This page archives the log of changes to the Parthia.com web site which were made over one year ago. They are retained principally as a record for the webmaster, but may be of interest to visitors. The changes made within the past year are posted on the Web Log of New Items page.
Index:
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
30 Aug 2011 - Added reference to Q. Labienus denarius (look for S27) from the NAC 62 auction
29 Aug 2011 - routine site updates
August 2010 to Aug 2011 - hiatus during which work on the Sylloge Nummorum Parthicorum database (sylloge.org) took precedence over the Parthia.com site
1 Jan 2011 - routine site maintenance
21 Aug 2010 - several notes added to the HMS Parthian ships details
19 Aug 2010 - Added reference to Q. Labienus denarius (look for S15) from the Künker 174 auction
3 Jun 2010 - corrected legend for Sellwood type 54.15 on the Gonnella collection page
30 May 2010 - site maintenance and miscellaneous corrections
15 Apr 2010 - added another example of Q. Labienus drachm (look for S26) to the Labienus page
27 Mar 2010 - updated Timeline of Ancient World Events
27 Feb 2010 - added more three more examples of Q. Labienus drachm and the fifth known example of an aureus to the Labienus page
26 Feb 2010 - added example of Q. Labienus drachm from Gorny & Mosch 185, lot 229
22 Feb 2010 - updated the Unicode Greek for Numismatists page
18 Feb 2010 - published the Translations of Numismatic Terms web page
12 Jan 2010 - added news of Parthian archeological finds on the Parthia in the News page
1 Jan 2010 - additional coins from the Lynn collection appeared in Classical Numismatic Group's online coin shop and were added to Parthian and Parthia-related coins from The Aloysius Lynn Collection of Ancient Coins
1 Jan 2010 - routine site updates. Happy new year!
31 Dec 2009 - added images of the British Museum examples of the Q. Labienus aureus and denarius to the Coins of Rome about Parthia: Quintus Labienus page
20 Dec 2009 - added pages for Freeman & Sear Mail Bid Sale 17 (Dec 2009) and Freeman & Sear Mahattan Sale (Jan 2010)
19 Dec 2009 - added pages for Parthian and Parthia-related coins from The Aloysius Lynn Collection of Ancient Coins
19 Dec 2009 - database queries improved to sort Roman coins chronologically.
18 Dec 2009 - added pages for The Todd A. Ballen Collection of Parthian and Related Coinage
18 Dec 2009 - added pages for the Triton XIII auction
17 Dec 2009 - added page for the 2009 Iranian-Italian Joint Expedition in Khuzistan which performed laser scanning of the Hung-e Azdhar, Hung-e Yaralivand, Hung-e Kamalvand rock reliefs, topography of the valley of Hung-e Azhdar and opened trial trenches near the boulder of Hung-e Azhdar.
15 Dec 2009 - added pages for the Freeman & Sear Mail Bid Sale 17 and the Freeman & Sear Manhattan Sale
7 Dec 2009 - added a new example of a Q. Labienus denarius to the Coins of Rome about Parthia: Quintus Labienus page
18 Oct 2009 - the Annotated Parthia Bibliography has been updated and now contains 3454 works by 1711 authors. The Recent Publications 2007-2009 page is also updated, as well as the Log of Bibliography Additions/Updates
12 Oct 2009 - added page for the 2009 archeological expedition to Old Nisa. The joint Italo-Turkmen team spent the season continuing excavation of the Arsacid capital city at Old Nisa in Turkmenistan
29 Sep 2009 - routine site updates
26 Jan 2009 - Parthia in the News updated
20 Jan 2009 - Parthia in the News updated
2 Jan 2009 - routine site updates. Happy new year!
16 Dec 2008 - began project to translate numismatic terms and database structure terms. Bi-lingual volunteers are needed and you can help, so click here
10 Dec 2008 - updated index to the exceptional coins in the Gonnella collection. It now provides links directly to each coin listed
5 Dec 2008 - added page for the 2008 archeological expedition to Old Nisa. The joint Italo-Turkmen team spent the season continuing excavation of the Arsacid capital city at Old Nisa in Turkmenistan
5 Dec 2008 - published report on the first expedition to Khuzistan during which a joint Iranian-Italian team conducted laser scanning of the Hung-e Azdhar Parthian rock relief and made a preliminary survey of the surrounding area
2 Dec 2008 - Updated Parthia in the News page
12 Nov 2008 - updated Parthia in the News
9 Nov 2008 - added the Gonnella collection which includes 904 Parthian coins. Without a doubt, it is one of the largest and most important private collections of Parthian coins. Larger than the Shore collection, it is especially notable because the entire collection has been photographed, including the bronze coins, many of them rare and previously unpublished.
1 Nov 2008 - revised and reorganized pages on Collections of Parthian Coins and Auction Catalogs of Parthian Coins to simplify and integrate.
1 Oct 2008 - general housekeeping and website update
10 Aug 2008 - refreshed database and republished Sellwood types 1
through 49. Additions/changes of special note:
PDC 53378
S17.1 corrigendum (position of monograms)
PDC 53345 S46.5 variant (month ΟΛ)
PDC 53346 S48.1 variant (griffin on kandys)
10 Aug 2008 - the Annotated Parthia Bibliography has been updated and now contains 3423 works by 1701 authors. The Recent Publications 2006-2008 page is also updated, as well as the Log of Bibliography Additions/Updates
16 Jun 2008 - refreshed database and republished Sellwood types 1 through 49.
14 Jun 2008 - added Film & Video page that has several YouTube videos about Parthia.
6 Jun 2008 - The Annotated Parthia Bibliography has been updated and now contains 3381 works by 1694 authors. The Recent Publications 2006-2008 page is also updated, as well as the Log of Bibliography Additions/Updates
1 Jun 2008 - general housekeeping and website update
8 May 2008 - article added to Parthia in the News pages for 2008
25 Apr 2008 - articles added to Parthia in the News pages for 2007 and 2008
24 Apr 2008 - extensive review and corrections to HTML code and CSS styles
22 Apr 2008 - added page for Constantius II
13 Apr 2008 - Parthian and Parthia-related coins from the CNG 78 auction added
28 Mar 2008 - Tenth Anniversary of Parthia.com! Today celebrates our
10th anniversary online. The site has grown to more than 550 web pages about
Parthia and it remains the number #1 ranked site for "Parthia" searches on
Google and other major search engines. More than 357,000 have visited the home
page alone, and the web site provides an average 2500 page views per day to 1200
visitors with an average visit time of 13 minutes. To mark this anniversary, the
site is being updated with new web pages that include all known Parthian coin
types. The project is now over 50% complete (Sellwood types 1-49 thus far); each
coin type includes the number of examples contained in the Parthia Digital
Catalog database. The following issues have been updated:
Arsaces I (S1-4)
Arsaces II (S5-6)
Artabanus I (S19-22)
Darius (S35-37)
Gotarzes I (S33)
Interregnal Issue (S18)
Mithradates I (S7-13)
Mithradates II (S23-29)
Mithradates III (S40-41)
Orodes I (S31)
Orodes II (S42-48)
Pacorus I (S49)
Phraates II (S14-17)
Phraates III (S38-39)
Sinatruces (S34)
Unknown King I (S32)
Unknown King II (S30)
8 Mar 2008 - routine update and general housekeeping
28 Feb 2008 - posted article to Parthia in the News 2008 page
22 Feb 2008 - corrected text, links and updated Parthia in the News pages
19 Feb 2008 - added page with Parthian and Parthia-related coins from Gorny & Mosch Auktion 164 (17 Mar 2008). This auction includes a denarius of Q. Labienus which has been added to the Q. Labienus page
18 Feb 2008 - added page with Parthian and Parthia-related coins from auction Künker 136 (Mar 2008)
16 Feb 2008 - routine update and general housekeeping
19 Jan 2008 - added an index by ruler to Sellwood types on the Index of Sellwood Types by Ruler page
2 Jan 2008 - added an index to the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin Münzkabinett which has a large collection of Parthian coins, a few of which are available online. Click here for the index. Also updated the Collections page to add the SMB
1 Jan 2008 - The Annotated Parthia Bibliography has been updated and now contains 3346 works by 1664 authors. The Recent Publications 2005-2008 page is also updated, as well as the Log of Bibliography Additions/Updates
1 Jan 2008 - routine site updates. Happy new year!
2 Dec 2007 - The Annotated Parthia Bibliography has been updated and now contains 3340 works by 1658 authors. The Recent Publications 2004-2007 page is also updated, as well as the Log of Bibliography Additions/Updates
1 Dec 2007 - routine updates and site maintenance
30 Nov 2007 - a page has been added to highlight accomplishments of the Nisa Expedition 2007 team which spent the season continuing excavation of the Arsacid capital city at Old Nisa in Turkmenistan. From this page you can also reach information about archaeological expeditions of previous seasons.
29 Nov 2007 - Parthian and Parthia-related coins from the Triton XI auction added
8 Nov 2007 - All links from Parthia.com to coins in the ANS database have been changed to DNID format. This allows us to support testing of a system for bidirectional links between the ANS database and web pages that refer to objects in the ANS collection. Visit a developer's introduction to the DNID System for more information
18 Oct 2007 - Another Digamma-dated tetradrachm of Vardanes II has been added to Digamma on Vardanes II Tetradrachms page. There are now at least 26 examples known
10 Oct 2007 - Parthian and Parthia-related coins from the Peus 393 auction added
25 Sep 2007 - Parthian and Parthia-related coins from the Gorny & Mosch 159/160 auctions added
7 Sep 2007 - The Annotated Parthia Bibliography has been updated and now contains 3332 works by 1650 authors. The Recent Publications 2004-2007 page is also updated, as well as the Log of Bibliography Additions/Updates
1 Sep 2007 - The BMC example of tetradrachm dated 366 added to page at Vardanes II Tetradrachms Dated 366; photo of the plaster cast had been omitted by mistake
1 Sep 2007 - general housekeeping and updates
31 Aug 2007 - Republished catalogs of Parthian coins Peus 371, Peus 386, Peus 388
30 Aug 2007 - Republished catalogs of Parthian coins CNG 66, Gorny & Mosch 130, Peus 374, Peus 376, Peus 384, Triton VII, Triton VIII
28 Aug 2007 - Republished catalogs of Parthian coins Peus 372, Triton VI
27 Aug 2007 - Republished catalogs of Parthian coins Triton V
26 Aug 2007 - Republished catalogs of Parthian coins CNG 58, Gorny & Mosch 113, Lanz 102, Triton IV
25 Aug 2007 - Republished catalogs of Parthian coins CNG 54, CNG 55, Rian Thum Collection, Peus 363, Sotheby's L00545
24 Aug 2007 - Rewrote computer code for generating catalogs of Parthian coins to add fields and enhance format.
Single-page catalogs republished for:
CNG 57, CNG 60, CNG 61, CNG 63, CNG 64, CNG 67, CNG 69, CNG 70, CNG 72, CNG 73, CNG 75
Peus 320, Peus 366, Peus 368, Peus 378, Peus 380, Peus 382, Peus 392
Triton 9, Triton 10
UBS 67, Gorny & Mosch 151-152, Meister & Sonntag 5, Jacquier 35
23 Aug 2007 - Updated all links to the Code 2000 font download page
19 Aug 2007 - Parthian and Parthia-related coins from the Jacquier Katalog 35 fixed price list added
18 Aug 2007 - Parthian and Parthia-related coins from the Elsen 93 auction added
17 Aug 2007 - Parthian and Parthia-related coins from the Meister & Sonntag 5 auction added
15 Aug 2007 - The Annotated Parthia Bibliography has been updated and now contains 3326 works by 1654 authors. The Recent Publications 2004-2007 page is also updated, as well as the Log of Bibliography Additions/Updates
13 Aug 2007 - added photos to Cunard Parthia I page
8 Aug 2007 - general housekeeping and updates
26 Jun 2007 - general housekeeping and updates
9 Jun 2007 - The Annotated Parthia Bibliography has been updated and now contains 3314 works by 1657 authors. The Recent Publications 2004-2007 page is also updated, as well as the Log of Bibliography Additions/Updates
2 Jun 2007 - general housekeeping and updates. Restored site after hard disk failure.
1 May 2007 - Parthia.com has been certified and licensed by ChildSafe International™ as an ICCS web site and is in compliance with PICS labeling. This web site is child-safe
23 Apr 2007 - added another example of Q. Labienus denarius, a 3.79 gram item
20 Apr 2007 - Oliver Hoover's web site at Seleukids.org has been relocated to SeleukidEmpire.org. Links have been updated throughout Parthia.com
19 Apr 2007 - Parthia-related coins from the Peus Auction 392 added
15 Apr 2007 - Parthian and Parthia-related coins from the Classical Numismatic Group Auction 75 added
5 Apr 2007 - The Annotated Parthia Bibliography has been updated and now contains 3304 works by 1653 authors. The Recent Publications 2004-2007 page is also updated, as well as the Log of Bibliography Additions/Updates
31 Mar 2007 - updated the Inscriptions page to include all legible Greek inscriptions on Parthian coins
30 Mar 2007 - received notification of listing in the ICRAchecked database, certification that Parthia.com complies with labeling requirements to qualify as a safe site for children to visit.
28 Mar 2007 - 9th Anniversary of Parthia.com! The site has grown to more than 460 web pages about Parthia, and is the number #1 ranked site for "Parthia" searches on Google, Yahoo!, and other major search engines. There have been nearly 1/3 of a million total visitors to the home page alone, and the web site logs more than 1,200 visitors per day with an average visit time of nine minutes. To mark this anniversary, the site has been completely revamped to comply with new Internet technical standards for Unicode fonts and the latest web browsers, while retaining the same distinctive classical appearance.
11 Mar 2007 - The Annotated Parthia Bibliography has been updated and now contains 3298 works by 1640 authors. The Recent Publications 2004-2007 page is also updated, as well as the Log of Bibliography Additions/Updates
4 Mar 2007 - general site maintenance.
11 Feb 2007 - updated ICRA labeling for site; labels now required on every page. The parental control label identifies Parthia.com as a safe site for children to visit.
18 Jan 2007 - The Annotated Parthia Bibliography has been updated and now contains 3242 works by 1621 authors. The Recent Publications 2004-2007 page is also updated, as well as the Log of Bibliography Additions/Updates
18 Jan 2007 - Moneta has announced availability of Medea Sherozia & Jean-Marc Doyen's Les monnaies parthes du musée de Tbilissi (Géorgie) (Moneta 62, 2007) which documents 574 Parthian coins on 21 plates. This has been added to the list of publications document public collections on the Collections of Parthian Coins page.
14 Jan 2007 - minor updates, corrections to some broken links
1 Jan 2007 - routine site updates. Happy new year!
1 Dec 2006 - The Annotated Parthia Bibliography has been updated and now contains 3242 works by 1621 authors. The Recent Publications 2004-2006 page is also updated, as well as the Log of Bibliography Additions/Updates
30 Nov 2006 - Parthian and Parthia-related coins from the Triton X Auction added
25 Oct 2006 - Numerous group photos from the Peus 388 auction have been added and some coins extracted and displayed as single coins.
16 Oct 2006 - Updated web page for Internet Mail Lists & Newsgroups among other changes, added excellent web site of Joe Sermarini, FORVM Ancient Coins
12 Oct 2006 - A new feature has been added. You may now view a chronological list of additions and updates to the bibliography made the last six months. The new page is available at Log of Bibliography Additions/Updates
10 Oct 2006 - Several late additions have resulted in another update to the Recent Publications 2004-2006 page
7 Oct 2006 - The Annotated Parthia Bibliography has been updated and now contains 3229 works by 1606 authors. The Recent Publications 2004-2006 page is also updated
5 Oct 2006 - Parthian and Parthia-related coins from the Dr. Busso Peus, Nachg. Auktion 388/389 added. The auction has 972 Parthian and Parthia-related coins, of which 455 coins are presented in group photos; these will be added later as individual coins. Go to the archive of the Peus 388 auction
30 Sep 2006 - Sellwood types 17.3 and 17.4 added to the Phraates II page
24 Sep 2006 - several coins added to the Carus page in the Coins of Rome about Parthia section
4 Sep 2006 - Parthian and Parthia-related coins from the Classical Numismatic Group Auction 73 added
29 Aug 2006 - Parthian and Parthia-related coins from the Gorny & Mosch Auktion 151/152 added
23 Aug 2006 - Parthian and Parthia-related coins from the UBS Auction 67 added
29 Jun 2006 - The Annotated Parthia Bibliography has been updated and now contains 3197 works by 1589 authors. The Recent Publications 2004-2006 page is also updated
26 May 2006 - Updated the Vardanes II page and the page listing Vardanes II Tetradrachms Dated 366
16 May 2006 - Added several new auction catalogs containing Parthian and Parthia-related coins:
- Peus 320 (Nov 1987)
- Peus 366 (Oct 2000)
- Peus 368 (Apr 2001)
- Peus 371 (Apr 2002)
- Peus 374 (Apr 2003)
- Peus 376 (Oct 2003)
- Peus 378 (Apr 2004)
- Peus 380 (Nov 2004)
- Peus 382 (April 2005)
12 May 2006 - Added Parthian and Parthia-related coins from CNG 72 (Jun 2006) to the catalog page
1 May 2006 - Added several new auction catalogs containing Parthian and Parthia-related coins:
- CNG 57 (Apr 2001)
- CNG 60 (May 2002)
- CNG 61 (Sep 2002)
- Triton VI (Jan 2003)
- CNG 63 (May 2003)
- CNG 64 (Sep 2003)
- CNG 66 (May 2004)
- CNG 67 (Sep 2004)
- Triton VIII (Jan 2005)
- CNG 69 (Jun 2005)
- CNG 70 (Sep 2005)
- Triton IX (Jan 2006)
29 Apr 2006 - Added Plate X, which accompanies the article by H. H. Howorth, "Some notes on coins attributed to Parthia," Numismatic Chronicle, series 4, vol. 5 (1905) and vol. 7 (1907)
23 Apr 2006 - Added an interesting coin of Carus, the first coin on the "Coins of Rome about Parthia" page at Carus (A.D. 282-283) It was generously submitted by Warren Esty who has often alerted me to rare coins in this genre and given permission to use his photos
19 Apr 2006 - Important coins from the Peus 386 sale have been added to the on-line coin catalogs
5 April 2006 - Added interesting error coin to the Carausius page which bears centaur of LEGIO III PARTHICA, but legend of LEGIO IV FLAVIA
24 Feb 2006 - The Annotated Parthia Bibliography has been updated and now contains 3162 works by 1576 authors. The Recent Publications 2004-2006 page is also updated
22 Feb 2006 - Added links to De Muntmeester, a publication of the Flemish numismatic society Diestse studiekring voor numismatiek to the publications section of the Web Links of Interest page
3 Feb 2006 - The Annotated Parthia Bibliography has been updated and now contains 3150 works by 1568 authors. The Recent Publications 2004-2006 page is also updated
4 Feb 2006 - The Annotated Parthia Bibliography has been updated and now contains 3054 works by 1515 authors. The Recent Publications 2004-2006 page is also updated. In this update, numerous previously omitted publications by Marek J. Olbrycht have been added
12 Jan 2006 - added full text of "Parthian Gold and Silver: Genuine Coins or Modern Forgeries?" from Counterfeit Coin Bulletin, November 2001. The article is a précis of the expert's report concluding arbitration concerning the authenticity of some Parthian silver and gold coins.
