Pre-Islamic Central Asia. Turgesh. Semirec'he. Trilingual cast coin. Washutawa (Vahsutavha). Circa 8th century. Sogdian Turgesh. Semirec'he. Trilingual cast coin. Washutawa. Circa 8th century. Sogdian, Runic letter "p" and Chinese "元"。 This coin represents everything that fascinates me about the Silk Road. The rich cultural exchange and cosmopolitan diversity of the region prior to the Islamic presence.
Runic would be more likely an Indo-European influence. Already there is the large beam like Semirec'he Tamgha... Although I do not discount the possibility that the Runic "p" could have been another Tamgha that looked very similar to that thus "Runic"...
They say runic on these for the Sogdian writing, but a rune is in reality the same as a tamgha. Sogdian coins have carried tamghas from the moment they started creating their own types and didn't copy previous coins. A tamgha would show which clan or family was in charge of the kingdom or city, or sometimes was the tamgha of the city.
