Contributions to Arabic Metrology

Author
Miles, George Carpenter, 1904-1975
Series
Numismatic Notes and Monographs
Publisher
American Numismatic Society
Place
New York
Date
Source
Donum
Source
Worldcat
Source
Worldcat Works
Source
HathiTrust

License

CC BY-NC

Acknowledgement

Open access edition funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities/Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Humanities Open Book Program.

Export

Table of Contents

FRONT

BODY

I. UMAYYAD OFFICIALS

A. Qurrah b. Sharīk

Governor, 90–96 A.H.: 709–714 A.D.

COIN WEIGHT

1. One-half dīnār.

امر الا

مير قرة

بميزن نصف

واف

Ordered the amīr Qurrah: weight of one-half, full weight.

Pale blue-green, 22; 2.14.

ANS 53.123 Plate I

Unpublished. Cf. EAG, 1, with a different legend.

VESSEL STAMPS

2. One-half raṭl of grease.

.......

مر الامير..

رة نصف..

رطل دهن

Green, 29×26+, chipped at right.

ANS 54.175

Similar to EAG, 2.

3. One-quarter qisṭ.

امر الامير

قرة ربع

قسط

واف

Blue-green, 30.

ANS 56.8

Similar to EAG, 3.

B. Usāmah b. Zayd

Finance Director, 96–99 A.H.: 714–717 A.D.

Interim Governor, 102 A.H.: 720–721 A.D.

COIN WEIGHTS

4.–5. One-half dīnār.

*

امر اسا

مة بن زيد

ميزان نصف

واف

Order of Usāmah b. Zayd: weight of one-half full weight.

4. Green, 22; 2.13.

ANS 56.8 Plate I

5. Very pale blue, 22; 2.14.

ANS 54.161

Unpublished. Cf. BM, 2, and Cairo , 11, with different legend.

6. Fals of 14 qīrāṭ.

امر اسامة

بن زيد ميزان

فلس اربعة

(sic) عشر قيرطا

Order of Usāmah b. Zavd: weieht of fals of fourteen qīrāṭ.

Pale green, 26; 2.74.

ANS 53.123 Plate I

Similar to Fouquet Coll., 20, in part incorrectly transcribed.

DISK-WEIGHT

7. One-half (raṭl?).

.....امر ا

....مة بن

....بنصف

.....

Ordered Usā- mah b. [Zayd]: one-half..... .......

Green, frg. (about ½ ?), 75+; thickness, 16; 59.70+.

ANS 51.119

Unpublished.

VESSEL STAMPS

8.–9. One-half qisṭ.

امر ا

سامة بن ز

*

ـد نصف

قسط واف

Order of Usāmah b. Za[y]d: one-half qisṭ, full measure.

8. Green, 36.

ANS 56.8 Plate I

9. Green, 37.

ANS 56.8

Similar to University College, 89–90; Cairo , 3–4.

10.–11. One-quarter qisṭ

امر ا

سامة بن ز

يد ربع قسط

* واف

Order of Usāmah b. Zayd: one-quarter qisṭ, full measure.

10. Green, 40 (frg. lacking).

ANS 53.50

11. Green, 30.

ANS 56.8

Similar to University College, 91.

C.Ḥayyān b. Shurayḥ

Finance Director, ca. 99–101 A.H.: 717–720 A.D.2

VESSEL STAMPS

12. Qisṭ of figs.

امر حيان

بن شريح

بقسط تين

واف

Ordered Ḥayyān b. Shurayḥ: qisṭ of tīn, full measure.

Green, 34.

ANS 56.8 Plate I

Unpublished. The word following qisṭ on this stamp presented a problem of decipherment. The three letters offer 75 possible different combinations (five possibilities for the first letter, five for the second, and three for the third). However, of these combinations only a few spell recognizable words, and of the latter only two or three have acceptable meanings in the context. Of these by all odds the most likely is tīn, "fig"; especially in view of the function of the fig in the mediaeval and ancient materia medica. Lane translates the classical Arabic definition of the fig's medicinal properties:3"...a very useful medicine, for it has a laxative property, dissolves phlegm, purifies the kidneys, removes sand of the bladder, opens obstructions of the liver and spleen, and fattens the body," etc. In classical Greek times the fig, Ficus Carica, especially when dried, was recommended for a wide variety of ailments, including throat, tonsil, lung, kidney and bladder troubles; it was reputed to be effective in coagulating milk, stopping ringing in the ears, as a poultice for gout, leprosy, running sores, toothache and poisonous bites.4 Ibn al-Bayṭār repeats the enumeration of these properties and adds others on the authority of mediaeval Arabic medical writers.5 In modern times the fig is recognized by the herbalists and even in the Dispensatory as a useful constituent of many proprietary laxatives, and as a demulcent and emollient.6 As long ago as the time of Hezekiah it was used as a remedy for boils.7

13. Qisṭ of honey.8

امر حيان

بن شريح

قسط

العسل

ف

Order of Ḥayyān b. Shurayḥ: qisṭ of al-'asal, [full] measure.

