During excavation in the ancient Greek city of Notion, located in present-day Türkiye, archaeologists recently made an astonishing discovery. While examining the courtyard of a home dating back to the third century B.C.E., they found evidence of an even older structure. And beneath those ancient ruins they uncovered a pot — overflowing with Persian gold coins.
The hoard was seemingly left there by a soldier who — for some reason, probably a tragic one — was unable to return to collect his life savings some 2,400 years ago. Now, this striking find is shedding light on the region’s complex and dramatic history.
“A Spectacular Find”: The Ancient Persian Pot Of Gold Uncovered In Notion
According to an announcement from the University of Michigan, the hoard of gold coins was discovered by the Notion Archaeological Project, an endeavor led by University of Michigan archaeologist and professor of ancient Mediterranean art and archaeology Christopher Ratté.
Notion Archaeological Project, University of MichiganThe coins were discovered by an archaeological team led by Christopher Ratté, pictured above, in Notion.
Archaeologists made the discovery in 2023 as they examined the courtyard of a house in the ancient Greek city. Though the best-preserved ruins in Notion date back to between the third and first centuries B.C.E., they realized that the courtyard showed evidence of even earlier habitation. The archaeologists soon found pottery from the fifth century B.C.E. and then, buried under the courtyard, a pot filled with Persian gold coins.
The coins appear to be Persian darics, a category of gold coins that was minted by the Persian Empire at the time. These coins feature the image of a kneeling archer and were largely used to pay mercenary soldiers.
“The hoard was found in the corner of a room in a structure buried beneath the Hellenistic house,” Ratté explained. “Presumably, it was stored there for safekeeping and for some reason never recovered… a single daric was equivalent to a soldier’s pay for one month.”
Notion Archaeological Project, University of MichiganAn aerial view of the courtyard that shows where the coin hoard, and other items, were discovered by archaeologists.
The coins date back to the fifth century B.C.E., and archaeologists suspect that they were left behind by a mercenary soldier, who seemingly met an ugly fate before he could retrieve them from their hiding place.
“The discovery of such a valuable find in a controlled archaeological excavation is very rare,” Ratté noted. “No one ever buries a hoard of coins, especially precious metal coins, without intending to retrieve it. So only the gravest misfortune can explain the preservation of such a treasure.”
Indeed, Notion has a long and bloody history that makes such theories about these coins very plausible.
Theories About The Story Behind The Lost Fortune Found In Notion
Notion Archaeological ProjectThe Notion Archaeological site, as seen from above.
Notion, originally a Greek city, spent much of its early history seesawing between Persian and Greek influence. It was incorporated into the Persian Empire, which then stretched to the west coast of Türkiye, in the mid-sixth century B.C.E.
Then, though briefly freed from Persian rule in the fifth century B.C.E., it was reintegrated in the early fourth century B.C.E. It remained under Persian control until the days of Alexander the Great, the Macedonian conqueror who took over vast swathes of the region before dying in 323 B.C.E.
During this time, Notion could be a particularly violent place to live. People in the region had ever-shifting loyalties between Greece and Persia and, between 430 B.C.E. and 427 B.C.E., Persian sympathizers succeeded in occupying part of Notion with the help of Greek and “barbarian” mercenaries. An Athenian general was able to kill the pro-Persian mercenaries in 427 B.C.E., after which the Persian sympathizers were expelled from the city.
Ratté noted that this is the kind of violent episode during which the owner of the coins may have lost his life — but that’s far from the only possibility.
Though many questions about the coins remain, archaeologists are thrilled by this discovery. Finding the coins right where they were hidden and knowing where they spent the last several millennia offers a strong starting point for further investigation, as opposed to discoveries that are disturbed by looters with “no concern for history.”
“An archaeological find without contextual information is like a person suffering from amnesia — a person without memories,” Ratté noted.
Thankfully, in this case, archaeologists have made the sort of discovery that suggests a rich backstory in ways that bring the ancient past to life.