Andrey A. Gomzin

Institute of Archaeology RAS, Moscow, Russia

E-mail: gomzin_a@mail.ru

Keywords: hoard of Kufic coins, dirhams, Abbasids, ‘Alids, Oka river basin, Don trade route, Khazar Khanate.

The article introduces the hoard of silver kufic coins of the mid-870s found in the environs of the village Khruschevo-Tyrnovo in Ryazan Region. The author analyzes dynastic, geographic and chronological distributions of the coins. The study shows characteristic features of the hoard common to a number of the hoards from the Oka river basin with the similar way of formation as well as its peculiarities. Dirhams of the hoard minted at the Abbasid capital only slightly exceed the coins of Samarqand in quantity while the Middle East specimens, as whole, only slightly prevail over the Central Asian emissions. That is quite uncommon for the synchronous deposits of the Oka region. Another unusual feature is the presence of three rare dirhams in one hoard, which were minted by ‘Alid rebels at al-Muhammadiya in 250 AH. In addition, the coins with graffiti are analyzed, among which one specimen contains a whole set of marks including those that have analogies in the Don and Kuban runic alphabets. This fact is considered as additional evidence of the arrival of monetary silver in the region in question along the Don trade route. The author comes to the conclusion about the importance of the hoard as a valuable source for studying kufic silver coin circulation in Eastern Europe and the Oka river basin and trade ties with Muslim Orient through the mediation of the Khazar Khanate.

DOI: 10.31857/S0869606325030139