A Syrian Coinage of Mu'awiya ? - article ; n°158 ; vol.6, pg 353-365

Clive Foss

Description

Revue numismatique - Année 2002 - Volume 6 - Numéro 158 - Pages 353-365
Summary. — The so-called « Arab-Byzantine » coinage contains a complex series of undated and anonymous coins with types derived from the Byzantine, straek between the Arab conquest of the 640 's and the reforms of Abd al-Malik of 693. The most serious attempt to establish a chronology has assigned them to the last years of this period. Historical sources and documents, however, indicate that the Islamic government was already highly organized and bureaucratic under the great leader Mu'awiya (661-680). A sophisticated system of administration and taxation implies coinage, and parallels with the East, where the «Arab-Sassanian» coinage was flourishing under Mu'awiya suggest that such was the case in Syria. I propose here that the bronze « Arab-Byzantine » types with bilingual inscriptions and mintmarks represent such an organization and may, along with a few rare gold coins, be assigned to the reign of Mu'awiya.
Fig. 9 Fig. 10 Fig. 12 Fig. 11 Fig. 13
13 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.

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• Publié par: REVUE_NUMISMATIQUE
• Publié le: 01 janvier 2002
• Nombre de lectures: 28
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

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C. Foss
A Syrian Coinage of Mu'awiya ?
In: Revue numismatique, 6e série - Tome 158, année 2002 pp. 353-365.
Abstract
Summary. — The so-called « Arab-Byzantine » coinage contains a complex series of undated and anonymous coins with types
derived from the Byzantine, straek between the Arab conquest of the 640 's and the reforms of Abd al-Malik of 693. The most
serious attempt to establish a chronology has assigned them to the last years of this period. Historical sources and documents,
however, indicate that the Islamic government was already highly organized and bureaucratic under the great leader Mu'awiya
(661-680). A sophisticated system of administration and taxation implies coinage, and parallels with the East, where the «Arab-
Sassanian» coinage was flourishing under Mu'awiya suggest that such was the case in Syria. I propose here that the bronze «
Arab-Byzantine » types with bilingual inscriptions and mintmarks represent such an organization and may, along with a few rare
gold coins, be assigned to the reign of Mu'awiya.
Résumé
Fig. 9 Fig. 10 Fig. 12 Fig. 11 Fig. 13
Citer ce document / Cite this document :
Foss C. A Syrian Coinage of Mu'awiya ?. In: Revue numismatique, 6e série - Tome 158, année 2002 pp. 353-365.
doi : 10.3406/numi.2002.1451
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/numi_0484-8942_2002_num_6_158_1451Foss* Cuve
A Syrian Coinage of Mu'awiya?
(PL XXXVII-XXXVIII)
Summary. — The so-called « Arab-Byzantine » coinage contains a complex series of undat
ed and anonymous coins with types derived from the Byzantine, straek between the Arab con
quest of the 640 's and the reforms of Abd al-Malik of 693. The most serious attempt to establish
a chronology has assigned them to the last years of this period. Historical sources and docu
ments, however, indicate that the Islamic government was already highly organized and bureauc
ratic under the great leader Mu'awiya (661-680). A sophisticated system of administration and
taxation implies coinage, and parallels with the East, where the «Arab-Sassanian» coinage was
flourishing under Mu'awiya suggest that such was the case in Syria. I propose here that the
bronze « Arab-Byzantine » types with bilingual inscriptions and mintmarks represent such an
organization and may, along with a few rare gold coins, be assigned to the reign of Mu'awiya.
Résumé. — Le monnayage « arabo-byzantin » est constitué d'une série complexe de monn
aies anonymes et non datée d'inspiration byzantine, frappées entre la conquête arabe dans les
années 640 et les réformes d'Abd al-Malik en 693. L'étude chronologique la plus sérieuse
entreprise jusqu'ici les date des denières années de cette période. Toutefois, les sources his
toriques et les textes indiquent que le gouvernement califal possédait déjà une administration
développée sous le règne de Mu'awiya (661-680). Or un système administratif et fiscal raffiné
implique un monnayage et le parallèle de la partie orientale du califat où les séries « arabo-sas-
sanides » étaient déjà florissantes sous Mu'awiya suggère une situation semblable en Syrie. Je
propose ici que les types « arabo-byzantins » en bronze aux inscriptions et aux marques d'atel
ier bilingues reflètent précisément cette organisation et peuvent être attribués, ainsi que
quelques monnaies d'or, au règne de Mu'awiya.
Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan was the dominant figure of seventh-Syria, during
the half century from the early stages of the Arab conquest through the con
solidation of the Umayyad caliphate.1 The caliph Abu Bakr sent Mu'awiya and
* History Department, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, 20057 - USA
[e-mail]
A preliminary version of this paper was delivered at the Arab-Byzantine Forum held in Dumb
