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HARVARD UKRAINIAN STUDIES - See also - Harvard University

HARVARD UKRAINIAN STUDIES - See also - Harvard University

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392 THOMAS S. NOONANMost of the Rus' coins as well as most hexagonal ingots of the so-calledKiev type were presumably struck in Kiev, so we need to consider the findsof such coins and ingots regardless of where they were deposited. AppendixesD and E list all known finds of hexagonal ingots and Rus' coins struckin Kiev wherever they occur. In addition, appendix D lists finds of nonhexagonalingots of the pre-Mongol era from both Kiev and greater Kiev.Islamic CoinsAlmost all the Islamic coins brought into Eastern Europe and the Baltic duringthe Viking Age were silver dirhams. Almost no Islamic gold coins(dinars) or copper coins (fuliis, sing, fals) reached these areas. 42 Dirhamsfirst appeared in Eastern Europe during the late eighth century following theestablishment of more peaceful relations between Arabs and Khazars in theCaucasus. 43 Dirhams continued to flow into Eastern Europe, although somewhaterratically, from ca. 800 until the first quarter of the eleventh century.44 During the period from ca. 905-970, the heyday of Islamic tradewith Eastern Europe, hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dirhamsstruck in the Samanid mints of Central Asia were imported into EasternEurope. A substantial portion of these dirhams were then re-exported to thelands around the Baltic. While a few dirhams were no doubt obtained asthe result of raids, bribes, payments to mercenaries, and other noncommercialfactors, the written sources leave no doubt that most dirhamswere brought to Eastern Europe through trade. 4542On the fulus, see Thomas S. Noonan, "Medieval Islamic Copper Coins from EuropeanRussia and Surrounding Regions: The Use of the Fals in the Early Islamic Trade with EasternEurope," Journal of the American Oriental Society 94 (1974): 448-53.43Thomas S. Noonan, "When and How Dirhams First Reached Russia: A Numismatic Critiqueof the Pirenne Theory," Cahiers du Monde Russe et Sovietique 21 (1980): 401-469;idem, "Why Dirhams First Reached Russia: The Role of Arab-Khazar Relations in theDevelopment of the Earliest Islamic Trade with Eastern Europe," Archivum Eurasiae MediiAevi 4(1984): 131-282.44The influx of dirhams into Eastern Europe during this period is reviewed in Thomas S.Noonan, "Dirhams from Early Medieval Russia," Journal of the Russian Numismatic Society17 (Winter 1984/85): 8- 12.45Among the many Islamic sources that discuss this trade, special note should be taken ofIbn Fadlan, who described how Rus merchants arriving in the Volga-Bulgar lands prayed that(Islamic) merchants with many coins would buy all of their slaves and furs without haggling(James E. McKeithen, "The Risalah of Ibn Fadlan: An Annotated Translation with Introduction"[Ph.D. diss., Indiana <strong>University</strong>, 1979], 132-33). GardlzT and Ibn Rusta <strong>also</strong> report thatin the Volga-Bulgar lands the Rus and Saqlabs sold their pelts for dirhams brought from theIslamic lands (A. P. Martinez, "GardlzT's Two Chapters of the Turks," Archivum EurasiaeMedii Aevi 2 (1982): 158-59; Ibn Rusteh, Les Atoms Precieux, trans. Gaston Wiet (Cairo,1955), p. 159.

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