A gold dinar of Abd al-Malik minted in Damascus in 697/98

Historians use coins to find evidence of change over time. This dinar coined in 697 or 698 was minted in Damascus by the Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn. Compared to a coin minted by the same state only a few years earlier we notice an interesting difference. Whereas the earlier coin features an image of the caliph, this one has only an inscription in Arabic. The Muslim rule against graven images of humans was in the process of forming in this early history.

This source is a part of the Analyzing Material Objects methods module.