The Artuqid Rulers of Mardin, 502-812 H/1108-1409 AD
Legend & Design
Legend & Design
Obverse
Within beaded circle
Four full-length figures, the one in the centre with veiled head and draped in a long robe, seated towards the left in a dejected attitude with head turned to the front; the second, standing behind, with face in profile to left, right arm raised upwards; the third standing on the right facing forward, clothed in loose garments tied at the waist, arms hanging down; the fourth standing on the left, similarly dressed, arms half raised.
No legends
Reverse
Within linear circle
al-imam al-na / sir li’l-din / amir al-mu’minin
“The Imam al-Nasir li’l-Din, Commander of the Faithful
Margin
between inner circle and outer beaded circle: husam al-din (malik diyarbakir) yuluq arslan ibn il-ghazi ibn artuq sana tis‘ wa thamanin wa khamsmi’a
“Sword of the Faith, Ruler of Diyarbakir, Yuluq Arslan ibn Il-Ghazi ibn Artuq year nine and eighty and five hundred”
Historical Note
Historical Note
This is undoubtedly the most enigmatic of all the Artuqids’ figural copper coinage. Originally it was assumed that the dejected figure crouching in the centre of the obverse, surrounded by three other upright figures, depicted the general mourning following the death of Saladin, because it dates from the year in which he died, 589 H (1193 AD). While this theory has since been dismissed, it did, indirectly, relate to Saladin’s death.
It is considered likely that the design refers to the “Great Conjugation”, when the sun, moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn all appeared in the sign of Virgo – a spectacular event that took place in the early autumn of 582 (1186). It is said that this predicted a calamity of the worst kind, which the whole of the Islamic world at that time considered Saladin’s death would be.
As on previous coin types, the artists who designed the Turkmen copper dirhams frequently related specific astronomical events to their designs. In this case what they were saying was that the disaster was so great that even the stars wailed in anguish.
There are no legends on the obverse, while the reverse field bears the names of the Abbasid caliph, al-Nasir li-Din, with the Artuqid ruler Yuluq Arslan, his father and his grandfather. On this piece, the first coinage of the four figure type, there was no mention of the Ayyubid overlord, Saladin’s brother Sayf al-Din al-‘Adil Abu Bakr, but his name was added to the legends later in the year 589 and into 590 H.
