Academic literature on the topic 'Numismatics of Germany'

Aim. To investigate and to enter into scientific circulation material historical sources related to the biography of M.V. Timofeev-ResSovsky. Methods. The paper used both general scientific (historical, logical) and special (subject-chronological, retrospective) methods. Results and discussion. The role of Kyiv in shaping the future scientific vocation of M.V. Timofeev-Ressovsky, the work of a scientist in Germany and the reasons why he did not return to the USSR in the late 1930s, outlines the facts of Timofeev-Ressovsky life after the Second World War. The scientific activity of scientist has been briefly analyzed. Conclusions. The analysis of material historical sources made it possible to investigate and bring into scientific circulation the objects of phaleristics, numismatics (medallic art), philately and a rather rare object of collecting – telephone cards of the Russian Empire, the USSR, Russia, the former GDR and Germany, to tell about some pages of the biography of M.V. Timofeev-Ressovsky. Keywords: M.V. Timofeev-Ressovsky, history of biology, phaleristics, numismatics, philately, telephone card.

It was clarified that there was established a correspondence between academic Ivan Krypiakevych and the famous Russian and Ukrainian historian, numismatist Ivan Spaskyi in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In one of these letters (in March 1962) I. Krypiakevych mentioned the difficult situation with specialists in numismatics in Lviv. This article finds out what led to this state of affairs. We emphasized that Lviv has been one of the centers for the development of special (auxiliary) historical disciplines, including numismatics, both in Ukraine and in Eastern Europe from the end of the 18th century. At the same time, there were formed a few large numismatic collections in the city. It was confirmed that further development of special (auxiliary) historical disciplines in Lviv took place at the Institute of Auxiliary Historical Sciences of Lviv University and in the museums of the city. There was organized in 1925 the Union of Lviv Numismatists, which published several issues. It was stated that at the same time, there was not formed a permanent system of training relevant specialists in Lviv due to a number of subjective and objective reasons. The rather closed and conservative system of university training of future historians was largely tied to the figures and scientific interests of the heads of the Departments and Institutes. It was indicated that at that time Ukrainian scholars, especially humanitarians, found themselves in a difficult position. It was clarified that as a result, the number of people who really knew about coins or banknotes, could work with them, and, importantly, be engaged in scientific work, was quite small. It was investigated that the establishment of Soviet power in Lviv in the autumn of 1939 led to a radical reform of all spheres of life of the local population, including educational and cultural. As a result of the ill-considered reorganization of the system of museum institutions in the city, the work of several previous generations of Lviv museum workers was actually destroyed, and irreparable damage to the funds these institutions was caused. Some Lviv researchers of special (auxiliary) historical disciplines have become victims of the German regime or left the city in 1944–1946. It was found that all these circumstances affected the balance of scientific forces in the city, capable of solving problems by developing special (auxiliary) historical disciplines. It was emphasized that I.‑Yu. Shpytkovskyi resumed teaching numismatics at Lviv University only in the 1950s. However, he failed to train new specialists in this discipline. It was clarified that several numismatic works had been prepared by the scientific staff of the Lviv State Historical Museum (I. Zayats, I. Sveshnikov), but these studies have not been published at that time. We made a conclusion that all this indicates that I. Krypiakevych was not wrong in his assessment of the state of development of numismatics in Lviv in the early 1960s.

The international academic conference “Historical, Cultural, Interethnic, Religious and Political Relations of the Crimea with the Mediterranean Region and the Countries of the East” is an annual major academic symposium, held in Sevastopol, the Crimea. The organizers of the conference include the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Sevastopol State University, the State Historical and Archaeological Museum-Reserve Taurid Chersoneses, traditionally hosting the event. The conference was held in both off-line, and online formats. Within three working days, from October 4 to 6, 2022, a total of more than 150 people took part in it — representatives of more than 30 academic organizations, higher educational institutions, museums. By the beginning of the symposium, were published collected papers by the participants. The book contains the work of researchers from the Russian Federation (Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Krasnodar, Rostov-on-Don, Saratov, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Simferopol, Sevastopol, Kerch), and foreign countries — Germany, Abkhazia, Belarus. The forum consisted of nine sections focusing on interethnic and political relations of the peoples of the Crimea in past and present; political, trade, cultural relations of the Crimea with the countries of the Mediterranean region and the countries of the East; written sources on the history of the region, historiography and cartography of the Mediterranean and Black Sea areas; ethnic history of Crimea, archeology, numismatics and epigraphy of Crimea in the context of economic and cultural relations of the peninsula. As a result of the conference, a resolution was adopted, which noted the importance of holding this event as one of the most significant academic symposia in Sevastopol, and the need to continue the work of the annual conference.

