The winged bull's head crown of this Nezak Shah is worth a closer look. These eastern neighbors to the Sasanians left behind many coins, but are otherwise not much documented. The shape of the head suggests that these Nezak shahs artificially deformed their skulls. Their headdresses are remarkable and certainly leave an impression on this 3.28g, 26mm coin with a thin silver flan. Nezak Huns, 'Nezak Malka' series, circa 6th century, AR drachm (26mm, 3.328g, 3h). Obv: Bust right, wearing winged bull's head crown with crescent in the front, bridle visible on the nose of the bull. The person wears an earring with two beads, a necklace with flying ribbons at the neck and a garment with beaded decorative stripes. Under the bust is an ornament resembling twigs or wings. Pehlevi legend: nyčky MLD-š or nyčky MLK-ā. Rev: fire altar with ribbons and flames on top to left and right a figure in long garment, holding a staff vertically. Behind each figure a row of dots, sometimes positioned like wings or a mantle, sometimes without connection to the figures, over each figure a wheel rosette. This website from the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna is an excellent resource for information on the Coins of Nezak Kings. There is also a 2014 monograph by Matthias Pfisterer in German, Hunnen in Indien. In English, see also Chapter 4: Coinage of the Nezak Shahs a perspective from the hoard evidence Matthias Pfisterer and Katherina Uhlir. Share your coins of Hunnic tribes, unusual head gear or anything else you find interesting or entertaining.
HUNNIC TRIBES, Western Turks, Shahi Tegin (Sri Shahi) (After 679 A.D.) Billion Drachm O: Crowned bust right. R: Fire altar flanked by attendants. Uncertain mint in Bactria 28mm 3.2g Vondrovec [Göbl, Hunnen] Type 236.
Sulla, Nice score , the headdress is certainly bizarre . Many ancient cultures practiced head deformation, the Olmecs & Mayans were certainly famous for that.
Very nice pickup! I bought this one a few years ago…definitely outside my usual collecting area, but I just loved the headwear, such an interesting type. Hunnic Tribes, Hephthalites. 470-565 AD, AR Drachm (25 mm, 3.37 g), "Napki Malka" coinage. Royal male bust right wearing winged head-dress surmounted by bull's head./ Rev. Fire altar with attendants. From the collection of W. F. Stoecklin
Dang, mine are uncleaned. I'll have to dig around for them. Dr. Fishman was selling them back around 2007. I did manage to snag a silver one. Since I'm hopeless at cleaning coins, they'll likely remain uncleaned.
Hephthalites. Nezak Huns.. AR drachm. "Napki Malka" series. . Circa 515.680 A.D. Obverse..Bust right wearing winged-bull head-dress. Pahlavi legends nycky MLK-A Reverse:Fire altar with attendants, Solar wheels above. 3.41 grams....24.64 mm. Vondrovec [Göbl] 198
An unfortunate characteristic of coins of the Huns is often the poorly struck reverses. Some types are lucky to have a reverse. They seem to come in quite a variety of silver content but I have no knowledge of the coins other than they had great taste in which part of the bull to put on their heads (think Elagabalus). When it comes to misshapen heads and unstruck reverses, it is hard to beat the Alchon Huns. The dealer that had it was not a friend of mine but thought it was ugly and defective. I rather liked it so I bought it anyway. This was about the time I was getting bored with not finding coins in my specialties and started looking at stranger things. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchon_Huns
I found the line in wikipedia about elongated skull representing the "corporate identity" of the Alchon Huns entertaining. Here's an ancient reference explaining a skull deformation practice of the "Macrocephali" an African or Indian people with "Long Heads": "I will pass over the smaller differences among the nations, but will now treat of such as are great either from nature, or custom; and, first, concerning the Macrocephali. There is no other race of men which have heads in the least resembling theirs. At first, usage was the principal cause of the length of their head, but now nature cooperates with usage. They think those the most noble who have the longest heads. It is thus with regard to the usage: immediately after the child is born, and while its head is still tender, they fashion it with their hands, and constrain it to assume a lengthened shape by applying bandages and other suitable contrivances whereby the spherical form of the head is destroyed, and it is made to increase in length." -Hippocrates, On Airs, Waters, and Places, written ~400 BC, translated by Francis Adams, 14 The sentences from Hippocrates that follow seems to explain Lamarckian inheritance about 2000 years before Jean-Baptiste Lamarck was born in 1744.
I thought I might make an attempt to add to the discussion. I was a serious student of Hunnic coins and history at one time. My coins and books are long gone but the interest remains. What follows is entirely off the top of my head but should reflect (at least in essence) current thinking. Napki, nycky and nezak are various attempts at transcription of the same mysterious word written on the buffalo crown coins in Pahlavi script. The preferred reading these days is 'Nezak', which is no longer thought to be an ethnonym but rather an honorific, possibly of Hephthalite origin, modifying the royal title 'Malka'. Malka is a Persian ideogram which is written mlk' (cf. Arabic malik) but pronounced "shah". The rulers on these buffalo crown coins, then, are known as the Nezak Shahs. The Bactrian inscription Sri Shahi on @Mat's coin almost certainly represents the same title in a slightly later context, the Indian honorific sri in particular shedding some light on the probable meaning of nezak. The Nezak Shahs are believed to have ruled Kapisa (Kabul) after the Alchon Huns moved into Gandhara toward the end of the 5th century. Whether the Nezak Shahs pushed the Alchons out of Kapisa or were put in place by the Alchons before their departure is unknown. However, Chinese histories note that in the early 7th century the king of Jibin (Kapisa) wore a golden buffalo crown and claimed to be the 14th king in a direct line from a dynastic founder named Xingil. The name "Khingila", of course, is known from a number of coins of the Alchons.
And a very interesting addition too. Always interesting to read knowledgeable contributions about topics outside the conventional Greek and Roman areas. Ross G.
Thanks your addition is very much appreciated, along with the varied and interesting coins contributed by all above. I've included links to several key references on my Notes page for anyone interested (Nesak Huns): Cunningham (1894), and Kuwayama (2000 and 2002). Kuwayama the source of this insight on date and people:
