a colloquium in memory of george carpenter miles (1904-1975)

8/9/2019 A colloquium in memory of George Carpenter Miles (1904-1975)

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E NT R M L E S

cSociety

C r e a

t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e

/ h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_

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NNU M SMAT CSO C E T

ericanNumismaticSociety,presiding

nstituteforA dvanc edStudy, rinc eton

nsin ateA nti uity

anSchoolofClassicalStudies,Athens,Greece

e B ron eCoinageofSyria:An nnovationby Abd

ericanNumismaticSociety

ntineGreece, the atinWestandtheMuslimWorld

nstituteof ineA rts, N U andMetropolitan

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cSocietyisproudthatGeorgeMiles s

essionaltieswerehere,withus, butwe

sively.H istoweringstatureasa numisma-

actthathewasalsoa distinguished

igraphistandconnoisseurof slamicart

tseemedfitting,therefore,thatourpro-

yondnumismaticstostressthe catholic-

sandachievements,andwearemost

olarsinother fieldswhohavecome

c ollo uium.

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rvington,New orkshortlyafterGeorge sdeathincludedaper-

Thompsonof the nstituteforA dvanc edStudyat rinc eton, for

eA gora x c avationsinAthens, andoneofGeorge sc herished

dse pressedsoelo uentlywhatweallfeltonthatsadoc casionthat

emore hisreminiscencesofassociationwithGeorge.

odaytohonorthememoryof agreatscholar:

abovealla numismatist.Manyofyou,

consciousfeelingthatinthis place,onsuchan

ustsurelybepresent,not ustinourmemories

ood,intweed acketandpullover,pipein

for solong,afull uartercentury,his

dcometobe thepresidingspiritofthe place.

iveabiographicalsketchofGeorge,nor yetto

hisscholarlyachievement.Thishasbeendone

ompsonintheforewordtothe estschriftof

oupleofyearsago Near asternNumismatics,

hyandHistory , StudiesinH onorofGeorgeC .

uym ian, ditor, A meric anUniversityofB eirut,

mecontainsalist ofhiswritingspublished

hat shalltry todotoday istoconveytoyou

sofGeorge,thescholarandtheperson,as

yearsorsoofhis life.

eeting wasvaguelyaw reofsomeof

s,especiallyhismassivevolumesnthe coinage

c andA rabperiods. B ut knewthathehadalso

nofthe slamiccoinsfoundincontrolled

nioc h-on-the-O rontesandHerodian eric ho. n

dDirec torof the x c avationsof theA thenian

dwithorgani ingthepublicationprogram,and

cksofmaterialto suitablescholars.O neofthe

efor wasthegreatmassof slamiccoins,

ccumulatedinthecourseof15 seasonsof

ualf riend, rofessor ohn . Caskeyof the

suggestedthatGeorgeMilesmightbeinduced

t. approachedGeorge,andtomygreatrelief

eganhisstudyin thespringof1954,and the

formin1962. TheA thenianA gora, X : The

tisaslimvolume, butitmadeac cessibletothe

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0 slamiccoinschieflyfromthefourcenturies

ofA thens 1458-1831 . Georgewasableto

ome 25differentmintsscatteredoverthe

uropeandAfrica.Thiswasthefirst systematic

oinsfromanye c avationinGreec e, anditf illeda

ticrecordofthatcountry.

x c avations wasenormouslygratefulto

particularlydifficultpartofourpublication

atlyimpressedbythespirit inwhichheworked.

amiccoinsfrome cavationsknowsthattheyare

sandmostintractableofall productsofthe

dveryhardoverthosewretchedbits ofcopper

ngtobearupon themhislonge perienceand

ls. nowc ametoreali ehowmuchthe

mforhis publicationofthisandahalf do en

nswhichmightotherwisehavelanguished

onstorerooms.

GeorgeworkedhardontheA gorac oins. B uthistask

erhad itnotbeenfor thehelpofhis

eivedherrewardbycomingtoknowatthis

amesR . Mc Credie.

nshourafterhour ishardonthe eyes.O ne

ggestedtoGeorgethathelook , bythewayof

arvedinbold,beautifulArabicscripton a

oundsomeyearsbeforeintheAgora

ong, withthehelpofA lison rant , herec ogni ed

amete tintheB y antineMuseuminA thens.

wthatthisdoc umentattestedtothee istenc eof

heyearsaroundA . D. 1000. A lthoughthe

re,thiswasinitselfastartling andimportant

ofmediaevalAthens.

gnificantforGeorge sownprofessionalcareer

nuesof researchwhichweretooccupyhimfor

sewere 1 theA rabsinCreteand 2 slamic

neart. Hissubse uentinvestigationsinthesetwo

think,George sspiritofenterprise,his

dhis est—q ualitiesthatseldomocc urtoge-

rge swork inCrete. Thedisc overyof theArab

eorgethepossibilityoffindingArabic

fCrete,for Cretewasknowntohavebeen

about135yearsin theninthandtenth

fromtheAmerican hilosophicalSociety

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asearc hof theislandinthespringof1956. n

cietyhefranklyadmittedthat,insofaras

ed,theresultsofthee peditionwere

hewentontolist otherresults,particularlythe

rabcoinsof therelevantperiod.Nordidhe

nceofthemanylocalwineswhichheand his

sampled.Thereport,unlikemostspecimens

ttlegem.Twelveyearslater,whenGeorge

osophicalSocietyforaidinhis searchforArab

wardedwitha secondgrant,andthatona

alresultof histwoe peditionstotheislandis

atedenoughArabcoinstoenablehimto

nethe successionofArabgovernorsinthe

essimportant— hisenthusiasmforthepursuit

edscholars,governmentofficialsandciti ens

heretheywerealleagerto oininthec hase.

rkishaffiliations,hemademanyfriends

methathec ouldbefreef romhisdutiesatthe

ciety,Georgealsoworkedtirelesslyonhis

. theinf luenceof slamic artonthebric kwork ,

ngandceramicsofB y antineGreece.This

beenstudiedbefore,butneverbeforeby a

esultisa muchclearerandmoreprecise

heoneartontheother. nthec ourseof

Georgevisitedscoresofchurchesand

Greece,manyoftheminremoteandbeautiful

nitselfwasagreat oytohim, asalsotohis

edonhistravelsusing hisownsplendidslides.

eceislikelyalsoto begoodbirdcountry,and

leasureofthepro ect,forGeorgelovedbirds

edpeople. feelsorryforanyamongyouwho

reona numismatistlookingatbirds.

amethemostcharac teristic ualityofGeorge s

twashis humanism.He wasalwaysconcerned

heancientmaterialon whichhewasworking.

ensehise c itementonlearningalittlemorefrom

ureV isigothicprinceorsomeArabamirof

eventhemostformal,arenevermere

hecoinstalk,tellingofancientcommerce,the

fallofdynasties.Andthishe doeswithavery

nglish. Hiswritingisc ompletely f reeof argon.

ect,encouraginganeasyrapportbetween

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onlythesubstanceofGeorge sscholarshipbut

t it. haveknownfewscholarswhohave

estandwhohavegottenso muchsheer

work. H elovedtosharehisthoughtswith

inandpracticedmutualaid,givingfreelyofhis

elicitingthe cheerfulhelpofothers.Such

lyacknowledgedinhispublications.

eprivilegedtoknowGeorgepersonallythis

urscholarlyrelationsheightensthesorrow of

wlearnto livewithmemories,andweshall

yofonewhowassuch ahappycombinationof

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cconcernwasalwaystheworldof slam,hebecameinlateryears

theartandc oinageofasisterc iv ili ation, thatofB y antium.

sociationandfriendshipwithAlison rant ,researchfellowof

ns, aninternationallyknownB y antinist, andasuperbphotographer

dartifacts. Shehasc hosenashertopic today, ' Some nvadersof

ity .

ns

swerewide-rangingandsometimesinterlock-

antinearchitectureallclaimedhisattention,

mesincombination forinstance,hisstudyof

teringknownas uf ic or ufes ue, whenitis

dasaformofdec orationinthemasonryofB y an-

chacombinationofelementsthatsuggestedmy

enianAgoraGeorge sattentionwascaught

c inscription. twasatantali ingdocument

paththatstopped ustshortofasolution. B ut

hatitbelonged,alongwiththree othersmall

hens,to aninscriptiontherestof whichis

s ue, evidentlyerectedinA thensinthelatetenth

This,forhistoricalreasons,happenedtobe

epossible.U nderwhatcircumstances,then,

Didit betokenanA rabinvasionandocc upation,

ainst O ranencounterinwhichthe Arabs

dweresettledinAthensas prisoners whichis

ytoneoftheinscription O rapeaceful

ngte tilesofthekindreflectedin the

rbuiltintothewallsof the ittleMetropolis

oughtheproblemremainsunsolved,allthe

tedbyGeorgeMilesandthat initselfisno

tessomeofthe difficultiesinherentinthe

aspectsofinvasions,and thoughtto

evidenceavailabletodeterminetheirdate and

uality.

nvasionscometomind,onein eachcentury

th.Thebriefresumeofeachwhichfollowsis

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heAgora x cavations,wherethearchaeologi-

curebecauseofthe largenumberofcoins

rcumstances. nthe45yearssince the

eatdealofprogresshas beenmadetowardmore

sof lateanti uity andhereitisappropiateto

usdebttotheAmericanNumismaticSociety:to

inkingespeciallyofGeorgeMilesandMargaret

mberof youngernumismatistswhohave

eMuseum sSummerSeminar.

edegreeoftruth andfictioninanyaccountof

spresentthemselvesinkaleidoscopicpatterns.

orarestpattern, literaryreportss uarenic ely

erarchaeologicalfindingstoproduceanun-

morec omple patternsraise uestions H ow

enwrittennarrative,howevercircumstantial,

dence Howtrustworthyare archaeological

enceofwrittenrecords Andhowisone to

rchaeologicaltestimonieswhenbothare

Thepatternsarenumerous.

vasionsfollowsthesimplestpattern,with

. 267

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e ost-HerulianWall

orroboratingandsupplementingtheliterary

AthensinA.D .267bythe barbariantribe,

dinwide-scaledestructioninlowerAthens,

hhasbeensaidandwrittenabout itandhere

esonlywiththedefensivewallerectedbythe

areventsinthe future.Thecityinits original

bletodefend,sothe newwallenclosedonlya

northoftheAcropolis.Materialforitscon-

ablefromtheruinedbuildingsoutsidethe

arsafterthe discoveryofthefirstshortstretches

srangingall thewayfromthethirdcenturyto

ourseof theAgorae c avations, whic he posed

e pocketwasfoundinthemasonrywhich

entlydroppedbyamasonintothe wetmortar.

eyears270and 282,thelatestbeingofthe

emaysafelyassumethatthewallwasbuiltduring

yslightly later. shouldpointoutherethatfor

amusingfinespecimensinthismuseum. n

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aicWay,causingterroramongthe inhabitants

toconcealtheirvaluables.H ethengoeson

usesthe destruction,eitherpartialortotal,of

hhadsurvivedthe H erulianraid,especially

ample, theStoaofZ eusandtheTholos. O nly

ppedby supernaturalorothermeans.W ith

wallnowf i edattheendof thethirdc entury it

ri ty i n t he A go r a

meconfidencethatitwashere,rather thanat

na,infactor fancy,performedhermiracle.

ountsisperhapsonlyin theinterpretationof

osimositmeantonlytheA cropolisandthearea

al and, infac t, theword c ity — Tt6A i< — was

meansimplytheAcropolis .Toothersthe

byAlaricintheouter cityontopofthe still

ouldbesufficienttogivethe impressionofutter

intherealmofhypothesis,but showing

ringthelongreignof eo 457-74 the

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e westcoastofGreeceandprobablymore.This

storians.At ustaboutthesametime

bemadeto thefortificationsofMegara,asingle

A thens thisf romaninscription . A ndc oinsand

everalbuildingsinthe agora.B utwhateverthe

touseac autiousword , itsimportanceliesin

arkedtheturningpoint towardindustriali a-

epredationshadbeenfollowedbya periodof

elargecomple occupyingthecentralareaof

bablywithgoodreason,asthe U niversityof

ngpositionandimposingbuildingsand

uptothento resistencroachmentofthesmall

lishments,especiallymetalfoundries,which

stoutsideitsprecincts,stillbatteningon the

ulians. B utimmediatelyafterthe V andal raid

e.Acompromisewasnowreachedbetween

he desiresofphilosophybytheconstruction

uctalongthe anathenaic Way thewalltoprotect

esirableneighborsandthea ueducttocarry

mills.

tore. ntheyear582/83, ac c ordingto

Greeceasawholewasdevastatedbybandsof

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byfirein widelyseparatedpartsofAthens

tterytomakeaninvasionat thattimeavirtual

ee ample:oneof themillsonthe anathenaic

ors,waterwheelandgearsfurnishedamplefuel

mismaticevidenceforthisinvasionis

ecoinsinall,ofwhichsome400 werefoundin

dnoneof thec oinsfoundhereorintheother

uctionwerelaterthanthereign ofTiberius I

c oincidee ac tlywiththeliteraryac c ounts, andthe

thatAthens,thoughnotmentionedbythe

ytheSlavs.

stillstandingat thetimeoftheSlavic

e slopesoftheAreopagusprobablytobe

schools.Theirendwassuddenandviolent,

s coveringtheirfloorsprovidesafitting

prosperity,bothintellectualandmaterial,in

htenmenthadobviouslybeenlost,andsmall

d.