7 Jan 2006 - added two more denarius images from the issues of Labienus
5 Jan 2006 - added another image of a denarius of Labienus, the first listed 3.64g denarius on the Labienus web page. The denarii are now sorted in descending order by weight
1 Jan 2006 - general web site update
1 Jan 2006 - Added two coins of Artabanus I, an S20.1 drachm and a rare variant of the S22.4 drachm which has an obverse monogram. Greek text on the Artabanus I page has been converted to Unicode
31 Dec 2005 - An example of a coin of Probus with the ORIENS inscription has been added to the Probus page, courtesy of Grzegorz Kryszczuk, Coins of Probus
19 Dec 2005 - Parthia in the News updated with recent article on "Over 100 Parthian Statuettes Discovered in Halil-Rud, Kerman"
18 Dec 2005 - Parthia in the News updated with recent article on "Discovery of Parthian Stucco Decorations in Shushtar"
10 Dec 2005 - Parthia in the News updated with recent article on "Parthian Architectural Remains Discovered in Gilan"
9 Dec 2005 - The Annotated Parthia Bibliography has been updated and now contains 3027 works by 1501 authors. The Recent Publications 2004-2005 page also updated
5 Dec 2005 - The Annotated Parthia Bibliography has been updated and now contains 3018 works by 1500 authors. The Recent Publications 2004-2005 page also updated
2 Dec 2005 - Parthia in the News updated with recent articles on
- Parthian Site May Have Wrongly Been Identified as Median Ecbatana
- Discovery of a Late-Parthian or Early-Sasanian Fire Temple in Kermanshah
- Japanese return to complete studies at Gilan's ancient sites
1 Dec 2005 - General web site update and housekeeping
21 Nov 2005 - added photo of a beautiful Sellwood 92.37 to the Autonomous City Issues page. This civic coin minted in Ecbatana is in the collection of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris
16 Nov 2005 - an unpublished tetradrachm, Sellwood type 57.10-12 dated 310 SE, added to the Phraataces page
15 Nov 2005 - Parthia in the News updated with recent articles on "Gorgan Home to Asia's Second Great Wall"
13 Nov 2005 - Parthia in the News updated with recent articles on
- Update: Discovery of the Parthian Architectural Remains in Gilan
- Parthian era wall unearthed in Gilan
- Looted Relics from Iraqi Museums Slow To Surface
- A Parthian Chahar-Taqi in Jahrom on the verge of destruction
- Mystery of Jar Burial in Gohar Tepe
- Dam construction uncovers Sassanid-style graves near Kermanshah
11 Nov 2005 - The Annotated Parthia Bibliography has been updated and now contains 3013 works by 1500 authors. The Recent Publications 2004-2005 page also updated
4 Nov 2005 - added two Sellwood type 55.11 tetradrachms of Tiridates I; on one, the monogram above Tyche's arm has been removed
3 Nov 2005 - Parthia in the News updated with recent articles on
- Mount Khwajeh, the Biggest Unbaked Mud Structure from Parthian Times
- Discovery of Kermanshah's Largest Partho-Sassanid Fire Temple
- Parthian Mithraeum on the verge of Destruction
- Arsacid Fire Temple Emerges at Dam Construction Site in Kermanshah
- Three Parthian Columns were Discovered by Smugglers
1 Nov 2005 - General web site update and housekeeping
27 Oct 2005 - Some important coins from the Peus 384 sale have been added to the on-line coin catalogs
26 Oct 2005 - The Annotated Parthia Bibliography has been updated and now contains 3010 works by 1496 authors. The Recent Publications 2004-2005 page also updated
25 Oct 2005 - Parthia in the News updated with article on Ancient Burials from Meshkin-Shahr Belonging to Parthian Period
23 Oct 2005 - Parthia in the News updated with article on how the history of Tepe Mil coincides with mythological Rey city
21 Oct 2005 - Shore 323 example of a Sellwood type 58 Phraates & Musa tetradrachm added
20 Oct 2005 - Parthia in the News updated with article on discovery of a crypt belonging to the Arsacid dynasty
17 Oct 2005 - Parthia in the News updated with article on discovery of Parthian murals at Zahak castle
15 Oct 2005 - Parthia in the News updated with article on Dež-e Rashkān (Rashkān Fort), the spring-time capital of the Arsacid Dynasty, and its imperial palaces. A nearby cement plant is destroying the palatial structures at a rapid pace
9 Oct 2005 - Due to the growing number of articles, "News Reports about Parthia" page has been renamed to Parthia in the News and restructured. The main page is now an index to subordinate pages for 2005, 2004 and 2003 & prior years. Several recent articles have been added.
5 Oct 2005 - The Vonones II web page has been updated with four examples of the Sellwood type 67 chalkoi. Unfortunately still missing are examples of S67.2, 3, 6 and 7. If you have photos of these subtypes, please let me know
4 Oct 2005 - An article from CounterPunch newsletter, "A Lesson from Roman History : An Earlier Empire's War on Iraq" by Gary Leupp, has been added to the News About Parthia page
1 Oct 2005 - The Annotated Parthia Bibliography has been updated and now contains 2976 works by 1468 authors. The Recent Publications 2004-2005 page also updated
30 Sep 2005 - A web version of IBSCC Bulletin on Counterfeits, Vol 19, no. 2 (1994/1995) is now available. This richly illustrated publication contains "Forgeries and Inventions of Parthian Coins : Gold Coins of Vonones I and Silver Drachms of Osroes I, Vologases V and VI, Artabanus IV, and of Artabanus IV with the name Tiridates" by Alan Walker
19 Sep 2005 - 250,000 visitors! Late in the night of September 18th, a computer user in The Netherlands logged onto the home page of Parthia.com. This was the quarter-millionth visitor to our home page! Parthia.com has been online since March 1998 and logs thousands of hits everyday, but we only count persistent connections to the home page in our count of total visitors. Thus our count is extremely conservative as it does not include all the referrals from Google, Yahoo and the other search engines to other pages on the site. Parthia.com is the #1 search result for the keyword "Parthia" or "Parthian" in every major Internet search engine and has been for many years! You can inspect the home page's web statistics at Extreme Tracking
9 Sep 2005 - Another Digamma-dated tetradrachm of Vardanes II has been added to Digamma on Vardanes II Tetradrachms page. There are now at least 25 examples known
1 Sep 2005 - a page has been added to highlight accomplishments of the Nisa Expedition 2005 team which spent the spring and summer season continuing excavation of the Arsacid capital city at Old Nisa in Turkmenistan. From this page you can also reach information about archaeological expeditions of previous seasons. Also added, a special Old Nisa Bibliography
31 Aug 2005 - Annotated Parthia Bibliography and Recent Publications 2004-2005 updated
19 Aug 2005 - News item added to Parthia in the News web page: British archaeologist David Stronach is to visit Iran in early September to search for Hecatompylos
2 Aug 2005 - Annotated Parthia Bibliography and Recent Publications 2004-2005 updated
25 Jul 2005 - News item added to Parthia in the News web page
2 Jul 2005 - A major update has been made to the Phraataces page, with many new photos added for Sellwood types 56, 57 and 58
1 Jul 2005 - Several photos of Parthian coins which had been temporarily removed are now replaced. See Sellwood types 1.1, 5.1, 5.1/6.1 mule, 13.2, 30.28, 57.13, 58.9, 60.2, and 65.23. Six images of Sellwood 88.18 and 88.20 drachms are now replaced on the Drachms of Vologases VI page. Thumbnails for these photos are in the new format with both obverse and reverse on the same image
29 Jun 2005 - Added two rare Phraates IV drachms, Sellwood type 50.15
25 Jun 2005 - News about Parthia page updated
23 Jun 2005 - On the Web Links of Interest page, added the Arsacid King Chronicle (BCHP 19), a cuneiform tablet in the British Museum. Bert van der Spek of the Free University of Amsterdam and Irving Finkel of the British Museum propose a reading.
