Heritage World Coin Auctions
NYINC Signature Sale 3021 6-7 January 2013
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Islamic Dynasties
Umayyad, Mu'awiya, AH 40-61 / AD 661-680, with the governor 'Abd Allah b. 'Amir, cuprite seal matrix (25.20g, 34mm). Uniface, with raised inscription on recessed surface. The text translates "of what was ordered by the amir of the believers, Mu'awiya, who dismissed the amir 'Abd Allah bin 'Amir from the governorship of al‑Basra". Edge cracks at 11:00 and 2:00, likely marking attachment spots for a metal ring. Fascinating, only the second example known of a seal with this inscription. See Baldwin's Islamic Auction 19 (25 April 2012), lot 5 for a similar example in lead. Mu'awiya was the fifth Caliph of the Islamic umma and the first of the Umayyad Dynasty. His undermining and eventual replacement of the previous Caliph, Ali (AH 35-40/ AD 656-661), led to the first Muslim civil war (or Fitna) and the schism between Sunni and Shia that persists to this day. Inheriting a vast and chaotic realm, Mu'awiya copied Byzantine administrative practice and established bureaucracies, or diwans, to handle all aspects of government. Two such diwans were directed to handle correspondence and official records. The officials heading these diwans were charged with receiving documents, drafting replies, making copies, and applying seals to these documents. This seal, made of a cuprite material rather than the usual lead or glass paste, is evidence of this practice and also makes reference to the dismissal of Abd Allah bin Amir bin Kurayz al-Hadrami, a cousin of the earlier Caliph 'Uthman, from the governorship of Basra. Arab historians place this event in 44 AH (AD 664). This seal might well have been affixed to a chest containing the documents that ordered 'Abd Allah's dismissal. The similar lead example offered in Baldwin's would likely have sealed the actual document. These seals are the only known objects that provide the name of Caliph Mu'awiya's and 'Abd Allah's names in Arabic script.
Estimate: 40000-50000 USD
Umayyad, Mu'awiya, AH 40-61 / AD 661-680, with the governor 'Abd Allah b. 'Amir, cuprite seal matrix (25.20g, 34mm). Uniface, with raised inscription on recessed surface. The text translates "of what was ordered by the amir of the believers, Mu'awiya, who dismissed the amir 'Abd Allah bin 'Amir from the governorship of al‑Basra". Edge cracks at 11:00 and 2:00, likely marking attachment spots for a metal ring. Fascinating, only the second example known of a seal with this inscription. See Baldwin's Islamic Auction 19 (25 April 2012), lot 5 for a similar example in lead. Mu'awiya was the fifth Caliph of the Islamic umma and the first of the Umayyad Dynasty. His undermining and eventual replacement of the previous Caliph, Ali (AH 35-40/ AD 656-661), led to the first Muslim civil war (or Fitna) and the schism between Sunni and Shia that persists to this day. Inheriting a vast and chaotic realm, Mu'awiya copied Byzantine administrative practice and established bureaucracies, or diwans, to handle all aspects of government. Two such diwans were directed to handle correspondence and official records. The officials heading these diwans were charged with receiving documents, drafting replies, making copies, and applying seals to these documents. This seal, made of a cuprite material rather than the usual lead or glass paste, is evidence of this practice and also makes reference to the dismissal of Abd Allah bin Amir bin Kurayz al-Hadrami, a cousin of the earlier Caliph 'Uthman, from the governorship of Basra. Arab historians place this event in 44 AH (AD 664). This seal might well have been affixed to a chest containing the documents that ordered 'Abd Allah's dismissal. The similar lead example offered in Baldwin's would likely have sealed the actual document. These seals are the only known objects that provide the name of Caliph Mu'awiya's and 'Abd Allah's names in Arabic script.
Estimate: 40000-50000 USD