Mulder took to Twitter on Monday to debunk Larsson’s claim. In a 60-tweet thread, she described her three main issues with it.

First, the style of Arabic that Larsson says she has identified—square Kufic—is not known to have been used in the 10th century; it only became common about 500 years later.

It’s a style called square Kufic, and it’s common in Iran, C. Asia on architecture after 15th c., ex: Safavid Isfahan w/Allah and Ali 9/60 pic.twitter.com/pbGJNFITGk — Stephennie Mulder (@stephenniem) October 16, 2017





Second, even if you read the script as Arabic, it does not say “Allah” but “lllah,” a meaningless non-word. In place of an alif or “a,” it has a lam or “l.”

The word “Allah” in Arabic looks like this: الله. It has an upright alif, two more uprights (lam), and a final ـه 'ha' 29/60 — Stephennie Mulder (@stephenniem) October 16, 2017





Third, the end of the word “Allah” does not actually appear in the artifact; instead, it’s part of what Larsson imagines might have existed beyond the edges of the frayed fragment we have today. Larsson is looking at the pattern that’s visible and extrapolating what may have been beyond it, as part of her attempt to reconstruct what the artifact might have looked like in full.

There is a small triangular shape, but no final ha ـه. Frag. was published in 1938 by Agnes Geijer, original drawing looked like this: 31/60 pic.twitter.com/DxDossuWzs — Stephennie Mulder (@stephenniem) October 16, 2017

But reconstruction drawing by @UU_University textile archaeologist Annika Larsson shows extensions on either side that include a ha. 32/60 pic.twitter.com/1NyQzcqDV2 — Stephennie Mulder (@stephenniem) October 16, 2017

These extensions practically double width of band. Not mentioned in press accounts: Larsson’s extensions are entirely conjectural. 33/60 — Stephennie Mulder (@stephenniem) October 16, 2017





This reconstruction is unfounded, according to textile expert Carolyn Priest-Dorman, who told me the artifact could not have extended farther out (to include the end of the word “Allah”) given how narrow its borders are: “Larsson’s saying the artifact was wider than it is.”

“She might be indulging in some fanciful readings that aren’t justified by the evidence,” agreed Paul Cobb, a professor of Islamic history at the University of Pennsylvania. He clarified that it’s already an established fact that the Viking world and Muslim world were closely integrated through trade and travel; he and other experts like Mulder and Priest-Dorman aren’t disputing that. They’re only disputing whether these specific burial clothes truly bear Arabic script.

“People want to see Arabic there, because it resonates today with a dream of a more inclusive Europe. There’s a real desire to document that Vikings had interactions, not to mention intermarriages, with many non-Vikings,” Cobb said. “That flies in the face of the white supremacists, who see Vikings as Nordic warriors defending Europe from foreign pollution, when nothing could be further from the truth. They were one of the great international societies of the Middle Ages.”