The article is a review of the collection of articles "Golden Honeycombs," published in 2022 to celebrate the anniversary of professor of the Russian State University for the Humanities, specialist in the field of auxiliary historical disciplines E.V. Pchelov, author of more than 900 published works, member of national and foreign societies, including the Historical and Genealogical Society in Moscow, the Russian Genealogical Society, the Russian Historical Society, the Russian Association of Antiquarians, the International Historical Society "Catherine the Great" (Zerbst, Germany), and others. The collection has been prepared by his friends, colleagues and students; it can be divided into three parts. The first part is devoted to scientific, pedagogical, and educational activities of Evgeny Vladimirovich and characterizes his extensive scientific activities, showing his connection with scientific and pedagogical school of the History and Archives Institute. The range of Evgeny Vladimirovich’s scientific interests is extensive, covering issues of ancient Russian history, genealogy of ancient Russian princes, genealogical and dynastic history of the Rurikovs and the Romanovs, history of science and art, semiotic research on the history of Russian state symbols, various problems in the field of onomastics, historical chronology, bibliography, sphragistics, numismatics, and other auxiliary historical disciplines. The second part of the collection includes articles written by E.V. Pchelov’s colleagues and friends. The publications analyze various sources covering the period from the Early Middle Ages to Modern times and touching upon problems of the history of science and everyday life, archival studies, source studies, sphragistics, genealogy, chronology, emblematics, heraldry. The most relevant historiography is demonstrated, articles are accompanied by colorful and helpful illustrations. The third section contains materials on E.V. Pchelov’s biography and work and includes a biographical reference and a list of published works from 1993 to 2021. The bibliography of published works includes monographs, textbooks and manuals, articles, abstracts, reviews of educational and methodological materials, reference publications, amounting to 939 titles. The collection can be considered a comprehensive and relevant scientific publication, expanding modern scientific knowledge on national and foreign history and auxiliary historical disciplines and contributing to expansion of the historiography of scientific areas covered in the collection.

Modern numismatists often face a lack of comprehensive information concerning the attribution of Roman denarii with decorated busts of the rulers of the Antonine dynasty. The standard reference works on the coinage of the Antonines include RIC IIIA and RSC IIB, which catalog denarii for Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius as Caesar. RSC II’s cataloging of later coinage for the Antonines is not always complete because it lacks information from those volumes of German numismatist Paul Strack on Marcus Aurelius and Commodus, which he never published due to his death in WWII. As a matter of fact, RIC III and RSC II (when concerned the Antonines) provide information that is far from complete for almost all types in terms of bust variants, mainly citing only common types with ‘bare head right’ and ‘laureate head right’. In the past decade, the popularity of metal detecting coupled with the development of international internet selling platforms provided new opportunities for discovering new bust variants not listed in RIC and RSC.

The article introduces a yarlik on appointment of a mint administrator into the Russian-language scientific discussion, the y arlik being included into the Persian treaty “Dastur al-katib” written in 1360s by Muhammad b. Hindushah Nakhchivani, an official at the court of rulers of the Mongol Iran — Hulaguids and their successors Jalayirids. There is a comparative translation from the original Persian and from the German translation made by famous Austrian orientalist J. von Hammer-Purgstall in the first half of the 19th c. There is also a complex interdisciplinary analysis of the yarlik as an official document and a legal account. The authors clarify the status of the mint administrator, requirements for candidate for this position, rights and duties, legal base of his activity. There is also a comparative study of the status of the mint administrator according to yarlik and of similar officials in other Turkic-Mongol states known from other historical sources. The authors find that the text of the analyzed document could substantially improve our knowledge on organization and regulation of coinage in Genghisid states in 13th—14th cc.

