Sources of early Islamic silver: Lead isotope analysis of dirhams

Stephen W. Merkel; Jani Oravisjärvi; Jane Kershaw

doi:10.15184/aqy.2023.165

Sources of early Islamic silver: Lead isotope analysis of dirhams

Stephen W. Merkel
, Jani Oravisjärvi
, Jane Kershaw^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Earth Sciences

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

The expansion of the early Islamic state (c. AD 700-900) was underpinned by the minting of silver coins (dirhams) on an enormous scale. While the wider effects of this coinage have been studied extensively, the sources of silver have attracted less attention and research has relied on literary texts pointing to mines in Arabia and Central Asia. Here, the authors use lead isotope and trace element analyses of more than 100 precisely dated silver coins to provide a geochemical perspective on Islamic silver. The results identify multiple new sources, stretching from Morocco to the Tien Shen, and indicate an Abbasid-period mining boom. These source locations have implications for contemporary geopolitics including on the Islamic-Byzantine frontier.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1564-1580
Number of pages	17
Journal	Antiquity
Volume	97
Issue number	396
Early online date	1 Dec 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2023.165
Publication status	Published - Dec 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research was carried out under a European Research Council Starter Grant awarded to Jane Kershaw (Action number 802349).

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Antiquity Publications Ltd.

Funding

This research was carried out under a European Research Council Starter Grant awarded to Jane Kershaw (Action number 802349).

Funders	Funder number
European Research Council
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme	802349

Keywords

coinage
Iran
Islamic caliphate
lead isotope analysis
North Africa
silver mines
south-west and Central Asia

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10.15184/aqy.2023.165

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title = "Sources of early Islamic silver: Lead isotope analysis of dirhams",

abstract = "The expansion of the early Islamic state (c. AD 700-900) was underpinned by the minting of silver coins (dirhams) on an enormous scale. While the wider effects of this coinage have been studied extensively, the sources of silver have attracted less attention and research has relied on literary texts pointing to mines in Arabia and Central Asia. Here, the authors use lead isotope and trace element analyses of more than 100 precisely dated silver coins to provide a geochemical perspective on Islamic silver. The results identify multiple new sources, stretching from Morocco to the Tien Shen, and indicate an Abbasid-period mining boom. These source locations have implications for contemporary geopolitics including on the Islamic-Byzantine frontier.",

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author = "Merkel, \{Stephen W.\} and Jani Oravisj{\"a}rvi and Jane Kershaw",

note = "Funding Information: This research was carried out under a European Research Council Starter Grant awarded to Jane Kershaw (Action number 802349). Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Antiquity Publications Ltd.",

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AU - Merkel, Stephen W.

AU - Oravisjärvi, Jani

AU - Kershaw, Jane

N1 - Funding Information: This research was carried out under a European Research Council Starter Grant awarded to Jane Kershaw (Action number 802349). Publisher Copyright: Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Antiquity Publications Ltd.

PY - 2023/12

Y1 - 2023/12

N2 - The expansion of the early Islamic state (c. AD 700-900) was underpinned by the minting of silver coins (dirhams) on an enormous scale. While the wider effects of this coinage have been studied extensively, the sources of silver have attracted less attention and research has relied on literary texts pointing to mines in Arabia and Central Asia. Here, the authors use lead isotope and trace element analyses of more than 100 precisely dated silver coins to provide a geochemical perspective on Islamic silver. The results identify multiple new sources, stretching from Morocco to the Tien Shen, and indicate an Abbasid-period mining boom. These source locations have implications for contemporary geopolitics including on the Islamic-Byzantine frontier.

AB - The expansion of the early Islamic state (c. AD 700-900) was underpinned by the minting of silver coins (dirhams) on an enormous scale. While the wider effects of this coinage have been studied extensively, the sources of silver have attracted less attention and research has relied on literary texts pointing to mines in Arabia and Central Asia. Here, the authors use lead isotope and trace element analyses of more than 100 precisely dated silver coins to provide a geochemical perspective on Islamic silver. The results identify multiple new sources, stretching from Morocco to the Tien Shen, and indicate an Abbasid-period mining boom. These source locations have implications for contemporary geopolitics including on the Islamic-Byzantine frontier.

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KW - Iran

KW - Islamic caliphate

KW - lead isotope analysis

KW - North Africa

KW - silver mines

KW - south-west and Central Asia

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Sources of early Islamic silver: Lead isotope analysis of dirhams

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

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