Dead languages on ancient coins

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Finn235, Nov 15, 2018.

  1. Finn235

    Finn235 Well-Known Member

    Nothing makes an ancient coin more fascinating than an inscription in a language that hasn't been spoken or written in over a thousand years! Unlike spoken languages, a pretty substantial portion of extinct writing scripts appear on coins that circulated in the region where the population could read it. Everyone knows about Latin, Greek and Chinese, so let's make a virtual collection of our dead-language coins!

    Cuneiform
    Sadly, despite surviving until the Parthian era, it does not appear that humanity's first written script ever made it onto a coin. I would love to be proven wrong!

    Egyptian

    - Hieroglyphics
    As far as I know, only present on the prohibitively rare Nectanebo stater.
    - Hieratic / Demotic
    Both were used on imitations of Athenian tetradrachms. While not particularly expensive, they are rare, and I have never seen one at auction!

    Cypriot
    Originating from the mysterious Minoan "linear A" script, ancient coins of Cyprus up until the time of Alexander the Great use Cypriot syllabery. I only have one coin, where the letters are nearly impossible to distinguish. Unread Cypriot in front of the eagle's breast.

    Hemiobol of Pyntas II
    Cyprus Pnytos hemiobol.jpg

    Sabaean
    A distant cousin to Phoenician-based languages, Sabaean was used particularly by the kingdom of Himyar until it was destroyed by Aksum in the early middle ages. It is the direct ancestor of the Ethiopian Ge'ez script.
    Himyar AR "quinarius", Amdan Bayyin
    2017-07-13 09.17.16.jpg

    Phoenician
    Although the Phoenician empire had collapsed by the time of the advent of coinage, the language persisted until at least the Seleucid era, and some coins were inscribed in Phoenician. Sadly, I don't have any to share yet.

    - Punic
    The Phoenician language was modified into Punic for use in Carthage and her colonies. Sadly, none to share yet

    - Iberian
    Before the Roman takeover of present-day Spain, Iberia was populated by a mixture of the indigenous population, Celtic settlers, Greek merchants, and finally Punic colonists. The Iberian script was loosely based on Punic, but functionally was closer to an abjad than an alphabet; vowels and consonants usually being combined into a single letter. The script and related languages were lost during the Romanization of Hispania.
    Iberia, Bolskan AR Denarius
    Bolskan denarius.jpg

    Aramaic
    Derived from Phoenician, Aramaic was the language of daily use in most of the Achaemenid empire, and remained as such until the Islamic takeover; most non-Indian scripts between Armenia and Mongolia are based on Aramaic.

    Cilicia, Tarsus? AR obol of Datames
    Cilicia obol datames arethusa.jpg

    - Hebrew
    While surviving in an evolved form, "paleo" Hebrew was closely related to Aramaic
    Awful example, AE Prutah of Alexander Jannaeus, Hebrew between spokes of wheel
    20170715_140041.jpg

    - Nabatean
    Closely related to Hebrew was Nabatean, used in the desert trading kingdom of Nabataea, centered on Petra. Their language is now extinct, but was adopted to become Arabic.
    AE coin of Aretas IV & Shuqailat
    Nabatea aretas iv shuqailat wedding standing.jpg

    - Syriac and related
    Variants of Aramaic were also used locally in middle eastern city states. I don't have any examples, but I have seen some coins with the Edessan Estranghelo script at auctions recently.

    - Kharosthi
    Devised by Persian merchants for use in India, Kharosthi was a heavily modified Aramaic for use in transliterating Sanskrit. It was mostly used on bilingual coins, especially of the Greeks and Scythians.
    AR drachm of Menander
    Menander drachm.jpg

    - Pahlavi
    Although it had long been the language of the people of Persis, Pahlavi became the state language o the Sassanian empire, and was a major trade language until the rise of Arabic. It comes in two flavors
    Inscriptional Pahlavi on an Ardashir I drachm
    imgonline-com-ua-twotoone-gVpC3JEAL2QpICdz.jpg

    Book Pahlavi on a Tabaristan hemidrachm of Suleiman
    imgonline-com-ua-twotoone-lM2ofifuYUa.jpg

    - Sogdian
    During middle antiquity to the late middle ages, Aramaic morphed into Sogdian on the Silk road. Over time, the preference shifted from horizontal to vertical writing, and Sogdian became Mongolian.
    Chach AE coin, unknown "Tudun" or chief
    Chach ae tudun double portrait.jpg
     
    Sulla80, Archilochus, EWC3 and 31 others like this.
  2. Avatar

    Guest User Guest



    to hide this ad.
  3. TIF

    TIF Always learning.

    Nice review and great idea for a thread!

    Punic:

    [​IMG]
    SICILY, Entella. Punic issues
    c. 300-289 BCE; AR tetradrachm, 24 mm, 16.8 gm, 12h)
    Obv: head of Melquart-Herakles right, wearing lion skin
    Rev: head of horse left; astragalos (cut over poppy) to left, palm tree to right, Punic MHSBM (approximate meaning is "quaestors" or financial controllers) below
    Ref: Jenkins, Punic 366 (O115/R298), series 5b
    Ex Gorny & Mosch 138 (7 March 2005), lot 33
    https://www.cointalk.com/threads/a-big-one-from-the-wish-list-siculo-punic-tetradrachm.297246/

    Phoenician:

    ByblosColorAdjusted.jpg
    PHOENICIA, Byblos. Uzzibaal
    c. 350-335 BCE
    AR dishekel, 13.3 gm
    Obv: Three hoplites with shields in war galley left, roaring lion's head on prow, waves below galley; hippocamp left below; Z O (N O?) in field
    Rev: Phoenician inscription*; lion attacking bull left
    Ref: SNG Copenhagen 132, BMC 26.95, 4
    https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancients-a-coin-from-the-purple-people.250752/

    [​IMG]
     
  4. Finn235

    Finn235 Well-Known Member

    - Chorasmian
    In addition to Sogdian, the people of Khwarezm developed Aramaic into their own script
    AR "Tetradrachm" of Sawashfan, Sogdian on obverse, Chorasmian on reverse
    Khwarezm Sawashfan AR.jpg


    Greek
    While technically still in use, it can't be omitted! Greek evolved from Phoenician and the Minoan scripts, reaching its more or less modern form before coinage was even invented.
    Good ol' Alexander drachm Alexander III drachm Price 1980 Antigonus I.jpg

    - Lycian
    The people of Lycia in modern day Turkey used a heavily modified and expanded Greek to represent sounds in their language that were not supported by the Greek alphabet. It did not survive the Greek takeover under Alexander.
    AR tetraobol of Perikles
    Lycia Perikles helios.jpg

    - Runic
    Yep, the famous script of the Vikings was derived from Greek! Runic is not easy to find, as it was only used briefly by the Anglo-Saxons, and by a few Viking kingdoms. Narrowly missed an AR Sceat in the last CNG auction with Runic!

    - Bactrian
    While most kingdoms in India continued to use Greek long after the Indo-Greeks fizzled out, the Kushans soon found that Greek was ill-suited for their language, and developed it into Bactrian.
    Early forms are almost indistinguishable from Greek
    Kanishka tetradrachm (yes I know it's a terrible example)
    Kushan Kanishka tetradrachm Athsho.jpg
    Later forms took on a cursive script, nearly impossible to identify as Greek to the layman
    Turkic huns, Vasudeva drachm, Bactrian in margins
    Vakhu deva drachm.jpg

    -Latin
    Yep, the language you are reading this in right now is just a modified Greek alphabet!
    (Who doesn't like Trajan's tiny verbose legends?) Trajan Arabia denarius.jpg

    - Oscan
    Very closely related to Latin is Oscan, which I have not been able to snag an example of.
     
