Denmark's first mosque might have been built in the 900s

[politicus]

Denmark's first mosque might have been built back in the 900s.

Archaeologists from the University of Aarhus, who have just begun excavation an 1100 years old fortress found near Køge on Sealand in September 2014 may have found our first mosque.

In the ruins of a longhouse in the castle's eastern end they have found a so-called rune stick with the inscription "Allah u Akbar" written in runes.

Rune sticks were used to write short messages, and the newfound stick shows that Islam has been present in Denmark in the 900s.

Preliminary studies have shown that the building in which the rune stick was found was arranged markedly different from the Viking castle's other longhouses with no space for livestock and the entrance facing south. This has led archaeologists to conclude it was most likely a Muslim house of prayer, but researchers will have to make several additional excavations before they can conclude unequivocally.

There are two possibilities as to who owned the rune stick:

1) An Arabic warrior in king Harald Bluetooth's guard. During his consolidation of power in newly conquered Eastern Denmark the king had built several castles in the 980s, and many of them were guarded by foreign mercenaries. Some of whom may have been Arabs given the trade contacts between Vikings and Arabs.

2) A Viking convert who had embraced Islam on a trading voyage to the Middle East.

Historians know from both written sources and archaeological finds that the Vikings had close contact with the Muslim world. For example the Arab explorer Ibn Fadlan described a Viking burial in the 920s and Arab silver coins and jewelry have been found in many places in Scandinavia, especially in Denmark.

The excavation leader Theodor Granzow-Busch trolls the Danish right wing by saying that the Vikings were generally open to foreign customs and religions they met on their journeys and that it is not inconceivable that Harald Bluetooth may have considered Islam as an alternative before he decided upon Christianity as the official religion of his new united kingdom considering that the strength of the Islamic caliphate would have made it a valuable ally.

This should put Granzow-Busch in the running for national Troll of the Year.

[Antonio the Sixth]

That's actually quite fascinating.