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Dirham - Nasir al-Din Artuq Arslan
| Issuer | Artuqids of Mardin |
|---|---|
| Year | 1200-1239 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Equestrian figure of the ruler depicted in full, facing right, mounted on a horse shown in profile. The rider is rendered in a stylized, frontal bust with arms raised, wearing period costume, the horse depicted in motion. Arabic inscriptions in Naskhi script surround the central figural device in the field, filling the margins of the flan. The composition is characteristic of the bold, iconic Artuqid artistic tradition blending Byzantine and Islamic decorative conventions. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Arabic |
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| Additional information |
Artuq Arslan ruled Mardin for nearly five decades, an unusually long reign that coincided with the Mongol advance across the eastern Islamic world. The Artuqids survived by shrewd accommodation rather than resistance — a political calculation that kept their minting operations continuous while neighboring dynasties collapsed entirely.
The S&S Type 36 classification places this among the most extensively studied of the Artuqid copper issues, owing largely to the figural iconography this series borrowed from Byzantine and Seljuq sources. Whelan's Type III designation addresses a specific die grouping within that corpus.