  5. Finn235

    Finn235 Well-Known Member

    Brahmi
    There is pretty hot scholarly debate over whether Brahmi is an original invention, derived from the undecipheted Indus script, or from Aramaic. It first appears on coins after the breakup of the Maurya empire, then branched out after the Gupta collapse to become nearly every modern South/SE Asian script

    Early calligraphy, Satavahanas / anonymous
    Satavahana satakarni potin.jpg

    Western Kshatrapas, Rudrasena III
    Western satraps rudrasena iii.jpg

    Guptas, Kumaragupta
    Gupta3.jpg
    Hindu Shahis, anonymous "Spalapati Deva"
    Spalapati Deva Jital.jpg
    Chandellas, Madanavarman
    Chandelas madanavarman quarter dinar.jpg
     
    Sulla80, Multatuli, BenSi and 18 others like this.
  6. John Anthony

    John Anthony Ultracrepidarian

    Great thread! Technically the language on Nabataean coins (and all monumental inscriptions) is a local version of Aramaic. Nabataean Arabic was a colloquial language distinct from the formal, imperial court language of Nabataean Aramaic. As Nabataean Aramaic grew to be spoken by more and more people, however, it picked up significant influences from the language of the common man. Not only did the two branches eventually feed into what is known as modern Arabic, but the Nabataean alphabet slowly morphed into modern Arabic script as well.

    Here is Aretas IV and Shaqilat on a year 1 drachm (9 BC), and Rabbel II and Gamilat on a year 20 drachm (AD 90). Notice the refined Hellenistic style of the earlier drachm, and the cruder yet still artistically distinctive style of the later (almost a return to archaic aesthetics)...

    Aretas IV Sela Year 1.jpg
     
    Last edited: Nov 15, 2018
  7. Orfew

    Orfew Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus

    Great idea for a thread! Very interesting.
     
  8. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    Great thread. I also am unfamiliar with any depiction involving hieroglyphics on coins other than the Nectanebo stater which read "good gold" Nbw-Nfr. I suppose one could make a case that the depiction of the crowns of upper and lower Egypt on Roman Egypt coins could comprise hieroglyphs, since both of these are also hieroglyphic symbols.
     
    Theodosius likes this.
  9. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    The mint at Siscia in the mid 4th century repeated the officina number in their own local alphabet usually following the mintmark in exergue as on this Constans workshop gamma three.
    rw6086bb3112.jpg

    Very few placed the letter large in the field as with this officina A 1.
    rw6065fd1317.jpg
     
  10. Gil-galad

    Gil-galad I AM SPARTACUS

    This is a great topic and one I'm interested in. As many here know I've been heavily researching displaying ancient coin languages and learning how to read them as well.

    Here is a link to Ancient Coin Visual Keyboard which can be used to type out ancient scripts that are found on coins. Many are supported, most fully, some have bugs. Greek, Latin, Runic, Phoenician, Russian, Armenian, Arabic, Aramaic, Syriac, Kharosthi, Nabataean, Ancient Old South Arabian, Lycian, Lydian, Carian, Cypriote, Pahlavi and Parthian.

    http://www.forumancientcoins.com/ancientwhitesheet/AC-VK-Greek-Latin.html

    Starting with Greek, Latin, Runic and punctuation. Some alphabet tables have transliteration for easy reading.

    On my links page is a language section, click on the shortcut link to go right there. For a lot of reading and font support pages, Numiswiki and Wikipedia page links.

    http://www.forumancientcoins.com/ancientwhitesheet/links.html#LANG

    I haven't written a guide yet, but will in the future.

    ac-vk-nabataean.png

    Here is a progress screen shot of a Chinese keyboard I am working on.

    ac-vk-phagspa-chinese.jpg

    ac-vk-chinese-ban-liang.png
     
  11. randygeki

    randygeki Coin Collector

    Very interesting!
     
