COINAGE AND HISTORY IN THE

SEVENTH CENTURY NEAR EAST

2

EDITED BY

ANDREW ODDY

Proceedings of the 12th Seventh Century Syrian

Numismatic Round Table

held at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge

on 4th and 5th April 2009

ii

Published in 2010 by the Seventh Century Syrian Numismatic Round table, an informal group of

numismatists and historians whose convenors are Tony Goodwin (a.goodwin2@btopenworld.com),

Andrew Oddy (waoddy@googlemail.com), and Marcus Phillips and Susan Tyler-Smith

(senmerv@hotmail.com).

© 2010: Copyright is held by the individual authors.

Produced and Distributed by Archetype Publications Ltd, 6 Fitzroy Square, London W1T 5HJ

www.archetype.co.uk

Printed by MPG Biddles Ltd, 24 Rollesby Road, Hardwick Industrial Estate, King’s Lynn, Norfolk

PE30 4LS

ISBN 9781904982623

The publication of this volume has been made possible by generous grants from

Tony Goodwin, Ingrid and Wolfgang Schulze, The Royal Numismatic Society, The

UK Numismatic Trust and the Samir Shamma Fund of Oxford University. The

convenors are extremely grateful to them and to the advertisers:

A H Baldwin & Sons Ltd, London

Jean Elsen & ses Fils s.a., Brussels

Morton and Eden Ltd, London

Simmons Gallery Ltd, London

Tim Wilkes, Sussex

iii

CONTENTS Preface iv

The Rise of Islam and Byzantium’s Response

James Howard-Johnston 1

Symbolism on the Syrian Standing Caliph Copper Coins: A contribution to the discussion

Wolfgang Schulze 11

The Standing Caliph Type – the object on the reverse

Stefan Heidemann 23

Die Links between Standing Caliph Mints in Jund Qinnasrīn

Tony Goodwin 35

A Standing Caliph Fals Issued by ‘Abd al-Rahmān at Sarmīn

Tony Goodwin 41

New Fakes of Standing Caliph Coins

Ingrid Schulze 45

Heraclean Folles of Jerusalem

Steve Mansfield 49

New Evidence for Coin Circulation in Byzantine and Early Islamic Egypt

Tasha Vorderstrasse 57

The Single Standing Figure Type of Tiberias/Tabariya

Marcus Phillips 61

More about the coinage in Syria under Persian rule (610-630) (summary)

Henri Pottier 79

Numismatics and the History of early Islamic Syria

Robert G. Hoyland 81

Constantine IV as a Prototype for Early Islamic Coins

Andrew Oddy 95

The al-wafā lillāh Coinage: A study of style (work in progress)

Ingrid Schulze 111

iv

PREFACE This volume contains all but one of the papers presented at the 12

th meeting of the Seventh Century

Syrian Numismatic Round Table held in Cambridge in April 2009. The Round Table is a forum for

the presentation of new, and not always complete, research, and, as such, for many years was not

formally published. Many of the papers given at these meetings were subsequently published in the

Newsletter, subsequently the Journal of the Oriental Numismatic Society. In fact, the first six

meetings at the British Museum in April 1992, July 1993, December 1995, December 1996, April

1998, March 2000 were held under the auspices of the Oriental Numismatic Society. By the London

meeting of March 2000, however, the Round Table was operating independently and went on to

hold the next meeting, also in London, in October 2001. The meeting of November 2002 was held

in Birmingham and was spread over two days, as have been all the subsequent meetings in

November 2003 at Oxford, April 2005 in Cambridge, May 2007 in Birmingham, and the meeting

reported here in Cambridge.

The study of the so-called Arab-Byzantine coinage struck in Syria (modern Syria, Lebanon, Israel,

The Palestinian Territories and Jordan) has made great strides forward in the last 30 years with the

publication of catalogues of collections in the Ahli Bank in Amman, the Ashmolean Museum in

Oxford, the Khalili Collection in London, the Dumbarton Oaks Collection in Washington DC, and

the University Collection in Tübingen. These monographs, together with innumerable papers in

journals, have revolutionised the study of the coinage struck in Syria following the fall of the

Byzantine Empire in that region. Most rewarding is the increasing attempts to relate the coins to the

known history of the early Islamic State and the Umayyad Empire.

