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The
geopolitical position occupied by the Aegean between East and West led to
the evolution of ancient civilisations on its scattered islands, and the
Aegean itself became a bridge linking Europe historically and culturally
with the East. From as early as the Neolithic period, when human beings
ventured on to the seas, the small wooden craft of the Cycladic sailors
criss-crossed the Aegean from end to end, transporting merchandise to and
from the East; they thus became the bearers of cultural goods, making the
Aegean a channel for commercial exchanges.
The
search for metals to make weapons and tools impelled first the Minoans and
then the Myceneans to even greater nautical adventures that brought them
power and prosperity.
Major
political-economic changes and the explosion of trade in the Aegean made
it imperative to issue currency in the form of coins having a fixed value.
Coins first appeared in the Aegean region in Lydia and Ionia as early as
the late 7th century BC. From that area, the new invention
spread to Greece along the sea routes. Aegina, a leading naval and
commercial power of the day, was the first to issue coins, in the years
following 570 BC. Her example was immediately followed by Athens, Corinth,
and Chalkis.
In
the Archaic period, the Aegean islands can boast of a very considerable
coinage, which is unequivocal evidence for their prosperity and cultural
development. On the tiny circular surfaces of the coins – veritable
works of art worthy to be compared with those produced by large-scale
sculpture – were engraved symbolic motifs referring directly the name of
the city that struck them, such as the so-called “type parlants”,
subjects inspired by cults of gods and heroes, by mythology, and by the
flora and fauna of the islands; representations executed with great
sensitivity by anonymous ancient engravers.
The exhibition is open
Monday to Friday 12.00-16.00, and Saturday and Sunday 3.-4. May and
24.-25. May 12.00-16.00. The entrance is free.
A beautifully
illustrated catalogue, The
Aegean of the Coins, published by The Archaeological Receipt Fund
in Athens, can be acquired during the exhibition for DKK 125.
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