Fals

This article is about the coin. For other uses, see Fals (disambiguation).
"Fulus" redirects here. For the modern unit of account, see Fils (currency).
A fals minted in Damascus between 696 and 750
Fals of al-Ma'mun, AH 219 (834/5 CE), al-Quds (Jerusalem). Under the Umayyads Jerusalem was known by its Roman name Iliya Filastin ("Aelia Palaestina"), but from the time of Caliph al-Ma'mun, it was given the Islamic religious name al-Quds (meaning «holiness» or «sanctity»).
Fals of Mansur ibn Nuh, minted in Bukhara, AH 353 (964 CE), commemorating the Abbasid caliph al-Muti

The fals (Arabic: فلس, romanized: fals, plural fulus) was a medieval copper coin first produced by the Umayyad caliphate (661–750) beginning in the late 7th century. The name of the coin is derived from the follis, a Roman and later Byzantine copper coin.[1] The fals usually featured ornate Arabic script on both sides. Various copper fals were produced until the 19th century. Their weight varied, from one gram to ten grams or more.

The term is still used in modern spoken Arabic for money, but pronounced 'fils'.[2] The plural form fulus فلوس is used in contemporary dialects of Arabic (e.g. Egyptian, Iraqi) as a general term for "money". The French term flouze is borrowed from Arabic. It is also absorbed into Malay language through the word fulus فولوس.[3]

  1. ^ Urban network evolutions : towards a high-definition archaeology. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press. 31 December 2018. p. 118. ISBN 9788771846386.
  2. ^ Stephen Album, Checklist of Islamic Coins, Santa Rosa, CA, 2011, third edition, p. 7
  3. ^ "fulus". Kamus Dewan (4th ed.). Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Malaysia. Retrieved 6 September 2020 – via Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu.