THREE VII-IX CENTURY BYZANTINE COINS IN CHINA

Abstract

Silk Road numismatics is the most important source for studying the daily life of people of the early Middle Ages. The study of coins allows tracing the changes in political, cultural and social realities reflected in the coins of different historical periods. The article deals with the coins of the Eastern Roman Empire found in China. From the point of view of archaeological finds it reveals that solidi of rulers — starting from Arcadius (395—408) and ending with Emperor Constantine V (741—775) — appeared (and simultaneously copied on the spot) in Xinjiang and in the Central Plain of China. Even in our time, there is a significant number of museum exhibits with the context of discovery nonclarified. The article considers three coins: two from the reign of Constant II (641—668) and one from the reign of Theophilus of the Amorean dynasty (829—842). Although these finds are from museum collections (the location and context of their discovery are unknown), it is likely that they appeared in China as early as the early Middle Ages. This is indicated by the common policy of the two emperors (their wars with the Arabs and relations with the Turkic peoples), as well as indirect contacts between the Eastern Roman Empire and China in the Tang period. The article concludes that, despite being outside the archaeological context, the described numismatic artifacts reached China soon after they were made (within one century). It is worth considering that the obvious Christian symbolism on the coins does not contradict this conclusion, as Nestorianism during the Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties played a prominent role in the spiritual culture of the Celestial Empire (therefore the coins could be used in everyday life and for ritual purposes)