Ekbatana, an interesting city

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Pavlos, Jan 12, 2019.

  1. Parthicus

    Parthicus Well-Known Member

    Almost all drachms, yes. The only Parthian drachms without a seated archer reverse are those of Vonones I as shown above by @Sulla80 , some rare issues of Phraataces featuring his mother/wife Musa on reverse, and... that's it. Tetradrachms, bronzes, and fractional silver have more varied reverses.

    It's a bit complicated. Key points are a) the Parthians were originally nomads from (roughly) Turkmenistan and not closely related to the Persians, and b) they ruled over a multi-ethnic, multi-religious state. The Greek gods were widely worshipped in the major cities, which had been pretty heavily Hellenized by Alexander and the Seleucids (if not outright founded as Hellenistic cities, like Seleucia-on-the-Tigris). Zoroastrianism was followed in the sub-kingdom of Persis (original homeland of the Persians). There were some large Jewish communities, especially in Mesopotamia, and Christianity and Mithraism are also known to have been present. The religious beliefs of the Parthians themselves (i.e. the ruling nobility, descendants of the original nomads) are debatable; there's some evidence for Zoroastrian practice, but also some facts that seem to contradict it. In general, the Parthians seem to have been broadly tolerant of different religions within their empire, in contrast to the later Sasanians, who (more-or-less rigorously depending on the king) enforced an official Zoroastrian religion.
     
    Sulla80, Pavlos and Alegandron like this.
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