  12. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    I guess Kufic is more of an archaic style of script than a language?

    Anyway...

    Turkey (Seljuks of Rûm): silver dirham of Kaykhusraw II; lion & sun, AH 638 (1240-1241)

    [​IMG]

    I think this one also has Kufic script?

    Sicily (Norman Kings): gold tari of Guglielmo I ("William the Bad"), ca. 1154-1166 AD

    [​IMG]
     
  13. FitzNigel

    FitzNigel Medievalist

    Cool thread idea - how about coins that contain pseudo-scripts? The issuing authority was attempting to recreat Arabic and failing:
    Med-14-INCap-1136-Anfusus-Fol-188.jpg
    Norman Italy - Capua
    Anfusus, r. 1136-1144; AE Follaro, 10.86 mm x 0.69 grams
    Obv.: O/A/N in left field, standing figure holding sword
    Rev.: Pseudo-Cufic legend, cross above and below
    Ref.: NCKS 14var., [MEC 14.188]
    (There is some question as to whether this is actually Anfusus - there may be a different issuer under different circumstances)
     
    Sulla80, chrsmat71, Multatuli and 8 others like this.
  14. Gary Waddingham

    Gary Waddingham Well-Known Member

    The first letter (the one farthest right) is an ayin which is originally a voiced pharyngeal fictive but nowadays is voiced like the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, an alef. In other words it is voiced like what you do at the beginning of the word "apple" when you constrict your throat. Sometimes in English it is portrayed by double A's. The next letter is of course a Z. These two letters have to be taken as the object of the next three which spell "bal" or more commonly "baal." This is "lord" and always comes with a geographic designator such as in this case AZ. The numerous coinage of Tarsus often has on it "BLTRZ" for baal of Tarsus, or Lord of Tarsus. Many people assume that baal is the name of a pagan diety but without the geographic designator it doesn't mean much. Thus this king is named after the lord of a certain place in the same way someone might have "St. John" as a family name. "MLK" is still a popular name for people both as surnames and family names such as the actor Rami Malek's last name. Of course it means king. Remember that Hebrew and other semitic languages for the most part have vowels that are understood and not written down. The Hebrew Bible has diacritical markings put there by the Masoretes a long time ago because it was felt that the pronunciation of Hebrew was being lost. The last work is GBL or Gebal, the name of a town we more commonly call by its Greek name Byblos. Phoenician coins are often the easiest semitic coins to translate.
     
  15. Alegandron

    Alegandron "ΤΩΙ ΚΡΑΤΙΣΤΩΙ..." ΜΕΓΑΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ, June 323 BCE

    Very nice coins and wonderful thread @Finn235 :

    OSCAN:
    upload_2018-11-16_13-55-4.png

    Campania CAPUA AE 14-5mm 216-211 Hera Oscan Grain ear Hannibal capital Italia SNG Fr 517 SNG ANS 219 HN Italy 500 EE Clain Stefanelli


    upload_2018-11-16_13-56-3.png
    Campania Capua 216-214 BC Æ Uncia 20.5mm 6.1g Laur hdJupiter r star value l Victory trophy star value r Monete 21 HN Italy 493


    upload_2018-11-16_13-56-53.png
    Campania CAPUA AE Uncia 216-211 BCE Diana Boar Hannibal capital Italia SCARCE


    Campania CAPUA AE Semuncia 216-211 BCE Juno Xoanon Hannibal capital Italia SCARCE.JPG
    Campania CAPUA AE Semuncia 216-211 BCE Juno Xoanon Hannibal capital Italia SCARCE


    Marsic denarius 89 BCE Bovianum-Asernia-Samnia HN Italy 407 Sear 230 SCARCE.JPG
    Marsic denarius 89 BCE Bovianum-Asernia-Samnia HN Italy 407 Sear 230 SCARCE
     