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stime, si yearsago, thattheSoc ietywaslook ingforanassistant

totrainunderGeorgeMiles andeventuallytakehisplace.O neof

elB ates,agraduatestudentatthe U niversityofChicago,whose

sadmittedlyslimbutwhosebackgroundinhistoryandlanguages

e tentthatGeorge sreac tionwas: I thinkhemaybetoogoodfor

tagree itseemedtomethatwehad uitealittletoof ferinc luding

ngGeorgeMiles. ortunately,Mikesharedmyview,and might

edbythewayinwhichhe hasrespondedtothatchallenge.H is

ndealsw ith The A rab-B y antine B ron eCoinageofSyria:A n

al-Malik.

e

yria:

bdal-Malik

eMileswellsoonreali edthathispersonal

itsheritagewasat leastasdeepashis

slamicworld.Thepreviousspeakershave

ontheArab presenceintheGreekworld.O n

washise uallyintenseconcernwiththeGreek

d. twasnaturalthereforethathe tooka

restinthe remarkableMuslimcoinageofthe

centuryA.D .,whentheArabs,througha

tsinMuslimic onography, tousehisownphrase,

onetarydependenc eontheirB y antine and,

edecessorsbydevelopingtheirownoriginaland

inage note1 .

alperiod,specificallywiththebeginningofthe

tineGreek typestopurely slamic c oinage, that

especiallyappropriateasmyideaswere

swritingandby discussionswithhim

tatthe timeofourconversationsneitherofus

ofthe problemwhich shalltrytodefend.

y antine isgenerallyused,asin Walker s

umcatalogue,tocoveradiverseassemblageof

, NorthA fric a, gypt, Syriaandthe a ira,

ssues,fromthebeginningupto theadoptionof

hregion note2 . Theonlycommonfeatureof

magesorinscriptionswerederivedinsome

elate R oman mpire.Thisclassificationis

rab-Sasaniancoinage,includingcoinsof

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kundertheearlycaliphs,theU mayyads,and

atevertheirgeographicalorigin andbythatof

ncludingallpurelyinscriptionalU mayyad

oinswhichhaveimagesdrawnfromneither

ansourc es.

ndmoreconvincedoftheuselessnessofthese

es,which believeoughttobereplacedwithan

slamic c oinagebasedonlyonthegreatregional

,bringingtogetherallthe coinsofeachmint

ologicalorderwithoutrespecttotype. n

gebeganwithimitativeorderivativetypes,

ationsandthepaceofevolutiontowardpurely

ferent. venaf tertheadoptionof thenew slamic

fmintingandeventhe weightstandardsand

ominationsvariedfromregiontoregion.The

sandthe U mayyads,likethecoinageofany

ughttobestudiedfirst mintbymint,then

egionbyregion,beforewecanthink about

oriesencompassingthewhole.

calframework,mylimitedaimtodayis to

ageofearlyMuslimSyria withB y antine

ontinuationofB y antinec oinage, butisinfac t

thosewhichbeganthetransitionto apurely

putmoreconcretely,thattheSyrianArabcopper

typedidnot,ascommonlysupposed,originate

ofSyriain A.D. 633-36,butratherappeared

ecadeoftheseventhcentury,atthesame

oinagewasintroducedinSyriaaspartof Abd

rypolic y note3 .

Arab-By antine Syriancoppercoinagehas

becausethesecoinshavenodates.B utthe

criptionoftheearliestof thesecoinstocirca635,

n uest, wasformeputacutely into uestionby

sredatingof thelatestc oinsintheseries, the

omeofthesecoppershave A bdal-Malik s

mynous.TheselatterwereassignedbyW alker

ya, specif ic ally toA . D. 670-85 note4 . A s

1963 note5 , andMilesreiteratedin1967 note

mage,whichappearsonsilverand goldaswell

sfoundoncopperwith themodifiedcrosson

, andthisreverseisknownonlyw iththestanding

antinec oins, thec rossonstepsisused

i, neveronc opperfolles. tstandstoreason

sadoptedbythe Muslimsforgoldcoinsand

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r notasWalker sdatingwouldimply , thatthe

goldweref irstadaptedforuseonc opperandthen

solidialso.Moreover,itseemsfarmore

oldand coppercoinswithasimilarand

uedsimultaneously.Sincethegoldandsilver

ldated,fromA.H .74to77, orA.D .693-97,a

ovidedforthe copperwhichisabout23years

alker.

ndMiles inthisveryreasonable

ndingcaliphvarietiesto themiddleofthelast

areleftwith veryfewimperialstylevarieties,

e60yearsf romthecon uesttotheinitiationof

eallyseem tobeenoughfora coppercoinage,

herslight degreeofevolutioninepigraphical

ec tagreatdealmorec omple ity inac oinagewhic h

derninecaliphsanda hostoflocalgovernors.

c tac oinageissuedoversuc haneventfulsi

thegreatdivisions whichstirredtheMuslim

ngthatperiod:especiallythecontestsforthe

andMu awiyaandbetweentheUmayyadsand

yr,nottomentionthelessersectarianrebellions

a feudingof theSyrianA rabs.

ogyseemsthereforeuntenable, whatistoreplac e

oblemhas beenobscured,itseemstome,by

aminedassumptionthattheearliestArab

gmorethananunoriginalperpetuationofthe

ready inSyria. f thisassumptionisabandoned, and

aminedanew,itbecomesevidentthatthere

weenthemandthecoinageofB y antium.To

woulddrawyourattentiontothreefactswhich

ted— indeed,theyareratherobvious— but

theirrightful importanceinthefaceof

s.

werenoB y antinemintsinSyriaat thetime

Thesituationthereisinc ontrasttothatof gypt,

ntoperatedinA le andriauntilthetak ingof the

e8 , andwasevidentlykeptgoingbythemto

ybarbarousimitationsofitsB y antine

andalsocontrastsw iththatof ran, wheretheA rabs

peratingand wheretheystruckdatedcoins

eir rulecloselyimitatingthemostprevalent

yria, theonlymintinlateRomanorB y antine

hatmintwasc losed ustbeforethe ersian

1andneverreopenedbytheB y antines. B esides,

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uslimmint.

tivityinB y antineSyriaontheeveof the

known,althoughitwas perhapsnotsoclearly

lkerwrote. Hehimselfdidnote plicitly

createdasmokescreenwhichobscuredtheissue

e calledthe trulyremarkablephenomenon

hyc reatedmintswerereallyancient, pre-B y an-

esresuscitated note10 .Tothecontrary:

anyonewouldspeakof reopening mints

onatleastthree centuriesearlier,asifthe

enthadbeenloc kedupgatheringdust. tisinfac t

attheA rabs, whentheyadoptedadec entrali ed

dlocatetheirmintsinthesame district

whichhadhadmintsin thefragmented

c andRomantimes theurbantopographyof

mefor atleastthreemillenia. nasmuchas

erecordedasmintsinclassicaltimes,it is

otverysignificant,thatsomeofthe Arab

a mintbefore.

ecedentforstrikingcoinsin Syriaistobe

ionofmintsalreadyin operationis uitea

ndationofnewmintswherenone hadbeen.

at,intheperiodimmediatelyfollowingtheirnew

reveryconservativeintheiradministrationof

sistobee pec tedwhenonec onsidersthatnot

ahavenocoinageof theirownbutalsothat

oe perienceinadministeringlargeempires

ta pay ingpopulation. ntheserespec ts, the

racticesofthe oldempires,withonlysuch

interestsmadenecessary,andusingwhat

ureauc racies. fmintshadalreadye istedin

yptand ran, onec ouldimaginethattheA rabs

peration.B utitis difficulttoimaginethe

rlycaliphsinitiatingmintingoperationswhere

sted norisMu aw iyaknownasanadministra-

sitlikely thatama ornew initiativewouldhavebeen

ccessorsduringtheconflictswhichfollowed

foreyouisthe markeddissimilarityofthe

f theB y antinec oppers. TheB y antinefollesof

eracliusandhissuccessors,thecoinswhich

eentheprototypesforArabimitationsofthe

uests,areatrociouslystruck.Theyareirregu-

lsoinshape anddiameter.Many,apparently,

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ngdeepmarginalcracks.R estrikesare

