the earliest arab gold coinage / [george c. miles]
TRANSCRIPT
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THE EARLIEST ARAB GOLD COINAGE
PLATES XLV-XLVII)
G E O R G E
C . M I L E S
The coinage reform of the Umayyad Caliph
'Abd
al-Malik
b,
Marwnhasfor many
years engaged
the
interest
of
students
not
only
of Arab and Byzantine economic and numismatic
history
butalsoofthose whohave been primarily concernedwith
questions
of
iconography.
The
years immediately preceding
the
reform
are
of special interest
to the
latter,
for
within
a
very short period
of
time those responsible
for
designing
the
Arab coinage (both
in the
East, where
the
Sasanian
tradition
prevailed,
and in
Syria
and
Palestine, wherethemodelswereByzantine) abandonedthemoreor
less
faithful
imitations of Zoroastrian and Christian types, then
introduced several remarkable Muslim iconographical
experiments,
and finally fixeduponthe
severe,
non-pictorial, epigraphical
type,
which
by and large was to
characterize Islamic coinage
throughout
the centuries.
1
The year 77 of the Hijrah A . D . 696/7) wascriticalin
the
history
of the gold
dinar,
for it was inthat
year
thatthe first
reformed,purely
epigraphical type was
issued.2
Earlier in the same
year there
had
appeared
the
last
issue of an
experimental icono-
graphical type,
thatof the
Standing Caliph,strack
undoubtedly at
Damascus,sweretheUmayyad dinarsofreformed type. Preceding
The
evolution
is
expertly summarized
by
Philip Grierson
in his
article, 'The
monetary
reforms
o f*A bdal-Malik inJESHOIII 1960), pp.
241
ff . It can be
followed indetailin the
late
JohnWalker'stwoBritish
Museum
catalogues,
A Catalogue
of
th eArab-Sassanian Coins(London, 1941) and A Catalogueof th e
Arab-Byzantine
and
Post-Reform
Umaiyad
Coins
(London,
1956).
S eealso
my
review of
these
two
volumes
in
Ars
Orientalis,
III 1959),
pp.
207-213.Grier-
son's
article
(p.243,n. 2)refers to additional relevant material published
since1956. To these referencesmay beadded: John Walker, Monnaiessas-
sanides et arabes provenant des fouillesde Bichpour in R.
Ghirshman,
Bichpour,Vol.II, Les mosaiqttes sassanides(Paris,
1956),
pp.
185-191;idem,
Oriental coins
from
the excavations at Susa in Numismat ique
Susienne
Memoires
de
la,
Mission
Avcheologique
en
Iran
Vol.
XXXVII,
Paris,
1960),
pp.51-65; and G. C.Miles,
Excavation
Coins from the Persepolis
Region
N e w
York,1959),especiallypp.
25-42.
2
Walker, BMC II
p. 84,no. 186.
205
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2o6 GEORGE C.MILES
the
Standing Caliplidinar was another experimentalissue,an Arab
adaptation of the
solidus
of
Heraclius
with
three
standing figures,
which John Walker dated before
693;
and it
appears that
still
earlier
the Arabs
had struck
copiesofByzantine
solidimodified
by
the removalofChristian symbolsbut without any specific Muslim
characteristics.
WhenWalker completedhiscatalogue of
Arab-Byzantine
coinsonly
twoissuesof
the
StandingCaliphdinar
wereknown
toexist, thoseof
theyears76(695/6)and 77(696/7).Justbeforethe volumewent to
pressI had the
good
fortuneto
receive
a
pencil rubbing
of a
specimen
of
the
year
74
(693/4)which
I
communicated
to
Walker,
and he was
ableto
make mention
of theexistenceofthiscoinin his
preface
and
elsewherein thevolume (pp.vi, xxxi andIv).It is now in thecollection
oftheNational
Museum
ofPakistan, Karachi. Subsequently,in
1963,
I was shown another dinarofthis type, dated 75
(694/5).
This coin has
nowbeen acquired by a private
collector,
Mr. Robert W. Morris, who
has been goodenoughto lend it to me for
close
examination. These
unique
specimens
of the
years
74 and 75 of the
Hijrah deserve
pub-
licationand I amhappyto beabletodescribeandillustratethem
here.3 The occasion also presents a suitable opportunity to bring
together in oneplace all the available information regarding the
Standing Caliph dinars
of 76 and 77
H. swells
the
earlier
transi-
tional
gold
types, to
illustrate
some of them, and to makesomeobser-
vations regarding the
chronology
of these rare and interesting coins.
In the courseofpreparing this article I havefrequently consulted
with
my
friend
Philip Grierson on certain points and he has been
good
enough
to put at my
disposition
the
preliminary drafts
of two
shortpapers which he had contemplated Publishing on the chronology
of
the
earlier issues.
I am
most grateful
to
him
for
thiscourtesy.
Specific
acknowledgment
ofsomeofhiscontributionsto thediscussion
willbefoundin thebodyof thearticle.
The
gold coins described
in the
inventory
that follows may be
grouped under three
headings:
A) Arab imitations of Byzantine
3
May I here
express
my
warm
appreciation to Mr.
Morris
forallowingme to
photograph and publish hisbeautifulcoin; and to Dr. F. A. Khan, Director of
Archaeology
inPakistan, for
permitting
me topublishthe specimenof 74 H.
and to
illustrate
it
from
photographs
kindlyfurnished
me by M. Raoul
Curiel.
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EARLIEST
ARAB GOLD COINAGE 207
solidi;4B) the Arab adaptation ofHeraclius'stypewith
three
stand-
ing figures; C) the
Standing Caliphtype.
A. ARAB
IMITATIONS
OF
BYZANTINE
SOLIDI
1 Imitation
of a
solidus
of
Phocas.
TheCabinet des
Medaillesin
Parishasrecently acquiredanImitation
ofasolidusofPhocas (21
mm.,
4.33 grams), whichM.Jean Lafaurie
proposesto assign to the Sasanians,5 but whichI believeis to be
attributedto the Arabs. An ordinary Constantinopolitan solidus of
Phocas
A.D.
602-610)
is
illustrated
in
PLATE
XLV,
i
6
Note
the
crosses on orb and crownon the
obverse,
the cross on the orb and
the transverse bar of the chrismon on the reverse. The Imitation,
overstruck,
s
Lafaurie observes,
on a
solidus probably
ofMaurice
Tiberiusor ofJustinian, isillustratedinPLATEXLV,2.7Note herethe
omission of the transverse barsof thecrossesand the chrismon.These
indubitably intentional omissions, or deformities, of the Christian
symbolsare comparable to those on the Arab dinars oftypesB and C,
and also to the transf ormation
of
the cross on steps
into
a
starf
termi-
nating
in a globe or
ball
on
certainof
the
earlyArab
gold
coins ofNorth
Africa.
8
The
questionof
theprobable
approximate
date
ofthis
coinand
of
theother issuesofgroupA andgroupBwillbediscussed
below.
2. Imitation of a solidus of Heraclius and Heraclius Constantine.
Property of Mr.George Allen (Hesperia Art) o fPhiladelphia, to
whom
I am
indebted
for
permittingme
to
include thisspecimen
in
the
inventory.
20
mm., 4.36 grams
/
4Surelyto be dismissed
s
pure fantasy is the ingeniousattribution by Prince
Philip of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha ofcertain barbarous solidi ofAnthemius and
Heraclius to
Musailimah (the false prophet
of Abu
Bakr's time)
and a
certain Salmn
b.
Rabrah
in the
army
of Abu
'Ubaydullh
b.
al-Jarrh
died 18H .) .
RBN 1891,
pp.297-356,and 1893, pp.
263-278.
5
Imitationd'un
solidus
de
Phocas frappee
par lesSassanides, in
Bulletinde
la Soci ie
frcmfaise de
Num ismatiqite,
Dec.1964,pp. 412-415.
6ANS (ex E. T.Newell
Co ll.), 21
mm.,4.46 gr.,
]/
var.of BMC I, p. 162,no .i
7From
aphotographof a plaster cast madewhenthe coinwas
submitted
to
me
for
examination previous
to its
acquisition
by the
Cabinet
des
Medailles.
The
traces
of the undertype
observed
by
Lafaurie
are
scarcely visible
on the
plaster
castor the photograph.
8
SeeWalker,BMC.II, p. xli and
pls.
X and XL
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2oS GEORGEC.MILES
An example
of
-the prototype,
a
solidus
of
Constantinople,9
is
illustrated
in PLATE
XLV,
3.
