‘Allah’ and ‘Ali’ patterns discovered in Viking graves in Sweden
STOCKHOLM
Swedish researchers have unearthed Viking-era burial costumes in graves with the words “Allah” and “Ali” written on them, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.
Muslims use the word “Allah” for God, while Ali is the name of the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law. The Alevi sect, widely seen as practicing a liberal form of Islam, is characterized by a great devotion to Ali, the fourth caliph of Islam.
The Vikings could have been influenced by Islam and “the idea of an eternal life in paradise after death,” Annika Larsson, a researcher in textile archaeology at Uppsala University, told Anadolu Agency on Oct. 6.
The words, which appear in Kufic characters of the ancient Arabic script, were found in silk costumes in boat-graves as well as in chamber graves in the historic Viking city of Birka.
“In the Quran, it is written that the inhabitants of paradise will wear garments of silk, which along with the text band’s inscriptions may explain the widespread occurrence of silk in Viking-era graves,” Larsson had previously had.
Similar Kufic characters were also found in mosaics on burial monuments and mausoleums, primarily in Central Asia, the university said in a statement.
In 2015, Swedish researchers at Stockholm University also discovered a ninth century ring in a Viking grave with an inscription that says “for Allah” or “to Allah.”