eightstandardwasreduced,oldercoinswere

byarbitrarilychiselingoff aportionofthe

eare, itistrue, imitationsof thesec oinswhic hare

andsomeof thesehavebeententatively

ypicalearlySyrian coppersare uite

uniformlyround,withfairlyevenandwell

echnicalresearchhasbeendoneonthe method

ancoppercoinage,butitlooksas iftheflans

andstruckwith asmuchcareasonewould

mination.Atanyrate,it iscertainthattheArabs

echnologyfromthatofseventhcentury

mindis thatnoneofthevarietiesof Muslim

erhasanyspecif ic B y antineprototype. A lthough

ueoftheissuesof eachclassificationwitha

ototype,hehimselfpointsout thatthe

ypeisalwaysuncertainandthecorrespond-

ouldsuggestthatthesearc hforthe prototype

bytheA rabsineac hinstanceisfutile, forthese

tationsinthe strictestsenseoftheword.The

generalway,inthatit ispatternedafterearly

ryB y antinecoppercoinageasawhole:the

re therearethelargeM sonthereverse the

thedenomination40 ; thereareGraeco- atinin-

s,sometimesreproducingcommonplace

tmoreoftenisolatedwordswithoutanalogues

therearenoinstanc esofevenbarbarousattemptsto

menclatureoncopper ; andtherearemarks

ms,theofficinaeletters,andotherau iliary

tineissues,althoughitisnot likelythesemarks

abdie cutters. notherwords,thedie cutters

toachieveacloseimitationofanyparticular

lytostrike coinswiththefamiliarattributesof

cetherenodoubtwerealreadymanyvarietiesof

nsincirculationinSyria,mostof themill-struck

nscriptionsandimages,itseemslikelythat

necopperspassedunnoticedbythosewhodidnot

ctconnectionbetweenthecoinageof

arly imperialtypeA rabbron ec oinage, mak ingits

uestperiodunlikely,theproblemremainsof

the introductionofthenewSyriancoinage.

minethecoinageitself,concentratingonthe

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theassumptionthatifthecoinageof thecapital

propriatedate,thecoinsoftheremaining

dated.Amongthecoppersin Walker s

meD amascus,thereare,e cludingthestand-

eobversetypesand twonotablydifferent

ersetypesistheenthronedemperor,which

sc us itisrathersc arce, w ithonlytwoe amples

atalogue note12 andfourintheA meric an

igs. 1-2 . A notheristhestandingemperor, byfar

asc eneobverse, w ith26e amplesinWalker

ourownc ollection. Thisobversetypewasusedalsoat

berias. thasanumberofvariants: somehavethe

ig. 3 , alsofoundontheenthronedemperortype

MAC O C F ig. 4 ; othershavegarbledGreek

ovetheletterT, arefoundvariouslyabird,a

escent,orno symbolatall. inally,thereisan

dingimperialfigures thisisveryrare,known

specimens note14 andrepresentedinthe

ietybyonlyone F ig. 5 .

mascusimperialtypeshasalargeuncialM as

a ordistinctiontobedrawnamongthe reverse

withGreeklegends specificallytheword

d eb a se d f or m o f it , o n th e l ef t t h e ci p he r s X I I I ,

right andthemintabbrev iationA A Minthe

andthosew ithA rabic legends, mostc ommonlydarb

, w h ic h ma y b e tr a ns l at e d as c u rr e nt i s su e o f D a ma s cu s

5-7 . A llof theseimperialissuesareplac edamongthe

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ssumingthatthereverseswithGreek

ewithArabic heisthereforealsoprobably

enthronedemperorobverseprecedesthe

e,fortheformerwasknowntohim e clusively

lethema orityofthelatterhavethe Arabic

lessnogreatseparationbetweenthetwo

ngemperorobverseiswellknownin fair

reeklegendreverse,whilerecentlythe

ietyac uiredbygif tf rom aulB edouk ianan

erwiththeArabiclegendreverse,a

yrec orded F ig. 1 . Thesetwoobversesare

yareversedie, distinctivebecauseofthe

, whichisfoundontwocoppersin our

nedemperorobverseandwiththestanding

. etanotherinterestinge ample, f roman sraeli

mperorobversevarietywiththeGreek mint-

mbinedwithaGreekreversewiththeabbrevia-

A sidefromthiscoin, theAA MAC O Cobversehas

rabiclegendreverseand wasveryprobably

ucea semi-bilingualcoinofthesortknown

e17 ; butthe sraelihoardc oinshowsthatthe

erestill beingusedalongwiththenew

ation.Thethirdobversetype,withtwo

sotohavebeenused inclosecon unctionwith

erse.Therearenoknowndielinks asyet,but

nNumismaticSocietyspecimenofthetwo

arkedaffinitieswiththereversesof twoAmer-

standingemperorcoins,includingtheunusual

imash totherightof theMandthepec uliar

s ee i gs . 5- 7 .

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es,whichwouldprobablybeincreasedbya

ethatthethree D amascusobversetypes,

dingemperor,andtwoimperialfigures,arenot

eparateanddistinctclassifications,butrather

leserieswhichmusthavebeenstruckovera

wyearsatthemost. etmereiterate,these

tire bodyofArab-B y antineimperialstyle

sc usmint-name note18 . sitpossibleto

wasissuedcontinuouslyovermostofthe 60

uesttotheintroductionofthe standingcaliph

93-94 O r evenfromthereignofMu aw iya

thinkcertainlynot. Norisitreasonabletobelievethat

ringa shortperiodintheearly yearsofArab

easeduntiltheappearanceofstandingcaliph

ewis toregardthesecoinsasthe immediate

ngcaliphcoins,issuedinthe sameshortspan

y Milestotheearlygold coinswithpurely

esec opperissuesarefarf romthe enithofcoin

enta certaine tentofdevelopmentawayfrom

NosubstantiveB y antineinsc riptionseemstohave

barbaricform,onanyArabSyriancopper.

nofArabiclegendsmustberegardedas a

epureimitationof B y antineissues.Atits

coinagebecomescompletelybilingual,ason

ustissueofH ims note19 . nc ontrast, there

mitationsolidi, allwithidentifiableimperial

enderingsofimperialGreekinscriptions,before

Arabsolidus withArabicinscriptions note

Arabs, hav ingdepartedsofarf romB y antine

mentoftheircoppercoinage,shouldthenhave

oseimitationof B y antineimagesand

ldcoins donotthinkso.TheArabcopper

nspirationmust,itseemstome, beregardedas

nslightlysubse uenttotheintroductionof

Abdal-Malik.

D amascusbeganstrikingcopperonlyunder

rSyrianmintislikely tohaveprec eededit. nthe

otherimperialstylemints,onecan onlysay

t eachwassmallanditlooks asifthe

yparalleltothatatDamasc us. A sane ample, let

situation,theissuesofB aysan,Greek

alestine.Thismintstruckunusualcoppers

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25/47

datfirstby issuingforthemselvescoinageof

earlyandmiddleseventhcentury.This

rthecopper,becauseB y antinecopper

creasedconsiderablyin uantityafterthereign

kelythattheArabsof Syriasawmuchofthe

onis,whatdidtheArabs ofSyriadoforcoin-

enthecon uestandtheintroductionofcoinage

erewaspresumablyabodyofc oinageincirc ula-

bsarrived.Thiscoinagecouldhaveremained

ndefinitely,e ceptforaccidentalloss,forit

torecallforremintingbytheB y antines. robably

geingovernmentandchurchtreasurieswhich

and placedincirculation.Afterwards,there

non Syria scoinage,forinthe pre-U mayyad

nopartof itsta revenuestoMedina note25 ,

tropolitanprovinceofthe empireunder

vernmentrevenueswouldhavebeenintoSyria,

r,andleavingasidemerepresumption,hoard

blythatB y antinegoldandcopperaswellas

ansilverwereimportedintoSyriainthe

entury note26 . H owandwhythesemonies

otrelevanttothe present uestion.

the oneproposedhereislikelyto arouse

ot mynewdatingwillstandup againstits

but itisto behopedthatitwill atleastinspire

eearlyArab coinageofSyriahaslong

e arliestA rabGoldCoinage, A NSMN13

e e hi s T h e c o no g ra p hy o f U m a yy ad C o in a ge , a

talogues A rsO rientalis3 1959 , p. 209.

alogueof theMuhammadanCoinsintheB ritish

gueof theA rab-B y antineand ost-Reform

n do n , 19 5 6 .

i i , x v i .

