After it was put up for sale on the Internet … the Spanish police have seized a golden Arab dinar

Spanish police have arrested an alleged treasure thief in the municipality of Calpe, Alicante province, for possession of an Islamic gold coin, one of the first issuances of the currency after the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula.

The writer, Rafa Burgos, said in a report published in the Spanish newspaper, Elpais, that the looted golden dinar was preserved in a lined bag along with other artifacts. The gold dinar was minted in Córdoba at the beginning of the eighth century, and is a highly valued coin of which there are only 24 other copies. Read also Departure of the translator of Latin masterpieces … Saleh a secularist who transferred treasures of Spanish literature to Arabic The rebellion against the forced muzzle … the lessons of the Spanish flu for the era of Corona Federico Corrente … the departure of the Spanish Arabist, who reconciled his culture with the heritage of the language of Dhad They established the “movement of martyrs” to stop Islamization, and Arabic made up 8% of Spanish … the story of the European defeat being subjected to the influence of the Andalusian majority

A resident of Calpe municipality tried to sell the gold dinar via the “Wallabob” platform to buy and sell used goods, and it turned out that this person had looted a historical site. The police arrested the accused and referred his case to court on charges of plundering the historical heritage. The police indicated that the selling price of this gold coin was not registered on the “Wallabob” platform, and it was also displayed in another forum.

Track the archaeological dinar

The investigation began with a routine tracking of the Madrid Historic District Center. According to sources familiar with the investigation, the gold dinar was announced on the “Wallabob” platform. According to National Police sources, the attached photo of the coin offered for sale showed that the coin had “dust scattered on its surface,” and that made them conclude that it had been found “from recent looting.”

The investigation led the police to the home of the person who placed the ad for the sale of the gold dinar in Barcelona. After taking his testimony, it became clear that the valuable historical piece belonged to an acquaintance who lives in the town of Calpe, a prominent tourist area in the north of the Alicante province. A warrant for his arrest has been sent.

Once they found the home of the alleged robber, the police waited for him to come. When the suspect, a 46-year-old man, appeared, officers turned to his house and arrested him on April 13th.

Historical monuments

During a search of his home, the police found 3 metal detectors that were used – according to sources familiar with the investigation – to search for valuable materials in various historical sites in the country.

The police also found the bag in which he kept the currency, which was found by the police, along with other items that were also confiscated. According to the list provided by the National Police, “two silver coins, a gold seal / seal of Islamic origin, and a coin from the time of the Roman Emperor Trajan, between the 1st and 2nd centuries AD” were found.

The police stated that the gold dinar was the most valuable among the confiscated coins, and that an expert specializing in Islamic currencies had confirmed that it was a “bilingual (Arabic and Latin) dinar minted in Cordoba.”

Police sources added that the dinar dates back to between 716 and 717 AD, and it corresponds to one of the first issuances of the currency after the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, when it was still an emirate and Cordoba was not yet established as the capital of the caliphate. According to the police, minting money at that time was very rare, which means that any piece of it would have a “high monetary value.”

Arabic-Spanish dialogue

In addition to the amazing architectural pieces from the Andalusian architecture, such as the palaces of Cordoba, Al-Hamra and the Andalusian kasbahs, the Arabs left many possessions, including coins, columns, capitals, columns, domes, walls, inscriptions, statues and paintings that remained a source of artistic radiation in Spain even after their departure from the peninsula.

In this week’s episode of “Beyond the Text,” the Al-Jazeera program monitored the book of the Spanish historian Emilio Gonzalez Ferien, “When We Were Arabs,” through which he worked to restore an entire axis of Spanish history, deal with Islam seriously and understand it in its proper context.

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In the introduction, it was stated that his book “does not seek to stir up confusion, but rather to urge the mind to contemplate and think. Therefore, I will not follow the boring game to find out who the most critics deny his fangs, and from those writers who leave longer margins than the text to indicate the abundance of their sources.”

The writer and translator Jaafar Al-Alouni said that Ferin, in his view of Islam, looks at the origins of cultural Islam, in the sense of the Qur’anic text, and studies it in the time and historical frame in which it was revealed, then after that he studies the Qur’an and the way of its interpretation in the Middle Ages in Andalusia.

And he considered that this book showed that Virin’s view went beyond the Middle Ages, as he viewed Islam as a contemporary view in the context of the image in which the West views Islam at the present time.

He added that Viren considers that the Arabs did not invade Andalusia with sword and blood, but rather entered a region that was in a state of conflict and transformations, and were able to settle in the Iberian Peninsula, and over the course of 8 centuries, they were able to spread their civilization and highlight the best that the Arabs were able to offer.

In his book, Viren opposes the prevailing narrative about the history of Andalusia, denying some of what historians consider to be universals and facts, thus opening the door to debate.