Ancient History, Numismatics and Epigraphy in the Mediterranean World Studies in memory of Clemens E. Bosch and Sabahat Atlan and in honour of Nezahat Baydur Edited by Oguz Tekin in collaboration with Aliye Erol ee PUBLICATIONSAncient History, Numismatics and Epigraphy in the Mediterranean World. Studies in memory of Clemens E, Bosch and Sabahat Atlan and in honour of Nezahat Baydur Istanbul, 2008, pp. 223-226 AN IMPORTANT GROUP OF LATE 7"-CENTURY COINS FROM AMORIUM Christopher S. LIGHTFOOT* During excavations at Amorium (Hisarky, Emirdag, Afyonkarahisar) in 2006 an unusual and unexpected discovery was made in a church, referred to in preliminary reports as the Lower City Church, where work first began in 1990.! The building, as now exposed, is an imposing structure, whose entire history, from its construction in the late 5* century AD until its piecemeal demolition and quarrying by locals in the 1960s and 1970s, can be traced in the archaeological record. As such the church reflects the fate of the entire site, which saw its transition from a mid-sized provincial Roman town to a major Byzantine city during the Middle Ages (mid-7"late 11® century) and then into a small rural settlement in Seljuk, Ottoman, and modern times. ‘The find in question comprises a scatter of six copper alloy coins, recovered from the earth fill over two tombs that were dug into the floor of the atrium of the church next to the main north wall? The tombs (numbered 19 and 20) contained multiple burials of the middle Byzantine period (10%-11* century), a fact not only demonstrated by the stratigraphy but also by the finds within the tombs. In tomb 19, for example, part of an 11*century glass bracelet with silver stain decoration was found. The sides of the same tomb were constructed using early Byzantine spolia. A closure slab (T2115) decorated with a central cross inside a circle design was incorporated into the north wall of the tomb, and the west wall comprised a slab with a * Christopher 8. Lightfoot, Direct cross in relief (T2115), the arms of which enclosed ‘a funerary inscription recording the existence of the tomb (heroeion) of a man called Etherios, apparently ‘a native of the city. The inscription is probably late 5® or 6 century in date. The tombs were presumably in use for some considerable time, for not all of the bodies could have been laid out there at once. However, when it became impossible to add any further bodies, the tombs were sealed and a new floor laid over them. Earth was brought in and dumped over the tombs as bedding for the new tile floor. It was in this fill thatthe scatter of six coins was found. The circumstances in which they had originally been lost or buried cannot now be reconstructed, but it is obvious from the close links and similarities between them that they form a ‘genuine group or small hoard. All that can now be said is that some three centuries after they had been minted and circulated the coins were redeposited in the floor bedding over the tombs. It was probably not a deliberate act, although one may presume that they would have had no monetary value by the 11"* century, forall ofthe coins date from the end of the 7 century. ‘The group comprises two folles and four half folles belonging to the reigns of the emperors Justinian II (685-695, first reign) and Leontius (695-698). Such coins are rare and very few, if any, have been recorded from an archaeological excavation. They are, therefore, worthy of special note. morium Excavations Project, Associate Curator, Deparment of Greek and Roman At, The Metropolitan Muscum of Art. New York. E-mail: christopher