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i - x x i i, 2 2, 3 0.

heMonetaryReformsof A bdal-Malik:Their

heir inancialReperc ussions, E SHO 3

e p. 215.

astheolderreverseused, at erusalemc ontinu-

nitia lly .

areattributedtothismint, eventhoughhecame

and thecityfelltothe Arabsin642.Thecoins

dduringthe briefrecon uestin645-46,butin

emintoperateduptotheendofB y antinerule

d, SeventhCenturyA rab mitationsof

ummia, A NSMN18 1972 , pp. 113-17.

dhisnotesonindiv idualmints.

alogueof theB y antineCoinsintheD umbarton

theWhittemoreCollection, I : hoc asto

2-717, Washington,1968 , t.1,p.22.

4-5.

7-26.

42and . 6, andnotetono. 42.

menswithasomewhatvaryingArabiclegend,

esearee emplif iedbyWalker, p. 8, nos. ANS

hasthesamereversedieasWalker, p. 9no. 26,

elettersgamma-kappaontheobversewhich

rpretastheGreeknumeral23 H . . Thedielink

ariantasconstitutinga separateissue.

herssentto MilesinO ctober,1967bythe

agaQ edar.

p. 11, no. . 4, pp. 15-16, nos. 43-51 ; B aalbek

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os. 35-41 ; Tartus Walker, p. 19, nos. 55-56 ; and

20-22, nos. 57-72 .

omeofthecopperswithno mint-name,notably

sw ithM Walker, pp. 16-17, nos. 52-53, . )

w ithtransformedc ross Walker, p. 14, no. h.

ascus.Thesemightcorrespondtothetwoandthree

s Miles, GoldCoinage, pp. 207-10, nos.

os.57-72.

e, pp. 207-9, nos. 1-4, I . X L V , nos. 2, 4, 6, 8.

nsonly,W alker,pp.1-2,nos.l-3ff. with

alker,p. 2,no.B el.2.

ow ick , E arlyA rab igureTypes, ' NC irc 78

sthef irstof thesetobepublished.

5-6.

ggestedby owick,p.90,buthedoesnot go

eas do,suggestingratherca.660-85.

mc H istory , A . D. 600-750 A . M. 132 ; A New

mbridge, 1971 , pp. 43-44.

ishedgoldhoardis describedbyCecile

r by a n ti n d e Ni k er t ai , R B N 1 18 1 9 72 , p p .2 9 -9 1 ,

entioned,especiallyp.62 thisarticlealso

ndcommentsontheeconomicconte tof Abd

mwhichmightbeoverlookedbyspecialistsin

.Twoimportantsilverhoardscontainingboth

ancoinshavebeenpublishedbyMuhammad

s h , T h e Si l ve r H o a r d of D a m a s cu s D a m a s cu s , 19 7 2 ,

a r a al - i d di D a m a s cu s , 19 7 2 . S ev e n br o n e h o ar d s

ans aswellasArabissueshavebeen

nNumismaticSocietyinrecentyears.

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velledoverthe highways,bywaysandgoattrailsofGreece,looking

enceintheformof ufes ueornamentationonB y antine

dmuchmorebesides.Thoseof usprivilegedtoseeand hear

sthatemergedfromhistrips willremembermostvividly

siasmandobviousaffectionforthelandand itspeople. or

ufes ueinthe astbroughtrichrewards. TheWest, too, hasits

hethemeofourf inalpaperbyR ic hard ttinghausen, arthistorianof

dsthe evork ianc hairof slamic artatNew orkUniversityand

airmanofthe slamicD epartmentattheMetropolitanMuseum

n ti n e Gr e ec e ,

eMuslimWorld

o-earlypassingdeprivedthelearnedworld

randmanypersonsofa kindandloyalfriend,

eoutstandingspecialistinthe fieldof slamic

asane uallydistinguishedArabicepigra-

wellasan e pertonMuslimhistoryanda

lturalrelations.H isachievementsweremany,

istin theshorttimeandspaceavailable.O ne

be consideredhereandthestartingpointwill

awordwhichMilesc oinedforthe nglishlanguage

mindicates,itisa combinationof ufic,the

ptusedintheMuslimworldfor inscriptionsin

osaic,wood,andivoryoftheseventhcentury

e,thegracefulcontinuousornamentemployed

orldforalmostallmedia note2 . Milesused

rpseudo- uf ic. tshouldbeunderstood,

ed ualityof falseness or pretention

thiscompoundwordrefersprimarilytothe

ongerreadable,andnotnecessarilytothe

canoftenstillberecogni edinshortcombina-

cf ic e amplesf romtheB y antineperiodin

ufes uec arvedinstoneorterracottainthe

ofmanyecclesiasticalbuildings,intheform

upsor ofcontinuousfrie es.Thistypeof

lsooccurredinpainting,mosaics,andevenin

veforms werepopularonlyduringarelative-

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thefirst uarteroftheeleventhcenturyand

f thetwelf th, althoughthereisonee ample,

phogus, whic hdatesf romabout1276 note3 .

orwastobringtogetheralargebodyof uf ic-

ariousmediaofthe B y antineworld,buthe

al uestionswhenheasked: Whatwerethe

esofallthesemotifs,whatwerethemedia,and

dtoGreece Althoughheaddsinhis usual

heseare uestionsforanotherpaperanddoubt-

heneverthelessconcludedhiswide-ranging

sinanswertothe issueswhichheraised. n

sfurther, intendtotakeupatleastoneaspec t

stigateaproblemposedbyGeorgeMiles.

plesfromGreece,thereisonegroup,whichal-

lwaysc onsistentinitsformation note4 . tis

oframinguprightssettothe rightandleft,

tiveadditionsthewedgesorhooksofornate

perends, whilebetweenthemalower, moree -

nan archedorhollowed-outbase.Amarble

rtheTowerofW indsinAthensis atypical

f terMiles . Thereareotherstonec arv ingsof this

y antineMuseum. notherpiec es, themotif is

nreviewingthesefinds,itbecomesclear

hichisvariablefrom casetocase itcandiffer

of thesamefrie easinthismarbleborderin

m F ig. 2, af terMiles , althoughthebasic struc -

hispersistentidentityestablishedthese

which,forbrevity ssakewemaycallthe

e.