20 Jun 2005 - Corrected the regnal dates of Tiridates I from c. 29-27 B.C. (Sellwood) to c. 29-26 B.C., based on tetradrachms (type 55.7-9) which are dated March to May 26 B.C.
16 Jun 2005 - Updated the Queen Musa and Phraataces web pages with new text and new examples of the Sellwood type 58 tetradrachms which bear the image of the queen.
12 June 2005 - Updated the Tiridates I web page with new text and several new examples of the Sellwood type 55 tetradrachms. The page now clarifies which of the type 55 coins are attributed to Phraates IV by de Callataÿ
10 Jun 2005 - Added a rare Sellwood type 62.12 copper drachm to the Artabanus II page, and also to the Later Parthian Drachms with "Square Beards" coin identification page
7 Jun 2005 - Added a page on Parthian cuisine
5 Jun 2005 - Commentary has been added on the genealogy page to clarify the generally accepted chronology and reasons for its use on this web site
15 May 2005 - Another update of the Annotated Parthia Bibliography and Recent Publications 2004-2005 pages due to added material about Parthian language.
10 May 2005 - Added some missing Sellwood type 24 drachms (24.13, 24.16, and 24.18) to the Mithradates II web page. Thanks to Bob Rives for these excellent photos. You can immediately recognize the new pictures because I am now creating thumbnails that have both the obverse and reverse
10 May 2005 - Also added new images for types 19 and 20 to the Artabanus I page, from various sources
3 May 2005 - Updated the Annotated Parthia Bibliography (and the Recent Publications 2004-2005 page) with a new book by Dr. Christiane Reck, plus some tardy corrections and additions to the works of Reck, Colditz, Christian, Mikkelsen, Durkin-Meisterernst and Sundermann that are pertinent to Parthian literature.
27 Apr 2005 - The Annotated Parthia Bibliography has been updated and now contains 2846 works and 1412 authors
26 Apr 2005 - Another Digamma-dated tetradrachm of Vardanes II has been added to Digamma on Vardanes II Tetradrachms page. There are now at least 24 examples known.
24 Apr 2005 - Updated Parthia in the News page with latest from the international press
19 Apr 2005 - Minor change to web site organization. I've added a Site Index page that, while not a complete table of contents, performs that function by listing all the key pages on Parthia.com. Several pages which were prefixed "parthia_" have been renamed to "site_" due to their general content
18 Apr 2005 - Several correspondents were unaware of this web site's excellent search capability which is provided by PicoSearch. To increase visibility of this feature, a Search button has been added to all the top-level pages. This button is in addition to the bottom-tier buttons that are present on every page in the web site
13 Apr 2005 - Added three gold aurei to the Lucius Verus page and corrected some typographical errors in legends
11 Apr 2005 - Added image of extremely rare Sellwood type 32 tetradrachm on the Unknown King I page
1 Apr 2005 - The Annotated Parthia Bibliography has been updated and now contains 2825 works and 1399 authors
Items Updated Over One Year Ago
23 Mar 2005 - Warren Esty has contributed the image of a very rare denarius that has been added to the Macrinus page. There was only one coin like this in the huge Reka-Devina hoard that had 330 Macrinus pieces
18 Mar 2005 - A new bibliography page with only recent publications (2004-2005) is now available
13 Mar 2005 - The Annotated Parthia Bibliography has been updated and now contains 40 additional reference works by 24 new authors, totaling 2791 works and 1386 authors
10 Mar 2005 - web page on Unknown King III updated with new images
2 Mar 2005 - typographical error corrected in ruling dates of Hadrian
28 Feb 2005 - Updated entries for American Numismatic Society (ANS) on the Parthian Coins in the ANS Database and the Collections of Parthian Coins pages
17 Feb 2005 - added a page for Parthian king Tiridates III, attested on coins and documented by Sellwood, "The End of the Parthian Dynasty" (1990)
3 Feb 2005 - The Annotated Parthia Bibliography has been updated and now contains 91 additional reference works by 57 new authors, totaling 2743 works and 1356 authors
31 Jan 2005 - added catalog information on prior sales of Q. Labienus coins
14 Jan 2005 - added recent articles to the News about Parthia page
3 Jan 2005 - general web site update
2 Dec 2004 - corrected attribution of Mithradates II S28.7 coin to note it has an unusual 6-point star
21 Nov 2004 - Added a new example of a Phraataces drachm, Sellwood 56.6 on the Phraataces page
20 Nov 2004 - Added link to a new web site that is focused on Middle Persian with some information on Parthian. See Parsik/Pahlavi پارسیک / پهلوی on the Web Links of Interest page
20 Nov 2004 - Added a new example of a Mithradates II tetrachalkous, Sellwood 26.26 on the Mithradates II page
9 Nov 2004 - Added examples of the two Sellwood type 49 chalkoi to the Pacorus I page
3 Nov 2004 - Another Digamma-dated tetradrachm of Vardanes II has been added to the article on The Use of Digamma on Vardanes II Tetradrachms. There are now at least 21 examples known.
31 Oct 2004 - General update and elimination of broken links to outside web sites.
17 Oct 2004 - Timeline of Ancient World Events updated.
25 Sep 2004 - Three new Digamma-dated tetradrachms of Vardanes II have been added to the article on "The Use of Digamma on Vardanes II Tetradrachms". There are now at least 20 examples known. Also, other coins with examples of similar Digamma dates have been added.
8 Sep 2004 - reports are surfacing of a coin hoard which reportedly contains well over 4000 drachms issued from Mithradates II (Sellwood 28) to Orodes II (Sellwood 43) in different grades and a good number of unrecorded varieties. See the hoards web page for a listing of all hoards
30 Aug 2004 - a page has been added to highlight accomplishments of the Nisa Expedition 2004 team which spent the spring and summer season continuing excavation of the Arsacid capital city at Old Nisa in Turkmenistan. From this page you can also reach information about archaeological expeditions of previous seasons.
25 Aug 2004 - The Annotated Parthia Bibliography has been updated and now contains 89 additional reference works by 36 new authors, totaling 2652 works and 1299 authors.
12 Aug 2004 - The members of the Forum Classical Numismatics Discussion Board voted to give PARTHIA.COM their FORVM Award for Numismatic Excellence. This honor is given to Internet sites that are especially informative to the coin collecting community and which promote the hobby in general. The logo and award description have been added to the Feedback page
10 Aug 2004 - Numismatica font charts updated to reflect latest version 1.15
2 Aug 2004 - Numismatica font charts updated to reflect latest version 1.14
8 Jul 2004 - The Annotated Parthia Bibliography has been updated and now contains 55 additional reference works by 24 new authors, totaling 2618 works and 1287 authors.
29 Jun 2004 - Reports arrived that the Tillya-tepe hoard is safe and has been inventoried and photographed. See the news page.
27 Jun 2004 - Additional coins (58 through 63) added to the unattributed coins page
19 Jun 2004 - Many coins added to the unattributed coins page
7 Jun 2004 - Another Digamma-dated tetradrachms of Vardanes II have been added to the article on "The Use of Digamma on Vardanes II Tetradrachms". There are now at least 17 examples known.
1 Jun 2004 - Reuters new service reported from Kabul that the Tillya-tepe gold hoard from Afghanistan will be publicly displayed. Included in the hoard is a Parthian gold coin.
29 May 2004 - Two more Digamma-dated tetradrachms of Vardanes II have been added to the article on "The use of Digamma on Vardanes II Tetradrachms", strengthening the case for re-interpreting a Greek letter on the tetradrachms of Vardanes II as the numeral six. There are now at least 16 examples known.
