Nordic identity questioned after discovery
ENKOPING, Sweden — The discovery of Arabic characters that spell “Allah” and “Ali” on Viking funeral costumes in boat graves in Sweden has raised questions about the influence of Islam in Scandinavia.
The grave where the costumes were found belonged to a woman dressed in silk burial clothes and was excavated from a field in Gamla Uppsala, north of Stockholm, in the 1970s, but its contents were not cataloged until a few years ago, Annika Larsson, a textile archaeologist at Uppsala University, said Friday.
Among the contents unearthed: a necklace with a figurine; two coins from Baghdad; and the bones of a rooster and a large dog.
Larsson discovered the Arabic characters in February, as she was preparing some of the items for an exhibition on Viking couture in Enkoping, Sweden. She had been trying to recreate textile patterns for the exhibits when she discovered Kufic characters of Arabic.
At first, she said, she could not make sense of the tiny geometric designs in both fabrics.
“Then I remembered seeing them in similar Moorish designs in silk ribbons from Spain,” she said. “I understood it had to be a kind of Arabic character, not Nordic.”
Upon closer examination of the band from all angles, she said, she realized she was looking at Kufic script. The words Allah and Ali appeared in the silk found in Boat Grave 36 and in many other graves — and, most intriguing, the word Allah could be seen in a mirror.
Larsson has long noted the prevalence of silk from Asia in Scandinavian Viking graves. But the analysis of these materials, the weaving techniques and design indicated a combination of Persian and Central Asian origins.
The evidence, she said, supported the theory that the Viking settlements in the Malar Valley of Sweden were a western outpost of the Silk Road that stretched through Russia to silk-producing centers east of the Caspian Sea.
It is well known that the Vikings traded with the Arab world, and archaeologists have found plenty of Arab coins in Viking settlements. The trade lasted 150 years, beginning in the first half of the ninth century.
But Larsson said that the silk and other artifacts found in the Viking graves suggested not just trade — but a deeper cultural exchange and shared ideas.
Did the Vikings know the words were in the fabric?
“My opinion is that those who wore the fabrics must have understood the symbolism,” said Larsson. “But certainly, the person who wove the fabrics could read and write and knew what the characters meant.
“There are so many puzzle pieces here that together they represent an idea. I’m not saying that these are Muslims. But they are partaking in a worldview shared by people living in Central Asia.”