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rnamentsisfurtherunderlinedbythe

otifintheart ofmediaeval uropewhereitis

any, nglandand taly . Thefac tthatA rabic

dintheornamentationofChristianpeopleof

eenobservedinapioneerarticleofde ongperier

45 note5 andmuchmaterialhassinc ebeen

speciallyinasystematicsurveyby rdmann,

amples,manyofthemwithmoreorless

es note6 ig. 3 . H eshowedthataf tera

century,this ufic-derivedtypeofornamen-

mmoninthetwelfthcentury,flourishedinthe

asedmarkedlyinthefourteenthcentury,part-

hemorerecentArabicwritinginNaskhf

estigationofthepublishedmaterialmakesit

hee amplesadducedbyMiles, the uropean

elminglyofplayfulvariantsofthetall-short-tall

preferencemakesitimperativetoestablish

meaningofthisubi uitousmotif.

efutedtheassumptionofMar uetdeV asselot

beencreatedin uropebyreducingacertain

stoformthisc ombination note7 . nstead, he

sthavebeen takenoverfromNear astern

docc urredintheveryearliest uropeane -

A poc alypseofSt. Seversur1 A dour note8

ntedtoitsuseintheNear ast, althoughhewasable

sewhereit appearsasoneoftwomarkingson

elinawallpaintinginTemple V inB a ak lik,

ineseTurkestan,whichbelongstothe

ldbedatedtoaboutthetenthc entury note9

edbyGeorgeMiles,itcanalso bestatedthat

enth-centuryGreece,sothatthecontemporary

nee amplesmustgoback tothesamesource, whichin

belookedforintheMuslim ast. Noristhe

ranceofthemotifineleventh-century rance

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rldfortuitous,becausebothareasbordered

seSpain, intheotherSyriaandthe a frah, a

litateditsimport. nthecaseofGreece,

oventhat,on thebasisofevidenceofthree

ficinscriptions,theremusthavebeena

s,probablyartisansortraders,whowere

endof thetenthc entury note10 .

onisfullysupportedbythefac tthatour

otherinstancesthatbelongtodifferent

he slamic world. O f these, wantto uote ust

illsuff ic etodemonstratetheubi uityandgreat

earlieste amplecomesfromtenth-century

formof thedesignandhereappliedto theedge

ottery f romNishapur note11 ig. 6 . The

oreevolved, ifnot baro ue versionsof the

natureis identified,oneeasilyrecogni esthat

rmorec omple nature, f itintotheseries. irst

angularcavettoofthemihrabof theB ey

secondhalfof thethirteenthc entury f rom onya,

atolia, whic hisnow inthe slamic Museumin

2 . nthisc ase, allelementsc omefromtheworldof

wotall unitsconsistofaforkedhalf leafwhile

entralpartis astyli edfloralformwhichrests

etheB y antinee amplesof igs. 1and2 F ig.

mpleisanenamelledglassmos uelampoftheMamluk

entury gyptwiththenameofSultanH asan

eretheuprightshavebeengivenaslanting

nterspersedsuspensionloops inaddition,

sbeennearlylostunder thewealthoffloral

otherwiseusuallylowintermediaryelement

ossiblesi eandbeenmadeintoa comple

3 ig. 8 . inally , themainborderofsi teenth-

all-patternedH olbeinrugs usuallyc onsistsofa

yndrome,although,intheseinstances,the

interspersedlittlehe agonsandsecondby

smirrorimageplac edupsidedown F ig. 9 .

es ueforcarpetbordersisactuallymucholder.

oundina representationofacarpetina four-

miniatureinaB idpaimanusc riptintheU nivers-

. nterestinglyenough, itusesoursyndromeintwo

ntwodifferentdirectionsandare combined

ed u f es u e n o te 1 4 i g . 1 0 . u f es u e

otuncommonly,incarpetsshownin

hef if teenthc entury note15 . tw illbenoted

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35/47

ependentlyofde oreyand rdmann, , too, have

stformulatedbyde orey in1938and c an

cessaryepigraphicevidence.

oofisprovidedbytombstonesfromvarious

istingreatprofusion. Numerouse amplesf rom

A rtinCairoc anbefoundinthesi volumes

awary , HusseinRac hedandGastonWiet

hiscataloguecomprisesthedatesfrom31 to

bstonesarenearlyalldated,onecanreadthe

decadetodecadeandcaneasilyestablish

esebelongtheuseofa conspicuousrounded

ordAllahwhichbreaksupthe straight

helams,particularlyintheintroductory

c urredf irstinamarbletombstoneof191H. /A . D.

11 andisthenfoundinotherstelaeof theninthc en-

rationofthe motifisfoundin atombstoneof

reasmallstarisf i edtothetopof therounded

eelaborateisthee ampleof224H. /A . D. 839, where

partitearch,thecenterofwhichispointed and

whilethesideunitsareround note20 ig.

/A .D . 857hasnotonlybeautifulraised uf ic w ith

etall lettersbutalsoshowsa high,polylobed

n note21 ig. 13 . O ntheotherhand, intwo

ar thecenterofthewordAllahis rendered

nted,horseshoearchin doubleoutlinewhile

hasmallf leur-de- lys note22 ig. 14 . The

nsoftheninthcenturyare foundinyetanother

/A.D.858 showingahighpolylobedarchwhich

noneof 245H ./A.D.860, wherethefleuron

higherthanthef raminglams note23 ig.

theninthcentury,thearchedintersection

nagainofasimplerform note24 however,

ontombstoneswhichdateaslateas 484

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02and539/1144 note25 .

atafromthisArabicmaterialwiththe charton

es uec harac tersbasedonthemediaeval

as i t w as p r ep a re d b y r d ma n n F i g . 16 , w e r ea l i e

uesoc curin slamandthe atinWestand, as

antineGreeceaswell. ventheordinary formof

U -U

J

oselyreproducetheunadornedcenterofthe

deredbyfirstpresentingthe initiallam,while

am,theconnectinglinetothefinalha hasbeen

keanalif see ig. 16, la . Thisformofa

sentlypreservedintheWestandB y antine

neintheformali edpatternsintheMuslimworld.

secondaryornamentalfeature,which,asinthe

uallyhasacurved,triangularortwo-cornered

nat thebottomandcarriesadecorative

omcasetocase.

tthatthe ufic-derivedmotiffoundwide

etwelfthcenturyaftera veryrestrictedstartin

o,hasstressedthat hisGreeke amplesare

ytwelfthcenturies.Thismakestheeleventh

icalperiodforthe Muslimworld. tcanbe

rlyinthetwelfthcentury,wereapparentlythe

mentofthemedialelaboration.Thisisborne

mplesfoundintherec entpublic ationon slamic

Schimmelwhichincludeaneleventh-century

ainSpain note26 andtwosplendidversionsof

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fromtheotherend oftheMuslimworld,

arinthesanc tuaryof mam hurdinSar- i ulin

Sc himmel, p. 12, n aswellasarenditionf romthe

hiof theearly thirteenthc entury Sc himmel, p. 18,

bletopointto arepresentativecasefromthe

c anrefertoanundatedtombstonenowplac edin

a l - O m a r iy y a in M o su l . r n st H e r f e ld , t he

les,andminetoo,placedit intheeighth

.D.on accountoftheTurkishname— B ilghe-i

personburied, butitmayverywellbeearlier note

nodoubtaboutthedateofourne te ample, the

efromtheMausoleumofB uyanQ ulf hanin

1357inthe astB erlinMuseum itpresentsa

egla eonac arvedtur uoisegla edbac kground

h thek ingdombelongstoGod ) . Whilethe

n astraightforwardfashionandshowsonly

upperpartsofthetall letters,thewordlillahis

byapointedarc hintheusualfashion F ig. 18 .

