Archaeologists excavating the Skopje Fortress have found a chest containing the largest amount of Byzantine-era gold and silver coins ever found in Macedonia. The 44 gold coins from the Byzantine Empire and 76 silver Venetian coins date to the 13th century when the Nicean Byzantine Emperor John III Doukas Batatzes ruled Macedonia. Venice was a major trading partner at that time.
The Byzantine coins bear the images of various kings and Biblical motifs from the reign of John III Doukas; the Venetian coins bear the images of various doges from a wider range of years in the century.
This is the most significant archaeological find at the Skopje Fortress, along with the Medieval lead stamps that were discovered several years ago at the site, Pasko Kuzman, archaeologist and Director of Cultural Heritage Protection in the Macedonian Ministry of Culture, told the Vreme newspaper.
Golden Byzantine coins have been unearthed at other sites in Macedonia, but rarely and in smaller quantities, he added. According to archaeologists, large quantities of bronze coins are often found at ancient sites around Macedonia.
Excavations have been going on in Skopje Fortress for the past three years, but this is the most luxurious find yet. In the same layer where the coins were found, archaeologists also found high quality jewelry that would have been worn by a woman of great wealth.
The period these coins represent was an important transitional phase in the history of Skopje and Macedonia. Byzantine control waned in the middle of the 13th century as Bulgarian feudal lords conquered the territory. Skopje declined as warring factions duked it out, so the Byzantines were able to step into the vacuum for a few decades until the Serbian Empire invaded in 1282.
By the middle of the next century, Skopje was the capital of the Serbian Empire until the Ottomans swept in 1392. They stayed put for over 500 years until just before World War I.
Interesting find
Indeed, and it looks like Skopje Fortress has more where that came from. :yes:
I’m actually going out to field school in Macedonia in about a month. I wonder if this find was made by the same organization I’ll be working with?!! :boogie:
OMG lucky! I wouldn’t mind a little Byzantine gold, just fyi. :shifty:
I’ll keep that in mind while I’m toiling away in the sun :p
As well you should. Then you can write a guest entry when you get back! 😎
Wish they had a photo of the coins. The ones they show are Celtic, pre-roman.
No way! Rat finks. :angry:
Indeed,why do they never show an actual picture of the “real” hoard? It should be the point of showing a picture, isn´t it? These seem to be Corioveltani or Icenic. Definitely Celtic.
Macedonians have always been Greek
The ancient-Kingdom of Macedon in Northern-Greece is bigger in territory than the whole territory of FYRoM. More than 2.5 Million peoples self-determine with Greek National-Identity and Macedonian regional-Identity.
More than 2.5 Million Greeks live on real Macedonian soil whilst 1.2 Million Slavs live on real Paeonian soil. For Greeks, the ancient-Kingdom of Macedon is the only real Macedonia – FYRoM sits on Paeonian-Dardanian lands that were renamed Macedonia II Salutaris by the Romans. For the Greeks, those lands do not constitute real Macedonian territory. The latin-Romans distinguished the Kingdom of Macedon with the reference “Macedonia-Prima” meaning the first and foremost Macedonia.
Recap – FYRoM is Paeonia and Dardania in ancient geographic terms…real Macedonian soil as described by Strabo the ancient-geographer, in his book “Fragments VII” is to be found in Northern-Greece.
Question: Under what conventions or protocols should FYRoM be awarded a name they have zero connections to.
Those who support FYRoM should ask themselves – How can they consolidate their support for FYRoM with what is known about Macedonia and Macedonians…that Macedonia is Greek territory and Macedonians integral to the Hellenic Collective of peoples.
Greeks are not being unreasonable in wanting to keep the Macedonian-name in the Greek domain, neither are they being unreasonable when they say that Macedonian-Identity belongs to Greek heritage.
No European Nation would willingly relinquish one of their ancient and archaic regional-tribal names in order to fascilitate the Nation building efforts and self-determination aspirations of a neighbouring country that is seeking to establish an Identity for itself. Even if pressured to do so, it is beyond comprehension that a European country would voluntarily do that, in order to appease political expediency. FYRoM’s choice for sovereign state name is problematic on two basic points:
Problem Number 1 – FYRoM’s choice adopting the Macedonian-name for sovereign state-name, raises the issue of usurpation…appropiating the cultural-heritage associated with a neighbouring peoples, without their permission or consent.
Problem Number 2 – FYRoM’s usurpation of the Macedonian-name would constitute the basis for staking exclusive-rights over the entire geographical area of Macedonia…in essence, FYRoM would Monopolize a geographical term which straddles over 4 countrys – an area FYRoM is only 38% attached to and responsible for.
For Greeks, this is a major insult, that a newly emergent country like FYRoM seeks to establish itself as a Nation of Macedonians at the expense and exclusion of Greek concerns.