Note
the
crosses
on the crowns, the
cross
in the field to the
right
of the
head
of
Heraclius,
and the
cross
on
stepson the reverse. On the Imitation
PLATE
XLV,4) theobverse
legendis
bungled
although a
few letters
arerecognizable, the cross in
the field has been eliminated entirely, the cross on
Heraclms s crown
has
been altered
and
appears
rather to be a
staff
similar to the trans-
formed cross on steps on the previoustype. Also the
place
of the cross
on
the crown of Heraclius Constantine has been taken by a simple
ball or pellet. On the reverse the transverse bar of the cross on
steps
hasbeen removed, although the horizontalbar at the top of
the cross is preserved
s
on certain of the
early North
A frican
gold.10
The
reverse legend
is
clumsily engraved
and the A s are
upside down.
3.Imitation
of a solidus
of
Heraclius and Heracliits
Constantine
Propertyof Dr. Paul Bedoukian,w hohaskindlylent the coin to
me forstudy. 21
mm.,
4.44 gr. PLATE XLV,6).
Theprototypeof this imitation isillustrated in PLATE XLV,
5.
11
Here
againitwillbeobserved
that
on theimitationthecrosseson the
crowns
worn
by the
imperial
figures
have been
deformed, that the
cross
in the field between the two heads is lacking,that the obverse
legend
is
bungled (the
only
recognizable
letters are
at the
top),
and
that
the staff on steps on the reverse resembles
that
on no. 2, above.
The engraving
on the
busts
on the
obverse
is
very crude, while
the
reverse, exceptfor the elimination of the transverse bar of the cross,
isquitea faithful copyof theprototype. The A ofVICTORIA is on its
side.
This specimenis
reported
to have been in ahoard of gold coins
foundnear or at Daphne, near Antioch. The hoard, acquired by Dr.
Bedoukianin
November
1965,
consisted
of 64
Byzantine
solidi, one
semissisandthis
imitation.
The
Byzantine coins
in the
hoard were
the
following:
9
ANS
(ex Gautier Coll.), 21mm., 4.41
gr.,
|Cf. MC I, p. 187, no.
18,
datableA .D .613-629.
10See Walker, MCII, pp.
xli
and
xliii,
andpls. X and XI.
11
A
specimen
from
the hoardmentioned below, propertyof Dr. Bedoukian,
2imm., 4.48 gr.,\ Cf. MCI, p. 189, no.41,datable 629-631.
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EARLIEST
ARAB GOLD COINAGE
209
Maurice
Tiberius 582-602),
BMCByz
2 ff.
Phocas
602-610),
BMCByz. i f f . 23
HeracliusandHeraclius Constantine
613-629)
,12
BMCByz. 10
ff. 25
Heraclius
and
Heraclius Constantine
629-631),
BMCByz. 39f f 5
Heraclius, Heraclius Constantine and Heraclonas
632-641),
BMCByz.
46ff.
2
Constans II
ca.651-659),BMCByz.
27 f f 3
Constans II andConstantineIV 654-659),
BMCByz.
38f f
2
Constans
II and
Constantine
IV
659-668),
BMCByz.
53
ff.
Constans II,
BMCByz.
69f f semissis)
i;
Constantine IV ca. 670-680),BMCByz.
7
f f 3
4. Imitation
of a solidus
of
Heraclius
Heraclius Constantine
and
Heraclonas
British
Museum, 20 mm.,4.46grams. Walker, BMC II, p.
18,
no. 54. PLATE
XLV,
8)
An
exampleof the general Byzantine prototype is
illustrated
in
Plate
XLV,
7_13
On the imitation note that the crosses have been
removedfromthe crowns and orbs, and on the reverse the transverse
arm of the cross onstepsis lacking
s
on nos. 2 and 3.It is to be
observed alsothatthe Heraclian monogramin the reversefield has
beeneliminated but
that
the
letters
l and Bappear
left
and
right
of
the
vertical
shaft seebelow,
p.
228).
5.
Imitation
o f a solidus of
H eraclius
Heraclius Constantine and
Heraclonas
A
specimen very like
no. 4 has
been brought
to my
attention
by
Mr.
Philip Grierson, who in 1961 received a pencil rubbing of the
coin from
a NewYork dealer.The specimenwas at that time the
property
of
aSouth Americancollector.Ihave examinedtherubbing,
averyunsatisfactoryone,butclear enoughtoshowthatthecoinis in
12
I
follow
Philip
Grierson
in
NC
1959, pp.
152-154,
in dating the
solidi
of
Heraclius.
18ANS48.19 ex
Gautier
ColL), 20mm., 4.40gr.,|Cf.BMC
I
p.191,no.
61,
datable 632-641.
14 Notes13
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210
GEORGE C.
MILES
all respects similar to no.4 except that the letter I appears in the
reverse field at the left of the cross and the letter T at the
right.
T he
letters
following
A V
M
are not
certain.
B. A R A B A D A P T A T I O N OF
HER A CLIUS S
TYPE WITH THREE
S TANDINGFIGURES
The obverse of this type is in general similar to the obverse of no. 4,
but
with
theeliminationof thevertical shafts eventhevestigesof the
crosses on the crowns have disappeared, and the orbs have been
converted into a sort of knob terminating the vertical line,in origin
the edge of the imperial robe but now giving the impression of a
staff,
14
eventhough
the
vertical line does
in
fact
join the
bottom
hem
of
the robe. On the reverse the deformed cross on steps
occupies
the
center of the field and the vertical
shaft
terminates in a knob. This
symbol appears
on half
dinars
of
North
Africa and
Spain,
on a
bronze
of North
Africa
dated
80
H. (A.D. 699},
15
and also on the
Standing Caliph type of dinars described below. To the
left
of the
shaft
appears
the letterB, to the
right
the
letter 1
The
surrounding
legend
in simple
Kufic
characters reads eJb-j l Y i i V t t \ ^
4 lJ ;
JU*,
In thenameofAllah, thereis no god butAllah,he is
one; Muhammadis the messenger of Allah, thus unmistakably
establishingtheAraband Muslim characterof thecoin.
Eight specimensofthisissue have been recorded.16
6.AmericanNum isma tic Society (permanent
loan from
the
Uni-
versity
Museum,
Philadelphia),
20
mm., 4.35grams,
/
Miles,
ANSMN
3(1948),p. 97, no.
i
(PLATEXLV,9)
7 British
M useum,
21 mm .,4.42 grams. Walker, BMQXX (1955-
56),p.15,no. 6. (PLATEXLV, 10)
14Perhaps the qadib? Seebelow,p.220,and myarticle Mihrb and'Anazah:
a study in earlyIsiamiciconography, inArchaeologica Orientalia inMemoriam
Ernst Herzfeld (Locust
Valley,
1952), p. 165.
16SeeWalker, BMC II, pp.xli,xliiiand
pls.
X and XI.
16The
inventory
which follows
corrects
and
Supplements
a
listing
in my
article,
A Byzantine
bronze weight
in the
name
of
Bisr
b. Marwn, , in
Arabica
IX
(1962),
p. 116, n. 2.
Now there arenine specimens: while this articlewas inpressDr.PaulBe-
doukianhas
acquired
one (4.40gr.).
f co
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EARLIEST
RAB GOLD COINAGE
211.
8. Staatliche Museen, Berlin, 19
mm.,
4.50 grams. H.
Ntzel,
Katalog dero rientalischen Mnzen, I (Berlin, 1898), no. 21, pl.I, S
(wrongly
marked
M ).
See Lane-Poole,
1875,
pp.
256-257,
no.
8j
Philippe
de Saxe-Cobourg, RBN 1891, p.
305;
H.
Ntzel
in Tnidi
Moskovskago
Numizinaticheskago Obshchestva
III, 1905,
pl. V, 5
Walker,BMC II, p. 18, B.2.
9.
Cabinet
des
Medailles,
Paris, 18 mm.,
4.40 grams.
H.
Lavoix,
Catalogue des
monnaies musuUnanes
de la
Bibliotheque
Nationale I
(Paris,
1887),
no. 26. Not
illustrated.
10.
Arkeoloji
Mzeleri,
Istanbul,
19 mm., 4.29 grams. Ism Il,
Ghlib,
Meskkt-i
QadTme-i Islmiyeh Qataloghi I (Constantinople
1312H . ),no. 50. Not illustrated.
11.
Property of M meN.
Kapamadji, Paris,
21
mm.,
4.32 grams,
Mentioned
by J.