Not least, a number of die studies have shown that the coinages of Scythopolis/Baisan, Baalbek,

Emesa/Hims, and pseudo-Damascus were prolific and clearly produced in well organised mints.

For instance, only a few years ago the coins of Scythopolis were regarded as very rare with only

about 30 recorded. Now that number is well into three figures with new specimens appearing all

the time.

Of course, the growing popularity of Arab-Byzantine coins has its downside in the appearance of

modern forgeries, as exemplified by one paper in this volume. Forgeries of the earliest Islamic gold

dinars have been known for decades, but now numismatists are having to contend with modern

copies of bronze coins, and very convincing some of them are too.

The one great lacuna in the subject is the dearth of coins from excavations or with secure

provenances as a result of field walking. Sadly, most coins available for study can only be localised

according to the origin of the dealer offering specimens for sale, and that is far from reliable as the

number of Arab-Byzantine coins currently offered by a dealer in Dubai testifies. Hence it is not

safe to assume that coins have not crossed modern frontiers before being offered for sale in Europe

or the USA.

On a practical note, I must express my heartfelt thanks to Ingrid and Wolfgang Schulze who

carefully read the ‘final’ text and discovered numerous mistakes and inconsistencies. Those that

remain are the fault of the editor.

Andrew Oddy 28 June 2010

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A. Oddy (ed.): Coinage and History in the Seventh Century Near East II, Proceedings of the 12th Seventh CenturySyrian Numismatic Round Table held at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge on 4th and 5th April 2009, (2010)pp. 111 – 121

The al-wafā lillāh Coinage

A study of style (work in progress)

Ingrid Schulze 1

Class I Class IIFig. 12

The al-wafā lillāh coinage is usually assumed to be part of the Umayyad Imperial Image series.3However, the al-wafā lillāh coins are mintless. On the obverse we see a standing figure imitatingByzantine prototypes. Most of the coins have an unusual design of the robe: two curved linescrossing diagonally. The reverses show the cursive m with the Arabic inscription al-wafā lillāh,which means ‘Allah is to be trusted’ or ‘Honesty belongs to Allah’ or ‘Loyalty to Allah’, beneath.Nearly half of the coins also have this slogan on the obverse, left or right of the figure.

Alexander Kirkbride was the first to publish such coins in 1948.4 The great bulk of them have beenfound within the so-called Irbid Hoard, a part of which was published by Rachel Milstein in 1989.5There we have 41 al-wafā lillāh coins together with 11 other mintless specimens and 100 UmayyadImperial Image coins, mostly from the ‘Pseudo-Damascus’ mint. A greater part of the Irbid Hoard(about 500 coins, including 200 al-wafā lillāh coins) was bought by the Cabinet des Médailles inParis and is currently being researched by Rika Gyselen and Tony Goodwin.

1 Ingrid Schulze is an independent scholar ingridschulze@wg-s.de2 The al-wafā lillāh coins are usually very badly struck and found in a poor condition. Often an exact attribution to acertain Class was only possible by comparing the details of several coins from the same die. The pictures presented hereshow the best specimens I could find to illustrate the different classes. Fig. 1 picture 3 is reproduced by courtesy ofNayef Goussous.3 SICA = S Album and T Goodwin, Sylloge of Islamic Coins in the Ashmolean: Vol. 1, The Pre-Reform coinage ofthe Early Islamic Period, Oxford 2002, 90.4 A S Kirkbride, ‘Coins of the Arab-Byzantine transition period’, Quarterly of the Department of Antiquities inPalestine 13 (1947-1948) 59-63, nos 17 and 18.5 R Milstein, ‘A Hoard of Early Arab Figurative Coins’, Israel Numismatic Journal 10 (1988-89) 3-26.

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In the past numismatists like Michael Bates, Luke Treadwell and Charles Karukstis have written orspoken about the ‘Milstein’ part of the Irbid Hoard.6 They all complained that only a few coins areillustrated in the publication.

