Unusual Arabian coins

Nejm Al Din Alpi.
Artuqids of Mardin
A.H 547-572, AE Dirhem 30mm.
obv: Bust of Antochus VII in profile.
Rev: Legend in late Kufic

Why were there Iconographic Islamic coins produced in Eastern Turkey in the 12th and 13th centuries long after most images disappeared from Islamic coins?. Why did these Islamic coins contain images taken from Roman coins of 1000 years before their production? Why was the engraving style so far advanced of their contemporaries in Constantinople and Europe?

The Artuqids were a Turkic dynasty that ruled the province of Diyarbakr in southeastern Turkey through two branches: at Hisn Kayfa and Amid (1098-1232) and at Mardin (1104-1408). Artuq ibn Ekseb, founder of the dynasty, was rewarded for his services to the Seljuq sultan (This group of Turkish Muslims may have been "slaves" under the Seljuqs)with the grant of Palestine in 1086. The Artuqids were forced out of Palestine by the Fatimids of Egypt shortly thereafter and Artuq's descendant Mu'in ad-Din SСаkmen returned to Diyarbakr in 1102 to set up his capital. While the Muslims were dealing with the crusader invaders of Europe, there seems to have been a very tolerant and symbiotic relationship between Nestorian and Syriac Christians and the Muslims. Some Christians rose to prominence at the Artuqid court and became influential in art, literature and the Sciences - AND, it seems, die engraving. One particular Syriac Christian by the name of Simeon wrote on Science, psychology, and the arts and was referred to as "one who, in our palaces, rebuilds on the ruins of the sciences and one who renews the ancient disciplines in our age" by the great Artuqid author Bar cEbroyo (See the article by Hidemi Takahashi Simeon of Qalca Rumaita, Patriarch Philoxenus Nemrod and Bar cEbroyo )

The Artuqids of Mardin produced a fantastic array of coins that typically featured an obverse with Christian imagery and a reverse with Islamic Kufic script. The imagery borrowed on both Byzantine and Roman Empire motifs in grand style. The 'bust right' image on the coin above is reminiscent the Greek Seleukid dynasty coins of Antiochus VII. This is interesting of itself as Antiochus VII was considered the wisest and fairest of the late Seleukid line, a group of emperors known for their ruthlessness. Other designs feature the facing busts typical of Roman Provincial coins, possibly the front facing bust of Christ on later Byzantine coins, and the bust of Constantine where his eyes are looking up to heaven. There had to be some coin collectors at the Artuqid court. The other coin shown above depicts a touching scene of the mourning of the Great Muslim leader Saladin, the noble foe of Richard the Lionheart. For more on Artuqid coins, link to Tom Mallon's site or to the Vcoin commercial site of Sphinx Numismatics. or to Dawson Lewis's site which contains info, links, and some online chat records about the subject.

For further reading see: William F. Spengler and Wayne Sayles, Turkoman Figural Bronze Coins and Their Iconography. Vol. I - the Artuqid

The first coin is of Husam al-Din Yuluq Arslan, and is the second issue of two distinct varieties, dated A.H. 589 or 590. The difference between the two varieties is on the first, the reverse legend is in three lines and gives the name and titles of the Abbasid Caliph al-Nasir. On the second, the reverse contains the same three line legend but continues around the periphery with the laqabs, ism and nasab of the new Ayyubid overlord, Saif al-Din Abu Bakr. This implies that, on the first type, Yuluq Arslan was proclaiming his independence from Ayyubid authority after he learned of the death of Saladin in A.H. 589, and his hasty reversal on the second type after the Ayyubids reaffirmed control over Diyarbakr later the same year under Saladin's successor. The obverse has traditionally described as a scene depicting mourning for Saladin's death. This is probably correct, but Spengler and Sayles note the astrological meaning of the type as well: the central figure is Virgo (Erigone) who hung herself after learning of the death of her father and was subsequently raised to the heavens by Jupiter; the figure directly behind her may be Jupiter, the figure on the right is perhaps Mercury, and the figure on the left is possibly Venus, Mars or Saturn. The basis of Spengler's and Sayles's theory is the importance of astrological representation utilizing classical motifs on Turkoman coinage, and they found a parallel expression on a 14th century copper and silver inlaid plate, now in Paris. S/S 35.2 or 35.3; Poole 49 or 50. The second coin, which was struck by Najm al-Din Alpi, copies the types struck by Alpi's father, Husam al-Din Timurtash. The difference is in the addition of the of Alpi's laqab, Najm al-Din, engraved into the die across the neck truncation, and some variations in the reverse legend.

In light of current events, I chose Artuqid coins for the Featured Coin to illustrate the collaboration possible in the Middle East by people of diverse cultures and religions. - Pax.

Thanks to Robert Brenchley, Howard Cole, John Lavender, Dave Tranbarger, and Dawson Lewis for information they provided through the Moneta-L listsrv.