23 May 2004 - new photos added to the Unattributed Coins page.
19 May 2004 - added link to the Iranian Cultural Heritage Foundation on the Web Links of Interest page.
9 Apr 2004 - uploaded enhanced images for the PDF version of the Parthia chapter in Historia Numorum project.
18 Feb 2004 - a new page added for coins of pre-Arsacid Parthia
17 Feb 2004 - Additions to the coins illustrated on the Coins of Elymais page
13 Feb 2004 - The Annotated Parthia Bibliography has been updated and now contains 59 additional reference works by 37 new authors, totaling 2563 works and 1263 authors.
8 Feb 2004 - added another image of a rare drachm of Unknown King III (c. A.D. 140) from a private collection
4 Feb 2004 - the Parthian coin inscription search utility has been updated
1 Jan 2004 - General site update. Now publishing with FrontPage 2003.
14 Dec 2003 - Added photo of previously missing rare Sellwood 7.1 drachm of Mithradates I, also from the Triton VII sale
14 Dec 2003 - Added photos of Triton VII lots 1335 and 1336, which are not pictured in the Triton VII catalog
4 Dec 2003 - Added page for the Triton VII auction, which includes The Bellaria Collection of Parthian, Sasanian and Related Kingdoms
3 Dec 2003 - Finally found an image of a drachm of Unknown King III (c. A.D. 140)
6 Nov 2003 - Ten Iranian coins are posted for identification on this page. Could any be Parthian?
29 Oct 2003 - Added several missing coins:
- A rare Mithradates II type 25 drachm with the ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ inscription
- A clear image of the traveling court mint name ΚΑΤΑΣΤΡΑΤΕΙΑ on a drachm added to the page for Unknown King II type 30
- For Artabanus II type 62 added good examples of a tetradrachm and a month-and-year dated drachm
- A type 76 tetradrachm of Pacorus II
15 Oct 2003 - The Annotated Parthia Bibliography has been updated and now contains 2504 reference works by 1226 authors. An important addition is an extensive list of Parthia related works in Russian by Valerii P. Nikonorov
12 Oct 2003 - News article mentions need for conservation of Parthian statues damaged in the Baghdad Museum looting
28 Sep 2003 - Archaeological excavations resume at Takht-e Soleyman. See Parthia in the News
22 Sep 2003 - A new illustrated feature has been added to assist in the identification of late Parthian drachms on the page at Identifying Look-alike Parthian Drachms
29 Aug 2003 - BBC News is reporting that the Afghan Tillya-tepe gold hoard has been found intact. Thought lost to the looting during the Taliban revolution in Afghanistan, the gold treasure was uncovered during the excavation of ancient burial mounds by the Greek-Russian archaeologist Victor Sariyannidis prior to the Soviet invasion of the country in 1978. Among the artifacts are some document finds of Parthian coins. See the Parthia News Reports page.
20 Aug 2003 - Added picture of Parthian archer, a ceramic plaque on display in the British Museum, London
6 Jul 2003 - Updated Annotated Parthia Bibliography which now has 2434 citations
2 Jun 2003 - Updated Annotated Parthia Bibliography which now has 2402 citations
2 Apr 2003 - Major reorganization and definition of the Numismatica font project
11 Feb 2003 - Deleted all references and links to http://argos.evansville.edu, Argos, the wonderful limited area search engine that is now defunct for lack of funding
6 Jan 2003 - Added a link to the National Museum of Iran on the Collections of Parthian Coins page
1 Jan 2003 - Two scarce chalkoi (Sellwood 74.9 and 74.10) added to the Artabanus III page.
27 Dec 2002 - Minor corrections to the support documents for Numismatica font. Corrected Lambda02 and Lambda04 (glyphs were switched); corrected names of Lambda03 (from "Lambda 3") and Lambda04 (from "Lambda 4"). The font is unaffected so only the Letterform Names Chart and the Interim 8-Bit Font Chart needed correction.
20 Dec 2002 - Added a rare aureus to the Augustus page with the legend S(enatus) P(opulus) Q(ue) R(omanus) IMP(eratori) CAESARI AVG(usto) COS XI TR POT VI / CIVIB(us) ET SIGN(is) MILIT(aribus) A PART(his) RECVP(eratis)
20 Dec 2002 - A page added to test an experimental cross-platform font, a template font for the Numismatica project
8 Dec 2002 - Added a page containing all the drachms of Vologases VI. This is a prototype for displaying all the coins of a database search on-line.
11 Nov 2002 - Updated Annotated Parthia Bibliography which now has 2326 citations
27 Oct 2002 - Updated Annotated Parthia Bibliography which now has 2286 citations
26 Oct 2002 - Another Q. Labienus denarius has been added to the Labienus gallery . It is the last denarius listed. I've also included an Antioch tetradrachm of Philip Philadelphos, attributed to Labienus by some authorities.
19 Oct 2002 - Added new page with images of some important Parthian coins with the kind permission of of Dr. Busso Peus Nachf. Included are numerous Parthian tetradrachms plus coins of Rome, Characene, and Persis. I've also included early Sasanian coins included in the auction. To view these new coins, visit the Peus 372 auction page
17 Oct 2002 - information on fonts updated on the technical information page
11 Sep 2002 - a page has been added to highlight accomplishments of the Nisa Expedition 2002 team which spent July and August 2002 continuing excavation of the Arsacid capital city at Old Nisa in Turkmenistan. From this page you can also reach information about archaeological expeditions of previous seasons
31 Aug 2002 - General update and housekeeping
15 July 2002 - Two news releases from the Iran Cultural Heritage Organization added
2 July 2002 - Added several tourist photos of the Nisa archaeological site from 1981 to the Nisa Expeditions page
1 July 2002 -- The web site on Varzesh-e Pahlavani, traditional Iranian martial arts, has reappeared on the web and been added to the web links page
5 June 2002 - Updated Annotated Parthia Bibliography which now has 2169 citations
31 May 2002 - The volumes of the Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Great Britain, are now online. Four collections with Parthian coins are available. See the Online Collections of Parthian Coins page for more information.
9 April 2002 - added press release on the "Afghanistan, a Timeless History" exhibition at the Musée des Arts Asiatiques-Guimet in Paris, 1 March – 27 May 2002
7 April 2002 - updated unattributed page with an interesting bronze with rather unusual device on reverse. Added forgery of Mithradates II to the counterfeits and forgeries page
28 Mar 2002 - Happy Anniversary! PARTHIA.COM has been on the Internet world-wide web for four years today
1 Feb 2002 - on the Web Links of Interest page, added a link to Seleukids.org, an online sourcebook for the history, numismatics, epigraphy, art and archaeology of the Seleucid Empire. Notice that the site is announcing the new book by Arthur Houghton and Cathy Lorber, Seleucid Coins, a Comprehensive Catalogue, Part I: Seleucus I - Antiochus III.
1 Feb 2002 - on the On-line Texts and the Web Links of Interest pages, added a link to the Gertrude Bell Project -- The Gertrude Bell papers consist of about 1,600 detailed and lively letters to her parents, of her 16 diaries, which she kept while she was traveling, and of c. 40 packets of miscellaneous items. There are also about 7000 photographs, taken by her c. 1900-1918. A web-site search on "Parthian" retrieves about 75 items.
25 Jan 2002 - A new page now carries recent news reports about Parthia, but they are rather sparse.
20 Jan 2002 - Link added to the Tal-e Malyan Archaeological Excavations where evidence of later occupation includes Parthian and Sasanian coins found in burials
19 Jan 2002 - Added three Parthian coin types published by David Sellwood in "Parthians and Scythians," Ex Moneta : Essays on Numismatics, History and Archaeology in honour of Dr. David W. MacDowall, Vol. 1 (New Delhi: Harmon, 1998), pp. 97-102, to these pages: Attribution Correlation Chart, Sellwood Type Numbers Index, Parthian Coin Images Needed and the pages on Phraates II and Mithradates II.
5 Jan 2002 - Updated Annotated Parthia Bibliography which now has 2053 citations
2 Jan 2002 - added picture of a rare Sellwood 23.3 AE Drachm in the Institut für Numismatik und Geldgeschichte, Vienna
2 Jan 2002 - added references to the three new coins illustrated in Sellwood's "Parthians and Scythians" in Ex Moneta, essays on numismatics, history and archaeology in honour of Dr. David W. MacDowall, vol. 1 (1998). See the Sellwood index, Phraates II and Mithradates II pages
2 Jan 2002 - On the web links of interest page, added a link to The National Museum of Turkmenistan (Saparmurat Turkmenbashy Museum)
19 Dec 2001 - Added data on three hoards of Parthian coins: Assur, Borsippa 1880 and Borsippa 1881
14 Dec 2001 - During his reign, Artabanus II sent a letter in Greek to Susa; it was later inscribed on marble, probably on the base of a statue, which is now preserved at the Louvre. The new page includes links to the squeezes of the inscription at Oxford
10 Dec 2001 - Dr. G. R. Assar of Edinburgh, Scotland, a noted collector of Parthian coins, has written numerous articles on his research illustrated with photographs from his collection.
