BOOK REVIEWS

Book Reviews in This Article: Al-Quran Rendered into English. By Syed Abdul Latif. The Message of the Qur'an Presented in Perspective. By Hashim Amir-Ali. Ibn Kammn?a's Examination of the Three Faiths: A Thirteenth-Century Essay in the Comparative Study of Religion. Translated from the Arabic, with an Introduction and Notes, by Moshe Perlman. Arab Civilization to A.D. 1500. By D. M. Dunlop. The Baha'i Faith: Its History and Teachings. By William McElwee Miller. Jeunesse, Famille et Développement: Essai sur le changement socio-culturel dans un pays du Tiers Monde (Tunisie). By Carmel Camilleri. Jabal al-Akhdar, Cyrenaica: An Historical Geography of Settlement and Livelihood. By Douglas L. Johnson. Is Western Civilization Universal? By Maryam Jameelah. Syria under the Ba'th, 1963-1966: The Army-Party Symbiosis. By Itamar Rabinovich. Politics and Change in Al-Karak, Jordan. By Peter Gubser. Man, State, and Society in the Contemporary Middle East. Edited by Jacob M. Landau.     

Determination of the Fineness of Medieval Coins—Evaluation of Methods in a Case Study of a Medieval Pfennig

The original fineness of coins is very important information that can help us to understand the commercial situation in a wide historical context. This paper deals with a comparison of analytical methods suitable for the evaluation of the actual and original fineness of coins based on a detailed case study of a medieval coin sample. Both non‐destructive (i.e., scanning electron microscopy/energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy, X‐ray fluorescence, atomic force microscopy and hydrostatic weighing) and destructive (i.e., inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry and the Volhard titration method) techniques were used. The original fineness can be also deduced from knowledge of the internal structure of the coin (limited miscibility of copper and silver). A new analytical method based on a combination of a micrograph of the metallographic cross‐section with consequent image analysis was developed for determination of the original fineness. The proposed approach is relatively simple and provides reliable values. Sample heterogeneity and its impact on the determination of fineness are also discussed.     

The Analysis of Late Bronze Age Glass from Nuzi and the Question of the Origin of Glass‐Making

This paper re‐analyses a considerable corpus of glass from the Late Bronze Age site of Nuzi, found near Kirkuk in Iraq. SEM–WDS and Sr and Nd isotopic analysis were applied, in addition to cataloguing the glass. The work showed that the glass technology at Nuzi was subtly different from contemporary Egyptian sites, using different ways of opacifying and working glass. At least two, perhaps three, Near Eastern production sites are postulated. The range of glass colours and the skill of their application at Nuzi was perhaps not on a par with the Egyptian sites. This led to a reconsideration and review of the accepted wisdom that the Near East is the source of the innovation that is glass‐making. This opinion is based on limited textual and iconographic sources and is dominated by an erroneous early date for a very developed Nuzi glass industry along with a few finds of glass vessels in early contexts. Some of this evidence has now been at least questioned, suggesting that glass‐making in Egypt, at least as early as the middle of the 15th century bc , and probably earlier, is no later than that in the Near East. It is argued that it is far from clear that the Near East was the source of the innovation and that a more cautious approach would better fit the evidence.