Lafaurie
in
Bulletin de la Societe Fmngaise 'd
Numismatique,Dec.
1964, p. 4i3-17
PLATE XLVI, i)
12. In the
trade,
present whereabouts
unknown,
20
mm., 4.48
grams.
Santamaria
Auction Catalogue, Rome, May 4,
1961,
no.277.,
13. In an unidentified private
collection, Rome,
1956. Penci,
rubbing communicated to meby Mr. R. E. Hecht,
Jr.
18
I have
been
able to distinguish two
obverse
and three
reverse
dies;
of
this
issue. Obverse A ) : nos. 6, 8, 9,
n
Obverse
(B):
nos. 7,12,,
and
(probably)
13.
Reverse (a): nos. 6, 8, 9,
n
Reverse (b): nos.
7,
12.Reverse
c ) :
13.
An illustration of the
Istanbul
specimen, no.
10,,
has recently appeared in
Islam Ansiklopedisi,
s.v.
sikke, fasc. 108,
(Istanbul,
1966), pl. I,i The
obverse
die is perhaps
(A),
the reverse;
almostcertainly
a),
but the quality of the reproduction is such that
positive
identification cannot
be
made.
Thepencil rubbings of no.
13,
are notvery clear.
171am indebted to Mme Kapamadji for
providing
me with a photograph
(taken at the
Cabinet
des
Med ailles)
of
this specimen.
18In the
listing referred
to in n.16
above,
I
expressed
the
opinion
that
this,
specimen
might
be the same s the oneoffered bySantamaria (no.
12
above ,
but a
reexamination
of the
pencil rubbing
shows
that
it is
not.
4
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212
GEORGE
C.MILES
C.
S TANDING CALIPH DINARS
Year
74
14.Standing
CaliphDinar,
74 H.
(A.D.693/4). NationalMuseum
of
Pakistan (NM1957.1036),
18.7
mm.,4.39 grams. See Walker, BMC,
II, pp. vi,xxxi,Iv. (PLATEXLVI,2)
Obv.:Standingfigure oftheCaliph, wearing Arab
headdress
19and
robe,righthand restingonhiltof sword inscabbardhanging
diag-
onally
from thewaist,
left
hand resting onscabbard;cord,
termi-
nating
in
three
Strands, dangling
from
region
of the
waist
below
the
Caliph's right elbow. Margmal legend, beginning at 12:30 o'clock:
4
J y JU^
sJb-2 4 5 i 1
4 J i
V
s
Area enclosed
by a
partly
linear, partly beaded border.
Rev.:
Shaft, or
staff,
terminating
in orb or
knob,
on
four
steps.
Marginallegend, beginning
at 12:30
o'clock:
tjyu*j x>j \ ^ J
JA
e i f ^ > m t^ j "In the
name
of
Allah,
this dinar
was struck in the
year 74. Scratched
in the
right
field
theletters:
c X < ^ .
Area enclosedby alinear border.
Year
75
15. Standing Caliph Dinar, 75 H. (A.D.694/5). Robert W.Morris
Collection. 21mm., 4.46 grams,/ (PLATE XLVI, 3 and PLATE
XLVII,10,enlarged).
Obv,:
Similar
to no.
14, with
variations
in
design
of
robe
and
scab-
bard.
Rev.:
Similar to no.14,but date reads:
fjv^j
A L , in the
year 75.
19
Walker was
convinced
BMC II, p.xxx)thattheCaliph bothon the
dinars
and on most of the
coppers
is
wearing
the
kfiyah. Stickel,
Lavoix,
Ntzel
andCottevielle-Giraudet thought
he was
bare-headed.There
are
goodargu-
ments
onboth sides. Myfriend Paul
Balog
hasdrawn myattention to the
figure
of
the
Caliph
atKhirbat
al-Mafjar
(R.
W.
Hamilton,
Quav tevly ofthe
Department ofAntiquities in Palestine,XIV, 1950, pl.XLV,
2), so
similar
in
general
appearanceto the figure on thecoins.Herecertainlythehairis exposed.
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EARLIEST ARAB GOLD COINAGE 213
Year76
Two
specimensofthis yearare
known
toexist,and a
third
has
been
reported.20
16.StandingC aliphDinar 76 H. A.D.695/6).CabinetdesMedailles,
Paris,
20
mm., 4.48 grams. Lavoix,
I, no.
1677
(55
bis)
= H.Sau-
vaire, RBN
1860,
p. 325=Tiesenhausen, Moneti Vostochnago
Khalifata (St. Petersburg, 1873), no. 62
=
Walker,
BMC II
p. 42,
no. P.13. PLATE
XLVI,
4)
Obv.: Similar
to no.
14, with variations
in
design
of
robe
and
scabbard.
Rev.
Similar to no.14,butpart ofmarginal legend off fian, and
datereads:
,jvu* j
C^> 5x^, in the year 76.
17. Standing Caliph Dinar 76 H. A.D. 695/6). British Museum,
20mm.,
3.99 grams (damaged). J. Walker, BM QXX
(1955-56),
p.15,no. 7.
PLATE
XLVI,5
Obv .
Samedie
s
no.16.
Rev.
Same
die
s
no.
16.
Year
77
Twospecimensofthisyearareknowntoexist,and athirdhasbeen
reported.
21
18. Standing Caliph Dinar 77 H. A.D.696/7). Formerly in the
Grossherzogliche Orientalische
Mnzcabinet
zu
Jena,
22 20mm .,
4.45grams. J. G.Stickel,
Handbuch
zur
morgenlndischen
Mnz-
kunde, II (Leipzig, 1870), no. 34= Trudi Moskovskago Numiz-
maticheskago Obshchestva, III
1905,
pl.V, 7 =
Walker,
BMC II,
p. 43,footnoteto no. P.14.
20
AninformantinBeirut
told
me in 1963
thatthere
was aspecimen in Bagh-
dad.
>
B^.W^-
(fc *v
21
The
same informant
reportedaspecimen in Baghdad.
221have been
reliably
informed that
the
Jena collection eventually
was
transferred
to
Gotha.
In
August
1965,in
reply
to my
request
for aphotograph
ofthisdinaraletter from theDirector of theSchlossmuseum Gotha
informed
me
thatthe coin couldnot befound.Stickel'sillustration is aline-drawing,
but
Ntzel's,
in theMoscowTrudi is
from
a
photograph.
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214 GEORGE
C.MILES
Obv.:Similar to no.14, with variations in design of robe and
scabbard.
Rev.:
Similar
to no.
14,
but
date reads:
^jw^j
u
< & * ,
in
the
year 77.
19.Standing C aliph Dinar
77 H.
(A.D .696/7).Cabinet
des
Medailles,
Paris, 20 mm.,4.44 grams.23Lavoix, I, no. 56 Tiesenhausen, no.
63=Walker, BMCII, p. 43, no. P.
14
=A ndre Grabar,
L Icono-
clasmeByzantin(Paris,1957),fig. 62.
(PLATEXLVI,
6)
Obv.:
Samediesno.18.
Rev.:Similarto no. 18
(different
die).24
Laterinthe
same
year,77 H.
(A.D.
696/7),s
mentioned
above,
the
reformf the gold coinage takesplaceand the
iconographical
type is
superseded
by the purely epigraphical type, ofwhicha specimen is
illustrated
in
Plate
XLVI,7.25The obverse bears the shahadah,or
declaration offaith,in the area, Qur'n, IX, 33 in the margin, and
thereversehas
part
ofQur'n,CXII in theareaand the
date
formula
inthe margin.
With
the
recovery
of thespecimens
dated
74 and 75 H. the
develop-
ment of the Arab dinar between693 and 697 is nowmostsatis-
factorily
documented. Onecannot,ofcourse,statecategoricallythat
the
Standing Caliph dinarmade
its first
appearance
in the
year
74,
but the
probability
thatnoearlier issueof thetypewillturnup is
strengthened by two reports preserved in Baldhuri's Futh al-
Buldn* 6one to the
effect
that eA bdal-Malikwas the first to strike
goldcoins, in the year 74 H. ; the other statingthat A bdal-Malik
struck dinars
in 74 H. and
again
in 75 H.
These reports
are in
cnflict
with other traditions relating that Mu'wiyah (41-60H.) struck
23
Lavoix
gives
the weight s
4.41
gr., but according to Information
accom-
panying the
plastercastkindlyfurnishedme
by the
Cabinet
des
Medailles,
the
weight is4.44gr.
21N iitx.cl'sphotographofthe Jena
specimen
makcs die comparisonspossible.