Green, 40 × 37.

ANS 54.159 Plate I

Honey, Arabic 'asal,9 is new to our list of glass pharmaceutical measure stamps. That it had a legitimate place in the old materia medica is testified to by its mention by Dioscorides as a remedy for ulcers, pain in the nose and ears, inflammation of the throat, tonsils, etc.; it also was reputed to kill lice;10 and Ibn al-Bayṭār lists other ailments for which honey was alleged to be useful, e.g., facial tics and, when mixed with vinegar, tooth decay.11 Although these properties are no longer recognized, it is of interest to note that honey has its uses in modern pharmacology: it is "often more acceptable to the stomach, especially in ailing persons, than cane sugar," and it also is employed as a flavoring agent in gargles, as an excipient for preparing pills and masses, and as an ingredient of the formerly official mercury mass, where it served to facilitate the dispersion of metallic mercury.12

14. One-half qisṭ of olive oil.

امر حيان

بن شريح

نصف قسط

يت وا..

[ف؟]

Pale green, 33.

ANS 56.8

Similar to EAG, 9.

15. One-quarter qisṭ of olive oil.13

امر حيان

بن شريح ر

بع قسط زيـ

ت واف

Order of Ḥayyān b. Shurayḥ: quarter qisṭ of olive oil, full measure.

Green, 34 × 33.

ANS 54.161 Plate I

Variant of EAG, 10, and University College, 92.

16. One-quarter qisṭ of ointment.

امر حيان

بن شريح

ربع قسط

لطلا وا

ف

Order of Ḥayyān b. Shurayḥ: quarter qisṭ of [a]l-ṭilā', full measure.

Green, 32.

ANS 56.8 Plate I

Unpublished, but for al-ṭilā', "ointment," cf. EAG, pp. 28, 72, and EAG Suppl., p. 49.

17. Uncertain measure.

امر حيان

بن شريح

...رعرللا

واف

Order of Ḥayyān b. Shurayḥ: ............... full measure.

Green, 24.

ANS 53.123 Plate I

Unpublished. The third line appears to be quite legible, but unfortunately I can make nothing of it. The tail of the fā' in the last line turns back to the right.

End Notes
2
For the dates of Ḥayyān b. Shurayḥ, see EAG, pp. 74–75; a preliminary corpus of his weights and measures is given in my article, Ḥayyān b. Shurayḥ (see bibliography), pp. 151–153.
3
Lane, I, p. 325; cf. for the word itself, Bedevian, p. 276, no. 1617, Ahmed Issa, p. 83, Mohammad Sharaf, p. 314, Schweinfurth, p. 84, Muschler, pp. 246–247.
4
Dioscorides, Bk. I, 183 (Gunther, pp. 90–91).
5
Ibn al-Bayṭār, Vol. 231, pp. 326–327, no. 439.
6
Dispensatory, p. 1691; Grieve, I, pp. 311–313; Allport, pp. 115, 228; Lloyd, p. 138.
7
Isaiah, XXXVIII, 21.
8
Listed in Ḥayyān b. Shurayḥ, p. 152, no. 1.
9
Lane, I, p. 2046.
10
Dioscorides, Bk. II, 101 (Gunther, pp. 124–125).
11
Ibn al-Bayṭār, Vol. 251, pp. 445–447, no. 1542.
12
Dispensatory, pp. 653–654; cf. Allport, pp. 104,199, for other uses.
13
Listed in Ḥayyān b. Shurayḥ, p. 152, no. 9.

D. The Caliph Yazīd II

101–105 A.H.: 720–724 A.D.

VESSEL STAMPS

18. Qisṭ.

........

...عبد الـ

....يزيد

قسط واف

..........

The Servant of God, Yazīd.........: qisṭ, full measure.

Green, 26 × 22 (fragmentary).

ANS 54.164

The reading is by no means certain.

19.–22. One-quarter qisṭ of olive oil.14

امر عبد الله

يزيد امير المؤ

منين ربع قسط

زيت واف على

يدي حيان بن

يح....

Order of the Servant of God, Yazīd, Commander of the Faith- ful: quarter qisṭ of olive oil, full measure, at the hands of Ḥayyān b. [Shur]ayḥ.

19. Pale green, 35 × 40.

ANS 54.14

20. Green, 43 × 40 (chipped at bottom).

ANS 54.159 Plate I

21. Pale green, 37 × 36 (chipped at top).

ANS 54.161

22. Green, 39.

ANS 56.8

The transcription is composite: the legend is not completely preserved on any one specimen.

