"The historian of early Islamic Bilād al-Shām has almost no primary source material; legal or political documents are lacking. Most historical information derived from later medieval but secondary sources such as chronicles, biographical... more
"The historian of early Islamic Bilād al-Shām has almost no primary source material; legal or political documents are lacking. Most historical information derived from later medieval but secondary sources such as chronicles, biographical dictionaries and poetry written from the perspective of a major capital, a ruler, a ruling house, or one of the different Islamic communities.
Archaeology in general and legends on coins in particular, as well as coin finds from archaeological contexts can provide further independent information about the settlements.
First, a brief overview is given about the current state of numismatic research in both the Syrian Arab Republic and adjacent regions historically connected to it. Secondly, this study examines the archaeology of the Diyār Mudar or Osrhoene on a regional level. Coins as texts and archaeological coin finds are presented as a parallel independent source for settlement patterns from the 6th to the 10th century AD.
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