2 Dec 2001 - Added photo of the extremely rare Artabanus I drachm, Sellwood type 19.2, from the Cabinet des Médailles, Bibliothèque Nationale de France
24 Nov 2001 - Updated Annotated Parthia Bibliography which now has 1838 citations
1 Nov 2001 - Added photo of interesting variant of Sellwood 3.1 variant (Arsaces I) that has legend read from inside -- only example known?
31 Oct 2001 - Added particularly nice image of Pacorus II chalkous, Sellwood 73.16 clearly showing the reverse device
24 Oct 2000 - Added photo of Phraates II type 16.12 drachm with APA mint name
10 Oct 2001- Parthian terracotta figurine added to arts and artifacts section
8 Oct 2001 - Added new page with images of some important Parthian coins to Parthia.com with the kind permission of Gorny & Mosch of Munich. Included is a rare Sellwood type 74 tetradrachm of Artabanus III (c. A.D. 80 - 90) plus coins of Elymais and Persis. I've also shown the early Sasanian coins of Ardashir I included in the auction. To view these new coins, visit the Gorny & Mosch 113 index page
30 Sep 2001 - Added image of Orodes III tetradrachm; updated concordance page
30 Aug 2001 - New page. Beautiful pictures of the excavations at Old Nisa, a Parthian capital city, courtesy of Nisa Expedition 2001 team members
18 Aug 2001 - Added a new aureus of Nero with the doors of the Temple of Janus reverse
15 Aug 2001 - Added important Parthia-related coins in the 19 Sep 2001 mail bid sale #58 at Classical Numismatic Group, Lancaster, PA. This impressive group includes a rare tetradrachm of Artabanus III and a previously unpublished drachm of Artabanus IV with a spiral design on the tiara. Also included are coins of Elymais, Characene and Persis. I've also included images of early Sasanian coins of Ardashir I. To view these new coins, visit the CNG 58 index page
8 Aug 2001 - Another Digamma-dated tetradrachm has been added to the article on Vardanes II tetradrachms, strengthening the case for re-interpreting a Greek letter on the tetradrachms of Vardanes II as the numeral six.
1 Aug 2001 - Some minor general updates, including some additional history on Arsaces I and Arsaces II, and a note that the ostraca found at Nisa were dated to the Parthian era, but with Zoroastrian month names (see the calendar page)
9 Jul 2001 - Numerous links to art objects in the Metropolitan Museum of Art added to the Art and Culture page
8 Jul 2001 - Added computer enhanced pictures of the Aramaic inscriptions that appear on the coins of Arsaces I (Sellwood type 3 and 4 ), and another example of Sellwood 4.1 from the Paris cabinet
5 Jul 2001 - Parthia.com has been designated Internet Site of the Month by The Celator, the journal of ancient and medieval coinage. See our other awards on the feedback page
4 Jul 2001 - Published an update to the Annotated Parthian Bibliography. The bibliography now contains 1704 items
27 Jun 2001 - Added a link to Arco di Settimio Severo -- Foro Romano. From the Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione del Ministero dei Beni e le Attività Culturali, many detailed photographs taken in 1932 of the Arch of Septimius Severus in the Roman Forum. Shows the frieze depicting a scene from the Parthian war with many photographs of the Parthian captives.
20 Jun 2001 - Yet another new image of the rather unusual Digamma character on a tetradrachm of Vardanes II. See illustration 9 in The use of Digamma on Vardanes II Tetradrachms
13 Jun 2001 - Two new images added to document the rather unusual Digamma character on tetradrachms of Vardanes II. See illustrations 7 and 8 in The Use of Digamma on Vardanes II Tetradrachms
12 Jun 2001 - minor addition made to the history timeline, the Nikon coin photography, and new pages on a totally non-related item: Ships Sailing under the name Parthia or Parthian
31 May 2001 - Added image of rare tetradrachm of Darius of Media Atropatene, Sellwood type 37.1
11 May 2001- Added images of Artabanus IV, Sellwood types 89.3 and 89.4
10 May 2001 - Added 32 Parthia-related coins from the 28 May 2001 Lanz Numismatik Auktion 102 mail bid sale. This group includes 12 early bashlyk-type coins including a rare Arsaces I type 1.1 drachm, a type 3 unlisted bronze, and an Arsaces II type 6.2 bronze, plus others. Also listed are a Kamnaskires II Nikephoros AR tetradrachm of Elymais, two coins of Persis, and a color image the same Q. Labienus denarius previously sold by Lanz in 1998. To view these coins, visit the temporary Lanz 102 index page.
24 Apr 2001 - I've added a short article to explain why there may be confusion about Digamma's use as a date at "The Use of Digamma on Vardanes II Tetradrachms".
5 Apr 2001 - Posted a short article which builds a convincing case for re-interpreting a Greek letter on the tetradrachms of Vardanes II as the numeral six. Please read the article "The Use of Digamma on Vardanes II Tetradrachms".
28 Mar 2001 - Additional bashlyk type coins added: a mule of Arsaces I (Sellwood type 4.1/5.1), one of only three recorded examples. Also there is a new bronze of Mithradates I (Sellwood 8.2), and from the Shore collection the earliest dated drachm (Sellwood 10.1 variant; Shore 16) and the extremely rare Sellwood 10.17
28 Mar 2001 - Happy Anniversary! PARTHIA.COM has been on the Internet world-wide web for three years today
20 Mar 2001 - An well-preserved bronze of Arsaces II is added; this Sellwood 6.2 variant is only the second example of this coin I have seen
12 Mar 2001 - Two missing Sellwood subtypes added: Seleucia civic coinage dichalkous (Sellwood 92.34) and a Vologases II diobol (Sellwood 1989, plate 42 type 3). Both are from the collection of Robert A. DeRose, Jr. who has also allowed me to photograph these coins plus an Orodes II tetrachalkous (Sellwood 45.38) with an almost complete -- and unusually legible -- inscription
5 Feb 2001 - annotated Parthia bibliography updated; 44 new additions bring total to 1,654 reference works on Parthia
10 Jan 2001 - On the web links of interest page, added a link to Iranian Cultural Heritage Organization , an active and thriving effort to document and protect archaeological sites under what are frequently very difficult circumstances.
6 Jan 2001 - A new Internet mail list has been launched specifically to discuss Parthia
23 Dec 2000 - added two Arsaces I drachms, one of them a possibly unique "M" monogram Sellwood type 3.1 variant, the other a rare type 4.1, both from the Cabinet des Médailles, Brussels. Also added, a bronze tetrachalkous of Orodes II (type 45.38-39)
19 Dec 2000 - annotated Parthia bibliography updated; new additions bring total to 1,610 reference works on Parthia
18 Dec 2000 - an interesting rectangular-shaped type 67.4 bronze chalkous of Vonones II has been added
16 Dec 2000 - added excellent examples of Phraates II drachms, a rare Sellwood type 15.3 and a type 16.15 with unknown mint inscription, both from the Cabinet des Médailles, Paris
15 Dec 2000 - added a well-preserved chalkous of Darius of Media Atropatene (Sellwood type 35.18), a second example of a Gotarzes II bronze drachm (type 65.36) and two tetradrachms of Pacorus II (types 73.2 and 73.10)
14 Dec 2000 - added three dichalkoi of Vologases IV (Sellwood types 84.142-153)
9 Dec 2000 - Tips on differentiating the look-alike bronzes of Osroes II and Artabanus IV have been added
8 Dec 2000 - Added three new images of Arsaces II drachms (Sellwood type 6.1), one of Mithradates I (type 10.1), and two of Osroes II (types 85.1 and 85.5)
6 Dec 2000 - The temporary pages of online auctions with Parthian coins have been organized and made a permanent feature. Visit the index page of auction catalogs
28 Nov 2000 - Four modern forgeries have been added to the Counterfeits and Forgeries page. Included are Mithradates I (Sellwood type 10.1), two Mithradates II (both are type 27.1), and Parthamaspates (type 81.1)
19 Nov 2000 - Added a rare Sellwood type 4.1 of Arsaces I
13 Nov 2000 - Added images of Phraates II (Sellwood 14 type) from de Morgan Numismatique Orientale, fig. 225 ( "Viceroy Arsacide" of Elymais), and two Sellwood type 15 images.