25ANS
(permanent loan f ron i
the Universily Museum, Philadelphia, 20
mm.,
4.21gr. SeeANSMN 3(1948),p. 97, no. 2. The
only
otherspecimens of
this
year,
sofarsIknow,are:BritishMuseum (Walker,BMCII, p. 84, no.186);
Cairo,
formerly
Khedivial
Library
(S.
Lane-Poole,
Cot.
o/
...
Arabic
Coins
.. .
in theKhedivial Library at Cairo
London, 1897,
no.i ; and
four
(or five ?)
specimenscitedby Tiesenhausen, no.273.
26Ed. de
Goeje,
pp.
467-468.
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EARLIEST
ARAB GOLD C OINAGE
215
gold coins,
27 specifically goldcoins depictingthe
sword-girt
Caliph,28
but thereis, of course, no numismatic evidence
whatever
to
support
these traditions and it
would
seem almost certain
that
theyare re-
flections of a
misunderstanding
or
even
of an
intent
to
credit
the
firstofthe Umayyadcaliphs
with
an important Innovation. Walker29
was
prepared
to
believe that some
of the
Standing Caliph bronze
coins may
have
been issued during the reign of Mu'wiyah, and
accordingly he assigns the Standing Caliph bronzes without the
Caliph's name or titles to ca. 670-685,
those
without the Caliph's
name
but withtitles to ca.670-690,and those with*Abd
al-Malik's
nameobviously
t
o
685-705.
He
support
his
argument
by
reference
to the reverse types (i.e., uncial and cursive M's in contrast with the
deformed cross on steps), but I do not grasp the cogency of this
argument s there are Standing Caliph bronzes with each of the
three reverse types.
It isrnyown conclusion
that
the Standing Caliph bronzes began to
be issuedunder eAbd
al-Malik roughly
at thesametimesthegold,
that
is
probably
in the
year7411. A.D. 693/4).30Most important
in
this
connection is the obvious relationship between the Standing
Caliph
motif
and thesolidiof
Justinian
II
portraying
the
Byzantine
emperorstanding
and
holding
the
cross
on
steps. Certainly
it was
this
latter issue which inspired the Standing Caliph type, the Arabre-
sponse in the ideological andiconographicalwarbetweenByzantium
and the Arabs.
81
The date now accepted for the introduction of
Justinian's new
type,
a specimen of which is
illustrated
in PLATE
XLVI,
8,32is
6^2^ just
a
year before
our
fLrst
recorded Standing
27
Cf. Walker,BMC II, pp.xxv,
xxxi,
Iv.
28
Maqrizi, Shudhr al- uqd (facsimile text
L. A. Mayer,
Alexandria, 1933,
p. 4).
29BMC
II, pp.xxxi-xxxii.
30Grierson
in
JESHO 1960,
pp.
246-247,
is
also
of
this
opinion.
31The
question
of therelationshipbetweenthe twocoinsandtheirchronology
has
bcen much discusscd. See, for examplc, in the more
rcccnt
liiorature:
Walker,BMC II,
pp.
liv-lv;
A.
Grubar,
L conoclasme
Byzantin
(l'aris,1957),
pp.
67-74; J-D.
Breckenridge,
TheNumismatic
Iconography
ofJustinian II
(New York, 1959),
pp.
69-77;OlegGrabar, Islamic
Art and
Byzantium,
Dumbarton
Oaks
Paper
s,
18
(1964),
p.
Si. Stickel's
discussion
Handb^tch,
II,
pp.43-55),
published
in1870,is excellent.
32ANS (ex E. T.Newell
Coll.j,
19
mm.,
4.31gr. > f .
83Breckenridge,
op.cit., pp. 22, 90,
dates
type II to 692-695.P. D. Whitting
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2i6
GEORGE
C.
MILES
Caliphdinar.Inthis
connection
it
should
be
observedthatamong
the
rare Arab-Sasanian coinswith reverse types
bearing the
Standing
Caliph,
obviously borrowed
from
the
Arab-Byzantine
type,
there
is
nopositive evidencethat
would
point to an
earlier
date for thesword-
girt Caliph.
The
remarkable Arab-Sasanian style dirhem
of
Standing
Caliph
type
PLTE
XLVI,9),probablystrackin Damascus, is
dated
75
H . A.D.
694/5)J8 None
of the
Arab-Sasanian coppers portraying
the
Standing Caliphis dated, but I have assigned one
from
the exca-
vations
atIstakhrto ca.80-85
H.,35
and
there
is no
reason
to
believe
that
any of the othersisearlier.
Before
turning to the questionof the datingof the Arab
dinars
before
the
year
74
H.,
I
should'like
to
discuss .a
few
details
of the
portrayalof the Standing Caliph. One detail inparticularmay be a
matter
ofsomeinterestin the
history
of
early Islamic iconography.
It is, Ibelieve, self-evident,
s
statedabove,
that
thestandingfigure
onthe
Arab coins
was
designedwith
the
thought
of
producing
arival,
sotospeak,of therepresentation of theemperor,
that
is, a
figure
of
the samegeneral appearance, but specifically Araband Muslims
opposed
to Byzantine and Christian. The emperor wears acrown;
the caliph
wears
the
kuyah-?
The
emperorholds
a
cross;
the
caliph
carries
a
sword and
is
prepared
to
draw
it
against
the
enemies
of
Islam. The emperor wears the loros, the broadembroideredandbe-
in
his review of
Breckenridge's
book
Num. Circ.,
Jan., 1960, p. 4) does not
questionthischronology.
34Two.specimens are known:ZubowCollection,HistoricalMuseum, Moscow
(Walker,
BMC I, p.
25) ;
and M.
Azizbeglou
Collection,
Teheran
(J.
Walker,
Some
newArab-Sassanian Coins, NC1952,p. no, no. 4 G. C. Miles, Ars
Orientalis,III, 1959,pl.i,no. 2). The
latter
specimen
is illustrated here. The
reproduction in
Walker's publication, copied
in
mine
in
AO,
isslightlyen-
larged; the
actualdiameter
is 33
mm.,
the weight3.75gr.
85
G. C.
Miles,Excavation Coins from thePevsepolis Region(NewYork, 1959),
p. 33, no.143. Theothers are: several in the
Teheran
Museum and in the
Cabinet
desMe'dilles,
Paris
(J. M.
Unvala,NC
1937,pp. 289-291,
nos.
13
19);andthreespecimensfrom Susa (J.Walker inAvchaeologicaOrientalia in
Memoriam Ernst Herzfeld, Locust Valley, 1952, pp. 240-241, nos. 8-10
=
Walker, BMC II, p. 82,nos. Teh. 2 and
Teh.
3); cf.
J.Walker
in Numis-
matique
Susienne
MMAI,
Vol.
XXXVII,
Paris,
1960),
pp.
56-57,
nos.
VIII
andVllla-d.
36But his
long
hairandbeardalso
resemblethose
ofChriston the
Byzantine
coin;and see n.ig,above.
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EARLIEST ARAB GOLD
COINAGE 217
jeweled
scarf, over
the upper
part
of his body;
37 the caliph wears
a
robe
or
mantle, presumably
the
burdah
of the
Prophet.38
A
particular
featureof the
representation
of the
loros
on the
Byzantine solidus
is
the mannerin which the end of the scarf is
brought
over the em-
peror sleftarm and hangsdownin
front.
Now thedetail on the Arab
dinar
to
which special attention
is to be
drawn
may or may not
have
been
inspired by
this
depiction of the loros,
but
in any case I am of
the opinion,
unfrtunately without
being able to
document
it,
that
this detail has
some
specifkally Arab, and probably Islamic, sig-
nificance. I refer to the cord, most frequentlyterminating inthree
strands, which hangs down
from
the
right side
of the
caliph s
waist,
or
from
hisright
forearm
orwrist.
This detail is represented in various ways, but in one form or
anotherit isalmost always present. On thedinarof the year 74 there
appear to be three distinct strands that descend
from
the waist at a
point just below
the elbow,
although
the
Separation
is not
clear
for
theirentire length PLATE
XLVI, 2, and
Fig.
i).On
that
of the
year
75
the cord
distinctly
beginss a single strand, descending
from
the
area of the
forearm,
and is divided into three
parts
at a point a
little
belowmid-length PLATE XLVI,
3, and
Fig.
2). On the
Paris
and
BritishMuseum specimensof the year 76 (both from the same die)
theupper portionof the cord, descendingfrom nearthe elbow, again
is single and the division into three strands occurs near the bottom
PLATEXLVI,
4, 5, and
Fig.
