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Dirham - Nejm al-Din Alpi ibn Timurtash ibn Eet Ghazi ibn Artuk
| Issuer | Artuqids of Mardin |
|---|---|
| Year | |
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| Composition | Copper |
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| Obverse description | Two facing busts rendered in high relief, depicted side by side at center in a characteristic Artuqid figural style reflecting Byzantine and Seljuk artistic influences. The busts feature schematic facial detail with rounded heads and stylized hair or headgear. Surrounding the central effigies, a circular Kufic Arabic legend occupies the field, containing the Shahada (Kalima) and a reference to the Abbasid Caliph al-Mustanjid. The coin exhibits an irregular hammered flan with green cuprite patination across the surface. |
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| Mintage | ND - (fr) d`après le nom du Calife 555-566 AH |
| Additional information |
Nejm al-Din Alpi ruled Mardin from 1152 to 1176, a reign defined largely by his extraordinary success against the Crusaders — most notably his capture of Joscelin III of Edessa in 1164, whom he held for ransom and eventual release to Nur ad-Din. The Artuqid branch at Mardin operated in permanent tension with the Zengids to their north and west, and Alpi spent much of his reign threading that political needle while maintaining effective local autonomy.
The Artuqids were among the most prolific issuers of figured copper coinage in the medieval Islamic world, continuing pre-Islamic iconographic traditions that most contemporaries had long abandoned.