12 Nov 2000 - Added important coins from the 5 Dec 2000 Triton IV mail bid sale courtesy of Classical Numismatic Group. This group includes rare Phraates II and undated Artabanus I tetradrachms, several beautiful Roman aureii with "Parthia" legends, and three coins of Persis. To view these new coins, visit the temporary Triton IV index page
7 Nov 2000 - Added page on Crassus (and his son), the Roman commander at the battle of Carrhae
14 Oct 2000 - Mac version of Numismatica OldGreek font available for download
23 Sep 2000 - September sale of Rian Thum's Parthian coin collection has an index page, with many thanks to Rian for providing the images
22 Sep 2000 - Added rare bronzes of Sellwood type 6 and type 8; Ecbatana civic issue type 92; and a fourrée of Orodes type 31
20 Sep 2000 - New page. Beautiful pictures of the excavations at Nisa, the old Parthian city, courtesy of Year 2000 Nisa Archaeological Expedition members
18 Sep 2000 - Found the picture of another example of a Q. Labienus denarius
16 Sep 2000 - Began beta testing of Numismatica, a Truetype font which contains all Greek characters used on coins
7 Sep 2000 - Added important coins from the 13 Sep 2000 mail bid sale #55 at Classical Numismatic Group, Lancaster, PA. This impressive group includes rare Phraates II and undated Artabanus I tetradrachms, a Q. Labienus denarius and coins of Elymais, Characene and Persis. To view these new coins, the temporary CNG 55 index page
3 Sep 2000 - Added Sellwood 3.1 drachm of Arsaces I, found in Bujnurd hoard, from collection of Fitzwilliam Museum; denarius of Q. Labienus
28 Aug 2000 - Added Sellwood 12.2 drachm of Mithradates I, from collection of Bibliothèque Nationale de France
16 Aug 2000 - Numismatica Font project has updates and pages added
1 Aug 2000 - Numismatica Font project has updates and pages added
9 Jul 2000 - The Numismatica Font project has been initiated to create a Truetype font for numismatic use which contains all Greek characters used on coins.
27 Jun 2000 - Added the beautiful PARTHIA CAPTA aureus of Trajan (RIC 324), cover photo coin of the Lanz 97 auction catalog
21 Jun 2000 - Some pictures of the aureus and two denarii of Q. Labienus in the collection of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris
14 Jun 2000 - The Caravan Foundation, Inc., of New York has announced a two-day seminar
entitled Kings 'N Things. The seminar offers presentations by distinguished scholars in pre-Islamic Near East and Central Asian studies. The seminar will be held July 25-26, 2000 at the Great Hall, Cooper Union, 7th St & 3rd Ave, New York City. Phone USA 516-389-6704.
10 Jun 2000 - the image of another Mithradates II type 24.4 tetradrachm (variant without the palm) has been received -- thanks to Olympus Numismatics
9 Jun 2000 - Added a Vologases III type S.78.8
8 Jun 2000 - Added 9 important and rare tetradrachms from the 14 Jun 2000 mail bid sale #54 at Classical Numismatic Group, Lancaster, PA. This impressive group includes a Phraates II, an Interregnal Issue, three dated and one undated Artabanus I tetradrachms, and three Mithradates II. To assist viewing these new coins, there is a temporary special CNG 54 index page. CNG is also offering other coins not listed here.
5 Jun 2000 - Links to The Smithsonian Institution fixed after they changed name of their web server, and changed all their addresses to lower case only
4 Jun 2000 - Machine translation links to Babelfish updated to new server names
29 Apr 2000 - Added 15 important and rare tetradrachms from the 25 May 2000 auction at Sotheby's in London. This group contains an unpublished tetradrachm, dated Seleucid era 187, that is extremely important to historians. To help you view these new coins, there is a temporary special index page. Sotheby's is also offering other interesting coins not listed here.
15 Apr 2000 - Added 53 excellent Parthian coin images from the Peus sale 26 April 2000 of Dr. Göbl's collection, including the rare dated drachm of Artabanus I (Sellwood 22.2), an Orodes II type 44 tetradrachm, and a Pacorus II unlisted type
8 Apr 2000 - Added coins of Vologases I (Sellwood Numismatic Chronicle, 1989, Plate 42, type 1), Vologases II (NC 1989 type 4), and Pacorus II (NC 1989 type 6)
6 Apr 2000 - Annotated Parthia bibliography updated; new additions brings total to 1,579 reference works on Parthia
3 Apr 2000 - A rare Sellwood type 2 Arsaces I drachm added
28 Mar 2000 - Happy Anniversary! PARTHIA.COM has been on the Internet world-wide web for two years today
24 Mar 2000 - Added web link to recent BBC News report on the discovery in Iraq of a pre-Islamic 'castle' with Parthian and Sasanian structures and artifacts
24 Mar 2000 - the search page updated to add links to the ANS search tools and the database of Greek inscriptions on Parthian coins
21 Mar 2000 - An excellent essay on the horses of Parthia has been written for this web site by Beverley Burris. Also be sure to see the gallery of horse images taken from Parthian coins.
6 Mar 2000 - Annotated Parthia bibliography updated; now has over 1,550 reference works on Parthia
26 Feb 2000 - Inaugurated a Coins of the Seleucids about Parthia page with a most interesting Antiochus VII victory coin
21 Feb 2000 - Images added include three Sellwood type 24.4 Mithradates II tetradrachms, one of which is a new sub-type type 24 tetradrachm; two type 74.6 Artabanus II drachms; a type 65 Gotarzes II; a type 64 Vardanes I drachm; yet another type 84 Vologases IV drachm
16 Feb 2000 - Added four excellent images, three of which are rare types not previously on this web site: a Sellwood type 17 of Phraates II; a type 18 of the Interregnal period (c. 127-125 B.C.); a type 21 of Artabanus I; and a type 24 of Mithradates II
4 Feb 2000 - Annotated Parthia bibliography updated; now have more than 1,400 reference works on Parthia
3 Feb 2000 - Numerous coins added included a Sellwood type 53.5 of Phraates IV
30 Jan 2000 - Have added some more coin images, both Parthian and Roman, including a Gordian III
27 Jan 2000 - Added lovely image of a SIGNIS RECEPTIS reverse -- best I've yet seen -- from Edgar L. Owen; look for RSC1 485 on the Augustus page
27 Jan 2000 - Added two especially beautiful images from Jean Elsen, S.A., a Sellwood type 13.3 of Mithradates I and a type 79.4 of Vologases III
22 Jan 2000 - References added to LEG II PARTHICA coins of Gallienus and LEG II and III PARTHICA coins of Carausius
21 Jan 2000 - The genealogy chart has been updated with recent scholarship, and changed to a Macromedia Flash graphic instead of GIF. This means the chart can be enlarged for better reading
20 Jan 2000 - Added a RIC3 567 aureus of Lucius Verus in the Coins of Rome about Parthia section. Now have two examples of Verus' ARM PARTH MAX gold coins
18 Jan 2000 - Added an example of Sellwood type 87, a tetradrachm of Vologases V; added a new example of an Arsaces II type 6
17 Jan 2000 - References added to two previously unpublished coins, Sellwood, "The 'Victory' Drachms of Phraates IV", AJN (1996), a Tiridates 'Victory' drachm type 5 and a Phraates IV 'Victory' drachm type 6
17 Jan 2000 - A new article is added, "Identifying those Look-alike Drachms : Differentiating the Drachms of Artabanus II (c. A.D. 10 - 38), Gotarzes II (c. A.D. 40 - 51) and Artabanus III (c. A.D. 80 - 90)."
8 Jan 2000 - new types: added a Arsaces I type 3 and an Arsaces II type 5
5 Jan 2000 - Parthia.com moved to a new server; this transfer may have caused some problems, so let me know if you see anything unusual!
5 Jan 2000 - Some Roman and Parthian coins added: now have 221 Parthian coins illustrated and 137 Roman coins about Parthia.
5 Jan 2000 - The Annotated Parthia Bibliography updated with a few new additions.
21 Nov 1999 - new types: added a Pacorus II type 6 from Sellwood, Numismatic Chronicle 1989, Plate 42, #8 and an Orodes II type 43; many others added for a total on-line of 211 Parthian coins
20 Nov 1999 - in the Coins of Rome about Parthia section, added beautiful gold aurei of Septimius Severus, Trajan, and Lucius Verus. Also added is a quite rare variant of Trajan's REX PARTHIS DATVS sestertius.
10 Nov 1999 - added link to new web site, The House of Suren-Pahlav - Two of the seven great ruling clans of ancient Parthia were the Suren-Pahlav and Karen-Pahlav. The family of Suren-Pahlav was first among Parthian nobility and had the privilege of crowning each king of the Arsacid and Sasanian dynasties.
