Medieval ISLAMIC,  ANATOLIA — ARTUQIDS OF MARDIN

Qutb al-Dīn Il-Ghāzī II (AH 572–580 / AD 1176–1184), Æ Dirham

Mint: Mardin

Date: AH 577 (AD 1181/1182)

Weight: 15.99 g

Diameter: 34 mm

Reference: Whelan Type I, 46–47; Spengler & Sayles Type 32.1; Album 1828.2

Condition: Very Fine, with an attractive brown patina.

Obverse

Two facing Byzantine-style draped and cuirassed busts, rendered in a distinctly classical manner. The date AH 577 appears above and to the left of the figures.

Reverse

Arabic inscription naming the Abbasid caliph al-Nāṣir li-Dīn Allāh and giving the name and genealogy of the Artuqid ruler Qutb al-Dīn Il-Ghāzī II.

The lower three lines of the reverse contain the unusual formula:

"Hādhā al-dirham, malʿūn man yuʿayyiruhu"

("This is the dirham; cursed is he who disparages or rejects it.")

Historical Note

This impressive copper dirham was struck at Mardin during the reign of Qutb al-Dīn Il-Ghāzī II, one of the principal rulers of the Artuqid dynasty. The Artuqids governed a strategically important frontier region in Upper Mesopotamia and southeastern Anatolia, situated between the Byzantine Empire, the Seljuks, and the various Muslim states of Syria and Iraq. Their coinage reflects this unique cultural environment and is among the most artistically distinctive of the medieval Islamic world.

The obverse design, featuring two facing Byzantine-style busts, demonstrates the remarkable continuity of classical and Byzantine artistic traditions in the region. Unlike most contemporary Islamic coinages, which were predominantly epigraphic, Artuqid issues frequently employed human figures, animals, zodiacal imagery, and other figural motifs. These designs were adapted from Byzantine, classical, and local artistic models while serving the political and monetary needs of an Islamic dynasty.

The date AH 577 (AD 1181/1182) falls early in the reign of the Abbasid caliph al-Nāṣir li-Dīn Allāh (AH 575–622 / AD 1180–1225), whose name appears on the reverse as an acknowledgment of Abbasid spiritual authority. Although the Artuqids exercised independent political power, the inclusion of the caliph's name reinforced their legitimacy within the broader Islamic world.

Particularly noteworthy is the reverse inscription declaring, "Cursed is he who disparages it." Such a statement is highly unusual on Islamic coinage and has been interpreted as an assertion of confidence in the coin's value and acceptance.