3).Finally, on the two
specimens
of the
year
77
(both
from the
same die)
the
cord hangs
in a
single strand
from
a point just below the elbow and is divided into three tassels
very near the bottom
PLATE
XLVI, 6, and Fig.
4).
39
Here the single
stand is represented by a series of closely placed dots,
giving
the
impressionthat
the cord is knotted or woven.
On
the
bronze coins
of
Standing Caliph type
this
detail
of the
costume varies considerably
at the
different mints.
At
Iliy Filstm
(Jerusalem) three short strands are bunched closely at the waist
37See
Breckenridge,
op.
cit.,
pp.
35-36.
38
For
Muhammad s
burdah
(also
burd ,
see
Dozy,
Dictionnaire
ditailU
des
noms des vetements (Amsterdam, 1845), pp. 59-64; A. J. Wensink, A
Handbook
of eavly Muhammadan Tradi t ion (Leiden, 1927), p. 46.
39I am indebted to
Miss
Joan E. Fisher for
ihese drawings.
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l
GEORGE C.MILES
Fig.
i
Fig. 3
Fig.
2
Fig.
(PLATE XLVII,1-2)
;
40at
iHalab
and Manbij,two Strands or aloop
(PLATEXLVII, 3-4);41
at
Halab,
two
longStrands
or
perhaps only
one, if theinnerlineistakensthe
e ge
o f the robe) (PLATEXLVII,
40?
A NS64.139
(gift
ofMrs. RogerW.Straus);ANS ex-E.T.Newell Coll.=
M II,
pl.VI,
ANS.5).
41A NS 54.119 purchased in
Beirut);
ANS 49.163
ex-W.
L.Wright Coll.).
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EARLIEST
ARAB
GOLD COINAGE
219
5);42at
Hirns
and
Sarmln,
along
single
strand (PLATEXLVII,
6-7);
43
at Qinnasrin,a
single broad patterned band
(PLATEXLVII,8)
;
44and
at 'Amman,
three
distinct
strands quite clearly hanging
from the
wrist
or forearm
(PLATE
XLVII,
g).
45
Other
variations can be ob-
served inplates
VI-VIII
of
Walker's
catalogue.48 On the dirhemof
Arab-Sasanian type in the Azizbeglou collection (PLATE XLVI, 9)
there
are two
strands, closely bunched, descending
fromtheelbowor
the waist; in theline
drawing representing
thespecimenin
Moscow
no
cords
are
visible.
How
is
this
detailof the
Caliph's
dress to beinterpreted?Stickel,
referring
to
comments
by
Fraehn
in an
article
not
accessible
to
m e,
47
suggested
three
possibilities: a
rosary ( Rosenkrantz ),
a
broa.d
loosesleeve ( ein langervomrechten Arme herabhngender Schlapp-
rmel ),
or a
whip
with
three lashes ( die j s Peitsche,
die
Omar
zuerst einfhrte,
eine
dreiriemige
Peitsche, or the Chalifen-
peitsche ).
In
his
description of the
Jena
dinar he speaks of it san
object
with
a
corded
or
braided(?)
haft endingin
three points ( ein
Gegenstandmit
umwickeltem Stiele,
in
drei Spitzen
auslaufend.
,
.
das ist jedenfalls die
Chalifenpeitsche ).
Ntzel, in describing the
same specimen, uses the words vom r. Arm hngen anscheinend
Bnder herab, i.e., whatappear to be ribbons (orcords). Walker48
suggested the possibility thatthe cord or cords represent the
ends
of
the girdle.
Grabar
49
implies
thatthe
detail
in
question
is the
vestige
of
the end of the loros
depicted
on the
solidus
ofJustinian.
These are,
to
my
knowledge,
theonlypublishedinterpretations.
42
ANS
54.119
(purchased inBeirut)
G. C.
Miles,
Ars
Orientalis
III
(1959),
pl.I,
18.
43ANS63.197(purchased inBeirut);ANS47.99 (giftof H. W.Bell).
44ANS
(unrecorded
provenance).
45ANS 54.112 (gift ofHenri
Seyrig)
= G. C.
Miles,
Ars
Orientalis
III
(1959),
pl.I,21.
46
Walker (pp.
xxix-xxx) notedsome
of the
characteristics
at
different
mints:
at
'Amman
the bands
seem
tofall
almostlike
a
maniple,
onsome
specimens
of
Halab the object
appears
saloopor a
single
band;at
some
other mints
(Harrn,al-Ruhand mintless ),the
bands
areomitted.
47In
ErgzgsU z.
Jenaisch. Lit.-Ztg.
1882,
No. 57, p.70;
Stickel,Handbuch II
pp.
26-27, 43-
48P.xxix.
49
DOPapers18(1964),
p.
71.
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220 GEORGE
C.MILES
I have spent a good
deal
of time and have taxed the patience and
goodnatureofmanyfriendsintryingto find asatisfactory answerto
this
iconographical riddle.
I
nrast
confess
at the
outset
that I
have
failed.
I am notsatisfied
that
any one of the published interpretations
ismoreconvincing than another,nor do I find any of the alternative
Solutions
proposed
bythosewithwhomI
have discussed
thematter
wholly satisfactory. Despite my failureto solvethe problem I am
still
convincedthat there
is a
problem
and
that this detail
of the
Caliph's dressor"outfit" has ameaning,thatitconveyed
something
quite
intelligibleand
significant
to
e
Abdal-Malik's contemporaries.
One
mightthen dismissthematter with this
confession
offailure,but
in
view
of the
effort that
has
been expended
in examining the
various
possibilities it may be ofsome use to
future
inquirers, if any, to
summarize
the lines of investigation I have pursued.
Beforediscussingthepublished interpretations Ishouldmake the
general
observationthatthereseemsto be no evidence
that,
with the
possibleexception
of
the signet ring and cord (seebelow,pp.
223 ),
this
detail represents
any of the official
insignia
of the
Caliphrecognized
in
written
tradition. Thereare noauthentic detailed descriptionsof
the ceremonial
dress
of the
orthodox
or the
Umayyad Caliphs s there
are of the
*Abbsids.
50Abu Bakr presided over the prayers in the
izr
(a close-fitting
garment wrapped around
the
waist
and legs) and
rid acapeorcloak
worn
overthe shoulders).51 It isonlyin the
'Abbsid
period
that
certain relics of the Prophet are generally
recognizeds theall-important Caliphalinsignia ^lmahor
shrah]
:
the
mantle burdah],
the
staff qadib) and/or
the
sword,
and the seal
orsignet ring
khtam
or
khtim}.
sz
In
later
times
many
otherinsignia
50Professor G.LeviDellaVida kindly referred nie toHill
al-Sbi',
Rusm
dar
al-khilfah
(ed. 'Awd, Baghdad,1964, pp.
90-91)
andE.Tyan,Institutions
du droit public
musulman,
I (Paris, 1954), PP-489-496.
"Reuben Levy,
"Notes
on
costume from
Arabic
sources,"
JRAS
(Great
Britain
andIreland),
1935,
p.328.
52See,forexample, Ibn Khaldn, Muqadd imah (ed. Quatremere), II, p. 57
(=F.Rosenthal transL, Pantheon Books,
1958,
II, p.65),whereinspeakingof
thesealhesays, "The ruler. . .
wore
theseal ringsaninsignia, exactlysthe
Prophet's
cloak
al-burdah]
and stick
al-qadlb)
were
used
in the
'Abbsid
dynasty."
Seealso Tabari III, p.455, with referenceto the
succession
of
al-Mahdi,andTabariIII, p.1646,on the occasionof the recognition of the
Caliph al-Mu'tazz; also I> .
Sourdel, "Questions
de
ce're'monial
c
Abbaside,"
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EARLIEST
A R A B
GOLD COINAGE
221
and
accoutrementsplayed
a
part
in
great
ceremonies,53but
they
can
haveno
relevance here.
As
for
the
published
interpretations mentioned
above:
1.
Rosenkrantz ,
orrosary. I
have
found no
evidencethat
the
Prophet
or the
earlyCaliphscarried
a
rosary,
nor
would
it in any
case
have
dangled fromthe position usually depicted on the coins.
2. Ein langer. . .Schlapprmel ,orbroad
loose
sleeve.In avery
fewcases the dangling
object
might perhaps be interpreted
s
such a
sleeve,
but in the
great majority
of
examples
it in no way
resembles
a
sleeve;
and
also
it
might
be
remarked
that
excessively wide sleeves
weretraditionally condemned.
