Sumatra Archeology - Part I : Barus (6)

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Please read Sumatra Archeology - Part I: Barus (1)

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Artifact: Tombstone

Site Name: Mahligai Cemetery (Makam Mahligai)

Location: Sihorbo, North Barus, Central Tapanuli Regency, North Sumatra 22564

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Comment on this artifact:

As seen, on the tombstone there is inscription in Arabic, which is two sentences of Tawheed: There is no god but Allah; Muhammad is the messenger.

But the questioning and wonder thing here is that the Arabic calligraphy model used on this tombstone is very close to the Arabic calligraphy in the early centuries of Islam. Especially, as the inscriptions seen in the currency coins of the Umayyad Dynasty.

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^{Umayyad script on the coin of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, 80 hijriah / 699 AD (Captured from 'A Dictionary of Arabic Calligraphy and Calligraphers' by Dr. Afif Bahnassi, p. 8.)}

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^{Abd al-Malik Gold dinars (Image source)}

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Whether thus, this tombstone originated in the early centuries of Islam, or whether the calligraphy is, in fact, only a creation that follows an early Arabic calligraphy model that combines dry letters (as in the Kufic script) and soft letters (as in the Thuluth script)?

Until now, we have not been able to conclude anything. To say that this tombstone had been carved in the early centuries of Islam, that at the time of its contemporaries of the Umayyya Dynasty, it was something quite impossible because there was no other supporting evidence. While at the same time, to say that such calligraphy is made because only to follow the old calligraphy pattern, it also does not make sense because of its very close resemblance to the old pattern.

Presumably, a wise attitude is not to give a conclusion, until the other archeological findings can support one of these two astonishing possibilities.

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Previous posts :

Sumatra Archeology - Part I: Barus (1)

Sumatra Archeology - Part I : Barus (2)

Sumatra Archeology - Part I : Barus (3)

Sumatra Archeology - Part I : Barus (4)

Sumatra Archeology - Part I : Barus (5)