Coin Finds from Blaundos, Lydia

Abstract

Blaundos is a Lydian city which is located approximately 2 km northeast of Sülümenli village, 30 km south of Uşak. It was founded on the top and slopes of a peninsula surrounded by a deep canyon on three sides. It was colonised by Macedonians in the early Hellenistic period, probably by those in the Seleucid army, which dominated this region for about 100 years between c. 281 and 188 BC. After the peace of Apameia in 188 BC, Blaundos became a dependent of the Pergamene Kingdom, and in 133, BC Roman hegemony in western Asia Minor also included Blaundos. While the city was in a prosperous condition in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, it fell into decay during the Byzantine era, and the church records indicate that the population decreased gradually from the 9th to the 12th centuries.
As the first ever archaeological excavation in the settlement, a six-week study was carried out by the Uşak Museum in 1995, and, after that, A. Filges carried out surveys in Blaundos in 1999, 2000, and 2002 as part of his PhD. A new period of excavations began in 2018 under the supervision of Prof. Birol Can from Usak University.
As of 2022, the number of coins found in Blaundos is 235. Twenty-four are from the Hellenistic period, and the number of Roman provincial issues is 20, while there are 16 Roman Imperial coins. One hundred and ten coins are from the Late Roman period. The number of coins from the Byzantine period is just five, and lastly, there are two Islamic coins found. Fifty-eight coins, on the other hand, could not be identified due to their poor condition. This paper aims to share the preliminary analysis of the coin finds, which will be published in a more comprehensive study soon.