9 Nov 1999 - updated the Annotated Bibliography which has 139 new items added; now totals 1,342
6 Oct 1999 - Added images from the collection of Dr. G. R. Assar of Arsaces I (Sellwood type 1.1), Mithradates I (type 13.2), and Vonones I (type 60.2)
30 Sep 1999 - A correspondent writes a most engaging observation on Nero's Temple of Janus coins (peace with Parthia)
30 Sep 1999 - While many hundreds of Parthian coins are in the American Numismatic Society coin cabinet awaiting cataloging, only 100 are currently listed in the database, and are now summarized on the Parthian Coins in the ANS Database page
29 Sep 1999 - There are pictures of 184 Parthian coins online! I have created the Parthian coin images needed page that lists all the Parthian coins missing from this web site. Can you help by providing any of these images? All those flaky "X coin" icons have been replaced by a more sensible and elegant "no image available" graphic that links to a request for missing images
24 Sep 1999 - Added two examples of Arsaces II, one of them a rare "mule" which has a Sellwood type 5.1 obverse and a type 6.1 reverse, from the collection of Dr. G. R. Assar
22 Sep 1999 - Added many new Parthian coin images, including a fake Vologases II, Sellwood type 72; an issue of Orodes I countermarked by Otannes, type 91.2; Artabanus II type 61.2; Artabanus IV type 89.1; Mithradates I, type 9.1; Osroes I type 80.1 drachm; Phraates III type 39.2 drachm; and Sanabares type 93 AE "drachm"
16 Sep 1999 - Updated the inscription search database, and changed it so results display the full legends, as well as the issuing authorities
16 Sep 1999 - Added an example of Sellwood type 49, the very rare Pacorus I issue
7 Sep 1999 - Another example of the Mithradates gold forgery added to the counterfeits and forgeries page (Forgery #6)
7 Sep 1999 - The ANS coin cabinet database has been searched for all references to Parthia on Roman coins, and the many entries found have been added to the Coins of Rome about Parthia pages
24 Aug 1999 - Link added on the Web Links of Interest page to information on Rome's I, II and III Parthian Legions
23 Aug 1999 - Due to increasing length, and the certainty that it would grow larger, the Coins of Rome about Parthia page has been restructured as an index page, and each emperor placed on his own subordinate page; several emperors have been added, along with references to some eastern issues and a number of coins held in the American Numismatic Society's coin cabinet database
23 Aug 1999 - Parthia.com uses only standard Microsoft TrueType fonts readily available to almost all web browsers (see the Tech Info page). However, it has links to pages on other web sites which require special fonts for proper viewing, such as the Encyclopaedia Iranica on-line site. Links to such sites are now identified with this special icon linked to information on the font: 
6 Aug 1999 - Added another PAX FUNDATA CUM PERSIS coin of Philip (A.D. 244-249) and an ORIENS AVG coin of Aurelian (A.D. 270-275) to the Coins of Rome about Parthia page
2 Aug 1999 - Added Parthian coins of previously missing Sellwood types: Mithradates I (type 13), Mithradates II (types 23, 29), Phraates III (type 39) Mithradates III (type 40), Phraates IV (type 54), Tiridates I (type 55), Vologases V (type 86)
31 Jul 1999 - Corrections made to Attested Names of Parthian Rulers page
31 Jul 1999 - Image of Sellwood 6.1 type coin added to Arsaces II page from the Alex Filer collection
30 Jul 1999 - Added page on Quintus Labienus, Roman republican who allied with the Parthians against Octavian and Antony
30 Jul 1999 - The Overview of Parthian History rewritten and expanded
30 Jul 1999 - Biographies added to Arsaces I and Pacorus I pages
30 Jul 1999 - Historical citations added to Timeline of Ancient World Events page, Parthian Rulers Index page updated, Parthian Mints page updated, coins added to Coins of Rome about Parthia page
27 Jun 1999 - Annotated Bibliography has 94 new items added; now totals 1,203
25 Jun 1999 - PARTHIA.COM now has over 350 coin images, including four especially beautiful images of EF quality coins from the Alex Filer collection: Mithradates I, Mithradates II, Phraates IV, and Vonones I
24 Jun 1999 - Coin images from Classical Numismatic Group added to the pages of Gotarzes II, Mithradates I, Mithradates II, Orodes II, Pacorus II, Parthamaspates, Phraates II, Phraates IV, Vardanes I, Vologases I and Vonones II
22 Jun 1999 - PARTHIA.COM selected as a Webivore featured site. Webivore is a comprehensive research system for the web, providing educational resources -- it limits its recommendations to critically reviewed academic sites
21 Jun 1999 - A new Parthian Art and Culture page added at the top level. Just a start, but the result of many requests for more information in these areas. The Site Map page updated to include this new category
17 Jun 1999 - The Tech Info page has been updated with information of interest to technophiles or anyone with browser display problems; additional historical citations are added to Timeline of Ancient World Events page
11 Jun 1999 - An interesting Parthian coin forgery from dealer Robert Kokotailo's collection is added to the Counterfeits and Forgeries page
09 Jun 1999 - Added images of ancient maps which include Parthia to the Maps of Parthia page. These beautiful and interesting maps are reconstructions from the works of ancient geographers
01 Jun 1999 - Over 30 new images have been added to the Coins of Rome About Parthia page
24 May 1999 - The Font Check page has been renamed to reflect its expanded scope. Now called the Tech Info page, it includes information on several technical aspects of this web site
10 May 1999 - Inscription Search page has been changed to use ASP database technology instead of JavaScript to obtain reliable results
04 May 1999 - Annotated Bibliography has new items added; now totals 1,109
26 Apr 1999 - A new map of the Middle East has been added which uses Macromedia Shockwave Flash technology. You can "zoom in" to get more detail. The map is in test status while the bugs are worked out.
18 Apr 1999 - More coin images added to the Coins of Rome About Parthia page
05 Apr 1999 - Numerous additions to the Coins of Rome About Parthia page; additional items about Rome added to Timeline of Ancient World Events page
28 Mar 1999 - Happy Anniversary! PARTHIA.COM has been on the Internet world-wide web for one year today
27 Mar 1999 - "Return to Dura Europos" - Short article in History Today added to the Web Links of Interest page
24 Mar 1999 - Unattributed Coins #15 through #26 identified
22 Mar 1999 - Added a page on Coins of Rome About Parthia
20 Mar 1999 - This web site can now be found at URL address https://www.parthia.com (the www prefix is no longer required). Of course, https://www.parthia.com will still work.
16 Mar 1999 - Attested Aramaic and Parthian names added to the Attested Names of Parthian Rulers
14 Mar 1999 - Twelve new unidentified coins (#15 through #26) have been posted on the Unattributed Coins page. There are a few that are rather challenging, so make your attempt at cataloging these coins!
03 Mar 1999 - On Links page, added Roma antica e moderna [Ancient and modern Rome] for its comparison of Romans and Parthians
23 Feb 1999 - Genealogy, Mithradates IV and Vologases IV pages updated to show Vologases IV was son of Mithradates IV, per inscription on the bronze Herakles discovered in 1984
15 Feb 1999 - Annotated Bibliography has 65 new items added; now totals 1,070
10 Feb 1999 - Multilingual translation added: Français, Deutsch, Italiano, Portuguêse, and Español. See the Tech Info page for details
08 Feb 1999 - Added a page on Identifying Parthian Coins
02 Feb 1999 - Added tentative attributions for coins on the Unattributed Coins page
29 Jan 1999 - Added Bibliography page link to a Latin edition of The Natural History of Pliny the Elder
29 Jan 1999 - Updated Hoards & Finds page with information from the Inventory of Greek Coin Hoards
29 Jan 1999 - Updated Timeline of Ancient World Events page (minor changes)
27 Jan 1999 - PARTHIA.COM received the Perseus Award. See the feedback page
27 Jan 1999 - PARTHIA.COM joined the Numismatic Ring of web sites
26 Jan 1999 - Added this New Items page at request of users
26 Jan 1999 - Added Sellwood Type Numbers page
24 Jan 1999 - Added items 5 - 14 to the Unattributed Coins page
24 Jan 1999 - Added Oriental Numismatic Society, Argos and The Celator to the Web Links of Interest page
21 Jan 1999 - Added the Argos limited area search engine to the Search page
20 Jan 1999 - Added user-viewable statistics tracking service to the Home Page
19 Jan 1999 - Updated Annotated Parthia Bibliography. Now exceeds 1,000 items
11 Jan 1999 - Added pictures of two modern gold forgeries of Mithradates II coins
09 Jan 1999 - Added page, Greek Names of Parthian Rulers (attested names from ancient texts)
06 Jan 1999 - Updated Greek inscriptions and added new Inscription Finder database tool
03 Jan 1999 - Added article by Dr. G. R. Assar, "Recent Research on Attributions to Sinatruces"
23 Dec 1998 - Added on-line text of 1st cent. B. C. geography by Isidore of Charax, "Parthian Stations"
29 Nov 1998 - Added article by Dr. G. R. Assar, "Recent Calendar Research"
29 Nov 1998 - Began this web log to note significant additions and changes to the site.
28 Mar 1998 - The site was launched.
This page last updated 14 Mar 2021
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