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Dirham - Fakhr al-Din Qara Arslan crowned and bearded bust

Issuer Artuqids of Hisn Kayfa and Amid
Year 1164
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Weight 10 g
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Reverse script Arabic
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Mintage 559 (1164)
Additional information

Fakhr al-Din Qara Arslan ruled Hisn Kayfa from roughly 1144 to 1167, navigating the fractious politics of the Jazira during a period when Zengid pressure from Mosul and Aleppo continuously threatened Artuqid autonomy. His issues are among the earliest Artuqid copper dirhams to adopt the frontal bust format borrowed — quite deliberately — from Byzantine folles still circulating in the region, a visual strategy that spoke to a mixed population accustomed to Roman-derived imagery.

The Zeno catalogue entry 20387 places this among the better-documented die pairings for the type, though die alignment and flan preparation vary considerably across surviving examples.

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