The aim of this article is not to reconsider or to re-evalue the Irbid Hoard. Instead I will – for thefirst time – present a typology and classification – but not a die study – of the al-wafā lillāh coins.My basis is 221 specimens in private collections7 and other examples illustrated in literature andtrade. The examination of these coins shows some interesting results and raises the question ofwhether the al-wafā lillāh coins were minted – as hitherto accepted – in only one mint or rather inseveral mints. Certain stylistic features of the al-wafā lillāh coins connect with other related coinseries. Finally I want to discuss the ‘where, when and who’ question within the historical context.

The obverse dies

The al-wafā lillāh coinage is split up into two main classes:

Class I – obverse without slogan (Types A to G)Class II – obverse with slogan (Types H to Q)

The different types of each class are defined by distinguishing marks appearing on the obverses.Class I is subdivided into Types A to G, described briefly thus:

Type A ‘figure only’ (49 coins)

Type B ‘three tassels’ at the left waistline of the figure (13 coins)

Type C ‘single Greek letter’ left or right of the figure (16 coins)

Type D ‘knot’ and stylistically related coins (17 coins)The ‘knot’ is mentioned by Milstein8 as the ‘knot of a shawl’ at the left waistline of thefigure. Her interpretation is questionable. Eleven coins with the same obverse die9

show variations in the appearance of the object in question, which might also be a bagor simply a mistake in the die.

Type E ‘ribbon’ (3 coins)This small group shows a special design in every respect. The figure looks as if it isbeing hanged by a ribbon going from its neck to the upper right field, and the depictionof the arm and the robe differs from all other coins of the series.

Type F ‘trefoils’ (7 coins) instead of crosses on the staff, on the globe, and on the head

Type G ‘bird left’ of the figure (14 coins), sometimes with additional decorations

6 M Bates, ‘Byzantine Coinage and its imitations. Arab coinage and its imitations: Arab-Byzantine coinage’, ARAM 6(1994) 381-403 (389); L Treadwell, The chronology of the pre-reform copper coinage of early Islamic Syria,Supplement to ONS Newsletter 162 (2000) 1-14 (6-10); C Karukstis, ‘Comments on the al-wafā lillāh coinage’,unpublished paper, given at the ANS Arab-Byzantine Forum, November 1997.7 I am deeply indebted to my British friends in the Seventh Century Syrian Numismatic Round Table for placing theircollections at my disposal. Without their support this study could not have been made. My sincere thanks go to myhusband Wolfgang for his never ending help and encouragement.8 Milstein op. cit. nos 27-32, Pl. 1, 27.9 Cf. e.g. SNAT = L Ilisch, Sylloge Nummorum Arabicorum Tübingen IVa, Tübingen, 1993, nos 513 and 514; SICAop. cit. no. 601; M el-Kholi, ‘Neue Aspekte zu arabo-byzantinischen Münzen mit Kaiserbild’, in: Syrien – Von denAposteln zu den Kalifen, Mainz, 1993, 501-509, no. 45.

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A B C D

E F G

Fig. 2: Class I – obverse types A to G

Types H to Q of Class II with the slogan on the obverse can be summarized thus:

Type H ‘slogan left, bird right’ (47 coins) with the slogan going downward and the bird in thelower right field. It is a difficult type to identify because on most of the coins eitheronly the slogan or only the bird is visible. Die duplicates can help the identification.For an example see fig. 3 where H(1) and H(2) are struck from the same die.

Type I ‘slogan left, bird questionable’ (9 coins) is a provisional type in so far as the bird is notvisible due to the poor condition of the coins.

Type J ‘slogan left, right arm missing’ (8 coins) with an additional wavy line in the upperright and Є in the lower right field

Type K ‘slogan right, right arm reduced’ (15 coins) with the slogan going upward; the rightarm is reduced to a small stroke going to the staff; small dots either side of the head.