While the shapes of Latin letters (i.e. ‘letterforms’) and Western Arabic numerals (i.e. ‘typeforms’) have been studied on medieval European parchments and stone monuments, similar studies on typeforms from coin inscriptions are lacking. Therefore, the study goal was to analyze numeric typeforms in the available numismatic literature relating to 9th to 15th century Europe and create a classification system. The hypothesis was that the shape of the numerals would vary based on the timeframe and geographic location of the coins on which they were present. In total, 12 numismatic books representing 22 geographic regions were analyzed and the numerals’ typeforms from more than 900 coins categorized. The numeral typeform frequency for the classification system was then compared with the typeform frequency for the author’s collection. The vast majority (>95%) of numerals found in the literature specified the date of the coins, with heavy representation from 15th century Netherlands, Germany, and Austria. There was good agreement in the relative frequencies of the numerals between the literature and the author’s collection, with the numerals one and four being most prevalent in both sources.

AbstractThe seventh-century vernacular laws from the kingdoms of Kent and Wessex specify fines or compensation payments using units of account that have given us familiar terms in the numismatics of this period:scillingas(shillings),sceattasandpæningas(pennies). In light of the use of cognate words in Gothic and Old High German, and the comparative values given in the Old English law-codes themselves and in the fifth-century Theodosian Code, it is suggested that these represent a regular and durable bimetallic system correlating values in gold and silver. This proposition is examined further against the evidence of weighing-sets from sixth- and early seventh-century Anglo-Saxon graves, and it is argued that the results give greater and more precise meaning to the use of gold and silver in Early Anglo-Saxon artefacts, such as the great gold buckle from Mound 1 at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk.

While the very earliest appearance of a Christian Saint has been well described as Saint Michael replacing winged Liberty on gold Tremisses of Lombardy in the late 7th and early 8th Century, other saints also appeared in multiple places across Europe very soon thereafter. The study goal was to identify and categorize this very early use of Christian saint’s names and images on European coins. In total, 19 numismatic books representing ten geographic regions were analyzed and the appearance of saints, either in the inscription or as a portrait, was noted. A total of 157 coin types mentioning 19 different saints were identified as dating to before the year 1000 AD. Mints in several regions were represented, including parts of Italy, France, England, the Low Countries, and Germany/Austria, with the very first coins minted starting in Pavia and featuring both an image and the name of Saint Michael.

This paper deals with the historiographical representation of Hellenistic Bactria in Barthold Niebuhr’s Lectures on Ancient History, based on lectures given at Bonn University in the 1820’s and published in German and English in the 1850’s. The first part offers a panorama of archaeological, epigraphic and numismatic research after the great French excavations in Afghanistan in the 1960 and 1970’s. The second part discusses how Niebuhr, facing a poorly documented Bactrian history and archaeology, articulate source criticism, demographic, moral and racial reasoning and contemporary political debate. The paper concludes with a summary of the discussion, arguing for the necessity of historicization of historiographicalsyntheses as well in nineteenth century as today, especially in the context of Global History.

In contrast to the relative scarcity of publications dealing with the buildings and layouts of rural settlements, many volumes have been devoted to the development of early medieval trade and craft production (e.g. Jankuhn et al. 1981; 1983; K. Düwel et al. 1987, vols. 1–4; Hodges and Whitehouse 1983). Archaeological research into these topics has been made more fruitful—as well as more complex—by the contributions of neighbouring disciplines such as history, geography, and numismatics. It has, however, tended to focus almost exclusively on towns, monasteries, and royal centres, yet craft production, trade, and exchange also played a significant role in farming communities before and after the emergence of such specialized centres. Indeed, the rural settlements of northwest Europe were already significantly differentiated in their economies in the Migration period, suggesting a high level of socio-economic complexity several centuries earlier than has generally been supposed. The evidence now available for trade and non-agrarian production, which derives almost wholly from archaeology, calls for a thoroughgoing reassessment of when and how centralized authorities emerged in northern Europe after the collapse of the western Empire. This is particularly true for northern Germany and southern Scandinavia, where early state formation has conventionally been dated to the late Viking period. Research into state formation has in the past focused on the origins of towns and market centres, the latter usually seen as arising from participation in long-distance trade which was controlled by kings or magnates. Yet, several centuries before there were kings or towns in northern Europe, rural settlements emerged which point to a degree of political centralization. This chapter considers the evidence for these rural centres and the role of non-agrarian production and exchange in rural settlements generally: what was the scale and context of the production, distribution, and consumption of non-agrarian goods? Who controlled these activities, and how, if at all, did the long-distance trade networks which fuelled the nascent towns of Merovingian and Viking Age Europe affect the economies of the communities which lay in their hinterlands?

