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https://www.middleeasteye.net/in-depth/features/vikings-and-abbasids-worlds-apart-interconnected-965352085Published by: MIDDLE EAST EYE on 27 May 2015
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Who she was, nobody knows. She was buried almost 1200 years ago in Birka, 25 kilometres west of modern-day Stockholm. Birka, on the strategic Björkö Island, was an important trading centre during the Viking Age. Many archeological finds have been made there, among them “grave 515”. The mystery womanwas found laying in a rectangular wooden coffin. Though the skeleton was completely decomposed, the clothes, jewelry, brooches and a ring indicate she was a female.
It is unknown if she was a Viking woman or if she belonged to a different ethnic group. Was she perhaps an Arab woman? It is equally unknown if she prayed to the Viking gods or if she was a (converted) Muslim. But her ring, with the inscription for/to Allah, is exciting and unique material evidence of direct contact between Viking Age Northern Europe and the Islamic world.
In fact the ring had been found at the end of the 19th century and was kept in the Swedish History Museum in Stockholm, among other finds from the [...]
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Who are Middle East Eye?Middle East Eye (MEE) is a United Kingdom-based media website and channel that primarily focuses on news related to the Middle East, North Africa, and the broader Muslim world.
What is Abbasid?The Abbasid Caliphate was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566-653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes its name. After overthrowing the Umayyad Caliphate in the Abbasid Revolution of 750 CE (132 AH), they ruled as caliphs based in modern-day Iraq, with Baghdad being their capital for most of their history. The Abbasid Caliphate first centered its government in Kufa, modern-day Iraq, but in 762 the caliph al-Mansur founded the city of Baghdad as the new capital. Baghdad became the center of science, culture, arts, and invention in what became known as the Golden Age of Islam. By housing several key academic institutions, including the House of Wisdom, as well as a multiethnic and multi-religious environment, the city garnered an international reputation as a centre of learning.