lightfoo'@ metmuseum org | For a brief account ofthe excavation of the church up tothe 1998 season, Gill 2002: 14-15 with refs in fa. 61; for more recent work, see Lightfoot 2005: 241-254, figs, 9-20; Lightfoot 2007: 281-283, 287-288, pls. 8-10 2 Lighfoot 2008: 43-47, 455, pl. 1-7 and 12 3. silver 18 sliqua of Leotus, however, is recoded from the excavations at Pergamum: Morison 1993: $8, no. K 819.24 Christopher S. Lightfoot CATALOGUE Justinian I, first reign (AD 685-695) Mint of Constantinople Oy Rev bv, [IVSTIN-IANIVS; bust facing, bearded, wearing chlamys and crown, holding globe cruciger in r. hand: in field cross. M; above, cross; to 1, ANNO; tor, Il (year 2); below, A; im ex., CON]. DOC 18a (11.2, 584), Ap 6867 AMO6/A21-106/SF7315. From the Lower City Church atrium, 29.07.06. AE follis, Class 2; 23.7 mm., 6.11 g., Th o® IVSTIN[L-AINVSP; bust facing, bearded, wearing cchlamys and crown, holding globe cruciger in r. hand; in field, cross. M; above, cross; to L, [AJNNO; to II (year 2) with cross above and line below; below, €; in ex., CON. DOC 18b (11.2, 584), AD 686/7. AM06/A21-106/SF7314. From the Lower City (Church atrium, 29.07.06, AE follis, Class 2;27.5 mm., 9.83 g.,Th No inscription; bust facing, bearded, wearing chlamys and crown, holding globe cruciger in r hand. K; above, cross; to L, ANNO to &, II (year (2). DOC 20¢ (11.2, 585), Ab 686/7 AMO6/A21-106/SF7313. From the Lower City Church atrium, 29.07.06. AE half follis, Class 2; 23.7 ‘mm., 6.10 g. 6 D below, (Obv.. No inscription; bust facing, bearded, wearing chlamys, and crown, holding globe cruciger in r hand; in field 1, (Cross). Rev. K; above, eross; to L, ANNO; to, II (year 2); below, oO. 4 AMO6/A21-106/SF7312. From the Lower City Church atrium, 29.07.06. AE half follis, overstruck: 23 mm., 4.45 g., 6h. ‘No inscription; bust facing, bearded, wearing chlamys and crown, holding globe cruciger in . hand. Rev. K; above, cross; to 1, [ANJNO; to &, If (year below, €. DOC 21a (IL.2, $86), aD 6878, 5 AMO6/A21-106/SF7310. From the Lower City Church atrium, 29.07.06. AE half follis, Class 2, triangular flan; overstruck on a quarter of a large foltis of Constantine IV, Class 5 — on obv., r. hand holding transverse spear; on rev., part of large M; to 1, AN[NO}; see DOC 32 (11.2, 539); 26-18.5 mm., 4.81 g., 6h. P & GA Leontius (aD 695-698) Mint of Constantinople Obv. Bust facing, bearded, wearing loros and crown, holding globe cruciger int. hand; infield ., cross. Rev, K; above, cross; to 1, ANNO; tor, (year 1); below, ?. DOC 8 (11.2, 615-16); MIB 33, aD 69516. eq g‘An important Group of Late Century Coins fom Amorium 25 6 — AMO6/A21-106/SF7311, From the Lower City Church atrium, 29.07.06; AE half follis, triangular flan, overstruck; 24.3-20.4 mm., 3.94 g., 6h. Discussion ‘The issues of Justinian II (first reign) conform to the ‘general pattern found in published collections. So, for example, the two folles are both of Class 2, although fone specimen (no. 1) differs in some minor details from the standard type. On the obverse it may be noted that the beard appears as a line of dots in a way that recalls the manner in which it is represented on the solidus of Class I(d), and on the reverse there is no cross above and no line below the figures of the date. Similarly, on two of the three half folles (nos. 3-4) no trace of a cross in the field tothe right can be detected. Admittedly, in both cases relatively few examples are known, and they are generally in poor condition and are often overstruck on coins or fragments of coins of 4 Lightfooe 2002; Lightfoot 2003. the preceding reign, as in the case of two specimens