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Arab-Byzantine Abd al-Malik Standing Caliph Coin

WillieBoyd2WillieBoyd2 Posts: 5,268 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited September 9, 2024 8:05AM in World & Ancient Coins Forum
Arab-Byzantine Abd al-Malik Standing Caliph Coin

I was looking at Byzantine coins for sale on Ebay and found this one.
I knew nothing about it but it looked interesting.
I had managed to get a $200 bill from a company cancelled and figured
that I could spend some of the money on a coin.
I paid $34 for this coin.

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I received the coin on December 18, 2008, and started looking up information on it.

The coin is used on the cover of a book about the Islamic conquests of Byzantine territory.
Byzantium and the Early Islamic Conquests by Walter Emil Kaegi

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Abd al-Malik was the caliph (king) of the Islamic Umayyad forces which took over the
Middle East from the Byzantine (Roman) Empire. He reigned from AD 685 to 705.

He had these coins made around AD 693 to 697.
The obverse has an image representing the caliph standing and bearing a sword.
The reverse has an obelisk and circle set on steps, apparently modifed from a Christian cross on steps.
The legend is written in script and states something like:
"There is no god but Allah and Mohammed is the messenger of God"
The coin is made of bronze, is around 21mm in diameter, and was minted in Damascus.

Later, the caliph introduced a uniquely Muslim coinage, which supplanted the Byzantine coins
that had previously been in use. After AD 697 the coins had purely script.

Probably Abd al-Malik's greatest accomplishment was the construction of the
Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem.
(I had the privilege of visiting it in 1986)

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Comments

  • DorkGirlDorkGirl Posts: 9,994 ✭✭✭
    Nice read, thanksimage
    Becky
  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,800 ✭✭✭✭✭
    That's neat. I guess the Islamic taboo against portraying "graven images" of people in their artwork didn't apply that far back. That's almost as early as it gets for Islamic, I suppose... I mean, Muhammad had been a living person in that same century. As I understand it, the later prohibition of graven images of people was to prevent idolatry.

    Explore collections of lordmarcovan on CollecOnline, management, safe-keeping, sharing and valuation solution for art piece and collectibles.
  • newsmannewsman Posts: 2,658 ✭✭✭
    It's interesting that the early Islamic bronze coins imitated the Byzantine ones, while the silver ones imitated Sassanid coins.
  • critocrito Posts: 1,735
    Byzantium 650 AD
    image
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