Type L ‘slogan right, right arm reduced, bird left’ (2 coins)

Type M ‘slogan left, Greek letter right’ (3 coins)10

Type N ‘slogan left with first letter missing, Greek letters right’ (4 coins)

Type O ‘slogan left retrograde’ (9 coins)

Type P ‘slogan left, bird right’ (2 coins), differentiated from Type H by the extraordinary stylewith an unusual large bird, crescents either side of the figure’s head and a thin arm

Type Q ‘slogan right, staff and globe reversed’ (3 coins)

10 Cf. SICA op. cit. no. 597

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H(1) H(2) I J K L11

M N O P(1) P(2) Q

Fig. 3: Class II – obverse types H to Q

The reverse dies

There are two criteria for a classification of the reverse dies. The main criterion is the symbol orGreek letters either side of the m:

Fig. 4: Reverses main criteria

In this illustration s1 indicates a ‘bull’s head’, s2 a ‘bird/duck/cock’, and x indicates a Greek letter,usually A, N, H, O, Є with N and Є occasionally retrograde; the crosses and symbols are sometimesaccompanied by big dots or small circles below or above; crescent, star and wavy line sometimesoccur on either side of the cross above.

The secondary criterion for classification is the decoration between the limbs of the m:

Fig. 5: Reverses secondary criteria

For illustration a selection of typical reverses:

1b 2b(1) 2b(2) 3a 4a 5f 6a

11 Milstein op. cit. Pl. 1, no. 11; see too SICA op. cit. no. 599

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7b 8c 9e 10a 10b 10d

Fig. 6Even without a detailed die study, it is possible to observe a relationship between the two criteria inthat reverses 1 to 4 (cross and symbol) are not combined with reverses c, d, e, and f. The next stepis to examine the relationship between obverses and reverses, and here again there is a rule in thatreverses 1 to 4 are not to found in Class II. In other words an obverse die with slogan is nevercombined with a reverse die with cross or symbol.

Die links

Within the large number of coins of type A and of type H, many of them have been struck from thesame pair of dies (up to seven duplicates were observed). Furthermore many die links occur withinthe different types.

Fig. 7: die links within type O

The next question has to be whether there are die links between different types and there are, butrestricted to within each class.

A E12 B F H K

Fig. 8: die links within Class I (A–E13 and B–F) and within Class II (H–K)

It is thus possible to make a preliminary division of the al-wafā lillāh coinage into two Classes withdifferent features:

12 Fig. 8 Type E = Milstein op. cit. no. 26; courtesy of the Israel Museum Jerusalem, no. 1275613 A further link to Type F is recorded.

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Class I without slogan on obverse and with cross and/or symbol on reverse (119 coins)

Class II with slogan on obverse and combinations of two to six letters on reverse (102coins)

These two classes are not die linked.

If this observation is confirmed by the 200 coins in Paris14, it is possible that the al-wafā lillāh coinswere struck at more than one mint or in several successive stages of minting. However, the knownprovenances are the same for both Classes with slightly coins more from Jordan than from Israel.The average weights are nearly identical; a little bit less than 4g.

Countermarks

Five of the listed coins are countermarked, two of them with the c/m A915, a Greek monogram; oneis B4 and another B6, both seem to mean jayyid = good (cf. fig. 7). The fifth specimen is illegible.All countermarks are on the reverses, three of them applied over the slogan.

Overstrikes

It is interesting to note, that the al-wafā lillāh coins are almost never overstruck on older coins.Within the 221 coins examined, only one overstrike was found, possibly on a Pseudo-Byzantinecoin.

Relationships with other Series

There are great stylistic differences within the al-wafā lillāh coinage; some features are exclusivelyfound here. The slogan al-wafā lillāh is never used elsewhere, and the reverse types D and E (threecross hatches and double wavy lines) are not found outside the al-wafā lillāh coinage, while starswithin the cursive m, a familiar decoration on coins of the ‘Pseudo-Damascus’ mint, never occur onal-wafā lillāh coins. On the other hand quite a lot of features from the al-wafā lillāh coins are foundat other mints, in particular Tiberias/Tabariya:

1 2 3 4 5Fig. 9

– Stylistic parallels to some standing figure coins16: the posture of the figure, three tassels and adiagonal pattern of the robe (no. 1 - al-wafā lillāh, no. 2 - Tiberias), and dots within the m, star andcrescent either side of the cross above the m (no. 3 - al-wafā lillāh, no. 4 - Tiberias).