atesthepersistenceofanepigraphicidiosyncra-

earlyninthcentury.Asamatterof fact,the

emiddleportionofthewordAllah andthe

ecomeevidentevenwhennoactualornamen-

tothe uficletters.Thisisbroughtout bya

Medreseof640H. /A . D. 1242in onyawhere

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attachedfashionoverthemedialsectionof

bv iously , the slamic c ustomwastostressand

neway oranotherinbuildinginscriptions,

oranmanuscriptsthewordA llahwasrenderedin

te twaswrittenin blackink.Thetall-short-

ndWestistheornamentaldistillateof this

nwhichneedtobeansweredinordertogaina

phenomenonherediscussed. irst,whilethe

edformofthewordAllahin theMuslimworld

mbstonesandbuildinginscriptions,itis its

ec tswhic histhemorelikely linkw ith atinand

hee amplesf romthevarious slamic dec orative

erredareofsomesignific anc e F igs. 6, 8, 9 . Still,

atenth-c enturypieceof ersianpottery ,

ichwasrarely,ifever,broughtto urope,

es, an gyptianlampandtherenditionsof

turesofthefourteenthandfifteenthcenturies,

ephenomenonineleventh-andtwelfth-century

evenmoreto theTurkishcarpetofthe

rovethetransferf rom asttoWestmore

arytoproduc eamovable slamic ob ec tofan

entsmerchandiseoftenbroughttomediaeval

keothersbeforehim,haspointedto te tilesas

asternideasandthisis indeedthemedium

ampleofthephenomenonhereinvestigated.

oandlinentapestryof theninthc entury inwhich

terclearlymarkedwitharoundedunit which

note28 ig. 20 .

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beposedpertainsto thefirstoccurrenceofthe

ofarobservedin urope,theApocalypseofSt.

ury ranc e F ig. 4 . rdmannhadalready

esinthis manuscript,naminginparticular

e ufes ueletters, anditisindeedtoSpain,

try,thatonehas tolookforfurtherevidence.

edivorybo intheV ictoriaandAlbert

to rnst uhnel, wasmadeinthec aliphal

ahra about962 note29 ig. 21 . H erethe

markedbyatrilobedarch,whichimpliesan

ativeform.

gressbrieflybecause,whileina seconduseof

rked whichisnotunusual , trilobedarc hesdo

amelyrahmat betweenmtmandtheta

ihi betweenyaandha . Thisindic atesthatthe

derstoodasane clusivelydistinguishingmark

uallythecase,butratheras ameansof

egiven space. uhnelhadcertaindoubts

hepiece,partlyonaccountofthis epigraphic

ioninhis corpuswithatenth-centurydate

thathefinallyaccepteditas genuine, ustas

dedfootnote. nanycase,theuseof thearch

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her wordshadalreadyoccurredinthe

. 807inCairo F ig. 11 , sothattheoc c urrence

eSpanishbo wouldnotbeob ec tionablebut

sm.TheremusthavebeenotherSpanish-

mediale tensions,asthephenomenonisstill

enturye amplef romSaragossa seenote26 ,

n themostcomple fashion.

edifficulttoanswer,maybeformulatedin

tentwasthetall-short-tallsyndromestill

rmas anabbreviationofthewordAllah,or

lost, in slamorlaterintheGreekand atin

nswerforthe slamic worldisprov idedbythe

chcontaintheAllah-derivedmotifineithera

orm e. g., ig. 9 . Thesepiec esshouldbe

onwiththelegalopinionwhichthewell-known

fal-Dfhal-Subkhfrenderedin1351whichhasbeen

donby ran R osenthal note30 . H ere

estionisreproducedorgivenas paraphrasedby

nc erningaman splac inghisfootupona

ewovensomelettersof thealphabet

ordssuc has blessing, bliss,

' sitpermissibleforamantosteponthepor-

esewords arefound

clinedtoconsiderit forbiddenforaman

althoughhesaysheis unabletooffer

rhisopinion— L etters...werecreatedin

softheir properarrangement,theword

oftheother prophetsandtheangelsas

esirable,orpermissibleutterances.There

orrectnessoftheassumptionthatthe fact

ortheproductionofsomethingnecessary

atoryuponhumanbeingsto honorand

opinionoflawyers,a pieceofpapercontain-

otbeusedforwritingon itsecularstories

ofcourse,thesituation isclearsincethe

utwhatifit isacaseof ordinaryletters

ducinganywordintheworld nthiscase

caseforsimilar prohibition....

writingdowneithergoodwordsorevil

epurposeforwhichitwas createdandfor

edisforwritingonitthe oran, the ro-

herusefulkinds ofknowledge.Werea

uponwhichnothinghadasyetbeen

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nfullknowledgeofthefactthat allpaper

ctioncouldbeclassifiedasa forbidden

e lettersofthealphabet.Thosewho

htheletterswere createdarenotper-

s admitsmakingane ceptionforper-

seof writing,inconformitywiththewide-

tonlyknowledgeofthefactthat anaction

missionacrime.

udes,onlythosewhoareawareof the

purposeofwritingas statedherecommit

suchlettersasarefoundon thecarpet.

notalwaysbea crime,itcouldinanycase

n,andthepersonignorantof thesituation

etter.

akesit evidentthatthesteppingona carpet

of thewordAllahwasrenderedwould

denandregardedasacrime,had theorigin

motifbeenknown. tmightevenbe uestioned

erswerestillunderstoodtobe derivedfrom

thatwerethecase,they,too,wouldhave been

uslim astthetruenatureof thec arpetborders

ementswasnotrec ogni ed, noteventhefactthat

ters,althoughitis fairlyevidenttoaW estern

isnon-recognitionmustremainmerespecu-

iedmirrorimagesandinsertionsin theborders

gedfromregularscriptthattheir characterwas

ctthattheseletters werefoundoncarpetsdid

association.Thephenomenoncanperhapsbe

seofmispronouncedwords,whendifferent

olonger understoodbythelistener.

the ufes uesyndromewasthusnolonger

mbinationstillretaineda religiousaura,oreven

esclearfromablue-gla edob ectofpossibly

eleventhortwelfthcenturyandnowpartof a

ork.Apparentlyitisan amuletwithtwoloops

riginallysuspendedfroma person sneckor

ersonorawomaninlabor F ig. 22 . Theraised

pleand couldbeoftheninth century,butthe

cedoesnotallowsuch anearlydatingandone

writingasanarc hai inginscription. tc ontains

cededbythewordya,whichisthe common

asusedbeforeA llah. Henc e, therewasan

ort-tallsyndromewasasymbollikeAllahand

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person inneed.H avingsuchastatus,the

ecorationfora mos uelamp,althoughits

olvedbyknottedandvegetalelements F ig. 8 .

