1,000-YEAR-OLD ISLAMIC COINS FROM ABBASID DYNASTY DISCOVERED IN SHARJAH

Thu 30 September 2021:

Archaeologists in the United Arab Emirates uncovered several antique Islamic coins, including rare silver dirhams from the Abbasid Dynasty, in the central region of Sharjah.

The rare coins include the iconography of five caliphs, including Abu Jaafar Al Mansour, Mohamed Al Mahdi, Haroun Al Rashid, Mohamed Al Amin, and Abu Jaafar Abdullah Al Maamoun, who were the most powerful Muslim leaders at the time.

The coins were minted in Morocco, Persia, Al-Rai, the Khorasan region, Armenia and Transoxiana. Fragments of pottery were also found in the dig. Photo: Wam

Lady Zubaida, also known as Umm Jaafar, the wife of Caliph Haroun Al Rashid, was found with a silver dirham-link currency, as well as a copper Abbasid fils coin.

The coins were minted in several geographical and administrative areas in the late 8th to early 9th century AD, or 154-199 AH of the Hijri period in the Islamic calendar.

The discovery documents a pivotal period in the history of Sharjah and the UAE during the Abbasid dynasty, and highlights the commercial activity taking place in the UAE and in Sharjah’s central region.

The fragments from the Abbasid dynastic era were used in part to date the coins. Photo: Wam

The coins, which traveled over numerous significant trade routes to the Arabian Gulf and the United Arab Emirates, attest to the region’s importance as a trading hub at the time.

This is only one of numerous recent discoveries in the area. Archaeologists from the Sharjah Archaeology Authority discovered a treasure trove of 409 coins in Mleiha in February.

The Mleiha Archaeological Centre, which opened to the public in 2016 and traces the region’s history back to the Stone Age, presently houses many of the findings unearthed in the area.

Dr Sabah Aboud Jasim, director-general of the Sharjah Archaeology Authority, said that the discovery confirms the early presence of the Abbasid Dynasty in the region, noting that some coins were found in an Abbasid-style pottery jar dating back to the 9th-10th Century AD.

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