Umayyad Dinars (Gold Coins of the Umayyad Dynasty)

For my scribal object, the Umayyad Dinars inscribed in Arabic were perhaps most interesting to me, as well as the objects I felt I could most elaborate upon. As I had learned in class, The Islamic World during the Middle Ages involved much transcribing on material such as papyrus and parchment, but writing took place outside of books as well, and included Monumental inscription, vessels, tiles, and in this case coins (even more than just some some coin, the dinar was the main form of currency in Islamic world and is still used today). I had learnt most of what was transcribed usually dealt with texts of the Qur’an, which was extremely prominent in the Islamic world following its emergence. Thus, it came as no surprise that inscribed on the gold coins were words from the Qur’an, with a coin stating “There is no god but God alone. He has no partner. Muhammad is the messenger of God, Who sent him with guidance and the religion of truth so that he may proclaim it above all religions” (Qur’an 9:33). The other coin contained a verse from the Qur’an too, expressing a similar truth accepted in the Islamic World. When I looked at the dates of the production of the coins, I noticed that they were scribed in the early 700 A.D. Having some prior knowledge of the Umayyad dynasty, I knew that the coin was produced during one of the first great Muslim dynasties which was an Arab kingdom. Thus, the choice of Arabic used on the coin as well as the choice of text written on the coin expresses a prevalent message that would have had significant meaning in the lives of the people who lived their lives according the teachings written in the Qur’an.