14 Recently I had the opportunity to catalogue many more al-wafā lillāh coins in the Israel Museum and from a privatecollection in Great Britain. This new material, as yet not added to this study, confirms the present result.15 The classifications of the countermarks are to be found in the list of T Goodwin, ‘Countermarks from the ArabConquest’, in: W Schulze and T Goodwin, Countermarking in Seventh Century Syria, Supplement to ONS Newsletter183 (2005) 42.16 cf. Y Meshorer, ‘An enigmatic Arab-Byzantine coin’, INJ 3 (1965/66) 32-36; C Karukstis, ‘Meshorer’s ‘EnigmaticCoin’ Revisited’, unpublished paper, given at the ANS Arab-Byzantine Forum V (1999); idem, ‘Another Visit toMeshorer’s enigmatic coin’, in Supplement to ONS Journal 193 (2007) 40-42.

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– The reverse symbols ‘bull’s head’17 and ‘bird/duck’ appear as ‘officina’ symbol on three figurecoins of Tabariya (no. 5).18

Tassels at the waist, the diagonal pattern of the robe and even an O in the upper right field (fig. 10no. 1) also occur on some coins of the ‘Pseudo-Damascus’ mint:

1 219 3 4 5Fig. 10

Fig. 10 no. 5 has the letter Λ in the upper right field (instead of O) and no tassels at the waist, butthe design of the robe and the large bird without pedestal is reminiscent of the al-wafā lillāh coins.

These are the only style-based relationships to the Umayyad Imperial Image coins. However, twosingle letters lead in a different direction; the Greek letter ρ (rho) and the letter A written in aspecial way.

The ρ on some reverses of the al-wafā lillāh coins is confusing. Generally the (meaningless) lettersare supposedly derived from the inscription ANA-NEOS of the Byzantine prototype of Constans II,sometimes with H instead of N. What, however, is the origin of the ρ, which is sometimes writtenretrograde?

1 2 3 4 5Fig. 11

The explanation could be that the die cutter was familiar with the rho from another mint. In thiscase the connections could be with the standing figure coins of Jerusalem with IЄPO-COΛY-MωN(of the people of Jerusalem) written on the reverse (no. 3), to Gerasa with ΓЄPACON written 17 For ’bull’s head’ see W Schulze, ‘Symbolism on the Syrian Standing Caliph copper coins : A contribution to thediscussion’, fig. 24 (this volume 18).18 Both symbols are also found on Umayyad post-reform coins without mint, attributed to Filastin/al-Urdunn, cf. SNATop. cit., 44-47.19 See also Milstein op. cit. no. 75.

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retrograde on the obverse (no. 4) and again to Tiberias where some of the standing figure coinsshow the mint name on the obverse beginning right of the figure as TIBEΡI∆C-OS (no. 5)20. Onmost of the three figure coins of Tabariya the rho looks more like a stroke.

The special A is written with a diagonal stroke to the left or to the right instead of an angle betweenthe limbs. This unusual letter form appears on some interesting coin series.

1 2 3 4

5 6 7

Fig. 12

Fig. 12 shows some of the connections based on the special A (no. 1 reverse detail enlarged) and inaddition an unusual design of the figure’s left shoulder (no. 2). At a first glance, nos 3 and 4 looklike Pseudo-Byzantine coins. A die link (obverse of nos 4 and 5) leads to a series characterized by ahorizontal S in the exergue.21 It is obvious that other features of the coins with a horizontal S arereminiscent of the al-wafā lillāh coins: besides the special A and a diagonal line on the robe thereare trefoils on the head, instead of a cross, (no. 6) and dots within the m, and the typical slightlybent posture of the figure on al-wafā lillāh coins (no. 7).

20 cf. also S Qedar, ‘Copper Coinage of Syria in the Seventh and Eighth Century A.D.’, INJ 10 (1998-9) 27-39, pl. 5,no. 14.21 See A Oddy, ‘Imitations of Constans II Folles of Class 1 or 4 Struck in Syria’, Numismatic Circular (1995) 142-3

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1 2 3 4 5 6

Fig. 13

The special A (no. 1 reverse detail enlarged) also leads to another ‘coin family’, struck on thicksquare flans with the words muhammad and ba’d interchangeably in the exergue of the reverse andto the left of the standing figure (no. 2), and to coins of the same fabric but with a palm branchreplacing the figure (no. 3). It is said that the Paris part of the ‘Irbid’ hoard includes some squareflan coins which probably will help. A stylistic connection from the square flan figure goes to asmall series of coins (nos. 4 and 5) which is difficult to classify. Are they Pseudo-Byzantine coinsor should they be classified as Umayyad Imperial Image coins, like the square flan coins accordingto SICA22? It is not the aim of this article to discuss the existing theories and datings23 for theseseries. The only intention is to point out stylistic relationships in view of characteristic ‘trademarks’of the die cutters. Another common feature is a retrograde Є left of the figure, which can be foundon al-wafā lillāh coins, the square-flan coins and a few ‘Pseudo-Damascus’ coins. The last coin offigure 13 (no. 6) finally leads again to Tabariya.

