Dirham of al-Muqtadir, Madina-t al-Salam (Baghdad) 911 - 912

Editor: So, this is a Dirham of al-Muqtadir from Baghdad. It's a small, silver coin, and you can really see the wear and tear from being handled. What can you tell me about this piece? Curator: This dirham embodies the economic and social systems of its time. Look at the materiality – silver, a valuable resource, transformed through labor and trade into a symbol of power and a medium of exchange. Editor: So the material itself tells a story? Curator: Precisely! The coin's creation, circulation, and even its eventual loss or burial, speak volumes about resource management, craftsmanship, and the vast networks of exchange that defined al-Muqtadir's reign. It is the physical trace of economic practice. Editor: That's fascinating! I never thought about a coin in that way before. Curator: Seeing it as just currency obscures its larger place in the material culture.