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Anti-Huntingtonian themes

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gallienus1:
Hi Kingston, the others have touched on it, but I think the Sassanian silver coinage was among the most influential to other cultures ever produced. You can see the influence over half a millennium and across a vast area, from central Persia to the shores of the Black and Caspian Seas to the north, then eastward to India.

Other societies gradually changed the design to suit their fashions and religious beliefs. For example, the Tabaristan mint during Abbasid Caliphate removed the face in profile on the obverse because of the Islamic prohibition of images, yet curiously while highly stylized, the fire altar and attendants are still clearly seen on the reverse. 

To me the last traces of the Sassanian king's profile can be seen in the coinage of the Chaulukyas of Gujarat around 500 years and 2,000 km from the Sassanid original.

Wikipedia covers this very well. See-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sasanian_coinage

From there you can follow the links to a lot of other wiki sites.

I made up a simple map to show the just a few of the adaptations of the Sassanid coinage over distance and time.

Virgil H:
I would just add to the chorus on Islamic coins here. The book I have written about here before that I really love describes, among other topics, specifically interactions that the Ghaznavids had with Gandhara and presumably other areas under their control. The book is by Waleed Zaid, In the Treasure Room of the Sakra Kings: Votive Coinage of the Gandharan Shrines. Basically, the usual narrative on Islam is that they did not tolerate any religious differences, etc. Very basic notions of a religion and culture that are not based in fact, as are many stereotypes like this. Ziad uses regular and votive coins to show that the Ghaznavids were quite tolerant of the other religions in Gandhara served by the Sakra shrine. As others have noted regarding Islamic and other cultures that these stereotypes are never as simple as many people believe.

Virgil

Jan P:
The syncretism may be less directly visible on Ptolemaic coins, but it is for certain that the Ptolemeans had to perform a huge religious straddle.
I have here a Ptolemaïc Triobol of Ptolemy IV Philopator. The godhead on the obverse, we call Zeus/Ammon, but we never saw such a Greek-looking Ammon in Egypt before.
However, underneath we can see Ptolemy IV as portrayed on some of his coins (very Greek !) and next to it, his image in his Hathor temple in Deir el-Medina. This is proof enough for religious tolerance and yes, syncretism:

Kingston:
Thanks everyone, very interesting illustrations and references. That will help with my searches. The map on Sassanian influence is impressive, I did not know it went to such an extent.

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