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Dirham - Nasir al-Dawla and Sayf al-Dawla
| Issuer | Hamdanid dynasty |
|---|---|
| Year | 961 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Dirham (0.7) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central field occupied by a multi-line Arabic religious legend arranged in horizontal registers within a plain inner border, conveying the Shahada and associated pious formulae in angular Kufic script. The marginal legend encircling the central inscription field continues the religious text in a single band, separated by a beaded or rope-pattern border. The die work is characteristic of mid-10th century Hamdanid coinage, with moderately struck Kufic lettering showing typical hammered flan irregularities. The overall layout follows Abbasid-derived typology, with carefully spaced text panels filling the available field. No figural imagery is present, consistent with Islamic numismatic tradition. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Arabic |
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| Additional information |
The Hamdanids occupy an unusual position in tenth-century Islamic numismatics: a Shia Arab dynasty ruling from Mosul and Aleppo while nominally acknowledging Abbasid suzerainty, their coinage routinely named two rulers simultaneously. This dirham names both Nasir al-Dawla, holding Mosul, and his brother Sayf al-Dawla, the celebrated Aleppo amir whose court attracted al-Mutanabbi and other major Arabic poets. Joint naming on silver was a political signal, not administrative routine — it asserted dynastic cohesion at a moment when Buyid pressure from the east was making Hamdanid unity an urgent priority.
By 961, Nasir al-Dawla's grip on the Jazira was already weakening under Buyid encroachment.