Umayyad Caliphate. Anonymous issue, AH 80-132 / AD 699-750. Fals (Bronze, 16 mm, 3.48 g, 10 h), Menorah type, Iliya (Jerusalem). Central device: Five-branched candelabrum. Margin: lā ilāha illā Allāh waḥdahu (‘There is no deity but God alone’ in Arabic). Rev. Central field, in three lines: Muḥammad / rasūl / Allāh (‘Muḥammad / is the Messenger / of God’ in Arabic). Album 163.1. Barag, The Islamic Candlestick Coins of Jerusalem, INJ 10, type 4. SICA II, 1310. Walker 605. Rare. Some deposits and small scratches, otherwise, good fine.


An extremely rare bronze fals from the early Islamic period attributed to Iliyāʾ (Jerusalem), notable for the unusual depiction of a multi-branched candelabrum in the center of the obverse. The device has traditionally been described as a menorah-type symbol, though the form seen on most surviving coins differs from the classical seven-branched lampstand and instead shows a simplified version with five branches. Earlier varieties of the series appear closer to the traditional menorah form, suggesting that the motif evolved during the life of the type.

The presence of this image on an Umayyad coin has generated considerable discussion. Some scholars interpret it as a continuation of local Jewish religious imagery, while others view it as a stylized object connected with temple ritual or as a symbol that was reinterpreted in the early Islamic environment.

These coins belong to a small and distinctive group of provincial issues struck after the monetary reforms of the late 7th century, illustrating how local visual traditions continued to coexist with the emerging Islamic epigraphic coinage system in the cities of Bilād al-Shām.