ANS, ONS Sponsor Arab-Byzantine Forum
The copper coinage of the eastern Mediterranean countries in the seventh and early eighth centuries is one of the hottest new areas of numismatic research. Some years ago, there was Byzantine coinage, and there was Arab-Byzantine coinage, two separate fields of study. Now it is thought that Bilad al-Sham, the land between the east coast of the Mediterranean and the Euphrates river, used a mixed currency in the seventh and eighth centuries including official Roman coins from Constantinople, unofficial imitations of Roman coins, official Arab issues from mints controlled by the caliphs, and unofficial imitations of Arab coins. Sorting out which is which requires the interest and expertise of a variety of specialist collectors and scholars. all of whom will be welcome at the meeting.
The format and length of the meeting will depend on the interests of those who participate. We have not decided whether to have formal scheduled papers or informal presentations, or to perhaps simply provide an opportunity to show material for unstructured discussion. We will probably have all of these.
To help plan the meeting, we need to know how many are likely to attend and what sort of contributions they will make. Those who are interested should write or call as soon as possible, indicating what sort of presentation is proposed.
The organizers plan to keep the meeting small, hoping that all participants can gather around a large table. The participants are expected to be specialists in the field. Those who want to attend should sign up early. There will be a fee of $15.00 to cover refreshments and other expenses. Inquiries and responses should be sent to Michael L. Bates, American Numismatic Society, Broadway at 155th Street, New York, NY 10032 (212) 234-3130, fax (212) 234-3381.
Bates Returns from California
Curator of Islamic Coins Michael Bates returned to his Society office after nearly three months as a Center for Near East Studies Fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles. During his term, Bates gave a four-lecture series, "Money before Machinery: Fundamentals of Monetary History," under the auspices of the Center. He also conducted a workshop on "Collecting Islamic Coins," given for collectors and dealers one Saturday afternoon at the center. The workshop was co-sponsored by the ANS, and the presentation was familiar to those who have attended a similar session in the Society's recent Saturday Seminar series.
Bates's main activity at UCLA, between giving lectures and preparing for them, was research in the large, refreshingly user-friendly, and surprisingly rich Research Library of the University for his book The Expression of Nobility in the Abbasid Caliphate, 833-946. The trip was particularly valuable for the opportunity to work uninterruptedly on al-Mas'udi's Muruj al-Dhahab and al-Khatib al-Baghdadi's Ta'rikh Baghdad The first is a lively tenth-century chronicle full of long colorful anecdotes mixed with surprising insights. Al-Mas'udi too often tosses aside the insights with a reference to his larger Middle History, now unfortunately lost. The second is a dry-as-dust biographical dictionary of everyone who took part in religious affairs in Baghdad up to the eleventh century. Since the caliphs by definition were heads of the Muslim community, they and their sons (even some of their wives) are included. The dictionary is valuable for its precise and reliable information on dates of birth and other important events in the lives of its biographers, the sort of information that livelier writers often skip over. Because al-Khatib al-Baghdadi names all his sources for his reports, it is possible to construct a history of history writing in the ninth and tenth centuries, the period of Bates's interest, and often to explain how and why certain stories got into the narrative histories of the era and what they mean.
Another treasure was the work of al-Tanukhi, a tenth-century anecdotalist, whose stories of incidents in the lives of earlier political figures are long and detailed. All sorts of people turn up, illuminating their mutual relations, and one sees a bit of life as it was. For example, one official imprisoned for 20 days in a cesspit reports "I got to know the beetles and the cockroaches, and I nearly died. "
Bates lived in an apartment at the edge of the UCLA Westwood campus, fronted by eucalyptus and hummingbirds. On various weekends he and his wife made their way to the Angeles Crest Drive, Mojave National Monument, Death Valley, Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks, San Diego, and, of course, Tijuana. On the way home, Bates drove north up the coast to the University of California, Berkeley, where he lectured for the Center for Middle Eastern Studies on "Heirs and Magnates, Wards and Guardians: Why Did the Abbasid Caliphs Appoint Successors?" Bates and his wife drove from New York to California (via New Orleans, San Antonio, and Saguaro National Monument) and back (via Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and some flater states) and recommend the experience highly.
The term at UCLA was made possible by a fellowship stipend from the Gustave von Grunebaum Center for Near Eastern Studies, directed by Dr. Irene Bierman who arranged the stay. Jonathan Friedlander and Susan Sims, Assistant Directors of the Center, were both also instrumental in making the stay a success.
Society Awards and Honors
The forty-fourth Graduate Seminar in Numismatics will be held at the Society's Museum from June 11 through August 10, 1996. Eleven students have been admitted after rigorous competition. They are Julian R. Baker, University of Birmingham, Byzantine; Chandreyi Basu, University of Pennsylvania, South Asian; Harry J. Bone, Princeton University, Islamic; Alexis O. Castor, Bryn Mawr College, Greek; James F. D. Frakes, Columbia University, Roman; Patricia A. Halpin, Boston College, Medieval; Eric J. Hanne, University of Michigan, Islamic; Marilyn Higbee, Columbia University, Islamic; Paul A. Legutko, University of Michigan, Roman; Isabelle A. Pafford, San Francisco State University, Greek; and Robert G. Papp, Columbia University, Modern.
The Visiting Scholar for the summer will be Dr. Andrea Saccocci of the Dipartimento di Storia e Tutela dei Beni Culturali, Universita degli Studi di Udine. Dr. Saccocci has published widely on late medieval coins.
