Byzantine and Sassanian coins circulating in Iraq until the end of the reign of Abdul Malik bin Marwan

Abstract

Money is regarded as an important document which cannot be neglected depended by archaeologists to identify archaeological sites as well as researchers and students in order to document historical events . Coins were invented by the people of kingdom of Laydia , the inhabitants of small Asia around 7th century B.C .Their kings have coined money on which they engraved first distinct from of money ( lion before bull ) . Then , it spread to the nearby areas related to the kingdom through trading relations . Coining was not only restricted to the trading exchange and treatment but it also had a religious and political from , hence , the figures , animals and pictures on the Greek , Roman , Ikhmini and even Sassani coins had a political or religious nature . In Arab Peninsula , Biziinti dinars were used in treatment in the past ( which hold king's portrait of Herocle alone or with his sons ) . In addition to Sassani dirham's ( which hold the Sassani king's portrait with fire stag )and such coins were used in Syria , Egypt , and Iraq . The present study includes pictures of coins from Greece , Rome and Ikhmin. It also studies group of coins ( Bizinti dinars and Sassani dirham ) kept in Iraqi Museum which had been used pre and post – Islam . The researcher has studied inscriptions and figures held on the coins. When Islam appeared , such coins were decided to be used as a metal value. Finally , the stages of Arabization of these coins at the time of Islam have also been covered especially in Umayyad era during caliph Abdulmalik Bin Marwan ( 65 –86 – AH.) to be purified from the foreign figures and use Quranic verses instead by means of pictures for the foreign money and their Arabization stages .