the next century. To search an expression, simply put quotation marks around it. Southeastern iran, though at times under direct parthian control, does not seem to have used the royal coinage. Their coinage and history has not been fully understood, but hopefully with the discovery of more coins. Early parthian coins from margiana, the art and archaeology of ancient persia new light on the parthian and sasanian empires, i. The end of the parthian dynasty in numcirc june 1990. The fi ndspot was near an imamzadeh, probably from the ilkhanid period ad 125657 and known locally as bb hal. The fall of the graecobactrians, sakas and indoparthians richard n.
About 50 parthian rulers issued coins, but the name arsaces became immobilized as the dynastic title much as caesar became a roman title. The parthian empire came into being following a series of events during the third century b. Parthia hist 2 spring 2012 parthian dynasty 250 bce226 ce parthian rule lasted 474 years longer than any dynastic period in iranian history seleucid focused on the western part of his empire 250 bce the parni tribe crown a new king in iran arsaces, eponymous founder of the dynasty. Indoparthian coins for sale buy indoparthian coins.
Genealogy and coinage of the early parthian rulers. Get the best deals on greek coins 450 bc100 ad when you shop the largest online selection at. Mithradates iii, a parthian king of media, killed his father phraates iii and was in turn killed by his brother orodes ii. Indogreek, indoscythian and indo parthian coins in the smithsonian institution. The larger coins were made for use in the west where they interfaced with greeks while the smaller and better silver drachms were probably the main coins in the bulk of the parthian lands. The fall of the graecobactrians saka and indoparthians. This page will contain sasanian coins and is a work in progress as i build it with attribution tips and techniques.
A typical feature of parthian art is the frontality of the people shown. The large amount of evi dence for the cultural history of parthia from duraeuropus and seleucia on the tigris now in press and in preparation makes discussion of the cultural as pects inadvisable at present. Indogreek, indoscythian and indoparthian coins in the smithsonian institution. Parthian sources online represents an effort to harness digital texts in order to help students of parthian history overcome the challenges posed by a disparate bibliography. Welcome to parthian sources online, a digital collection of texts from the ancient parthian empire. Contents part 1 the end a good place to begin part 2 call to arms a battle cry for those who will hear part 3 beginning where you must decide to start finale taking the next step join the community share this manifesto acknowledgments.
The author takes for granted that individuals looking to collect coins from this series. Oct 30, 2017 while i agree we all need to be careful and check reverses, i never thought of coins of persis being easy to confuse with parthians. For the collector, in a fast moving world, the second life of a coin, its provenance, is becoming increasingly relevant. Orodes ii and his brother mithradates iii murdered their father. This must be reserved for some future work on parthia where the necessity. Artakhshatr malkan malka airan ardeshir, king of kings of airan. An introduction to collecting coins from elymais by robert. Some such series seem particularly mysterious due to a dearth of extant, reliable ancient writings about the societies which produced the coins. For some time after the period of the parthian empire, art in its styles continued for some time. If you have parthian coins that are missing from this virtual collection or have better examples and would like to see them added to the pages here, please visit the feedback page to leave a note or send me an email message.
The arsacids managed to uphold a standard of minting for many years, making their coins recognizable and widelyused. Parthia coins for sale buy parthia coins from the most. Sylloge nummorum graecorum, denmark, the royal collection of coins and medals, danish national museum. Find the best selection from the most respected coins dealers around the world. Coins tell the story of parthian empire financial tribune.
Their coins are hard to find, especially the early silver issues with brahmi legends. My deepest gratitude to tom mallonmccorgray and howard cole for their assistance in confirming or changing my attributions of the coins and understanding the. Indogreek dynasty, grecobactrian kings who ruled over the region south of the hindu kush in the second and first century b. The paratarajas were an indo parthian dynasty that ruled in modernday baluchistan. Parthian coins from margiana those few recovered from the iutake excava greeks, except for a series of drachms struck tions between 1950 and 1980, which have not in media in the very last years of his long reign.
Rpc i costs about 120 with a little luck 150 without, supplement i about 20, supplement ii which is of little use if you dont own the original books, like most supplements is free and has always been free. Sources in greek, latin, and parthian are available in the original and in english translation, with comprehensive vocabulary glosses provided for ease of reading. The romanparthian war 5863 ce ancient history encyclopedia. From classical and chinese sources we presume that the principal actors in this event were the yuezhi at the head of a nomadic. Premier sasanian our finest and rarest ancient coin offerings, selected from all the pages on this site, are brought together on these premier coin pages.
Psalter pahlavi has additional numbers for 2, 3, and 4 and omits the number. Sellwood, a hoard of early parthian drachms, numismatic chronicle seventh series, volume xi, the royal numismatic society, london 1971. Parthian coins for sale the parthian empire was a middle persian dynasty which fell between the achaemenid and sassanian dynasties of persia iran. Parthian silver coins can be a little complicated to sort out when one first starts to study them, as few issues name the king whose portrait they bear, and there are only a few basic styles. Julius caesar coin indiana greek coins 450 bc100 ad. Here is some good advice that will help you avoid fakes.
Historians and the public have certainly forgotten the parthian empire, with only one or two major books written on this subject, both of them in the nineteenth century. All structured data from the file and property namespaces is available under the creative commons cc0 license. Also, see the listing of parthian coins in the ans database for assistance in identifying parthian coins, go to the identifying parthian coins page n. Bust faces right as on all coins of the sassanian dynasty. Indo parthian dynasty, rulers over a large part of northwestern india from seistan portions of the presentday border provinces of that name of iran and of afghanistan to sindh on the indus river at the beginning of the 1st century c. Site introduction if this is your first time using the site, start here. Premier sasanian our finest and rarest ancient coin offerings, selected from all the pages on this site, are brought together on these premier coin pages for perusal by discriminating collectors and investors. A search for 1 franc is more precise than 1 franc you may use an asterisk as a wildcard. It was founded by mithridates the great in 171 bc and lasted for 400 years until its final demise at the hands of ardashir i, first sassanian persian king, between 206224 ad. His high influence, unwavering conviction and domineering spirit changed the course of history. I do note that parthian coins have been increasing in price in the 20 years i have been interested in them. The panjtar stone inscription dated year 122 of the era. It has a mixture of persian and hellenistic influences.
Some remarks on the arrangement of the parthian dark age coin series ruben vardanyan t he socalled parthian dark age problem chronologically embraces a period from the. An introduction to collecting parthian coins coin community. Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. Sweet new parthian addition i love both of your coins, old and new.
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