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Once again, we are putting the Ancient Egyptians in a vacuum, saying that they did things this way and that. It may be true that they employed a barter system, but who's to say that they didn't barter an object for coins? It's highly probable. In fact, I wouldn't put it past them; they could have done so, only to melt down those coins to use the gold in their jewelry and other personal items. The coins that have been uncovered might have been neglected. But this is all speculation, Egyptology's middle name. As an heroic woman used to say "Speculation clears away the deadwood in the forest of destruction." (Or something like that).
Sunday, September 27, 2009
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Round and round and round the logic goes, where it stops, nobody knows..
ReplyDeleteI haven't written a blog post on this one yet, and usually I refrain from re-covering stories that are making the rounds. Thats why my Blogroll Roundup is for.
But I may not be able to resist putting in my 2 cents worth (no pun intended)on this coinage issue. I agree with you, I think it is probably much more likely the coins were accpted not as coinage, but in barter for their intrinsic value as precious metal rather than for their imputed value as coinage. And that is if they really do date from ancient times, about which I have my doubts.
If ancient Egypt had coinage then coins with the image of Ramesses the Great would be everywhere from Nubia to Syria to Lebannon!
But like you say, I am also speculating.