in the Amorium group (nos. 4-5). By contrast, the half follis of Leontius (no. 6), despite its triangular flan, is particularly well struck, showing clearly the emperor's round face, short beard, and ornate chequered loros. ‘The coin was presumably made by cutting up a large follis of Constantine IV, as in the case of the triangular half follis of Justinian II (no, 5), but here no sign of the earlier coin remains, ‘The unusual nature of the coin finds at Amorium has been remarked on elsewhere. This new discovery highlights and strengthens the argument that coinage continued to circulate at Amorium during the Dark ‘Age principally because it remained an important, thriving city and garrison town, unlike many other sites in Anatolia and Greece, where Byzantine coins virtually disappear from the record between the mid- 7 and the late 9% century.26 Christopher SL TURKISH SUMMARY / TURKGE OZET Amorium’dan Onemli Bir Geg 7. Yiizyil Sikke Grubu Amorium’ da yapilan 2006 yi Kazi sirasinda, Aga Sehie‘de bulunan iliseden alu adet baka sikke ele zegmist. Sikkeler, Orta Bizans Dnemi’ne ait iki mezarn Ustine yayilmis dolgu topraktan gikmasina ragmen 7. yizyiln sonuna tarilendirilebilmektedir. Sikkeler, sik kullanilmy mezarlann doldurulup apatilmast esnasinda 11. yizyil tabakasina rastgele girmislerdi. Sikke grubu iginde iki follis ve drt yanm follis bulunmaktadir. Bunlardan besi Imparator I. lustnianus'a (lk iktidar nemine), digeri Leontius'a att. Iki mek, 1V. Constantinus’a ait olan bayik Glgek fol erden tekrar kesilip basilmishir. Kazslarda 7. ylizysln sonuna dogru tarihlenen bakur sikkeler gok seyrek bulunmaktayken Amorium’daki durum dikkat gekiciir, Bibliography DOC A. R. Bellinger and P. Grierson, Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection ‘and in the Whittemore Collection, 3 vols. Washington, DC, 1962-73, M.A. V. Gill (with contributions by C'S. Lightfoot, EA. Ivison, and M:T. Wypyski), Amorium Repors, Finds 1: The Glass (1987-1997). BAR International Series 1070, Oxford, 2002 Lightfoot 2002 CS. Lightfoot, “Byzantine Anatolia: Reassessing the Numismatic Evidence”, RN 158 (2002): 229.239. itt 2002 Lightfoot 2003 . S. Lightfoot, “Amorium’daki Sikke Buluntular ‘Anadolu'da Bizans Para Ekonomisi (gin Yeni Kanit- lar", Turk Arkeoloji ve Emografya Dergsi 3 (2003): 23.28, Lightfoot 2008 CS. Lightfoot, ¥. Arbel, EA. Ivison, J. A. Roberts, and E.loannidou, "The Amorium Project: Excavation and Research in 2002", DOP 59 (2008): 231-268. Lightfoot 2007 . Lightfoot, O. Kogyigit, and H. Yaman, “Amori- uum Kazst 2005", KST 28/1, Canakkale, 29 Mavis-02 Haziran 2006, Ankara, 2007 271-294. Lightfoot 2008 . Lightfoot, O. Kogyifit, and H. Yaman, “Amoriam Kazisi 2006, KST 29, Kocaeli, 28 Mayts-O1 Haziran 2007, Ankara, 2008: 443-466, C. Morrisson, Catalogue des monnaies byzantines de 1a Bibliotheque nationale. Tome 1. D'Anastse Ter Justnien 11 (491-711), Pars, 1970, ‘Morrsson 1993 C. Morrsson, “Die byzantinischen MUnzen”, in H. Voegtli, Die Fundmiinzen aus der Stadigrabung von Pergamon. Pergamenisehe Forschungen, Band 8. Berlin/New York, 1993, ate 1970[Ancient History, Numismatics and Epigraphy in the Mediterranean World ‘Studies in memory of Clemens E, Bosch and Sabahat Atlan ‘and in honour of Nezahat Baydur Edited by Oguz Tekin collaboration with Alive Erol ISBN: 978-975-807-232-3 © 2009 Ege Publications, Istanbul All rights reserved Printed by Graphis Press Production and Distribution Zero Prod. Ltd. Abdullah Sokak, No. 17, Taksim 34433 Istanbul - Turkey ‘Tel: +90 (212) 244 7521 Fax: +90 (212) 244 3209 ‘email: info@zerobooksonline.com www.zerobooksonline.com/eng www.egeyayinlari.com