Item number: A3599

Year: circa AD 250-305

Material: Silver

Size: 31.6 x 29.7 x 1.0 mm

Weight: 8.4 g

Provenance: Stephen Album Rare Coins 2025

This is a silver tetradrachm probably struck by Wazamar, ruler of the Khwarazmian oasis region.

The obverse depicts the right-facing bust of Wazamar, wearing a headcloth-like headdress surmounted by an eagle-shaped ornament. His hair is plaited and tied at the back, and he is dressed in a long robe. The border of the coin is decorated with alternating bead and reel patterns. The reverse shows a full-length figure of the king on horseback, moving to the right. Above runs a retrograde Greek inscription, “VEΛΞΩΞΩV,” while below appears the Khwarazmian inscription “𐾶𐾸𐾽𐾰𐿂 𐾽𐾼𐾻” (wzmʾr mlkʾ), both signifying “King Wazamar.”

Khwarazm, situated in the lower Amu Darya basin of modern western Uzbekistan and northeastern Turkmenistan, was already a settled society based on irrigation agriculture by the late Bronze Age. From the early first millennium BC, it developed into an independent polity and, together with Bactria and Sogdia, became one of the three major cultural centres of ancient Central Asia. Greek and Persian sources mention the region and its inhabitants, referred to as the “Khwarazmians,” who spoke an Iranian language and practised Zoroastrianism along with local cults.

Between the second century BC and the third century AD, Khwarazm was ruled by a succession of local kings known primarily through their coinage. The earliest silver issues imitated the tetradrachms of the Greco-Bactrian king Eukratides I, but gradually evolved distinctive local imagery and tamghas (tribal emblems). By the third century, Wazamar was the last independent ruler before being overthrown by Afrig. The Afrighid dynasty was established around AD 305, with its capital at Kath (modern Beruni), and ruled Khwarazm for nearly five centuries. Its rulers bore the title “Shah of Khwarazm,” upheld Zoroastrian traditions, and maintained shifting relations of warfare, intermarriage, and vassalage with neighbouring powers such as the Sasanian Empire, the Turkic Khaganate, and later the Arab Caliphate. The dynasty gradually declined and was finally overthrown by the Iranian Ma’munid dynasty in AD 995.

The tetradrachm was one of the principal silver denominations of the ancient Greek world. The term literally means “four drachmas,” corresponding to the weight of four standard drachms, typically between 15 and 17 grams. From the fifth century BC onwards, it circulated widely in Athens, the Seleucid realm, and Bactria, serving as a major trade currency across the eastern Mediterranean and Central Asia. Its design and weight standard influenced later regional coinages, which adapted the tetradrachm type into distinct local silver monetary systems.

物件編號: A3599

年代: 約公元 250-305 年

材質: 銀

尺寸: 31.6 x 29.7 x 1.0 mm

重量: 8.4 g

來源: 史蒂芬稀有錢幣專輯 2025

這是一枚可能為花剌子模綠洲地區的統治者瓦札瑪爾所造的四德拉克馬銀幣。

銀幣正面為瓦札瑪爾右側半身像，頭戴類似頭巾的帽冠，頭頂飾有鷹形的冠飾，頭髮後束，身披長袍。幣緣環飾滾珠與垂飾相間排列的紋飾。背面為乘於馬上的全身王像，上方環列反寫的希臘文字「VEΛΞΩΞΩV」，下方環列花剌子模文字「𐾶𐾸𐾽𐾰𐿂 𐾽𐾼𐾻」(wzmʾr mlkʾ)，均意為「瓦札瑪爾王」。

花剌子模(Khwarazm)，位於今日烏茲別克西部與土庫曼東北部的阿姆河下游流域。早在青銅時代晚期，該地便發展出以灌溉農業為基礎的定居社會。至公元前一千年起，花剌子模逐漸形成獨立的政治實體，與巴克特里亞、粟特並列為中亞三大文化區。希臘與波斯文獻均提及此地，其人民被稱為「花剌子模人」，以操伊朗語支的方言為主，宗教上信奉祆教（祆火崇拜）及地方神祇。

約公元前二世紀至公元三世紀，花剌子模由一系列地方君主統治，他們的存在主要透過錢幣學得知。最早的銀幣仿自希臘—巴克特里亞王歐克拉特德斯一世的幣式，後逐漸發展出具有地方特色的圖像與族徽(tamgha)。至三世紀，瓦札瑪爾(Wazamar)為最後一位地方王者，被阿夫里格鎖推翻。阿夫里格王朝約於公元305年建立，以凱斯(Kath，今貝魯尼)為都，統治花剌子模地區近五百年。其君主自稱「花剌子模沙阿」(Shah of Khwarazm)，維持祆教傳統，並與鄰近的薩珊帝國、突厥汗國及後來的阿拉伯哈里發政權互有戰爭與通婚，以及作為附庸或宗藩。阿夫里格王朝後期逐漸式微，至公元995年為伊朗馬蒙王朝所滅。

四德拉克馬銀幣(Tetradrachm)原為古希臘世界的重要貨幣單位，其名稱意為「四倍的德拉克馬」，約相當於四枚標準德拉克馬銀幣的重量，起初介於15至17克之間。此幣自公元前五世紀起在雅典、塞琉古與巴克特里亞等地廣泛流通，成為東地中海與中亞貿易的主要通貨之一。後各地其為範鑄造，逐漸轉化為本地特色的銀幣體系。