Other Sources for the Study of Early Islam Islamic History: the First 150 Years © 2006 Abdur Rahman

Session Plan 1.Coins 2.Inscriptions 3.Papyri 4.Archaeology

Early Islamic Coins Early Islamic coins another important area of study Academic study known as numismatics Coins can help our study in a number of ways However, they do have a number of drawbacks Let’s look at them briefly now…

Early Islamic Coins Advantages Government Image: what ideas do they convey? Why? Linguistic Analysis: what language do they use? Imagery? Pictures? Aniconic? Why? Economic History Date Religious Values? Drawbacks Government inspired: bias? Selectivity? Physical size: often small, what can they tell us? Not always clear Selective survival of material: perhaps what has survived is unrepresentative?

Early Islamic Coins Two main forms of currency in Islamic world Dirham and Dinar The word dinar based on the old Roman coinage denarius The first Islamic coins copied pre-existing types Mostly Byzantine (Roman) and Sassanid (Persian) Earliest Islamic coins can be identified by small Arabic inscriptions on them This coinage was used until the time of the Caliph Abd al- Malik ( CE) Aniconic (without pictures) issues introduced These coins used religious phrases and/or Quranic quotations Became the standard form of Islamic currency very quickly

Roman Coins: a Comparison

Byzantine Coins

Earliest Islamic Coins

Post-Reform Coinage

Inscriptions Pre- and Early Islamic Arabia largely illiterate Reading and writing not wide spread The ‘epigraphic habit’ A wide range of material recorded on stone, other materials perish Strengths and weaknesses of epigraphic material… See Handout

Inscriptions Advantages Complement existing sources Linguistic Analysis: what language do they use? Grammar & Idiom: how do they express themselves? Context: what do they say and how? Date Religious Values? Drawbacks Selectivity: difficult, if not impossible, to draw general conclusions Physical issues: often very worn, not in original context Not always clear Difficult to understand: anachronism

Inscriptions

Translation (i)- One mile from (ii) - the postal stage (iii)- which is the (iv) - sixty second (v)- postal stage from (vi) - al- Kufa (to Makkah)

Inscriptions Let’s look briefly at some very early examples Example One Example Two Example Three Example Four

A Brief Pause Turn to the person next to you and spend a couple of minutes summarising the lecture thus far. Questions?

Papyri Papyri are texts written on papyrus Papyrus was the ‘paper’ of the ancient world Very fragile Tend to survive in hot dry climates Dead Sea Scrolls Most commonly found in Egypt Useful for providing further useful evidence Particularly useful in a period of language change, as the early Islamic era was Let’s look briefly at an example nowexample Limited applicability?

Archaeology Archaeology is the study of material culture Archaeological evidence often overlooked A vast range of material available… Mosques Castles Palaces Roads Artefacts Papyri We will look more closely at archaeological evidence in the final session

Islamic Archaeology Issues… Very uneven archaeological work Some areas well understood Others virtually unknown Important early Islamic settlements still inhabited today (Basra and Damascus) Difficult to access relevant archaeological layers Mecca and Medina Archaeological research at the two Mosques prohibited and unlikely to ever be carried out given sacred nature of these sites

Archaeology Advantages Reveals other side of history Physical remains provide many clues to life Artwork? Texts? (Dome of the Rock) Economic & Social History Dates? Religious Values? (Mosque orientation) Drawbacks Selective survival of material: perhaps what has survived is unrepresentative? Vast range of material Not always clear Exact date hard to establish definitively, without supporting evidence Uneven record

Archaeological Evidence Qusayr `Amra World Heritage site (link)link Dates to time of Walid I ( CE) Luxurious desert palace Wall paintings depict the Caliph with other major powers: Byzantine ruler, Shah of Persia, Visigothic king of Spain, possibly kings of India and China

Qusayr `Amra