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Drachm - 'Atiya b. al-Aswad Arab-Sasanian
| Issuer | Umayyad Caliphate |
|---|---|
| Year | 689-696 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 4.13 g |
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| Obverse description | Facing bust of a Sasanian-style king in three-quarter profile, wearing a distinctive mural crown with wings and crescent finials, derived from the portrait of the late Sasanian monarch Khusro II. The effigy is surrounded by concentric beaded borders with attendant crescents and stars in the fields at left and right. An Arabic marginal legend encircles the portrait, identifying the governor 'Atiya b. al-Aswad, following the Arab-Sasanian administrative tradition of inscribing the issuing authority's name around the royal bust. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Pahlavi |
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| Additional information |
Arab-Sasanian coinage of this transitional period represents the Umayyad administration working directly through inherited Sasanian monetary infrastructure — local governors and commanders issuing coins that retained the visual grammar of the defeated empire while inserting Arabic phrases into the margins. 'Atiya b. al-Aswad is attested as a governor operating in the eastern provinces during exactly this window, before 'Abd al-Malik's currency reform of 696 abolished the type entirely and replaced it with fully epigraphic Islamic coinage. That reform was abrupt and total.
Coins attributable to minor governors like 'Atiya survive in small numbers. The Walk Sn#71 attribution places this within Album's broader Arab-Sasanian classification framework.