In much of the former western Roman Empire the use and minting of coins were continued on the established Roman pattern, albeit with innovations, initially, at least, as a legacy of the old administration. Important changes consisted in a shift from the Roman system of gold, silver, and base metal towards the sole use of gold during the fifth century and in adjusting the weights of the coins to fit in with their particular Germanic system. In Britain, however, the use of coinage seems to have lapsed for nearly two centuries. The withdrawal of the Roman army from Britain early in the fifth century meant not only that the Romano-British population had to fend for itself, but also the end of the taxation levied to support functionaries and legions and of the need for regular supplies of coins to meet these and other fiscal duties. The breakdown of Romano-British society and its infrastructure was fairly rapid but varied from area to area, as can be seen from the distribution of the finds of the last of the Roman coins to be issued to Britain. The insecurity of the period is reflected in the non-retrieval of buried treasure—precious artefacts, as well as money. Silver coins in particular, often clipped and pared, show the growing shortage of metal. Taking advantage of the uncertain political situation in Britain, tribes from the Continent—who came to be known as the Anglo-Saxons—established control over eastern Britain during the fifth century AD, extending south and west into most of modern England over the next two centuries. The situation in Britain seems to have been very different from that of other provinces of the Roman Empire, where it is appropriate to talk of the continuity of institutions rather than of the collapse of the Imperial organization. The Anglo-Saxons, though familiar with money from looting and tribute, initially had no need for coins or their orthodox uses. Coins were regarded as bullion or used as jewellery. Evidence from the graves of the fifth to the seventh centuries shows that Roman bronze coins were often pierced and used as decorative spangles on clothes or as pendants, possibly with apotropaic connotations.

In Le génie de l’Orient..., published in Brussels in 1846, Leopold Leon Sawaszkiewicz presents the collection and work of the Polish collector and connoisseur of Oriental cultures Ignacy Pietraszewski, who translated the Zend-Avesta – the holy book of Zoroastrianism – from Persian into Polish, French, and German. Sawaszkiewicz uses Pietraszewski’s rich collection of Islamic numismatics as a jumping-off point for numerous observations on the relations between the West and the East, from the perspective of the historic ties between the Poles – bound for nearly a millennium to Western Christian values – and the Turkish, Arab, Persian, and even Indian Orient, in which they searched, aside from artistic and literary inspiration, for traces of their own deep cultural and ethnic roots. This view of the rootedness of Polish culture in the universe of an apparently/actually distant imagination and mentality, makes it possible to reconsider the present conditions for honest and substantive dialogue between these different cultural and geopolitical regions. Sawaszkiewicz’s and Pietraszewski’s visions of the Orient, conceived at a time when the existing geopolitical order was confronted with the (re)birth of European national identity myths, bear witness to the active participation of Polish intellectuals in the debate on the foundations and future of Western civilization.

