Islamic Charm Loaned to Philadelphia Museum
(Posted November 29, 2016)
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A copper charm with Islamic writing embossed on its surface that was unearthed at Fort Shirley, a colonial fort site near Shirleysburg, Pa, has been loaned to go on display at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, Pa.
Students were excavating on the site as part of the Juniata course on archaeology taught by Jonathan Burns, a lecturer in archaeology. The dug up the very small artifact as part of a test hole. “We were digging in Nancy Kepler’s backyard and we found it,” states Burns.
Fort Shirley was huge trading post with the local Native American population, and it was known that slaves lived there too. The Fort Shirley copper charm is about the size of the hole punched in a spiral notebook. The tiny charm has Islamic inscriptions from the Quran.
This is a unique find because there was only written records of Muslims in colonial Pennsylvania. Up until this point, there was not much physical evidence of an Islamic presence. “Slaves did trade, so we are wondering if they traded for this trinket or if a person got it from an artisan in Africa and they carried it across the sea. That is where the speculation comes in,” Burns says.
Ryan Mathur, chair of Juniata's geology department, used isotopic techniques in a chemical analysis of the charm to determine that the copper was from England.
Scott Stephenson ’87, director of collections and interpretation at the Museum of the American Revolution is excited to put this charm on display in the museum. The museum will open in May. He stated that, “we have about 15,000 feet of core exhibition space. We have a section devoted to the Declaration of Independence and the early constitution writing that took place. There is a section that is devoted to the foundations of religious freedom in America. We want to use this discovery to represent the different religions of the colonies in America. Some of the faiths are kind of easy to find examples for, like Methodist, Lutheran, or Jewish. Others like Muslim are harder to find. This is the only artifact we have to represent that religious minority in the colonies.”
“My hope is that the people from the American Revolution Museum will see this piece and this and say – hey I saw this before or I know where there is one of these,” says Burns. “So there is no better venue for it in my opinion than being seen in the museum. The charm probably came from Philly long ago. It is unlikely that we are going to find out anymore on the charm here.”
Scott stated that, “we want to broaden the perceptions that people have of the founding generation. It is not to take away from the men at Indepdence Hall who played a great role in the religious freedom given to us, but to also see that America was incredibly diverse both religiously and ethically in that period.”
The charm is on loan to the Museum of the American Revolution for three years with the possibility of renewing its stay in Philadelphia. It will be part of the exhibit opening in April of 2017.
By Marlene Matula ’17, Juniata Online Journalist
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Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.