Archaeologists Unearth Rare Coins Exhibiting Trade Mix in Egypt
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Roshan Amiri
- . September 12, 2022
- . Update: September 13, 2022 6:25 pm
A cache has been excavated in the city of Esna, upper Egypt that includes coins from the country’s Mamluk and Fatimid periods.
Archeologists have discovered a load of Islamic coins. The team that works for Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities also discovered the moulds that were way back to mint such coins along with a large weight, which apparently was being used to way them.
A number of foreign coins were also found, including an Armenian coin minted during the rule of King Levon II, whose reign was contemporaneous with the Mamluk period. A group of bronze and copper coins from the Ottoman era were also found.
There seems to be a convergence of trade and relations amongst neighbouring countries in those times. The haul were also several dinars and half-dinars, a popular currency during various Islamic rules in the Arab world, bearing the names of several prominent Egyptian rulers, including Al Aziz Billah, Najmuddin Aybak, King Badr Al Din Salamish and King Mansour Seif Al Din Qalawun.
Additionally, it seemed silver was prominently being used then a lot. As many as 286 silver coins were unearthed which date back to the rules of 19 different kings and sultans from the Mamluk period (1250—1517), according to the ministry’s statement.
The same exercise was done in 2010, when archaeologists had unearthed some 383 bronze coins dating back to King Ptolemy III who ruled Egypt in the 3rd century B.C. and was an ancestor of the famed Cleopatra, the Egyptian antiquities authority announced then.
The fusion of ancient Greek and Egyptian culture could be seen in many aspects of the coins and artifacts that have been excavated.
