DIRHEM: COIN OF ARTUQIDS
Dirhem, 1152-1176: Artuqids of Mardin
Artuqid State was founded in 1102 as an Anatolian beylik of the Seljuk Empire and lasted until 1409. The rulers were representatives of the Turkmen Artuqids dynasty (took its name from its founder, Artuk Bey, who ruled one of the Turkmen beyliks of the Seljuks), who adhered to the Sunni Muslim faith. They ruled in eastern Anatolia (part of modern Turkey), Northern Syria and Northern Iraq. Artuk's sons and descendants ruled the three branches in the region. The richest numismatic heritage was left behind by the Artukids of Mardin.
Mardin: the capital of one of the two main branches of the Artuqid dynasty; nowadays — city and seat of the Artuklu District of Mardin Province in Turkey.
Countermarked coin.
Ruler: Najm al-Din Alpi — Artuqid ruler of Mardin and Mayyafariqin, and son of Timurtash.
Although not very rare, it is a very strange coin. First, it is a countermarked coin of Husam al-Din Timurtash, the father of Najm al-Din Alpi (with his corresponding legend on the reverse). Second, it is unclear why and how the obverse depicts a portrait copied from a tetradrachm of the Seleucid ruler Antiochus VII (138-129 BC), which was issued by another state a millennium earlier. Questions without answers...
Texts are indicated by Kufic script: "Malik al-Umara Abu'l-Muzaffar Alpi Timurtash Il Ghazi Artuq" — name and title of the ruler.
Countermarked: Arabic inscription "Najim al-Din".
Diademed bust.
- Bronze: 28 mm - 12.13 g
- Reference price: 47$
COIN DIRHEM — WHERE & WHEN (coins catalog: by names & emitents)
- MANY HISTORICAL ISSUERS OF THE ARAB WORLD (7th century-...): dirhem → dirham
DIRHEM as coin name.
Dirhem, along with dirham, is a coin of many, many issuers of the Arab world, starting from the 7th century. In ancient times, it usually served as the main silver coin and was between the copper fals and the gold dinar in value.
I consider this coin name to be one of the most common among others of all times and peoples.
There is no doubt about the importance of this coin in world numismatics. However, there is one debatable point: in Arabic, the name of the coin is written as "درهم", while in Latin symbols — either dirhem or dirham... without any logic or regularity. Why is this so? For what purpose?
It is obvious that often authors do not bother with the exact wording of the name and there are even cases when in one publication, in the description of the same coin, either dirhem or dirham is indicated. — But for me, as a collector of coins by name, this is an important point.
Since no serious source provides an interpretation of this phenomenon, for me personally, for the sake of order, I decided as follows: dirhem is a historical ancient Arab coin, while dirham is a modern currency and coin (for example, Morocco, UAE...).
I also separately consider the pronounced varieties — Square dirhem, Kufic dirhem...
Dirhem coin's name (exactly like dirham) comes from the Greek measure of weight and coin drachm (variant of the Greek term "δραχμή" adapted to the specifics of the Arabic language). The drachm in ancient times was extremely common far beyond Europe.