In the second half of the nineteenth century, the museum at the University in Wrocław (formerly Breslau) was reorganised. As a result, the institution was granted a new name and a new – archaeological – profile. The changes were initiated by August Rossbach (1823–1898), professor of classical philology and archaeology, director of the museum from 1856 to 1898. Through his efforts, the university museum started to professionally specialise in Antiquity. Above all, Rossbach significantly developed the collection of copies of ancient art, which were used as research and teaching tools. Through his efforts, the collection of the Archaeological Museum grew rich with some original pieces, including the collection of Eduard Schaubert (1804–1860), terracotta figurines from Taranto, and ceramic vessels from the collection of Carlo d’Ottavio Fontana of Trieste. The museum also took care of a coin collection catalogued by a famous numismatist, Julius Friedländer (1813–1884), upon Rossbach’s request. Thanks to Rossbach, in the 1870s, the museum boasted one of the largest German university collections in archaeology. At that time, the institution was an important research, educational, and cultural centre in Wrocław.

Pagan Germanic art had favoured the representation of animals and invested it with apotropaic qualities. The new Christian animal iconography (Evangelists’ symbols, doves, peacock, the fauna in the vine-scrolls, etc.) was accepted and integrated into a tradition which saw it not as purely decorative, but as a potent symbolic image. It is not surprising that, just as in contemporary sculpture, manuscripts, metalwork, and embroidery, many of the reverses of the Secondary series show animals, real or fantastic. These representations must be analysed in the context of the culture of the time, and therefore as potential for metaphors. Whilst the gold coinage, following Merovingian numismatic prototypes, had crosses as reverses, the Primary coins of Series B introduced birds to this iconography. Birds will indeed dominate amongst the reverses of the whole of the early Anglo-Saxon coinage, and their importance can be understood in a Christian context. Several groups of coins sharing the iconography of a bust or head with diadem and spiky hair on the obverse, and of a bird surmounting a cross on the reverse, are gathered under the classification of Series B. Some issues have unintelligible legends on both sides, cordoned by a torque of pellets, sometimes snake-headed, and though they differ in details, their iconography is consistent (Fig. 4.1). Rigold regarded the coin iconography of the bird on a cross as original Anglo-Saxon, rejecting any Merovingian numismatic precedent. Conceptually close models may have developed in imitation of Roman and Christian standards or sceptres. Coptic bronze lamps present us with several examples where the reflector above the handle is in the shape of a cross topped with a bird (Fig. 4.1c), and there is also an interesting bronze lamp in the shape of a ram with a cross and bird on its head. Following Early Christian precedents, the bird on the coins can be identified as a dove, in a Christian context a symbol of the Holy Spirit, appropriately set on a cross. In Insular metalwork there are two three-dimensional dove-shaped mounts that may perhaps have similarly topped crosses.

Twenty-two coins were found in the area of the motte-and-bailey castle in Lubrza; 13 of them are discussed in this article (the remaining are German emissions from the twentieth century along with an early Modern Era German dish pfennig). Twelve coins are from the Middle Ages (1–12); and specimen #13 is a copper disc without any trace of stamping. The numismatic material from the knight seat in Lubrza implies profound influence of the Brandenburg coinage from the Ascanian dynasty (expired in 1319) on the northern parts of Silesia. To the same category of emissions belong Anhalt and Saxon-Wittenberg denars (#8–9), including March of Brandenburg forged denar, most likely minted in the County/Duchy of Anhalt or the Duchy of Saxony-Wittenberg (#9). Interest is aroused by the regularly cut Prague groschen (#10), a very rare find of this type. Also, Teutonic coins appear rarely this far west (#11). However, the lack of a Silesian coin is intriguing. Specimen #12, suspected to be of Silesian origin, is probably a Neumark (New March) denar (Vinkenauge). The lack of domestic coins seems rather accidental; however, all finds in Lubrza are probably chance losses. The noticeably large amount of the Brandenburg coinage results from the Lubrza motte-and-bailey castle location close to the border. Substantial minting activity in the Ascanian period and the short-term affiliation of Lubrza to the March of Brandenburg in the first quarter of the 14th century also played a considerable role. In the present-day territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, no large bracteates (45 mm in diameter) have been minted, therefore, a fragment of a lid of a copper alloy box intended for storing small amounts of this kind of money is quite sensational. The box lid from Lubrza, probably made in the second half of the 13th century, is most likely of Meissen origin.