Provisional Conclusions

Some of the features of the al-wafā lillāh coins are observed in other series. This could be explainedby ‘travelling die cutters’ working for several towns when there was a lack of small change and newcopper coins were needed. The mint of Tiberias/Tabariya possibly worked simultaneously with theal-wafā lillāh mint(s): we saw the close connection to the single figure type of the Greek series. Thestylistic relation between Tabariya and al-wafā lillāh because of the bull’s heads and the birds orducks indicates that these symbols must have had a certain importance for the region, and theycontinue to be used on post-reform coins.

There is also a relationship between the al-wafā lillāh coins and the ‘Pseudo-Damascus’ coins.However, no stylistic connection at all is observed between the regular coins of Damascus and theal-wafā lillāh coins.

Where? When? Who?

Where was the al-wafā lillāh coinage minted?The answer is very clear and already worked out by Luke Treadwell.24 The archaeological results25

and evidence from the numismatic trade prove that the al-wafā lillāh coins are exclusively from the 22 SICA op. cit., 9023 For further reading: C Foss, ‘Anomalous Arab-Byzantine coins – Some Problems and Suggestions’, ONS Newsletter166 (2001) 5-12; idem, Arab-Byzantine coins. An introduction, with a catalogue of the Dumbarton Oaks Collection,Washington, 2008, 31-35; C Karukstis, ‘A Note on the Localization of Pseudo-Byzantine Coinage in Syria’,Numismatic Circular (2000) 15824 Treadwell op. cit., 925 The recently published excavations in the House of the Bronzes in Tiberias do not give much new insight. Among150 discovered coins were only 6 Umayyad Imperial Image coins (1 Damascus, 1 Baalbek, 2 Tabariya (3 figure type)and 2 illegible items) found as isolated coins and within a hoard one coin of the square flan type (cf. fig 13 no. 2) –Bijovsky, Gabriela and Berman, Ariel, The Coins, in: Hirschfeld, Yizhar and Gutfeld, Oren, Tiberias: Excavations inthe House of the Bronzes, Final Report, Volume 1, QEDEM 48 2008, 63-105, nos 28-33 and no. 8.The coins excavated in Nabratein (25 kilometres north of Tiberias) are of much more interest here: Besides 4 Pseudo-Byzantine coins, 30 Umayyad Imperial Image coins have been found (5 Damascus, 16 Pseudo-Damascus, 7 al-wafā

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junds Filastin and al-Urdunn. This result is confirmed by my own experience; as far as theprovenance of the coins described here is known, they are exclusively from Israel and Jordan.Furthermore this is in harmony with the stylistic relationships presented here. As we have seen,there are connections between the al-wafā lillāh coinage and the standing figure coins of Greek-type from Tiberias/Tabariya, the square flan coins and the coins with horizontal S, and the two latterseries are also exclusively found in Israel and Jordan.

Let us take a look at the historical background. If we presume that the al-wafā lillāh coins werestruck before the accession of ‘Abd al-Malik it is obvious to consider the years just before, the yearswhen the second fitna, the civil war, reached Syria.26

It was in the first half of the year 684 when the rule of the Umayyads collapsed in the Hejaz, in allprovinces outside of Syria and in greater parts of Syria itself. The Umayyads were involved inbattles for the succession of the caliphate after Yazid I had died in November 683 and his successorMuawiya II had died two months later. In February 684 Ibn al-Zubayr was proclaimed caliph inMecca. Marwan who should have become the successor of Muawiya II, left Damascus and went toTadmur to think about the new situation. In the end he was ready to join the Zubayrids. Butgovernors loyal to the Umayyads, in particular ‘Ubaidallāh from Iraq, came to Tadmur and tried topersuade him to fight for the Umayyad caliphate.