arton Oaks on 17 November 2000. My thanks to Cecile Morrisson for much helpful criticism
and to Alan DeShazo and Steve Album for generous advice on Arab-Sassanian coinage and to
Alan DeShazo and Charlie Karukstis for providing illustrations.
1. For what follows, see the detailed summary of M. Hinds in Encyclopedia of Islam2, with
full references. Much of it is based on the tenth-century historian Tabari: The History ofal-Tabari
xviii: Between Civil Wars: The Caliphate of Mďawiyah, tr. Michael Morony, Albany NY, 1978.
G. R. Hawting, The First Dynasty of Islam, London, 1986, p. 34-45 presents a clear modern
account.
RN 2002, p. 353-365 Clive Foss 354
his brother Yazid with the first armies against Syria in 634. When Yazid, who
had been in command, died in 639, Miť awiya became governor of the jund of
Dimashq or of al-Urdunn, or of both, or ruler of all Syria. Here, as so often, the
sources are contradictory, but unanimous in attributing him a high position. His
role, whatever it was, was confirmed by his kinsman Othman, when he became
caliph in 644. Around 646, Mu'awiya was in control of all Syria including Qin-
nasrin and the Jazira. His position in Syria made him leader of the aggressive
campaigns against Byzantium by land and sea which struck deep into Asia
Minor and culminated in a great naval victory in 655.
When Othman was assassinated in 656, Mďawiya refused to acknowledge
the supremacy of Ali and was himself recognized as caliph in Syria in 658; the
same year, he took control of Egypt. In July 660, in a formal ceremony,
Mu'awiya was proclaimed caliph in Jerusalem; and the following year, with the
death of Ali, he took over the entire Islamic realm. He made Damascus his capi
tal and frequently resided there. He ruled successfully, maintaining peace at
home, and carrying on the wars against Byzantium, which led to expansion in
North Africa and even to the walls of Constantinople. He died in May 680 and
was buried in Damascus
Since surviving Arabic sources concentrate almost exclusively on events in
Iraq and the East, while the accounts of Syriac and Greek Christian chroniclers
known.2 is fragmentary, The internal the system and administrative by which Mu'awiya history of ran Syria, his in vast particular, empire is almost poorly
a blank, even though it was the political and military centre of the entire Islami
c realm. Sources reveal that Mu'awiya maintained the administrative system
of military districts called jund, whose origins are attributed to Umar.3 He may
even have modified it by creating a new jund of Qinnasrin from the large dis
trict of Horns.4 Mu'awiya appointed governors over the provinces of Syria, usu
ally from his own relatives, and accorded them considerable autonomy. Kinship
and tribal relations were very important at every level of the regime.5 Perhaps
because of this « tribal » element and the fact that the Arabs came from a region
without a highly developed governmental structure, the early Umayyad regime
has been seen as lacking a bureaucracy and having only a rudimentary central
administration.6
The nature of Mu'awiya's administration is crucial to the question of his
coinage or lack of it. Believing that his regime was run largely by tribal chiefs
2. The long narrative of Tabari, for example, devotes only a few sentences per year to events
in Syria, and then usually to the annual campaign against Byzantium, without any details. It
reveals virtually nothing about the administration of the western part of the empire.
3. The evidence is presented by Guy Le Strange in Palestine under the Moslems, London,
1890, p. 24-43.
4. See the article « Qinnasrin » by E. Eliseef in El2.
5. For a sketch of the administrative system, see Patricia Crone, Slaves on Horses, Camb
ridge, 1980, p. 29-33.
6. Such is the conclusion of M. Hinds, op. cit. n. 1, p. 267.
RN 2002, p. 161-227 Syrian Coinage of Mu' awiya? 355 A
who came from an area without coinage of its own makes it easy to assume that Mu'
no coinage was produced by awiya either. Other reasons have also been
adduced by the pioneer of this field of numismatics, Michael Bates. In a series
of highly influential articles, he maintained that Mu' awiya undertook no major
administrative reforms, and therefore it is improbable that he would have intr
oduced minting where there was none before.7 Bates particularly stressed the
lack of a Syrian coinage after the Byzantine period and thus the improbability
that the Arabs would have begun to strike coins soon after the conquest. In this
context, then, it is important to see what evidence exists for early Umayyad
administration in Syria, then to examine the coinage that was circulating or
issued there during the first sixty years of Arab occupation, and through that to
reconsider the possibility that Mu' awiya 's regime issued its own coinage in
Mu" awiya 's policies in Iraq, where the evidence is Syria. Comparison with
more substantial, will also be helpful.
One casual mention of Mu' awiya 's advisers suggests not innovation, but
continuity. According to Tabari, Sarjun b. Mansur al-Rumi was the caliph's sec
retary, in charge of