54
3.
Chalifenpeitsche ,
or Caliph'swhip, which 4
Umar
first intro-
duced. The whip
(dirrah)
of the Caliph
*Umar,
withwhich he issaid
to have scourged dishonest merchants, drunkards and other
offenders
on
the
spot
she roamed the markets by day and thestreetsby
night,
is wellknownin
traditional
literature. Tabari, for exaraple,55
says:
l^, t-^y^j s j J l J -
^y
Jjljj There is aproverb
Umar's
whip
is more terrible than another's
sword. 56
He is reported to
have beaten one of his own sons to death (with a
wh ip?
for
drunkenness.
57But
there
is, I
gather,
no
evidence whateverthat
the
whipwas an officialelement of the early Caliph's ceremonial dress or
Rev. des tudes
Islamiques,
1960,
p.
135;
M.
Canard, Ceremonial fat imite
et ceremonial
byzantin,
Byzantion,
31
(1951),
p.
389.
Levy, op.
cit.,
pp.
330-331,
mentions
the occasionwhen
al-Amln
during the storming ofBaghdad
in198H. was
forced
to
send
out the r id (orburdah) ,
sword
and staff stokens
of
defeat.
For the
burdah
see
especially Dozy,
op.
cit.,
pp.
59-64,
and
Wensinck,
op.cit.,p. 46.Al-Mansris
credited with
the
adoption
of the burdahs
part
of
the
omcialcostume
of the Caliph (Levy, op.cit.,p.
330).
For the
qadib
see the
references in my article referred to above (n.
14 ,
p.
165;
and Levy, op.
cit-,
p.
329.
For the
seal
(khtimor
khtani)
seeJ5M.
1
,
s.v.,
and
Wensinck,
op.
e i l ? . -
s.v. seal-ring.
53
Canard,
op.cit.,p.
388,
and L. A.
Mayer,
Mamluk
Costume
(Geneva,
19521 ,
passim.
54 I
owe
this
latter
observation
to
Joseph
Schacht.
Mas'di (Mtirj, VII,
p. 402) says that the 'Abbsid Caliph
al-Musta'In
introduced the practice
ofwearing wide sleeves,
a l-akmm
a l-wsi ah .Al-Tirmidhl, however,wrotethat
the companions
wore wide sleeves (Wensinck,
op.
cit.,
p.
46).
55
Tabari
I, p.
2749;
and cf.
idem,
I, p.
2571.
56Sir
William Muir,
TheC aliphate yd
ed., London, 1898),
p.
202.
57
Al-Nuwairi,Nihyat al-amb,IV(Cairo,
1935),
p. 90; seeTabariI, p.2388,.
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222 GEORGE C.MILES
equipment.58 Therecognized insigniaof the 'AbbsidCaliphshave
been
briefly
discussed above. In
short,
whilesomeof the represen-
tations,
perhaps especially those
with
tliree strands
or
lashes,
do
resembleawhiphanging from the
Caliph's
arm or waistthereis no
literary documentatiorithatwouldsupportthisInterpretation
of the
object.
4. Ntzel's description
( Bnder ,
ribbons or cords) suggestsno
specificInterpretation.
5. Walker's Suggestionthat the cord or cords may represent the
ends
of thegirdleisplausible.Theusual wordfor themilitary girdle,
sword
belt
orbaldricis
mintaqah
later
known
s
hiysah.
59
It appears
that
among
the
Symbols
of
officeintroduced
by the
Umayyads
was a
special girdle
of
silver,60
but
there
is no
testimonythatthis
was one of
theprime insigniaof the Caliph.Ifindeedtheobjectis the end of the
girdle,
we must assume
that
the die-engravers wereattempting to
represent
somethmg
hanging
from the
waist,
not from the arm
or
wrist.
6.
There
can, of
course,
belittle
doubtthatboth
the
general
con-
cept
of the
Standing Caliph
figure and
certain
of the
details were
inspired
by
Justinian II's
standing
emperor
type, and it is by no
meansunlikely
thatthe end of the
loros hanging over
the emperor's
armmay well have provided the idea for a
similar
or parallel icono-
graphic
elernent
on the Arabcoin.But whilesGrabar suggests, the
numismatic prototype of the dangling object may be the loros, it
581am indebted to
Giorgio Levi Della Vida
and to
Muhammad
abu'l-Faraj
al-'Ush
for
combing
theliteraturefor any
reference
that
might
suggest
that
the
dirrah
was an
officialemblem
of the Caliph. The
former
has pointed out to
me
thatthe
whip
was
carrieds
a
symbol
ofofficeby the
muhtasib
and
thatthis
practice might perhaps
be traced
back
to the
example
of'Umar.Cf. E. W.
Lane,An account of themannersand customsof themodernEgyptians (sth
ed.,
London, 1871), I, p.
155, where
mention ismade of
on-the-spot
flogging of
dishonest
merchants,
etc.,by themuhtasib.
59
Dozy,
op.
cit.,
p.
145;
and
Mayer,
op.
cit.,
pp.
25-27, with fllreferences
to
Maqrizi
and Qalqashandiin n. 8, p. 25.
coLevy, op.
cit.,
p.
329.
Mas'di, in the same
passage cited
in n. 54above,
rites:
iJ JI
s\ \j
jklxlij C /U I
4iJi
L U U
The Caliph al-Mu'tazzissaidtohave beenthe first to use
gold
for thepurpose,
and inMamluktimes the girdle was of silver, silvergilt,or even of gold (Mayer,
op.cit., p.
25). Dozy
(loc.
cit.) observes
that the mintaqahor hiysah was
always
of
silver
or
gold, neverleather
or
cloth.
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EARLIEST ARAB GOL COINAGE 223
is no longer the
loros
but rather an Arab and Moslemceremonial
detail designedtotakeitsplace.
It
remains
to
speak
of a
few
other
possible interpretations, some
that haveoccurred to nieand others
that
havebeensuggested by
scholars
with
whoraI
have discussed
the
problem.
7.Mandil (orm indil}. Professor Joseph Schacht,to
whom
I am
indebted
for a
search
in the
relevant
literature,includingthe Madkhal
of Ibn al-Hjj, has suggested the possibility of the
mandil.
It is
defined
in
variousways
but chieflysa
sort
ofhandkerchiefortowel
attached to the girdle.61Levy (op. cit., p. 327) mentionsthemandfl s
one
item
in a
complete
outfit
of
silken garments presented
to a
poet
by the
famous
minister
Shib
Ism'ilb.'Abbd.
8.Fatilh.
Professor
S. D.
Goitein
has
calledmy attention
to a
possible connection between the cord or cords and the Hebrew
petillm
Arabic
fatloh, cord
or
wick .
In
Genesis
38:18
Tamar
demands
of
Judah three
tokens or
pledges
in
order that
she may
identify
him
s
the man
who lay
with her:
thy
signet, and thy
bracelets
[or
cords],
and thystaff; and in
Genesis
38:25:
the signet,
and bracelets [orcords], and
staff.
Obviously
these three
were
a
man's
most personalidentifyingbelongings or insignia. According
to
Speiser,
who
translates
the
passage,
your
seal-and-cord,
and the
staff youcarry, the first two words go together, i.e., the seal on the
cord, 62and heobserves
that
inancient
Semitic times
thecylinder
sealwas of allthingsthemost important meansof identification, and
thatit was
pierced
for
Suspension.
Soalso,
Speiserremarks,
was the
staff
a
distinctive means
of
identification;
cuneiform
records
of the
old
Babylonian period
often
mention
the
bukanum
anobject which
looked
like a
pestle
and
which
changed
hands
tosymbolizethe
con-
61
Dozy,
op.
cit.,
pp.
414-418,esp.
p.
414,
n.
i
62E. A.
Speiser, Tlie
Anchov
Bible:Genesis,
Introduction and
Notes (New York,
1964),p.298,n. 18. Professor Goitein,
however,
writesmethathe disagrees
with Speiserintraiislating seal-and-cord
sthough
thecord were
only
a
means of carrying the seal, for the Hebrew
text,
especially in v. 25, does not
permit
such anInterpretation. HermannGunkel,Genesis
(6th
ed., Gttingen,
1964),
p.
416,
translates
Siegelring,
Kette
und
Stab,
and
remarks
that
the
ancient Egyptians
and the
Arabs wore such cords with amulets attached.
J.
Wellhausen
Reste
arabischenHeident^lms,srded., Berlin,
1961,pp.
165-166)
speaksof
amulet
cords worn aroundthe
waist.
