A Study on Parthians Economy Base on XRF Analysis of Silver Coins During Mitridat I and Mitridat II

Subject Areas : Historical Archaeology

Mahdi Sabzali ¹ , Alireza Gudarzi ² , Mostafa Khazaei Kouhpar ³ , Farhang Khademi Nadoushan ⁴

1 - M.A. Student in Archaeology, Department of Archaeology, Tarbiat Modarres University, Tehran, Iran.
2 - Ph.D. Student in Archaeology, Department of Archaeology, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
3 - M.A. Student in Archaeology, Department of Archaeology, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
4 - Associate Professor, Department of Archaeology, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.

Received: 2023-07-13 Accepted : 2023-07-13 Published : 2010-08-23

Keywords: Economy, Parthians, XRF, Mitridat I, Mitridat II, Coin Analyses,

Abstract :

Due to the lack of enough information for studying the long period of Parthians, the coins are the best sources of information. There is a direct relation between elemental analysis of coins and the economic and political conditions at the period of their minting. In the current study, 12 silver coins including 8 samples from the period of Mitridat I and 4 samples from the period Mitridat II are analyzed using XRF. This test showed that at the period of Mitridat I the amount of silver in the coins was 90/863 to 96/869 percent. This large amount of silver in the coins indicates the opulence of Parthians which was the outcome of mastering the Mesopotamia trading path and pillages obtained by plundering the rich temples of Elimaid. The test on the samples of Mitredat II period reveals that the amount of silver in the coins varies from 95/671 to 65/995 percent. This significant reduction in silver content from last years of Mitriedat II period is the result of Gutares independence (who overpowered Babel and its trading path) and losing Susa. Losing these rich areas caused economic problems for Parthia ns at that period. Due to the shortage of silver, mints decreased the amount of silver used in the coins and replaced it with copper.