Madīnat al-Zahrā', Spain. Symbollogy of Power in the Caliphate of Cordoba: Coins and Palaces. A Monetary Discourse. Research Carried Out between June and December 2021

Abstract

The economic and monetary history of Al-Ḥakam II, the second caliph of Cordoba (Spain), is somehow less well known than that of his predecessor, ‘Abd al-Raḥmān III, or his successor, Hišām II, however, his reign is very interesting from a numismatic point of view. On the one hand, not only because of the approximations to the volu­mes of coinage minted, obtained directly from the numismatic hoards, and linked to the possible constructions of al-Ḥakam II, but also because, like ‚Abd al-Raḥmān III, his son developed an intense policy of dynastic propaganda to consolidate his power, and guarantee the survival of the dynasty. Therefore, from the palatial architecture as an expression of caliphal power, could there be a dynastic message both in the coins, a key element of expression of the caliphal power, and in the decoration that appeared in the architectural elements?