For Greeks, it is a major blow to watch our Western-partners and European-cousins give this abomination of a country the time of day, to belittle Greeks, to ridicule Greece, and to humiliate Hellenism.
Greeks reserve the right to defend and protect the National-history of the Hellenic-Republic – Macedonia constitutes a large part of that history.
Greeks cannot permit a NoN-Greek peoples to adopt for usurpation, the Macedonian-name…an ancient and archaic, regional-tribal name used in the Hellenic world long before FYRoM’s Slavic ancestors set-foot on Macedonian soil.
Broadly speaking, the general profile of a FYRoM [ex-Yugo] Slav goes hand in hand with the way they themselves self-describe in their own language. Makedonski-speaking Makedonci from Makedonija is the way they self-Identify, but never to foreigners, just to other-Slavs, which tansliterates into Macedonian-speaking Macedonian from Macedonia.
Greeks would be happy to accept these Identity-factors as a means to an end, to end the name-dispute between FYRoM and Greece which is still on-going even after 22 years of talks attempting to resolve the issue. The Slavs of FYRoM prefer, insist on the Anglocized profile rather than the Slavic one they themselves use.
It must be stressed – Greeks respect Slavic-peoples and admire Slavic contributions to world history, but our respect falls short of having to relinquish parts of our cultural-heritage to appease the national-Identity issues and self-determination aspirations of our nearest Slavic neighbour.
FYRoM takes things from Hellenism which never belonged to them in the first place…this riles the Greeks and Greece, as it would rile any European from any European-country!
Broadly speaking, FYRoM is a Slavic country with Slavic heritage and Slavic self-Identity – the Macedonian-Identity they covet, for country-name, nationality, language and ethnicity does not bold well with those Slavic attributes.
Unless the peoples of FYRoM articulate their Slavic-Identity and accentuate their Slavic-heritage within the framework of a greater geographic regional Identity, nobody shall take them seriously.
Being Macedonian today means different things to different peoples – all Macedonians though, owe something to the ancient-Greeks…all Macedonians should show respect to the host-culture of the Haemus [Balkan] peninsula.
Those who know about Macedonia know – Macedonia is the name of an ancient-Greek Kingdom that was once ruled over by Alexander the Great, the son of King Phillip of Macedon.
Those who know about Macedonia know – Macedonia today is a large geographical region covering an area approximately 26,000 square miles. The region today includes FYRoM which covers 38% of the territory, plus a portion of Bulgaria called Pirin which covers 9% of it. Combined, the Slavic contingent [[FYRoM][Bulgaria]] hold 47% of greater-Macedonian territory. Greece holds 52% and Albania a miniscule 1%. The NoN-Slavic contingent [[Greece][Albania]] hold 53% of the total territory of geographic-Macedonia.
Those who know about Macedonia know – Greece holds the most part of the now extended territory of Macedonia which translate on the ground as three peripheries, political-subdivisions called West, Central and East-Macedonia. This is where the ancient-Kingdom of Macedon lay…as described by Strabo, the ancient-geographer in his book Fragments VII.
Those who know about Macedonia know – Macedonians were just another subdivision of the Greek-Hellenic peoples. The Northernmost Dorian-Greeks who defended the Hellenic world from barbarian invasions and attacks. The Southernmost Dorian-Greeks were the Spartans…Macedonians and Spartans derive from the same Dorian-Greek stock.
Those who know about Macedonia know – FYRoM is not Macedonia but Paeonia and Dardania. The latin-Romans incorported these lands into an administrative district they labelled Macedonia II Salutaris, which transliterates to the Second-Macedonia or Beneficial-Macedonia because it was an add-on. The original ancient-Kingdom of Macedon the Romans kept Greek and distinct by labelling it Macedonia-Prima, meaning the first and foremost Macedonia.
Those who know about FYRoM know – FYRoM is a political construct created by Communist-Slavists during the last years of WWII in wartime Yugoslavia.
Those who know about FYRoM know – There is nothing Macedonian in FYRoM, not the land, not the peoples. The peoples there derive from [[Serbian][Bulgarian]] Slavic stock.
Those who know about the Name Dispute between FYRoM and Greece know – FYRoM attempts to usurp the name, the history and the heritage of the ancient-Macedonians from antiquity.
They fight hard to make an ancient-Greek name, their very own sovereign state name. They fight hard to make the Macedonian-name the name of their new Slavic-country, nationality, language and ethnicity.
