The Telavi Hoard of Clipped Umayyad Dirhams

Abstract

This study examines a hoard of clipped Umayyad dirhams discovered in 2022 in the environs of Telavi, a city in eastern Georgia. The hoard comprised only Umayyad dirhams, reportedly numbering between 20 and 25, including: Dimashq – 2 (11.8%); Wāsiṭ – 11 (64.7%); Al-Kūfah – 1 (5.9%); Al-Baṣrah – 2 (11.8%); Fīl (a rare mint of unknown location) – 1 (5.9%). The coins span the years AH 89–120, and the terminus ante quem non for the hoard, determined by its latest coin, is AH 120 (737/8). It was presumably deposited in the late 730s or 740s.

Before deposition, all of the dirhams had been clipped in a way that preserved their circular form but affected their weight. The average weight is 1.58 g (range: 1.49–1.69 g), calculated from seven clipped but unfragmented, weighed specimens.

The historical significance of this hoard derives from its unique composition and findspot:

1. It represents the earliest hoard datable to the period of Arab dominance in Georgia;
2. It contains only Umayyad dirhams, without any admixture of Sasanian drachms that had circulated locally before the Arab conquest; and
3. It consists solely of dirhams that were clipped to an as-yet-unclarified standard.

The Umayyad silver may have entered the monetary system of areas remote from Tiflīs as early as the 740s.