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224 GEORGE C.MILES
clusion
of
certain types
of
transactions.63Certainlytheobject
on
the
reverse
of the
coins
of
typesA I
, B and C, and on
certain
of the
North
African
and
Spanish coins
of
Arab-Byzantine type,
i.e.,
the
symbol
which
took the
place
of the Christian cross, may be interpreted
s
a
staff. Might
not the
eords
on
ourcoins
be the
fatiiah, designed
to
representthe
cords
and
signet,
thelatterofcoursebeing too
small
for
the
die-engraver
to
depict
on the
coin? But
on the
other hand
there is noevidencethattheearly
Moslem
Arab carried his seal ring
on
acord.64
9.Tikkah.
I
owealsotoProfessorGoiteinanalternative Suggestion.
The
tikkah
65
is usually
defined
sabandorcord
used
toholdup the
drawers;
theirends,inLane's timeinEgypt,wereembroidered with
coloredsilks.Admittedlythis cord
was
ordinarily concealedunder
the
outer clothing,
but,
according to
al-Washsh',
66 the tikkah was
associated with the seal in the same manner
s
thatdiscussedin the
preceding paragraph. Also,my friend Muhammad
abu'l-Faraj
al-
*Ushpointsout
that
al-Washsh'usestheword
tikkah
in the same
sense
sm intaqah(see above, paragraph
5).
10.
Dhu bah.
67
The lexicographers
define
this
word s
anything
thathangsdown
loosely;...
theendofawhip;.
thethongorcord
whichisattachedto thehilt ofa
sword)
andwhichissometimes also
made
fastto theguard,and atother
times
hangs
loose
anddangles. 68
Afterthisdigression I return now to the question of the dating of
the
dinars
(or
more
properly perhaps Arab
solidi )
which preceded
63See
also Gustaf Dalman,
Arbeit
und
Sitte
in
Palstina
Vol.
V
(Gtersloh,
1937).
PP-
277-278.
64
In the
hadith
the
principalconcern
is
with
the
proper hand
and finger on
whichtheringis
worn,
themetal,inscriptions,etc.SeeWensinck,op.cit., s.v.
seal-ring.
65Lane,
Lexicon
I
p.
310,
Dozy, op.
cit.,
pp.
95-99;
cf.Lane,
Modern Egypt-
ians I p. 36.
66Kitb
al-Muwaslislia (ed.Brnnow,Leiden,1887), pp.
125,
173.
67Lane,Lexicon I, p.949.
68Cf. F. W. Schwarzlose,Die
Waffen
deralten
Araber
(Leipzig, 1886), p.
165,
in
the sectionon the sword: AmGriff befand
sich
einRiemer oder eineRiemer-
schlinge,
ZA*/*,
welche
mit
einem Nagel
daran
befestigt
war,
und an der das
Schwerclt aufgehngtwurde. Thesedefinitionswouldbeattractivewereit not
for
the
factthat
inmost
cases
the object
definitely
does not
hangdown
from
the
hilt
of the
sword.
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EARLIEST
ARAB
GOLD COINAGE
225
the
Standing Caliph type
of 74 H. ( A . D .
693/4). Walker assigned
the
type with
the
three
de-Christianized
standing
figures,accompanied
by the
Muslim declaration
of
faith (nos.
6-13,
above)
to a
date
before
A . D .693, and remarked that thesepiecesin all probability
were
struck
a
year
or two before... 74H . 69 So far
s
Iknow,theonly
scholar to have questioned this approximate dating is M.
Jean
Lafaurie, who, in two
articles
in the Bulletinde
la
Societefran aise de
Numismatique, and at the Spoleto
Sym posium
ofigo,
71
arguesthat
the Paris
specimen, bought from Moissenet
in 1862
(no.
9,
above),
probably
came,not
frorn
the
Autun
find
s stated
by
Lavoix,
72 but
from
the Buis hoard ofMerovingian coins, buried accordingto Le
Gentilhommein641,73and
that
the
Arab Imitation must have been
issuedbetween
636 and 640.
Lafaurie's
dating is based partly on the
probabilitythattheimitationisnearlycontemporarywiththeoriginal
type
of
Heraclius (ca.
632-641),
partly
on his
interpretation
of the
letters
I
s
an
indiction
figure
(636/7),
and
partly
on the
Buis hoard
evidence. I do not find
these arguments convincing.
One can
cite
manyinstancesof barbaric imitationsofearlier, rather than nearly
contemporary, types; the indiction figures can be
differently
inter-
preted (see
below,
n. 75); and the association of the Paris coin
with the Buis hoard is by no means certain. Lafaurie
himself
uses
cautious language: IIestplus probableque cesmonnaies provien-
nent
reellement
d'un
lot
disperse
de la trouvaille de
monnaies
merovingiennes...
,
and
comme
aucune autre trouvaille
faite
vers cette
epoque [1856] n'a ete
signalee dans
la region d'Autun,
j'ai
crupouvoir.attribuer au
me me
tresor les piecesacheteesen1862
Moissenet,
etc.;
and,
although Lavoix said
that
the
coin
was
found
at Autun, la dispersion des pieces du tresor de Buis des
s
decouverte permet de supposer avec quelque chanced'exactitude
that
the coin came fromthe Buis hoard.
In the preliminary draft of an article on the date of the transitional
69Walker,BMC II, p.
18.
70April 1959, pp. 295-297, and December 1964,pp.412-415.
71Mo neta
e
scambi
nell alto
medioevo (Spoleto, 1961),
p.
253.
72
I, pp.
XIII-XIV;
see J.
Duplessy,
La
circulation
des
monnaies
arabes en
Europe occidentaleduVHIeauXlllesiecle, RN
1956,
p.121,no.i.
73P. Le Gentilhomme,
Les
monnaies merovingiennes de la
trouvaille
de
Buis,
RN
1938,pp.133-168.
5 Notes 3
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6
GEORGEC.MILES
gold
coinage, Philip Griersonwrites: The association
of the
Buis
hoard withthe
dinar
and thetwo Merovingian tremisses saidtohave
been
found
with the
former
is at the best no
more
than
a
conjecture
which
is based simplyonthe factthatthe coins were acquired in the
same part of France at dates not far removed from one another;
thereis nodocumentary
evidence
to
support
it. It
also seems very
unlikelythatthe various scholars of the time who interested them-
selves
in the
hoard
Anatole
de Charmasse,
Harold
de
Fontenay,
Benjamin
Fillon, Anatole
de
Barthelemy
wouldhave omitted
to
mentionso remarkable a
coin
s the
dinar
if it had
made
a
part
of the
hoard.
We do not
even know
the
source
of
Lavoix's
assertion
that
the
three coins werefoundtogether,presumablyit
was
based
on
what
the
seller
of the
coinstold
the
museum,
but we are in no
position
to
judge
how
far it can bereliedon.Possibly the twoMerovingian coins were
indeed strays
from the
Buis hoard,
and the
dinar came from else-
where.
The evidence is so uncertain that we must be content to
remain
in
ignorance.
All
that
one can be
reasonably
sure of isthat the
dinar is
much
toolateto have
formed
part of the hoard, andthatthe
dating of thelatteris not an elementthatneedbetakeninto account
in
establishing
the
chronology
of the
earliest Islamic gold coins.
With regard to Lafaurie's proposed rcdating of the transitional
dinar (type B) to ca. 636-640, Philip Grierson has
written
methathe
considers
this
to be out of thequestion. It istruethatit bearsno
date, but it is impossible to separate it fromthe group of transitional
dinars and dirhams of 72-77H. which began with experimental
modifications
of
traditional
Byzantineand
Sasanian types
and
ended
with
the
purely epigraphic'types'which became normal
for
Islamic
coins.
The argument that because its'obverse type shows three
standing figures it
must have been nearly contemporary with
the
similar
type of
Heraclius
and his two
sons
carries no weight at all.
The comparable north
African
series of dinars and their fractions,
whichare
undated
but
must havebeenstruck between
the
capture
of
Carthage
by the
Arabs
in 695 and the
introduction
of a
dated series
of
adifferent typein703/4 (Indiction
II),
arealso copied
from
solidiof
Heraclius which ceased
to be
struck overhalf
a
Century
earlier.The
reason in both caseswas nodoubt the same:these coinswere
cir-
culatingingreat quantitiesat thedatewhentheArabs conqueredthe
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EARLIEST ARAB
GOLD COINAGE
country,and sincethey hadnever been withdrawn and replaced by
other types, s they had inside the imperial frontiers, they were
familir
to all and
therefore provided
an
acceptable model
for the
Islamic mints.
