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Faithandfortune – Proof Copy 22-11-13 1 Rebecca Darley describes how the Byzantine Empire and its early Islamic neighbours expressed their rivalry by the way in which power temporal and divine was represented on coinage Faith and fortune n AD 613 the east Roman, or of religious and political figures in favour in the Eastern Mediterranean. This transi- Byzantine, emperor Herakleios issued a of words of faith. It bore the inscription, tional period from the Classical or antique silver coin bearing the desperate peti- ‘There is no God but the one God’ and was period of Hellenistic Greek and Roman cul- Ition, ‘God help the Romans’, made used beyond his reign, as in the example of tural ascendancy to the medieval world is at least in part from melted church plate a half dinar of Umar II (2). termed late antiquity. requisitioned from the ecclesiastical build- These two coins form the starting-point It is a period of deep significance as the ings of Constantinople (1). The Byzantine for the Barber Institute of Fine Arts’ cur- Christianisation of the Roman (Byzantine) Empire had been at war with Persia for over rent numismatic exhibition. They express Empire in the 4th to 6th centuries and the a decade and was running out of resources. in microcosm the twin themes of religious rise of Islam and the establishment of a Two generations later the Umayyad expression and economic imperative that Muslim state in the eastern Mediterranean, Caliph Abd al-Malik minted the first ani- determined the course of monetary devel- Middle East and North Africa in the seventh conic Muslim coinage, rejecting depictions opments between the 4th and 8th centuries and eighth are events which have defined much of the shape of subsequent world his- tory. It is also a period for which coinage offers a unique insight into political, reli- gious and economic changes often unclear in written sources. At the start of the 4th century the Mediterranean was dominated by the increasingly Christian Roman Empire but its eastern and western halves were already beginning to develop distinct political iden- 1.Silver hexagram, Herakleios, 613-620, 2.Gold half dinar, Umar II, 718/719, mint tities. From the reign of Constantine I (306- Constantinople, 23mm, 6.73g. location unknown, 15mm, 2.06g. 337), Christianity was actively promoted Barber Institute B3052. Barber Institute A-B72. by the state and Constantine moved the 40 Minerva January/February 2014 2 Faith and fortune 1. and 2. A folio of a 9th-century Qur’an and N a 13th-century Byzantine prayer scroll also atlaNtic illustrate the development, visible on coinage, raveNNa oceaN of Christian and Islamic visualisations of the daNube chersoN saloNa divine in the medieval world. black sea 1. This 9th-century Qur’an, written in wide rome coNstaNtiNople elegant Kufic script on vellum, uses coloured thessaloNiki Nikomedeia ink and gold to decorate and elucidate the kyzikos word of God, but employs no figural imagery. Its production location isunknown. © Cadbury siciliaN miNt Research Library: Special Collections. carthage 2. This beautifully lluminated manuscript spaNish miNt aNtioch on vellum is the private prayer scroll of the mediterraNeaN Byzantine princess, Eudokia Doukas, is on public display for the first time. It combines alexaNdria personal petitions with lavish images, including this imagined scene of the princess receiving the blessing of the 4th-century Christian saint, John Chrysostom. It was made in Nile Constantinople. © Private collection. capital of the empire to Constantinople. As 3. Map showing the Byzantine Empire at its largest extent circa 565. Territories under Byzantine the west gradually came under the rule of rule in 527 are coloured in red.; those added by the wars of Justinian I (527-565) in brown. Major non-Roman powers, the empire in the east minting locations also marked. evolved new strategies of government and a cultural identity which modern histori- ans term ‘Byzantine’ (from Byzantium, the Minerva January/February 2014 41 Exhibitions 7.Gold solidus, Herakleios, 610-613, 4.Copper follis, Justinian I, 539, Constantinople, 5. Copper follis, Herakleios, 610, Alexandretta, Constantinople, 21mm, 4.33g, Barber Institute 40mm, 21.28g, Barber Institute B0424. 29mm, 8.22g, Barber Institute B2716. B2724. 9. Gold solidus, Herakleios, Herakleios Constantine 11.Silver drachm, Umayyad governors, late 8.Gold solidus, Herakleios and Herakleios and Heraklonas, 632-635, Constantinople, 19mm, 7th century, lint location unknown, 26mm, Constantine, 613-616, Constantinople, 20mm, 4.37g, Barber Institute B2905. 2.68g, Barber Institute S0923. 