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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;4to2centBC, post: 2427928, member: 76181&quot;]I had a very nice dirham (stolen unfortunately) that I purchased as a representative for the geography and period. Since I don&#039;t read the language, and they bear no artwork, they only have historic value to me. What I did not know, but have learned recently, is that these (circa 800-1000) turn up quite often in Viking era hoards. So do the weights and scales used in the caliphate. Viking graves often contain weights and/or balancing scales.&nbsp; Many of these are either imported from the area or derivative of the type, but locally produced. Since the Vikings were traders, symbols of far flung cultures and the symbols of trade were a sign of a sophisticated trader/warrior. Dirhams were very popular.</p><p><br /></p><p>I like the fact that yours is toned nicely along the rim. Mine is/was colorless</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]504116[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><font size="3">Silver dirhem, Walker BMC p. 192, 533; Album 128, EF, Wasit, Iraq mint , weight 2.909g, maximum diameter 26.5mm, die axis 0o, 91 AH, 710 A.D.; </font></p><p><font size="3"><br /></font></p><p><font size="3">Obverse Kufic inscription: There is no god except Allah / He is alone / He has no equal (in center); In the name of Allah this dirhem was struck at Wasit in year 91; </font></p><p><font size="3"><br /></font></p><p><font size="3">Reverse Kufic: Allah is one, Allah is eternal, He begets not neither is he begotten (in center); Muhammad is the messenger of God, He sent him with guidance and the true religion to reveal it to all religions even if the polytheists abhor it (in margin);</font></p><p><font size="3"><br /></font></p><p><font size="3">Al-Walid I (705-715 AD) (b 668 - d 715 AD) began the Islamic conquests and took the early Islamic empire to its farthest extents - from the Iberian Peninsula to India. He reconquered parts of Egypt from the Byzantine Empire and moved on into Carthage and across to the west of North Africa. Then, in 711, Muslim armies crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and began to conquer the Iberian Peninsula.</font></p><p><font size="3"><br /></font></p><p><font size="3">His reign is considered as the apex of Islamic power</font>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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