В статье прослеживается история Фанагории с середины 3 в., когда жизнь Боспорского царства, в состав которого входила Фанагория, была нарушена вторжением племенных союзов готов, до конца 7 столетия, когда Боспор захватили хазары, и в истории Фанагории начался новый период. Сопоставляются сведения, содержащиеся в письмен - ных источниках и эпиграфических памятниках, данные археологии и нумизматики. История Фанагории рассматривается на фоне политической и экономической ситуации в Северном Причерноморье. Уточнение хронологии ключевых групп материала и ряд новых находок позволили пересмотреть даты некоторых важных событий в истории города. В середине 3 в. относительно спокойная жизнь Боспорского царства была нарушена появлением племенных союзов готов и других восточногерманских народов, которые в 255 г. по суше достигли Боспора и, переправившись через Меотиду, разорили хору каких-то городов и разгромили Танаис. С берегов Меотиды готы в течение двадцати лет совершали практически ежегодные морские и сухопутные набеги на римские владения в Причерноморье и Восточном Средиземноморье. Поскольку европейская сторона, пострадавшая при готских вторжениях, не могла предоставить необходимый провиант и корабли, подготовка этих походов была возможна только при использовании ресурсов городов и хоры азиатской половины Боспорского государства. Именно в города Азиатского Боспора, в том числе Фанагорию, «скифы» свозили награбленное добро, ставшее источником подъема экономики Боспорского царства. После разгрома германцев в 276 г. на Боспоре наступает относительно спокойный период. Правители Боспора контролируют прежнюю территорию, в том числе Азиатский Боспор. В последней четверти 3–4 вв. оживляется сильно нарушенная германцами экономика Боспора, в которой, как свидетельствует нумизматический материал, преобладает его азиатская сторона, где развернулась активная строительная деятельность. В частности, в Фанагории ко времени не ранее конца 3–4 вв. н. э. относится строительство портовых сооружений; несколько меняется облик города: на месте богатых общественных сооружений появляются крупные винодельческие комплексы и жилые дома. Следы разрушений и пожаров, выявленные на различных поселениях Таманского полуострова, и клады, сокрытые не ранее 341–342 гг., говорят о внезапной атаке, возможно, каких-то северокавказских племен. Однако Фанагория, по-видимому, избежала разгрома: город сохраняет территорию в прежних границах и продолжает оставаться крупным ремесленным и торговым центром. В какой-то момент жизнь города была прервана неким событием, оставившим после себя следы разрушений и пожара, выявленные в нескольких районах города. Боль шинство исследователей связывает это разрушение с нашествием гуннов и относит ко времени правления императора Валента (364–378). Однако на основе анализа данных письменных источников и состава комплекса керамики из слоя пожара и комплексов, связанных с расчисткой города перед новым строительством, оно может быть датировано временем около середины 5 в., хотя виновника этих разрушений определить не удается. Приблизительно в это же время прекращают существование Кепы, Батарейка I и II, Красноармейское, Каменная батарейка. Остались лишь крупные города – Фанагория и Гермонасса и, может быть, какие-то производственные центры. В результате описанных событий территория города несколько сократилась: строительные остатки, которые можно было бы датировать временем после первой половины 5 в., не прослежены на юго-восточной и юго-западной окраине города. Однако в централь - ной части нижнего и верхнем плато города жизнь возобновляется довольно быстро. В конце 5 или начале 6 в. Боспорское царство входит в сферу влияния Византийской империи. Однако период относительной стабильности под крылом Византии в Фанагории по сведениям письменных источников и данным археологии внезапно обрывается в середине 6 в. С одной стороны, упоминание о разрушении Фанагории и Кеп Прокопием Кесарийским в книге VIII «Истории войн», законченной в 554 году, а с другой, – комплекс керамики, открытый в слое пожара на раскопах «Береговой стратиграфический» и «Нижний город», и особенно недавние находки на последнем двух солидов Юстиниана I 545–565 гг., позволяют датировать слой разрушения временем не ранее 545 года, но не позднее 554 года. Складывается впечатление, что после этих событий жизнь в Фанагории на какое-то время замирает: отмечается отсутствие материалов второй половины 6–7 вв. на некрополе Фанагории, а в коллекции краснолаковой керамики из раскопок города – поздних форм. Но вый период истории города начинается, по-видимому, около 665 г., когда Боспор захватили хазары. Именно с ними связано появление на месте сгоревших домов построек, возведенных в технике «елочка», характерной для хазарских