Coinage and History of Antioch from the Arab Conquest to the Byzantine Expansion (16/637 to 358/969)
Münzprägung und Geschichte der Stadt Antiochia von der arabischen Eroberung bis zur Einnahme durch die Byzantiner (16/637 bis 358/969)
PhD project by Huda Subeh M.A. (2011 to 2014)
Supervisor Prof. Stefan Heidemann
Coinage and History of Antioch from the Arab Conquest to the Byzantine Expansion (16/637 to 358/969)
Thematic Context
Antioch was a key city to the Mediterranean from the Hellenistic to the Roman Byzantine period. During certain periods it was the largest and most vibrant city of the Eastern Mediterranean, competing only with Alexandria in Egypt and later with the capital Constantinople. The mint of Antioch was one of the most prolific ones in the East.
The 6th and 7th centuries were already a period of decline, commencing with a devastating earthquake in Syria in 526 C.E. Following the Sasanian and Arab conquest in 637 the outlook of the city changed radically. Seemingly from one of the most thriving cities of antiquity, it was reduced to a provincial town in the northern Syrian district Qinnasrin, a district dominated by the city of Aleppo which blossomed under Arab rule. Parts of the shifting fate might be explained by the nature of the newly formed Islamic empire as an inward looking, mostly land empire, indifference to the Roman-Byzantine maritime empire. The thesis follows the thread of Antiochene history until the re-taking of the city by the Byzantine in 358/969 which resulted in a renewed Mediterranean outlook and blossoming. Antioch’s history will be studied in the larger context of Syria and the Islamic empire.
Research Question
The study of the history of early Islamic Antioch between the two Byzantine periods attempts to contribute to the question on the political and economic situation of the cities in Syria after the Arabic conquest and before the regionalisation of the empire. It focuses on the political history and economic prosperity as reflected in the coinage.
Can we really observe a decline of the cities with a formerly Mediterranean outlook, in comparison to cities which could draw more land based agricultural wealth? Or do we have to look for other reasons, such as specific political and economic issues. Antioch was always close to the Byzantine border and exposed to military movements. It became a military stronghold under the Tulunids,
Methodology
While the Hellenistic Roman, Christian, and the later Crusader Antioch had been the topic of a number of monographs, early Islamic Antioch was never studied in detail. In order to write a critical city history a wide range of sources have to be commandeered. While the chronicles usually take the Islamic empire and occasionally Syria into their focus, the study of the coins of the mint of Antioch and their texts allow a city’s perspective on the political history. Coins mention in certain periods the whole hierarchy of power at the date of minting as it is perceived by the cities authorities. The text on coins, with up to 100 words have to corroborated with the literary evidence and the pattern of minting in Antioch have to be set into the context of the monetary and numismatic history of Syria and the Islamic empire.
For that purpose, the sequence of coin production has to be reconstructed year by year. In order to provide a numismatic context, also the coin sequences of the neighboring mints for comparison will be reconstructed. Special attention will be given to the study of dies, which allows statements about the relative mint output and thus provide information for the economic history.
The numismatic part of the study is mainly based on the coins of the Oriental Coin Cabinet at Friedrich Schiller-Universität Jena and the Research Unit for Islamic Numismatics at Universität Tübingen. Numerous other public and private collections and also auction and sales catalogues are also included in the study.