ROME SYMPOSIUM ON ISLAMIC COINAGE

In recent years, Islamic numismatics has known a renewed vitality, due to the publication of corpora, collection catalogues, essays on the chronology of mint-output and mint activity (see the Survey of Numismatic Research presented at the occasion of the XV International Numismatic Congress in Taormina, but also the review by Arianna D’Ottone Rambach that has appeared in Comunicazione).

However, coin finds and hoards from archaeological contexts are one of the aspects least studied in the field of Islamic numismatics. Whilst it is a well-established trend of research in Ancient and Medieval numismatics, the study and the analysis of the function of Islamic coins in archaeological contexts deserve more attention. Therefore, the theme to which the next edition of the Simone Assemani Symposium will be dedicated is: “Islamic coins in archaeological context: coin finds, coin circulation”. Themes of research linked to this topic include: Islamic coins in archaeological excavations; Coin use and coin circulation; Mint production and coin circulation; Coin hoards; Mints and monetary areas.

As usual, a special panel will be devoted to new researches about Assemani. This panel is entitled Assemani and his cultural environment: contacts, correspondents and letters.

Moreover since the interest of letters between numismatists, as a valuable source for the history of the discipline, has been highlighted by the project Fontes Inediti Numismaticae Antiquae (FINA) – devoted to Classical numismatics until 1800, there is the need to develop a parallel project: Fontes Inediti Numismaticae Orientalis (FINO). Therefore a special session of the 5th Simone Assemani Symposium will welcome contributions dedicated to manuscripts (letters and codices), to the reception of printed book, to networks of collectors, to the history of Oriental collections in European coin cabinets, and to the perception of Oriental coins in Europe.

The conference will take place in Rome, at the Museo Nazionale Romano (Friday 29 September 2017) and at Sapienza University (Saturday 30 September 2017).

Lectures will include talks by:

• Marco Callegari on A bibliographical (and not just) correspondence: letters of Simone Assemani to Giovanni Bernardo De Rossi (1788-1814)
• Arianna D’Ottone Rambach on Un’inedita traduzione di Simone Assemani nell’archivio dell’Eremo di Camaldoli (Arezzo) Khadijeh Baseri on Islamic Coins
• Michael Bates on The two Mithqals and the weight standard of the Islamic Dinar
• Lutz Ilisch on Methodological problems in the comparative analysis of hoards with fragmented coins
• Alaa Aldin Alchomari on Les monnaies individuelles dans les sites archéologiques syriens
• Hassan Al-Akra on The history of Baalbak in Medieval Era through the coins (AD 636-1516)
• Rowida Rafaat Al-Nabarawy on A rare Samanid Dinar struck in Muhammadiyya in 341 A.H. bearing the names of Prince Noah b. Nasser and the Caliph al-Mustakfī billah
• Andrea Gariboldi on Numismatic finds from Kafir Kala as evidence of the Islamic transition in Samarkand
• Antonino Crisà on Why should the state keep Arabic coins? Assessing two case studies on nineteenth century Sicily
• Fiorentino Pietro Giovino on Sul ritrovamento di una matrice sigillare islamica a Lagopesole: un contributo quasi inedito di Michele Amari
• Stefania Santangelo on Paolo Orsi e la monetazione araba di Sicilia nel Medagliere di Siracusa: documenti d’archivio
• Robert Kool on The large Fatimid gold hoard from Caesarea Maritima harbor (2015): preliminary results and conclusions
• Carolina Doménech-Beda on The Fatimid coins from Sicily in al-Andalus: the Jabonerias hoard (Murcia, Spain)
• Andrea Saccocci on Il mancuso nelle fonti medievali: metamorfosi di un mito
• Roman Kovalev on Viking-Rus’ mercenaries in the Byzantine-Arab Syrian wars of the 950s-960s: the numismatic evidence
• Dorota Malarczyk on Oriental coins from early-medieval silver hoard from Kąpiel, Czerniejewo Commune, Greater Poland
• Warren Schultz on Re-excavating the excavated: analyzing Mamluk Dirham hoards from Jordan via field reports and publications
• Irakli Paghava on New data on the Ottoman coinage minted in the Georgian kingdom of Kakheti (the Telavi hoard)

In addition, on Friday 29 October, there will be the formal presentation, with talks by Annliese Nef and Andrea Saccocci, of Arianna D’Ottone Rambach’s new book on the Collezione di Vittorio Emanuele III. Monete Arabe.

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web