Volker Popp (2004, 2005) proposed that both "Muḥammad" ("the blessed one") and "ʿAlī" ("the elevated one") originated not as given names but as titles. Titles given to Jesus Christ by Syriac Christians in the Sassanid Empire, with "muḥammad" being the equivalent of the "benedictus", ευλογηµένος of the New Testament. In a numismatic study, Popp identified coins dated to AH 16 inscribed with "mḥmd" (Muḥammad sans vowels which are normally excluded in written Arabic) but lacking the "rasūl allāh" that later became common. Popp adduced Arabo-Sassanid and Syrian coins inscribed with "MHMT" in Pahlavi script, and also partly with "mḥmd" in Arabic script, in some cases combined with Christian symbolism. Volker Popp, "Die frühe Islamgeschichte nach inschriftlichen und numismatischen Zeugnissen", in: Karl-Heinz Ohlig (ed.), "Die dunklen Anfänge. Neue Forschungen zur Entstehung und frühen Geschichte des Islam", Berlin 2005, pp. 16–123 (here p. 63 ff.).</ref>