  16. Alegandron

    Alegandron "ΤΩΙ ΚΡΑΤΙΣΤΩΙ..." ΜΕΓΑΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ, June 323 BCE

    PUNIC:
    upload_2018-11-16_14-2-26.png
    Carthage Zeugitania Libyan Revolt AR Shekel 24mm 7.34g 241-238 BCE Wreathed Tanit Horse stndg control mark and Punic M SNG Cop 236


    Carthage AE 31mm 220-215 BCE Second  Punic War Tanit Horse Palm Pumic th SNG COP 342.jpg
    Carthage AE 31mm 220-215 BCE Second Punic War Tanit Horse Palm Pumic th SNG COP 342
     
  17. Nicholas Molinari

    Nicholas Molinari Well-Known Member

    From Irnthi. Probably a combination of Oscan and Etruscan. Here is the BnF example:
    978AC106-30F2-4A3E-9660-100547B1A886.jpeg
     
  18. Finn235

    Finn235 Well-Known Member

    Very nice examples all!
     
    Alegandron likes this.
  19. Multatuli

    Multatuli Homo numismaticus

    My small contribution to this very interesting thread:
    F65084B5-CE9E-46C8-96F1-1DB54C351A0B.jpeg F70242C9-D427-4D7A-AEDB-A53F485CDC61.jpeg CCB3978D-164E-47C1-A228-EBC23FC2BF91.jpeg
    Phoenicia - Sidon, AR double shekel. Abdarshtart III (342-332 BC), year 4.
    25.34g
     
  20. EWC3

    EWC3 (mood: stubborn)

    Great thread. I hope it is OK if I half-close a gap in the pics by posting a weight here - inscribed with Viking Runes.

    My own interest in this item came about due to its weight- it is enormous for a Viking cubo-octahedral - at about 292g. Also very odd because it has at some time been cut down and then very precisely recalibrated with tiny lead plugs.

    Actually, being a bit dumb about such things, I never noticed the possibility that there was an inscription. It was Lee Toone (Hookmore) who first spotted it - to his credit.

    I took it to Stockholm primarily to get a 3-D computer model made – so that the original weight of the item could be estimated. The result was c. 320 grams – suggesting that it was originally maybe a Byzantine period weight to Roman standards - before it was cut down. So far I have failed to find a tradition of Cubo-Octahedrals to Roman-Byzantine standards – so would be very grateful if anyone has thoughts on that.

    Anyhow, when I got it to Stockholm the researcher there immediately spotted the inscription - in Viking runes – as indeed did his supervising professor. The reading of the inscription is rather disappointing – the Viking equivalent of A, B, C…….. My best guess is that the weight was altered by a skilled craftsman in Viking times – but the guy was barely literate. He put the few characters he knew on it - merely to impress clients who were even less literate than he was. I should add that the people in Stockholm were very kind and helpful.

    The reason I took it to Stockholm was because two “experts” in the UK both dismissed it as “not Viking” without even looking at it. One of them coupled the comment with an extraordinary display of conceit. Its the growing trend of such ill-founded elitist attitudes within British professional archaeology which lies behind some of my other comments on this excellent group.

    Turning to the weight itself. 292 g is an excellent approximation of both 100 kayel dirhems, or 200 sterling pennies (they are very probably the same thing – the “esterling” penny being best explained as a half dirhem in origin). Is this a coincidence? Impossible to say for certain – but its an odd one if so…..

    Rob T

    PS - just uploaded and the pic has not been inserted - just attached. If this is how it looks to others - perhaps some kind soul will figure out what is going on and let me know off list? Thanks

    7. side C  insc smaller.JPG
     
    Last edited: Nov 19, 2018
  21. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    Rob- I fixed your image so it would post full size. When you attach an image there is the option to select a full sized image rather than a thumbnail. Look for it next time you post an image. You'll spot it.
     
    Alegandron and EWC3 like this.
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page