Elemental analysis of silver coins during the umayyads through the pixe method

Abstract

The Umayyads began their rule as the Caliphs of the newly-established Islamic empire in Damascus from 41 to 130 AH (662 to 751 AD). The territory ruled by them had been extended to India to the east and to the Iberian Peninsula in Spain to the west. The Umayyad government reached its peak at the time of Walid ibn Abd al-Malik and Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik. In this study, 42 silver coins belonging to the Umayyad Caliphs (Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, Walid ibn Abd al-Malik, Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, Yazid bin Abd al-Malik, Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, Walid ibn Yazid, Yazid ibn Walid, Ibrahim ibn Walid, and Marwan ibn Muhammad) were analyzed through the PIXE method. These coins have been minted at the Wasit, Basra, Damascus, Merv, Darabgerd, and Kerman mints from 82 to 128 AH (703 to 749 AD). The weight of the coins lies between 2.3 and 2.8 grams. The amount of silver in the coins varied from 86.13% to 90.95% with an average of 90.39% silver. In general, except for the year 126 AH (the Umayyad regime’s decline), the coins of the Umayyad period are of a great carat, which is because of various factors, such as the political and economic situation, access to silver sources, etc. The comparison of coins of the Umayyad era with those of the Sassanid period shows that the technology of extracting and minting silver in the Umayyad period did not differ from that in the Sassanid period. Similarly, the amount of gold in the specimens shows that probably the Umayyads, like the Sassanids, have used Cerussite ore in the minting of their coins. Our table pertaining to the distribution of the elements of gold, silver, and lead in these coins shows that no single ore has been used in minting the Umayyed coins.