Editing Umayyad Caliphate (section)

===Coinage===
The Byzantine and Sassanid Empires relied on money economies before the Muslim conquest and that system remained in effect during the Umayyad period. [[Byzantine coinage]] was used until 658; Byzantine gold coins were still in use until the monetary reforms {{Circa|700}}.{{sfn|Sanchez|2015|p=324}} In addition to this, the Umayyad government began to mint its own coins in Damascus, which were initially similar to pre-existing coins but evolved in an independent direction. These were the first coins minted by a Muslim government in history.{{sfn|Ochsenwald|2004|p=57}}

Early Islamic coins re-used Byzantine and Sasanian iconography directly but added new Islamic elements.<ref name=":0" /> So-called "Arab-Byzantine" coins replicated Byzantine coins and were minted in Levantine cities before and after the Umayyads rose to power.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Richard |first=Suzanne |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uNYNEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA216 |title=Near Eastern Archaeology: A Reader |publisher=Penn State Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-57506-547-2 |pages=216–217 |language=en}}</ref> Some examples of these coins, likely minted in Damascus, copied the coins of Byzantine emperor [[Heraclius]], including a depiction of the emperor and his son [[Heraclius Constantine]]. On the reverse side, the traditional Byzantine cross-on-steps image was modified to avoid any explicitly non-Islamic connotation.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Fine |first=Steven |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/Age_of_Transition_Byzantine_Culture_in_the_Islamic_World |title=Age of Transition: Byzantine Culture in the Islamic World |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-300-21111-5 |editor-last=Evans |editor-first=Helen C. |pages=48–50 |language=en |chapter=When Is a Menorah "Jewish"?: On the Complexities of a Symbol during the Age of Transition}}</ref>

In the 690s, under Abd al-Malik's reign, a new period of experimentations began.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Milwright |first=Milwright Marcus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1ngxEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT272 |title=Dome of the Rock and its Umayyad Mosaic Inscriptions |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-4744-6045-3 |pages=231 |language=en}}</ref> Some [[Arab–Sasanian coinage|"Arab-Sasanian" coins]] dated between 692 and 696, associated with the mints in Iraq under governor [[Bishr ibn Marwan]], stopped using the Sasanian image of the [[fire altar]] and replaced it with three male figures standing in Arab dress. This was possibly an attempt to depict the act of Muslim prayer or the delivery of the ''[[Khutbah|khutba]]'' (Friday sermon).<ref name=":2" /> Another coin minted probably between 695 and 698 features the image of a spear under an arch. This has been variously interpreted as representing a ''[[mihrab]]'' or a "sacral arch", the latter being a late antique motif. The spear is believed to be the spear (''<nowiki/>'anaza'') that Muhammad carried before him when entering the mosque.<ref name=":2" />

Between 696 and 699, the caliph introduced a new system of coinage of gold, silver, and bronze.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> The coins generally featured Arabic inscriptions without any images, ending the earlier iconographic traditions.<ref name=":1" /> The main gold unit was the [[Gold dinar|''dinar'']] (from Roman ''[[denarius]]''), which was worth 20 silver coins. It was most likely modeled on the Byzantine ''[[Solidus (coin)|solidus]]''.<ref name=":1" /> The silver coin was called a ''[[dirham]]'' (from Greek ''[[Ancient drachma|drachma]]''). Its size and shape was based on [[Sasanian coins]] and they were minted in much larger quantities than in the earlier Byzantine era.<ref name=":1" /> The bronze coin was called a [[Fals|''fals'' or ''fulus'']] (from Byzantine ''[[follis]]'').<ref name=":1" />

One group of bronze coins from Palestine,{{Sfn|Flood|2001|p=89 (see footnote 146)}} dated after the coinage reform of the late 690s, features the image of a seven-branched [[Menorahs|menorah]] and then later of a five-branched menorah, topped by an Arabic inscription of the ''[[shahada]]''.<ref name=":0" /> These images may have been based on Christian representations of the menorah<ref name=":0" /> or on earlier [[Hasmonean dynasty|Hasmonean]] models.{{Sfn|Flood|2001|p=89 (see footnote 146)}} The switch to a five-branched version may have been intended to further differentiate this depiction from Jewish and Christian versions.<ref name=":0" /><!-- Another source to cite here would be Dan Barag (1988-89), "The Islamic Candlestick Coins of Jerusalem", Israel Numismatic Journal 10: 40-48. But the article is not easy to access online. -->