Coins attributed to the Saumakos and Saulakos coinage as an example of the dialogue of cultures in the Northern Black Sea region during the Pontic period

Our attention was drawn to the coins, whose obverse had an impression of Helios's head in profile or en face, while the reverse depicted the head of a bull, a pomegranate flower or a winged lightning, with a minted legend, the top line of which reads “BAH”, “ВАНЛ”, or “ВАІІЛЕ”, and the bottomline - “ZAY”. Despite centuries of research, the scholars still do not agree on their attribution. The fact is that the coins are are small, light and made of an alloy prone to corrosion. The scholars attribute them to the coinage of the Scythian Saumakos, mentioned in the Chersonesus decree in honor of Diophantus, or to the emission of Saulakos, a hypothetical king of Colchis, of whom nothing else is known. We argue that the coins under study were minted on behalf of Saumakos and use the iconographic material to substantiate our point of view. The images on the obverse and reverse of the coins were significant both for the Iranianspeaking nomads and for the population of the Hellenic policies of the Northern Black Sea region. The images of Helios on the obverse were seen as Mithra- Goitosuros, revered not only as the pan-Iranian god of the sun and sunlight, the guarantor of stability in the nomadic world, but also as a patron of the Mithridatids. The head of a bull and a pomegranate flower appeared on the coins as a sign of respect for the elite of Panticapaeum and the aristocracy of Scythian farmers, who organized commercial agricultural production, as well as for the population of Phanagoria. We believe that the winged lightning was a symbol of Verethragna, the formidable god of thunder and victory. As is can be seen, the Saumakos coins are a vivid example of the dialogue of cultures in the Northern Black Sea region and Taurica at the turn of 1st century BCE, which is reflected in the religious and cultural syncretism of local residents, both Hellenes and barbarians.