Those who know about Greeks know – Greeks are unruly and difficult to tame…Take Macedonia away from the Greeks and you make an enemy of them. FYRoM made the Greek-Hellenic peoples their enemy by opting to take something Hellenic away from Hellenism. Now look at them, shoved-up a siding, kept at arms length, at a distance, not given a second look.
spoštovani bralci na internetu ki berete taspis o makedoniji prvo slovenija je makedonija priznala pod imenom makedonija a ne pod forum- drugo pišete o makedoniji ki se ne poznate na zgodovino staro makedonijo neki navajate daso makedonci srbi ali bugari da se slovansko pleme je to res samo ta narod ki seje doselil is karpatov se je pretopil v staro sedelci stari makedonci , grki so zmiraj bili grki nikoli makedonci .po moje istražuvanje makedonija se spomnuva kako makedonija v osmem veku z kral kerim – še enkrat makedonija je bila in makedonija bo ostala ,makedonija .
ti ki trdiš da somakedonci grki tisi pra zgodovinski orangutan
Macedonians have always been Centum-Greek speaking Hellenic-peoples…a regional-historical people-group
of ethnic-Greek stock.
Greeks look back at themselves standing at the forefront of long chain of Centum-Greek speakers…
…an ethno-cultural linguistic continuum spanning millennia.
Dare to Rubbish Them!
Macedon: Greek Kingdom from since the first King Karanus, 808-778 BC. The rise of Macedon saw a small Greek Kingdom expand to big Greek empire, an empire that dominated Hellenism in it’s entirety. From since it’s beginnings at 808 BC, to it’s demise in 167 BC…Macedonians never stopped being Greek. From since that time, Macedonians walk like Greeks and talk like Greeks – identity-characteristics which are still in play even today.
FYRoM messes with this! FYRoM cannot base it’s national identity on the ancestral, cultural, and historical achievements of ancient-Greeks. The Macedonian name belongs in Greek domain. Macedonian identity belongs to Greek heritage. Two simple statements which negate FYRoM claims to the same. The name and identity should be confined to history – Greek history.
Resurrecting ancient and archaic regional-tribal names, and then placing them outside of their original ethnic-racial cultural and linguistic settings, is a recipe for disaster, on the basis, it invites conflict in areas where geography overlaps more than one population-group.
Macedon: The original Kingdom sits inside Hellenic national borders…Macedonia though, the bigger geographic region, straddles over more than one country. Macedonia the region, today, overlaps the national borders of Bulgaria, Albania and FYRoM. The difference between the Kingdom and the region is geographic. Macedon is where Northern-Greeks dwelt. Macedonia the extended region is where latin-Roman jurisdiction combined the lands of Paeonia and Dardania into one military district they renamed Macedonia Secunda Salutaris. Macedon, under latin-Roman jurisdiction was kept Greek, seperate and distinct, reflecting latin-Roman fondness for all things Greek. Macedonia-Prima is Macedon, the ancient-Greek Kingdom. Macedonia Secunda Salutaris is Paeonia and Dardania…where FYRoM is situated today.
FYRoM is not Macedon. FYRoM is Paeonia and Dardania. The difference between Macedon and FYRoM is demographic and geographic. In FYRoM live Yugoslavs…South-Slavs for want of better description. In Macedon live Greeks – from since the days of King Karanus 808-778 BC.
FYRoM is where the Slavic tribes settled at top-end of 6th Century AD. The descendants of Slavs cannot be Macedonians in the ‘Macedon’ sense of the word. Descendants of Slavs can be Macedonians in the regional-geographic sense, on the basis of a resurrected latin-Roman name, Macedonia Secunda Salutaris – it means, Second-Macedonia, or Beneficial-Macedonia in transliteration.
FYRoM stakes claim and makes claims, to (i) Macedonian Name, (ii) Macedonian Identity, (iii) Macedonian History, (iv) Macedonian Heritage, (v) Macedonian Legacy…on the basis, FYRoM sits on lands the latin-Romans renamed Macedonia Secunda Salutaris.
If you were Greek, you would be ready to burst a blood vessel…right!
If you were a Historian, you would do what ever it took to see FYRoM chastised, shamed!
If you were a Politician, you would do your very best to keep FYRoM at arms length, at a distance!
If you were a Diplomat, you would use the very best diplomatic language to explain to FYRoM the virtues of compromise.
The Onus is on FYRoM to compromise in order to end the long-running name-dispute with Greece. The UN, EU, NATO and the International Academic Community advise FYRoM to do that from since 2008.
Macedon is Greek Kingdom. Greeks live there >3 Millenniums. Macedonians are Hellenic on this basis. FYRoM is not Macedon! FYRoM is Macedonia Secunda Salutaris – a resurrected latin-Roman name for Paeonian-Dardanian military district.
FYRoM based it’s name on latin-Roman geographical political division of lands which are located outside the original boundaries of Macedon, the ancient-Greek Kingdom. Evidently, Academia in FYRoM is no good. Historians are no good. Politicians there know this!