Cf. EAG Suppl., 7, where Ḥayyān's name is lacking (off the stamp), but probably the same as these; also University College, 86, also lacking Ḥayyān's name. In all cases the die is actually too large for the glass stamp, and hence Ḥayyān's name is never completely preserved. These pieces are important in that they clearly establish the identity of Yazīd as being Yazīd II.15

End Notes
14
Three of these specimens are listed in Ḥayyān b. Shurayḥ, p. 151, nos. 4–6.
15
See the discussion in EAG Suppl., p. 8.

E. 'Ubaydullāh b. al-Ḥabḥāb

Finance Director, 102–106 A.H.: 720–734 A.D.

COIN WEIGHTS

23. One-half dīnār.

بسم الله

مما امر به عبيد

الله بن الحبحا

ب ميزان نصف

* واف

In the name of Allāh: among those things ordered by 'Ubayd- ullāh b. al-Ḥabḥā- b: weight of a half, full weight.

Pale blue-green, 22; 2.11.

ANS 56.8 Plate I

Unpublished, but cf. Bergmann, Nominale, p. 262, referring to Castiglioni (withمثقال نصف واف).

24. Fals of 34 qīrāṭ.

بسم الله

امر عبيد الله

*بن الحبحاب

(بمثقال فلس وزن (؟

اربعة و ثلثين

قيراط وا

In the name of Allāh: ordered 'Ubaydullāh b. al-Ḥabḥāb: weight of fals, weight thirty-four qīrāṭ, full weight.

Green, 33; 6.56.

ANS 56.8 Plate I

Unpublished. This weight of 34 qīrāt (a new one),16 agrees quite well with the theoretical weight (6.888 grams) set forth in the table, EAG, p. 10.

25. Fals of 24 kharrūbah.

بسم الله

امر عبيد ا

لله بن الحبحاب

بمثقال فلس

اربعة و عشرين

خروبة وا

ف

In the name of Allāh: ordered 'Ubaydullāh b. al-Ḥabḥāb: weight of fals of twenty-four kharrūbah, full weight.

Green, 31; 4.67.

ANS 56.8 Plate I

Cf. Cairo , 45–47, with * at the left of the fourth line.

26. Fals of 20 qīāṭ.

بسم الله

امر عبيد ا

لله ابن الحبحاب

مثقال فلس عشر

ين قيرط

In the name of Allāh: order of 'Ubaydullāh ibn al-Ḥabḥāb: weight of fals of twenty qīrāṭ.

Green, 28; 3.95.

ANS 56.8 Plate II

Similar to Cairo, 49; cf. EAG, 12, with a different arrangement of the lines.

27. Fals of 20 qīrāṭ.

بسم الله

امر عبيد الله

بن الحبحاب

بمثقال فلس

عشرين قيرط

Dark emerald green (unusual color), 28; 4.00.

ANS 56.8 Plate II

Cf. EAG, 12, with ابن and with ط of قيرط on a separate line.

28. (Fals of 19 qīrāṭ?).

عبيد

الله بن

الحبحاب

'Ubaydullāh b. al-Ḥabḥaāb.

Green, 25; 3.78.

ANS 56.163 Plate II

Unpublished. This is a curious piece, bearing no executive phrase or denomination. It is of irregular shape and thickness. If it is a systematic coin weight it would approximate that of 19 qīrāṭ.

29. Fals of 18 kharrūbah.

[مما امر [به

عبيد الله ابن ا

لحبحاب مثقال فلس

ثمنية عشر

خروبة

image

Among those things ordered by 'Ubaydullāh ibn al-Ḥabḥāb: weight of fals of eighteen kharrūbah.

Green, 26; 3.67. (broken, mended, nearly complete).

ANS 53.123 Plate II

Similar to Cairo , 54–56; cf.university college, 100–101, with ا between ثمنية and عشر.17

30.One-half fals of 15 qīrāṭ

بسم الله

امر عبيد الله

بن الحبحاب مثقا

ل نصف فلس

خمسة عشر

قيراط وا

ف

Green, 26;2.93.

ANS 56.8

Similar to EAG, 14, where the final ف is not clear; and to Cairo , 57, with error in transcription.

31. "Part" of 12 kharrūbah.

بسم الله

امر عبيد الله

بن الحبحاب مثقال

شطر اثنى عشر

ة خروبة و

اف

Green, 24; 2.27.

