Zeynep Cizmeli Ogun

Zeynep Çizmeli Ogun is a professor in the Department of Classical Archaeology at Ankara University. On a French government scholarship, she obtained her doctorate at the Université de Lille III and subsequently held teaching posts at Ankara University. She specializes in the numismatics and monetary history of Anatolia in antiquity, with a particular focus on the study and publication of numismatic material found in archaeological excavations in Turkey. She was a visiting researcher at the RESMED (Religions and Societies in the Mediterranean World) Laboratory of Excellence in 2014 and 2106, and a visiting director of studies at EPHE in 2019. She was director of 3 projects within the University on the study of monetary finds from Semtheion, Kaunos and Claros since 2005.  In recent years, she has also been involved in several projects focusing on the study of coins: the ANR-Nomisma carried out within the Université Paris-Sorbonne and the Orient et Méditerranéen laboratory (2007-2010); the "Coin Hoards of the Roman Empire Project" within the University of Oxford (2017-2019). More recently, she has been collaborating with U. Peter (BBAW, Berlin), on a CNRS Programme international de coopération scientifique (PICS) entitled "La région des Détroits aux IIIe-IVe s. p.C. (D3) - 2019-2021)", dedicated to the numismatic and archaeological study of the Straits region between Europe and Asia, under the direction of Antony Hostein, Director of Studies at EPHE.  His research and publications cover various aspects of monetary finds, from the identification of excavated coins to typological cataloguing, as well as iconographic and economic analyses.

The project

Title: Monetary finds from the Xanthos and Letôon excavations in Turkey and Numismatics in Asia Minor

"Used as a medium of exchange in antiquity, coins are pieces of precious metal that the minting authority delivers to the end-user for his or her benefit. These small pieces of metal actually contain a lot of iconographic, economic and artistic information in inverse proportion to their physical size. The coins, whose preferred types we accept as images reflecting the socio-cultural structure of that period, also play an important role in announcing the political propaganda of the period. When a coin is found in an archaeological context, it contains more valuable information than if it were examined individually. In fact, the coins found in excavations are often the mirror of the propaganda of the authority minted in the territory of that ancient city. Analysing these coins makes it possible to establish the economic power of the city and its social structure through its symbols. However, the excavations also yielded coins of other cities, kingdoms, empires and other authorities. These coins are represented in small numbers compared to the total finds. In fact, they are the coins brought by people from the neighbouring cities to the excavated ancient city and dropped by mistake, and they do not have any economic value. However, they bear witness to a very important issue, which is that they are silent witnesses of the recorded or unrecorded macro and micro economies of the period."

Hosting institution: Sorbonne Université -  UMR 8167 Orient et Méditerranée

Selective Bibliography

• Z. Çizmeli Öğün, « Ankyra and Ankura/Ankyra ve Çapa » iç. Rahmi M. Koç Müzeleri  – Ankara, (ed. M. Sofuoğlu, G. Akyüz) 2024, 254-258.
• Z. Çizmeli Öğün,– F. Toumpan: The Aydin Özkan Collection. Greek and Roman Provincial Coins  (Anadolu Ek Dizi IV.1 / Anatolia Supplement Series IV.1 ) 2022.
• Z. Çizmeli Öğün, F. Toumpan, E. Aksın, “Ancient Coins unearthed during the Zerzaan Castle 2014-2020/ Zervezan Kalesi 2014-2020 Dönemi Kazılarında Bulunan Sikkeler” Roman Border Garrison Zerzevan Castle/ Roma Sınır Garnizonu Zerzevan Kalesi, (ed. A. Coşkun) 2023, 444-480.
• Zeynep Çizmeli Öğün, “Hamaxitos et Apollon Smintheus: Un nouveau type monétaire” ΑΝΤΙΔΩΡΟΝ. La monnaie grecque entre guerre et commerce. Mélanges de numismatique, d’épigraphie et d’histoire offerts à Olivier Picard, MΕΛΕΤΗΜΑΤΑ, Atina 2023 78-85.
• Zeynep Çizmeli Öğün, “Sikkeler Işığında Kaunos” Kaunos Kbid 1996-2021, İstanbul, 2022 s. 189-191.