4.30g, Barber Institute B2752. settlement refounded as Constantinople). Its show Herakleios and his father wearing perhaps unsurprising that the biggest crisis inhabitants, however, thought of themselves consular robes (5?). By issuing coins in his he faced did not. as Romans and many of their political and name own name Herakleios was usurping a In 622 the Prophet Muhammad jour- social systems continued Roman models (3). right reserved for the emperor, yet his cloth- neyed from Mecca to Medina, where he The role of money as a vital component of ing evoked the alternative political authority established the nascent Muslim commu- state and private commerce was one legacy of the Roman senate. Only after his con- nity. Within the Prophet’s lifetime the com- of the classical Roman past. Coinage was quest of Constantinople and official recog- munity returned to and conquered Mecca. used to pay civil servants and the army, to nition as emperor did Herakleios issue coins From there, the new religious movement, conduct a high volume of day-to-day trans- bearing his portrait in full imperial regalia founded on the Abrahamaic scriptures and actions and usually to pay taxes. In addition (7?). the revelation of the Qur’an, expanded out to serving an important economic function, Herakleios’ rebellion occurred at a time of Arabia. coinage also provided a means by which of war between Byzantium and its eastern By the 690s it had completely absorbed imperial authority could be represented to a neighbor, Persia, leading to the issue of the the former Persian Empire and around large proportion of the empire’s population. first coin illustrated in this article 1( ). The two-thirds of the lands formerly held by Simply the ability to mint coinage was a desperate situation of the Byzantine Empire Byzantium. This Muslim state was led by a statement of authority in late antiquity, and turned remarkably between 624, and 630 Caliph, or ‘successor’ of Muhammad. In the messages of succession and religious settle- however, when Herakleios defeated the late 7th and early 8th centuries the Caliphs ment could also be conveyed. Persians completely. It is illustrative of how were drawn from the Umayyad family, A follis of the emperor Justinian (4), a much remains to be understood about the lending their name tom state the Umayyad copper coin worth 40 nummi (the lowest role of coins as media for political mes- Caliphate (661-759). unit of value in the Byzantine monetary sys- sages that this astonishing change in impe- The historical sources for the rise of Islam tem) and among the most widely used cop- rial fortune is not marked in the numismatic are fragmentary and often unclear, as is our per coin in the empire demonstrates the record. understanding of Islam in its earliest period, visible economic character of money in late In comparison, issues of imperial succes- but it seems clear that the earliest Arab con- antiquity. It shows the location at which it sion received significant numismatic atten- querors were uninterested in disrupting was minted, including both the city (CON tion. From 626 Herakleios appeared with existing administrative and religious prac- = Constantinople) and the workshop within his son Herakleios Constantine (later the tices in their territories. The easiest models the mint (B). It also displays the year in emperor Constantine III) (8). From 632 a to use were those already available, a strat- which it was minted (the 12th of Justinian’s third figure also appears: Heraklonas was egy most immediately visible on coinage. In reign, 539), the reigning emperor (the Herakleios’ son by his second wife, Martina lands once ruled by the Persians, Umayyad authority which gave it legitimacy as coin- (9). Since she was also his niece, Herakleios’ local governors issued coins imitating age) and its value or denomination (‘M’ marriage to Martina was deemed incestu- Persian types but often with Arabic legends being the Greek numeral 40). ous and, therefore, invalid by the Church. outside the main design (11). The 7th-century coinage of the emperor By depicting Heraklonas on his coins In areas formerly ruled by Byzantium it Herakleios (608-641) provides a valuable Herakleios was making a very public state- seems likely that as early as the 640s local case study of the complexity of political mes- ment that (contrary to the judgement of the authorities (whether Muslim or Christian) sages coinage might carry. He came to power Church) he considered him a rightful son began producing coins to make up for a as a result of an armed rebellion and his and heir. The interplay of faith and fortune lack of centralised production. These were first coins were minted on his journey from on Byzantine coinage was not, therefore, based on various Byzantine prototypes but his home in Carthage to Constantinople to always straightforward. If it is surprising to retained different features and made differ- overthrow the incumbent emperor, Phokas a modern scholar Herakleios’ greatest tri- ent modifications to reflect local needs. (602-608). Coins minted in Alexandretta umph did not appear on his coinage, it is One coin from Emesa (Homs) (12) 42 Minerva January/February 2014 Exhibitions 12.Copper imitation follis, minting authority 13.Copper imitation follis, minting authority 14.Gold imitation solidus, Umayyad, late 7th unknown, c.
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