Ancient Arab coins from Viking-era discovered
Arizona Coin Collector
http://www.yobserver.com/reports/10015941.html
Ancient Arab coins from Viking-era discovered
Posted in: Reports
Written By: Raneem Al-Saaidi
Article Date: Mar 10, 2009 - 7:47:51 AM
STOCKHOLM - Swedish archaeologists discovered a rare
cache of Viking-era Arab silver coins near Stockholm's
Arlanda airport last April.
The site, which has been dated to the early Iron Age,
has been found to contain around 470 coins. The ages
of the coins vary from the 7th to the 9th centuries,
a period during which Viking traders travelled widely.
The coins are thought to have been left at the site
around AD850, and most of them were minted in either
Baghdad and Damascus, though some came from Persia
and North Africa. Although no human remains have been
found at the site, archaeologists believe that the
cache could have been buried by the Vikings in the
hope that it would be protected by their descendants
as they settled in a nearby village. The coins may
have been brought to Sweden by the Vikings through
trade, as they are known to have travelled in the
Baltic region and Russia from the late 8th to the
11th century. They are also known to have travelled
as far as North Africa and Constantinople
(now Istanbul).
There has been no similar find in this area of Sweden
since a discovery made in the 1880s. Archaeologists
also believe that some of the coins could have
accompanied Ahmad Ibn Fadlan, who was kidnapped by
the Vikings. Fadlan, originally from Baghdad, was
sent to serve as the secretary to an ambassador of
the Abbasid Caliph al-Muqtadir in the area of iltabar,
or Bulgars in the year 921, which is in present day
Russia.
Ahmed Ibn Fadlan took an interest in the daily life
of the Vikings and later wrote a detailed account on
their actions during several events, he called his
book 'Letters On the Vikings'.
In his accounts he describes the Vikings as dirty
barbarians who eat the flesh of their dead. Below is
an extract from his work 'Letters On the Vikings'
"Every morning a girl comes and brings a tub of water,
and places it before her master. In this he proceeds
to wash his face and hands, and then his hair, he
then combs his hair over the vessel. Thereupon he
blows his nose, and spits into the tub, leaving the
sum of his dirt in this water. When he has finished,
the girl carries the tub to the man next to him, who
does the same. Thus she continues carrying the tub
from one man to another until each man has blown his
nose and spits into the same tub, and washed his
face and hair."
Ahmed Ibn Fadlan wrote many interesting things about
the lives of the Vikings, and he provides us with a
great insight into their daily lives from an Arab
perspective. His accounts of Scandinavia show just
how far Arab ancestors had travelled all those
thousands of years ago.
..
Mike Marotta
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/5539
Eastern silver coins - dirhams - appeared in Latvia like in other
Eastern Europe countries since late 9th century. ...
The largest treasure trove of Viking silver unearthed in England is
known as the Cuerdale Hoard. Among its splendors are 50 silver
caliphate dirhams. You can read about the hoard on the BBC website,
www.bbc.co.uk, by entering Cuerdale Hoard in the search field and
following the links.
See, also, Michael Crichton's _Eaters of the Dead_.
Mike M.
Michael E. Marotta
Bob
> Coins from Islamic/Arabic lands are a favorite topic with some:
>
> http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/5539
> Eastern silver coins - dirhams - appeared in Latvia like in other
> Eastern Europe countries since late 9th century. ...
>
> The largest treasure trove of Viking silver unearthed in England is
> known as the Cuerdale Hoard. Among its splendors are 50 silver
> following the links.
>
> See, also, Michael Crichton's _Eaters of the Dead_.
>
> Mike M.
> Michael E. Marotta
Be advised that _Eaters of the Dead_, though a fascinating read, is a
NOVEL and some (all?) of the scholarly-looking footnotes are fake.
Bob Leonard