Lot 266

Umayyad Caliphate, Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan ibn al-Hakam (AH 65-86, AD 685-705), Copper Fals, 2.67 gms, 19.70 mm, obverse. Bearded Caliph standing facing, placing his right hand on the hilt of his sword, reverse. Cross transformed to F standing on base and three steps with eight-pointed star on the left field of the cross, Abd al-Malik was the fifth Umayyad caliph & member of the first generation of born Muslims, his early life in Medina was occupied with pious pursuits. He held administrative and military posts under Caliph Mu'awiya I, By the time of Abd al-Malik's accession, Umayyad authority had collapsed across the Caliphate as a result of the Second Muslim Civil War and had been reconstituted in Syria and Egypt during his father's reign. Abd al-Malik in 691/92 founded The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem which is the world's oldest surviving work of Islamic architecture, Ref. Goodwin & Gyselen p.56, # 54, very fine, rare.