Pinpointing Unrest at Palmyra in the Early Islamic Period. The Evidence from Coin Hoards and Written Sources

Abstract

This article collates the evidence of coin hoards from Palmyra in order to reflect on the causes behind some of the most dramatic events that befell the city in Late Antiquity and early Islam. After having stressed the importance of coin hoards as sources to reconstruct the city’s past by looking at a couple of examples dated to the fourth century AD, the article moves on to the early Islamic period. It argues that the unusual concentration of coin hoards dated to the second half of the seventh century suggests that the city underwent a period of unrest at that time and reflects on the causes that might have triggered it.

Keywords

• Palmyra
• Late Antiquity
• early Islamic period
• coin hoards
• Kitāb al-Aghānī
• unrest