Umayyad Caliphate. Uncertain period (post-reform), circa late 1st century AH / 7th-8th century CE. Fals (Bronze, 21 mm, 3.25 g, 12 h), al-Urdunn. Ṭabariya (?) (Tiberias), no date. Central field, in three lines: lā ilāha / illā Allāh / waḥdahū (‘There is no deity / except God / alone’ in Arabic); below, star. Rev. Central field, in three lines: Muḥammad / rasūl / Allāh (‘Muhammad is the Messenger of God’ in Arabic), in margin: bi-sm Allāh ḍuriba bi-l-Urdunn (‘In the name of God, struck in al-Urdunn’ in Arabic). Album 190. Jeselsohn IV 119-135. SNA Tübingen IVa, 332-334. Very rare and with beautiful earthen highlights. Minor flan faults on the edge, otherwise, very fine.



The mint-name al-Urdunn, ‘the Jordan’, refers not simply to the modern state of Jordan, but to the early Islamic jund al-Urdunn, the military district of Jordan. This district covered the northern part of Palestine and adjoining areas, with Ṭabariya, Tiberias, as its principal city, where the coin was probably struck.