In this phase without a leader the Umayyad control of Syria began to crumble. In the beginning ofthe year 684 a revolt against the Umayyad rule started in the jund Qinnasrin. At the same time – andthis is important for the discussion here – in the junds Filastin and al-Urdunn another revolt startedagainst the Umayyads. Here the tribe of the Ğudam declared itself for Ibn al-Zubayr.

The political situation was completely chaotic: street fighting between pro-Zubayrids and pro-Umayyads was not unusual – even in front of the mosque of Damascus. At the same time the peopleof Syria were suffering from natural disasters: a very hard winter had destroyed the olive trees, a lotof cattle had died, and to make matters worse, famine and plague spread.

In the middle of the year 684 a conference took place in the traditional Beduin meeting placeĞabiya, about 80 km east of Tabariya, where Marwan was paid homage as caliph by some tribeswhich were still pro-Umayyad (like the Calb). His final acclamation happened some weeks later inDamascus. Marwan was successful in re-conquering the jund Filastin, but only for a short time. Atthe end of the year the Byzantine fleet conquered Ascalon, Akko and Caesarea, and when Marwandied in April 685, Filastin changed sides again in favour of Ibn al-Zubayr. It was not until thesummer 685 that the new caliph, ‘Abd al-Malik, was successful in getting Filastin under Umayyadcontrol.

There are thus many reasons to believe in a lack of small change during the troubled years 684/85 inthe junds Filastin and al-Urdunn, when the Ğudam were loyal to the Zubayrid party. In addition wecan assume that people there were excluded from the Umayyad money resources. The Umayyadswere preoccupied in attempting to regain power – the situation was dangerous and hanging in thebalance. lillāh and 2 Tiberias (one standing figure, cf. fig. 9 nos. 2 and 4) – Bijovsky, Gabriela, Numismatic Report, in: Meyers,E. M. and Meyers, C. L., Meiron Excavation Project Volume VI, Excavations at Ancient Nabratein: Synagogue andEnvirons, Winona Lake, Indiana 2009, pp 374-395, nos 92-106, 108-113 and 115-123.The coins excavated in Tel Rehov (south of Beth Shean / Scythopolis / Baisan) have a similar composition as thosefrom Nabratein. They will be published in the near future by Nitzan Amitai-Preiss. – Information kindly supplied byGabriela Bijovsky.26 The following historical description is based on the most detailed discussion of the second fitna by G Rotter, DieUmayyaden und der zweite Bürgerkrieg (680-692), Wiesbaden, 1982. For a short summary see G R Hawting, The firstdynasty of Islam. The Umayyad Caliphate AD 661-750, 2nd edition, London-New York (2000) 46-57.

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It seems therefore very probable that the leader of the tribe of the Ğudam, Natil b. Qais, used hisauthority to call together die cutters and other staff from different mints in the region, perhaps fromsmall mints which formerly produced Pseudo-Byzantine coins or from Tiberias/Tabariya and/orJerusalem, to arrange the minting of the al-wafā lillāh coins. This was done not only to providesmall change,27 but also as political propaganda for the Zubayrids against the Umayyads.28 If this isthe case, the al-wafā lillāh coinage is not part of the Umayyad Imperial Image coinage.29

If this and the proposed dating is correct, the next step will be to draw the consequences for theclassification and dating of the related series described above. Besides the al-wafā lillāh minting itmay be necessary to postulate a number of local issues struck in Filastin and/or al-Urdunn whenthese junds were not under Umayyad control. These would belong between the Pseudo-Byzantineand the Umayyad Imperial Image coinages.

27 Also the poor quality of the al-wafā lillāh coins is consistent with describing them as emergency issue.28 The regime of Ibn al-Zubayr was marked by its piety. So far the coins struck by one of his governors in Iran 685-687bearing the shahāda are said to be the first with an Islamic slogan. In the light of the new dating of the al-wafā lillāhcoins into the years 684/85, we have to revise this observation.29 Recently similar conclusions were made about the small three figure type coins of Tiberias – Foss op. cit. (2008) 57and 63.

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