Name of Object:

Coin

Location:

New York, United States of America

Holding Museum:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Date:

Dated Hegira 79/ AD 698–99

Type of object:

Coin

Museum Inventory Number:

99.35.2386

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Gold

Period / Dynasty:

Umayyad

Provenance:

Syria

Description:

The first Muslim rulers relied on older Byzantine and Sasanian mints to keep a constant supply of coinage in the newly converted lands. Modifications to older types occurred gradually over the first century of Islam. Crosses on Byzantine-style gold coins, for example, were the first visual elements to disappear. ‘Abd al-Malik’s gold reform in 696–97 resulted in totally new coin styles without figural imagery of any kind. Instead, coins like this one made during his reign feature the shahada (profession of the faith) in stately kufic script: “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God.”

Additional Copyright Information:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bequest of Joseph H. Durkee, 1898

Citation of this web page:

 "Coin" in Explore Islamic Art Collections , Museum With No Frontiers, 2018. http://www.museumwnf.org/thematicgallery/thg_galleries/database_item.php?itemId=objects;EPM;us;Mus23;4;en&id=calligraphy

MWNF Working Number: US3 04