DOI article:
Bartczak, Andrzej: Islamic dirhams from the Góra Strękowa hoard
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21230#0268
field on 28 specimens occurs in variant la, while on 5 it is so obliterated
that this information cannot be established. Greater differentiation is ex-
hibited by the reverses, which occur in variant Hal on 3 specimens; IIa3 on
one specimen, Ilbl on 14 specimens, IIb2 on 10 specimens, and Hal or
IIb2 on one.'1 In addition, there is a legend on one dirham that is typical for
certain cAbbasid emissions.10 The circular legends on both the obverse and
reverse are also standard.11
Among the more interesting cAbbasid coins in the hoard is the dirham
of Harun ar-Rasid (no. 3), emitted in Al-Muhammadiyyah in 172 AH. The
name of the governor of this city, Yahya ibn Halid, located above the
kalimah of the reverse, is a testimony to the significant political role of
the Barmakid dynasty from which this eminent personality was descen-
ded. Other specimens struck in the reign of al-Mustacfn billah (no. 6)
and al-Muctazz billah (no. 7) come from a period when the Caliphate
was rocked by unrest, and there were freąuent changes of ruler on the
throne.12 The dirhams of al-Mu' tadid billah, on the other hand, are not
distinguished by anything in particular, nor are the emissions of the Saffarid
rulers.
The legends of the Samanid dirhams do not show any deviations from
the norm. On one of the coins (no. 20), struck in 283 AH in aś-Sas, an
additional inscription, (t ■ 4 *\ \ > ), can be seen on the obverse under the
kalimah. On the reverse, in the field under the name of the Caliph
(*dJL Ju^flCLdLoJl), we fmd the name of the emir. On the earlier coins
this still has the form (J-4JLa-jj I , but on the later (in the materiał from
Góra Strękowa, after 283 AH), it is already <x*>J £tf Jj .
Among the imitations in the hoard an example was found modeled on
an cAbbasid dirham (no. 30). The legends on this coin contain errors and
omissions, and moreover show signs of carelessness in executing certain
elements, such as the rings. Yet another specimen (no. 31) had legends
that are only an imitation of Kufi legends. A third coin, however, is an
example of an utterly primitive imitation, having only a ring and a point
9 The systematics of the arrangement of legends and shapes is given according to the
inventory series of the Swedish fmds; cf., for example, CNS1977, pp. xviii-xix.
10 Drohiczyn, p. 94, nos. 224-228.
11 Ibid., p. 4.
12 E. von Zambaur, Manuel de genealogie et de chronologie pour 1'histoire de 1'Islam, (Hanover
1927), p. 4, note 9; Drohiczyn, p. 144.
268
that this information cannot be established. Greater differentiation is ex-
hibited by the reverses, which occur in variant Hal on 3 specimens; IIa3 on
one specimen, Ilbl on 14 specimens, IIb2 on 10 specimens, and Hal or
IIb2 on one.'1 In addition, there is a legend on one dirham that is typical for
certain cAbbasid emissions.10 The circular legends on both the obverse and
reverse are also standard.11
Among the more interesting cAbbasid coins in the hoard is the dirham
of Harun ar-Rasid (no. 3), emitted in Al-Muhammadiyyah in 172 AH. The
name of the governor of this city, Yahya ibn Halid, located above the
kalimah of the reverse, is a testimony to the significant political role of
the Barmakid dynasty from which this eminent personality was descen-
ded. Other specimens struck in the reign of al-Mustacfn billah (no. 6)
and al-Muctazz billah (no. 7) come from a period when the Caliphate
was rocked by unrest, and there were freąuent changes of ruler on the
throne.12 The dirhams of al-Mu' tadid billah, on the other hand, are not
distinguished by anything in particular, nor are the emissions of the Saffarid
rulers.
The legends of the Samanid dirhams do not show any deviations from
the norm. On one of the coins (no. 20), struck in 283 AH in aś-Sas, an
additional inscription, (t ■ 4 *\ \ > ), can be seen on the obverse under the
kalimah. On the reverse, in the field under the name of the Caliph
(*dJL Ju^flCLdLoJl), we fmd the name of the emir. On the earlier coins
this still has the form (J-4JLa-jj I , but on the later (in the materiał from
Góra Strękowa, after 283 AH), it is already <x*>J £tf Jj .
Among the imitations in the hoard an example was found modeled on
an cAbbasid dirham (no. 30). The legends on this coin contain errors and
omissions, and moreover show signs of carelessness in executing certain
elements, such as the rings. Yet another specimen (no. 31) had legends
that are only an imitation of Kufi legends. A third coin, however, is an
example of an utterly primitive imitation, having only a ring and a point
9 The systematics of the arrangement of legends and shapes is given according to the
inventory series of the Swedish fmds; cf., for example, CNS1977, pp. xviii-xix.
10 Drohiczyn, p. 94, nos. 224-228.
11 Ibid., p. 4.
12 E. von Zambaur, Manuel de genealogie et de chronologie pour 1'histoire de 1'Islam, (Hanover
1927), p. 4, note 9; Drohiczyn, p. 144.
268