houghttobe appropriatetoreplacethe

X I V , 35 whichisusually foundonsuc hlamps. This

efindsthesyndromeonwomen sglassbangles

serveasthesole decoration,withapossible

r note31 ig. 23 . inally , thisisthereason

pliedtotheload ofacamelina CentralAsiatic

twassupposedtoguardtheshipmentduringthelong

t, ustastheblue donkeybeads of ranare

tiveeffectforhorsesand donkeys.Thatallthis

ositionisindicatedbyatwelfth-century

ngin eningradinwhichaChristianmatyrc arries

es ueinscriptionwhichc onsistsofnolessthan

yndrome F ig. 24, afterMiles . nc onnec tion

tions,GeorgeMilesri ghtlyaskedwhether

apotropaicmeaningwhich,tomymind,they

ver,inmanyinstances,theoriginalsignificance

ed asinthecaseof thetenth-centurybowl

robablyin thatofthethirteenth-century

ig. 7 . H eretheesthetic fac torof thesimple

armonyofthemotifmighthave beenthe

ation. ncertaininstances,itis,however,

romewasnot understood.Thisis,forinstance,

rintingte tilesfromabouttwelfth-century

tB erlinMuseum, whichhasinitsc entralbanda

r V ic tory ) F ig. 25 . Thiswordisusually

w ishorthewordlisahibihi toitsowner ) ,

tif,whichwasusedonlyasaspacefiller,

heoriginalmeaningof thesymbol note32 .

ndfinal uestion:howthetruemeaningof

dbeso easilyforgotten.H ere canonlystate

gthis ufes uemotif isnotauni uec ase.

econtentofan incipientsymbolbecamelost

nedeitherto becomedevoidofmeaningorto

onc eptsofadif ferentnature note33 . The

edinthemihrab-likearchesof prayercarpetsare

e amples note34 . Theyoriginally ref lec ted

w h ic h s ta t es :

avenandtheearth alikenessofhislight

eisa lamp,thelampisin aglassandthe

yshiningstar...

nglampbecameaflowervaseand itwaseven-

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44/47


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t thebottomofthearch.W hatisremarkable

otifisthefactthat itpreservedacertain

tamagic,apotropaic uality.Thisassuredita

ili ationofitsorigin,but inmanycountriesof

hotherwiseknewlittleof slamandcertainly

toapplythedivine nameusedinarival

ldingsandholy ob ects.

y antiumandtheA rabs:RelationsinCreteand

P 1 8 1 9 64 , p . 2 0.

A rabeske. Wiesbaden, 1949. An nglishtrans-

forthcoming.

m, p p . 22 , 2 6.

n M il e s, B y a n ti u m, a r e hi s f ig u re s G , , 1 9 ,

64,and66.

r, D e1 emploidesc arac teresarabesdans

lespeuplesChretiensde1 O c c ident, R evA rc h

06.

bisc heSc hrift eic henalsO rnamenteinder

desMittelalters Main , A kademieder

iteratur.AbhandlungenderGeistes-und

en lasse, ahrgang1953, Nr. 9 . Main -

. 467-513 thegivennumbersarethoseof the

tpublicationtodealw iththesub ec tisWalter

ueWoodenDoorsofA uvergne New ork , 1974 ,

referencesonpp.31-32.

a s s e lo t , e s C ro s se s l im o us i ne s d u X H I e s i ec l e.

24 rdmann, A rabisc heSc hrift eic hen, p. 512.

, eleventhc entury . A f terA hmed ik ry , ' A rt

enc esislami ues P aris, 1934 , p. 266, f ig. 333a

Schrift eichen,pp.512-13,fig.1,detailafter

P einturemusulmaneoupeintureiraniene, R evue

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46/47

9 38 , p . 24 , p l. X V I I I , n o . 7.

fromthesethreefragments,referstothe

y antium, pp. 19-20, f igs. 15-17.

ope, TheCeramic Artin slamic Times, A

. e d . A .U . o p e L o n do n /N e w o r k, 1 9 38 , p l .

e a r d, a C er a mi u e a rc ha i u e d e ' I s l am e t s es

s , 19 2 0 , p l . X C V I , u p pe r r ig h t.

phof thismonumentandof igs. 9, 18, 25tothe

mar nderlein, A ctingDirec torof the slamic

syofSmithsonian nstitution, reerGalleryof

f terA rmenagB eySak isian, aMiniature

I I e s i ec l e P a r is / B r u ss e ls , 1 92 9 , p l . V I . T h e

nthereistooearly.

onwithproperillustrationshasbeen collect-

mu r id C a rp e ts , A r s s l am i ca 1 9 40 , f i gs . 9 , 15 ,

7, 38,40,41,42,46,47, 49,53-56,64-69,and

p et s I , A r s s l am i ca 1 9 46 , f i gs . 8 , 10 , a nd

Sc hrift eic hen, p. 513, note1.

aryandHusseinRac hed, Stelesfuneraires

MuseeArabeduCaire . Cairo, 1932 , pl. V I , no.

ed, Stelesfuneraires , pl. X I X , no. 2721/45.

ed, Stelesfuneraires , pl. X X X V I , no. 2721/4.

elesfuneraires I Cairo, 1936 , pl. X , no.

neraires I , pls. X , no. 9820andX I I , no. 1271.

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u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0


47/47

e ra i re s I , p l s. X V I , n o . 39 0 4 an d X X I V , n o .

dialdecorationbesidestheoneshere uoted

ryandRac hed, Stelesfuneraires , pls. X X I , no.

, no .2 72 1/ 20 X X V I I I , no .1 26 7 X X X I I , no .2 72 1/ 6 X X X I I I ,

n o. 1 45 4 X L V , n o. 1 26 8 , n o. 1 50 6/ 36 0 X I I I , n o.

f un e ra i re s I , p l s. , n o .2 8 20 X X I I I , n o .1 0 88 3

I I I , n o . 83 2 1 H a s s an H a w a r y an d H u s s ei n R a c h ed ,

C a i r o, 1 9 39 , p l s. V , n o . 3 1 50 / 92 X X V I , n o .

te l es f u ne r ai r es V C ai r o, 1 9 36 , p l . X V I I I , n o .

erairesV Cairo, 1937 , pls. X I I I , no. 2721/461

unerairesV I Cairo, 1939 , pls. X X I X , no.

71 6 X X X V I , n o. 1 23 36 /1 .

slamic Calligraphy L eiden, 1970 , pl. .

rnstHer feld, Arc haologisc heReiseim

iet B erlin, 1911-20 , pp. 285-86, f ig. 275.

ofArt,R ogers und,no.27.170.79.

uhnel, D ie slamisc hen lfenbeinskulpturen.

h ru n de r ts B e r l i n, 1 9 71 , p . 3 3, n o. 2 1 , pl . X , n o . 2 1 c.

Signific antU sesofA rabic Writing, A rs

p p . 15 - 16 r e pr i nt e d in h i s o u r s s ay s o n Ar t a nd

L . A . MayerMemorialStudiesin slamic A rtand

L e i de n , 19 7 1 , p p .5 1 -5 2 .

ntury , erusalem. . A . MayerMemorialNo.

st uhnel, slamisc heStof feausagyptisc hen

hen unstabteilungundinderStaff-Sammlung

erlin, 1927 , p. 85, wheretheyareattributedto

sen, The WadeCup intheClevelandMuseum

ec oration, A rsO rientalis 1957 , p. 356.

sen, Mauric eS. Dimand, ouiseW. Mac kieand

ayerRugs Washington, D. C . , 1974 , pp. 19-23,

dX X V I I .

o n - N o n C o m m e r c i a l - S h a r e A l i k e


u s e # c c - b y - n c - s a - 4 . 0

a colloquium in memory of george carpenter miles (1904-1975)

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