This
would
be
true
even
for
north Afr ica , since
though Carthage did not fall
till
695,
greatparts
of the hinterland had
been in Arabhands since the 4o s. Moreover to assumethat the
transitionaldinars
[of type B]
date
from ca. 640 would
imply
that the
reverse type of thepillar-on-steps,
replacing
the Byzantinecross-on-
steps,
wasdevisedat
thistime
and then abandoned, to be
revived
again half a Centurylaterfor the coins with standing caliph obverses.
There is in fact no good case at all for dating the dinars [of type B]
any
eaiiierthan ca.691.
In short, there is, I believe, no reason to d i ffer with Walker's
yearor two
before 693 dating;
and in my
opinion
it is
safe
to say
that this
gold adaptation
of the
Heraclius
three-figure
type wi t fc
Kufic legendis to be assignedto 72 or 73
H .,
thatis
A.D.
gi-gs.74
The following
succession
of
events
may be
proposed:
in
691
or 692
(72H) the
Damascus
mint
struck
the
gold adaptation with Kufic
legend;
in 692 (72 or 73
H.)
Justinian
II
issued
his new
type;
in 693
(74
H.)cA bd
al-Malik responded with
the
Standing Caliph dinar.75
74While the bronze uls
with
the threestandingfiguresmaywellbeearlier
(Walker suggests ca.
A .D.
650,thatis, ca. 30H. ) ,theseimitationsretain their
purely Byzantinecharacteristics
and no
effor t
wasmadeto
remove
the
Christian
symbols.
I
refer
to
Walker, BMC
II,
class
(d),
pp.
15-17.
75
Some time
ago
Philip Grierson suggested
to methatthe lettersB l on the
reverse of the dinars under discussion (nos.6-13, above) and the letters l
and I
F
on the
imitations without
Kuf i c
legend (nos.
4 and 5,
above)
may
represent the f igures 12 and 13, and that they might be indiction or r egna i
dates.If oneassumed the reignin question to be cAbd
al-Malik's,
the dates
would be 77 or 78H .,which ofcourse wouldbe too late, uniessoneassumed
that
therewasmore
than
one Arab mint issuing goldat thistime,onecon-
tinuingto strikeimitations, the other issuingthe newStanding Caliph type.
This seems
to me
very unlikely. Walker BMC
II, p.
18, note
to no. 54)
believed
the B to be a
debased form
of the Heraclian
monogram which appenrs
on
theprototype. Lane-Poolesuggested that i B was
simply
a reversal of the
value letters on Byzantine bronze of Alexandria. Returning to
Grierson's
alternatives,
if, on the
otherhand,
the
f igureswere indictions,
the
dates
w o ul d
be
639-640, 654-655,
669-670,684-685,
or
699-700,
none
of
which
w o ul d ,
in
my opinion,be
suitable. Furthermore,
Grierson
has
pointed out to me
that
indictions
are not
likely
on
coinsfrom easternmints, althoughthey were
in
use
in
North Af r ica
and Spain.
15*
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228 GEORGE C.
MILES
It
remainstomake
some
suggestions withregardto thedatingof
the
imitations
which
preceded
Class
B,thatis ofthosewhichbearno
Kufic
legends
to
identify themselves
s
Arab
issues
and
which
are
re-
cognizable s
such only by the defacementor elimination of the
crosses. These are the ones grouped in Class A, i.e., the imitation of
Phocas (no.
i),theimitationsof
Heraclius
andHeraclius
Constantine
nos.2 and 3), and the imitationsofHeraclius, Heraclius Constantine
andHeraclonas
(nos.
4 and
5).
Ofthese
only
two
have been hitherto
published
anddiscussed, nos. and 4.Walker dated the latterca.
690
;76
wh'ile
Griersonmentionsit,77 he does not suggest adate,
al~
though in the
rough
draft
of an
article
on the
subject
of
nos.
4 and 5
seep.
209)
he
inclined toward reading
l B and
I Ps
theregnal
dates
12
and 13of
'Abdal-Malik'sreign, i.e., 76/77
H. and
77/78
H.
Lafaurie
78
implies
that
it is to beplaced, along withtheadaptation ofClassB,
before 640,
an early
dating which
seems to
me,
and to
Grierson,
most unlikely.
As for no.i the
imitation
of a
solidus
of
Phocas,
the
only
published opinion
isthatof
Lafaurie.
He
argues
thatthe
coin
is
a Sasanian issue, struck perhaps at an itinerant mint or inDamascus
or
Jerusalem
sometime
between
611
and
630.
As
in the
case
of no. 4
hebelievesthatthe imitation must be nearlycontemporarywith its
prototype, andsthe Sasanians invaded Syria
shortlyafter
the
fall
of
Phocas they must have been responsible for striking the coin.
Inimical
to
Christianity,
butwishingtoplace
into
circulationagold
cointhatwouldbeacceptable to the
local
inhabitants, theyelimi-
natedtheChristian
Symbols
fromtheByzantine prototype.Lafaurie's
argument isbasedin part on the evidence of the Buishoard(see
p. 225, above) and its bearing on his proposed datingofClass
B:
Le
tresordeBuis vient, malgrece qui a
pu tre
dit, apporterlapreuve
que
cesimitations alegende
coufique,
datent de laconquetede la
Syrie
et de la
Palestine
et ne
sont
pas des
imitations
de
prototypes
vieuxde plus de cinquante ans
comme
celaest actuellement
propose.
ImustsaythatI amskepticalnotonly aboutthetenuousassociation
of one of the specimensofClassB (no.9)withthe Buis hoard, but
also about
the
possibility
of theSasanians'
having issued
an
imitation
solidus
during their temporary occupation
of
Syria.
76Walker, BMC II pp.xxiv-xxv,and
18.
77
JESHO
III (1960), p.242,n. 3. 78See nn. 5 and 70above.
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EARLIEST ARAB GOLD COINAGE 229
It seems to me
much more
probable that all five imitations of
Class A are Arab issues and
that
theyall date f rom very shortly before
the
adaptation
of
691
or
692.
The transformation of the
crosses
and
orbs into
staffs, or the
like,
on the Phocas
Imitation
is
comparable
to
that
on the Arab issue of Class B, on the reverses of the dated issues
ofClassC, and on the North
African
andSpanish issues. Noneof the
lattercan be dated before about 80H ./A.D.699 at the earliest. So also
with
theother
type
of
deformation
of the
cross,
the
horizontal
bar on
top of the shaf tonsteps,which appearson theimitationsofHeraclms
and Heraclius Constantine and of Heraclius and his two sons, com-
parable again
to
some
of the
North
African
issues.
The
idea
of
omit-
ting ortransforming the Christian symbols, retained on the bronze
issuesofSyriaandPalestineuntilatleast650,didnot,in myopinion,
occur
to the Arabs until just before the
events
leadingup to the
issuance
ofClassesB and C and the finaleliminationoficonography
in 77H ./A.D.696-7. So also in Iran the Sasanian
portraiture
and Zoroastrian
symbolism
was
retained
by the
Arabs until
the
several transitional issues were experimented with just
before
the
reform.
As Ihave said (p.225, above),Idisagree with Lafaurie in his
conclusionthatthe imitations must follow very closely in time
a f ter
their prototypes; note, for example, in the very field which we are
discussing,
the
Arab imitations
of
Justin
and
Sophia (A.D.565-578),79
a
type
dating
f rom
long
before
the
Arab conquest. Finally,
the con-
tents o f
the
hoard
in
which
one of the
imitations
of
Heraclius
and
Heraclius Constantine (no.
3) was
found
is of
interest
and
relevance.
The
prevalent
gold
coins
in
circulation
at the
time
of
burial,
ca. 680
or
shortly thereafter, appear
to
have been those
of
Heraclius
and
Heraclms Constantine of 613-629 (25 specimens) and of Phocas,
602-610 (23 specimens), and the Arab imitation copies one of these
then commonsolidi.It
would,
Ithink,at this stage befoolhardyto
attempt to propose different approximate dates
fo r
each of the
several imitations of Class A (they may be roughly contemporary with
each
other),
and Iwill ventureto sayonlythattheyare to be dated in
the
decade before
691 and
probably closer
to 690thanto 68o.
80
Walker, MCII, pp.
1-3.
80A very
brief
version ofthispaper was presented orally at the Third
Con-
gress of Arabic and
Islamic Studies
at Ravello on September 5,
1966.
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