Source in the Spotlight
The Early Islamic Menorah Copper Coin as a Material Case of Co-Production
Source in the Spotlight
The Early Islamic Menorah Copper Coin as a Material Case of Co-Production
Sometime during the last fifty years of the Umayyad’s reign, a unique copper coin was issued in one of the western regions recently conquered by the first dynasty of Islam. On the reverse side of the coin is the second part of the šahāda, the Islamic profession of faith, which reads, “Muḥammad is the messenger of God”, while on the obverse is the first part of the Islamic creed, “There is no god but God, alone”, a formula commonly found on Islamic coins of the period. However, the obverse also features the Jewish symbol par excellence, the menorah, making this coin a fascinating case of co-production.
Event: International Conference
Conference: Co-produced Rituals between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: Uncovering a Common Late Antique and Early Medieval Religious Culture
April 2–3, 2025 Bern, Switzerland
Learn moreEvent: Conference
Conference: The “Excluded Third” in the Co-Production of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
June 10–13, 2025 Villa Vigoni (Como Lake, IT)
Learn moreAbout
Who we are
The project is coordinated by Katharina Heyden, Professor for Ancient History of Christianity and Interreligious Encounters at the University of Bern (Switzerland), and David Nirenberg, Director and Leon Levy Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton (U.S.), and includes a network of collaborators across North America, Europe, and the Middle East.
New Case Study
Lot’s Cave: A Co-Produced Pilgrimage Site Visited by Christian and Muslim Worshippers
Lot’s Cave near the Jordanian town of al-Safi, historically known also as Zoar, has been a site of veneration and pilgrimage for Christians—and later Muslims—for much of the past 1,500 years. Artifacts at the site indicate that the cave was a Byzantine Christian pilgrimage site from at least the fourth century CE. Even though the teachings of both faiths today discourage worship in settings with mixed religious symbology, archaeological evidence suggests that this was a shared of veneration and pilgrimage for Christians and Muslims from the seventh to ninth centuries CE. It continued to be a site visited only by Muslims for two more centuries, after which the cave was entirely abandoned. The site was rediscovered in the twentieth century and is now visited by thousands of Christians and Muslims from all over the world.