памятников второй половины 7–10 вв. The article traces the history of Phanagoria from the middle of the 3rd century, when the life of the Bosporan kingdom, Phanagoria being its part, was disturbed by the invasion of Gothic tribes, till the late 7th century, when Bosporos was occupied by the Khazars, the event which opened a new period of its history. Here we compare information from written sources, epigraphic documents, numismatics and archaeology. The history of Phanagoria is considered against the background of the political and economic situation in the North Black Sea area. The verification of chronology of the principal groups of materials and a number of new discover ies allows to reconsider the dates of certain important events in the history of the city. In the middle of the 3rd century the relatively peaceful life of the Bosporan kingdom was disturbed by the appearance of Gothic tribes and other East Germanic peoples, who in 255 reached Bosporos and after crossing Lake Maeotis ravaged the suburban areas of several cities and destroyed Tanais. From the Maeotic banks in the course of twenty years the Goths raided Ro man territories in the North Black Sea area and the East Mediterranean by land and sea. As the European side much affected by Gothic invasions could not provide supplies and ships, the provision of these raids was possible only by the use of resources obtained from the Eastern half of the Bosporan state. The cities of the Asian Bosporos including Phanagoria became the stores where ‘the Scythians’ concentrated their loot, which ensured the economic development of the Bosporan kingdom. After the defeat of the Germans in 276 followed a relatively peaceful period. The Bosporan rulers controlled their initial territory, including the Asian Bosporos. In the last third of the 4th century the Bosporan economy affected by German invasions revives significantly. Numismatic data testifies to the development of its Asiatic part, where building activities were noticeable. In Phanagoria in particular, by the late 3rd – 4th centuries its sea-port was reconstructed and in the whole appearance of the city there were important changes: rich public buildings were replaced by large wineries and dwelling houses. Ruins and traces of fire revealed at different settlements of the Taman Peninsula, hoards hidden not earlier than 341–342 tell of some unexpected attack, possibly by certain North Caucasian tribes. Phanagoria evidently avoided destruction. The city retained its original borders and continued as a prominent center of trade and industry. At some point, the life of the city was interrupted by some event, leaving traces of destruction and fire visible in its several districts. Most scholars connect this event with the coming of the Huns in the reign of Emperor Valens (364–378). However, written sources and sets of pottery from burnt layers connected with the removal of ruins before the reconstruction of the city point Л. А. Голофаст 44 to the time around mid–fifth century, even though they do not define those guilty of the event. Approximately at the same time disappear such settlements as Kepoi, Batareika I and II, Krasnoarmeiskoe, Kamennaya Batareika. Only large cities survived – Phanagoria and Hermonassa and probably some industrial centres. The events described above reduced the territory of the city: there are no traces of building activity in the South-East and South-West districts. But in the central part of the lower plateau and upon the upper one the city-life revived quickly. In the late 5th or the early 6th century the Bosporan kingdom became involved into the Byzantine sphere of influence. However, the period of relative stability under the Byzantine protection was suddenly interrupted in the middle of the 6th century. Procopius mentions the destruction of Phanagoria and Kepoi in the eighth book of his “History of Wars” accomplished in 554. On the other hand the sets of pottery from the strata of ruins and fire from the “Shore stratigraphic” trench and the “Lower city” trench as well as recent finds in the last one of two solidi of Justinian I (545–565) allow to date the strata to the time not earlier than 545 but not later than 554. It looks like after these events any active life in Phanagoria stopped for a while: there are no materials of the second half of the 6th – 7th centuries from the city necropolis, no finds of later forms of red-ware pottery from the city. A new period in the history of the city began around 665, when Bosporos was occupied by the Khazars. That was the time when burnt structures were re placed by buildings constructed after the opus spicanti technique characteristic of the 7th – 10th century Khazar architecture.