(Week 4) Tuesday 15th May
'A numismatic sex-change in Hellenistic Arabia' - Michael Macdonald, Research Associate of the Khalili Research Centre; Honorary Fellow, Wolfson College, Oxford; Fellow of the British Academy
Abstract As is well-known, Alexander the Great died before he could conquer Arabia and it appears that in the Persian Gulf at least, the Seleucids found it more profitable to extract lavish "gifts" from the great trading cities like Gerrha than to invade them. However, the prestige of Alexander's currency persuaded some local rulers in the Gulf area to imitate it but to change the design in various significant ways to emphasize their independence. These are adaptations and their significance are explored in this talk before concentrating on the currency of a particular group of rulers, once assumed to be male but which I shall now show were clearly female. Their coins then became the model for coinage throughout the central and southern Gulf for several centuries.
(Week 6) Tuesday 29th May
'A curious case of countermarking: the death of civic silver coinage in Asia Minor?' - Andrew Meadows, Professor in Ancient History, Faculty of Classics; Tutorial Fellow, New College, Oxford.
Abstract This lecture will focus on an unrecognized episode of countermarking in Western Asia Minor in the 2nd century BC. It will suggest that in this phenomenon we may be witnessing the death-throes of civic silver coinage in the region.