ANS 56.8 Plate II

Similar to EAG, 15–16, where واف was misread as وزن(?); also University College, 102. In EAG, pp. 27 and 76,1 read the word preceding the denomination as saṭr, "row, series"; I now propose as much more probable shaṭr, "half" or "part".18

End Notes
16
M. Marcel Jungfleisch wrote me in 1952 that he had a weight oi 34 qīrāt of 'Ubaydullāh b. al-Ḥabḥāb (probably similar to this), weighfng 6.53 grams.
17
This is not necessarily an error: cf. Grohmann, Papyruskunde, p. 105, for the spelling اعشر in papyri.

DISK-WEIGHT

32. Wuqīyah.

......بسم

.....امر عبـ

.....بن الحبـ

....بصنعه و

......وروا

In the name of......: ordered 'Ub...... b. al-Ḥab....... the making of it: wu... –––, full........

Green, 54 × 28+ (somewhat more than one half of weight preserved); 16.02+.

ANS 54.14 Plate II

Unpublished. I assume that the fourth line is to be completed, wuqīyah; the meaning of ور (if indeed the word begins on this last line) escapes me. Probably وافية follows.

There are two other published disk-weights of 'Ubaydullāh's: EAG, 24, a possible raṭl; and EAG Suppl., p. 7 (Mabbott Collection), a possible half-raṭl.

End Notes
18
Lane, I, p. 1551.

VESSEL STAMPS

33. Qisṭ.

مما امر

به عبيد الله

بن الحبحاب

قسط وا

ف

Among those things ordered by 'Ubaydullāh ibn al-Ḥabḥāb: qisṭ, full measure

Green, 38

ANS 54.14 Plate ii

Similar to Fouquet Collection, 103, and Rogers, JRAS 1878, p. 15, except that both these have بن not ابن.

34. Qisṭ.

بسم الله

...امر عبيد الله

..الحبحاب قسـ

ف...

In the name of Allāh: order of 'Ubaydullāh... al-Ḥabḥāb: qis[ṭ], [full] measure.

Green, 33 × 30.

ANS 54.159

Unpublished.

35. Qisṭ of olive oil.

بسم الله

امر عبيد الله

الحبحاب قسط ..

يت وا ..

ف

In the name of Allāh: order of 'Ubaydullāh al-Ḥabḥāb: qisṭ of [o]live oil, full measure.

Green, 34.

ANS 56.8

Plate II

Similar to University College, 107; cf. Fouquet Collection, 108, where the disposition of lines is not indicated.

36. One-half qisṭ.

مما امر به

عبيد الله ا

الحبحاب...

...نصف قسـ

Green, 35 × 32.

ANS 56.8

Similar to EAG, 18; and cf. Fouquet Collection, 104–105, where the disposition of lines is not indicated.

37. One-half qisṭ. III A.H.: 729/30 A.D.

بسم الله

..امر عبيد الـلـ

..(sic)بن الحبحاب بصـ

ـي..قسط واف عـ

..يدي جنادة بن

..ميسرة سنة

..حدي عشرة

In the name of Allāh: ordered 'Ubaydullā.. b. al-Ḥabḥāb the mak[ing of it]: qisṭ, full measure; at the hands of Junādah b. ... Maysarah, year [el]- even...........

Green, 49.

ANS 56.8 Plate ii

Unpublished. This stamp is important in that the first name of the prefect is well preserved, and we are now able to correct the reading of some other pieces issued by the same man. A re-examination of EAG, 19, a quarter qiṣt, tentatively read "Khurrah," reveals that the name there also is Junādah; so also, BM, p. 108, no. 392 (= Rogers, JRAS 1878, no. 1), also a quarter qisṭ, and Cairo , 43, with the first name unread. See also no. 44, below, a measure of cumin, withouth the father's name. Were perhaps 'Isà and 'Umar (EAG, 208–210) sons of this man? I have not been able to identify the person in the chronicles.

38.–41. One-quarter qisṭ.

مما امر

به عبيد الله

بن الحبحاب ربع

قسط وا

ف

38. Green, 36 × 34.

ANS 54.159

39. Green, 32 × 29

ANS 54.159

40. Green, 31.

ANS 54.161

41. Green, 33.

ANS 56.8

Similar to EAG, 20.

42.–43. One-quarter qisṭ of olive oil.

بسم الله

مر عبيدا..

ـه بن الحبحاب..

بع قسط..

يت وا..

...

42. Green, 31.

ANS 56.8

43. Green, 36 × 31.

ANS 56.8

Similar to EAG, 21, EAG Suppl., 4, Cairo , 31–38, etc.

44. Measure of white cumin. III A.H.: 729/30 A.D.

بسم الله

امر بصنعه

مكيلة الكمون ا

ـض عبيد الله بن ..

حبحاب على يدي ..

ـنادة سنة احدي ..

... عشرة و مئة

...

In the name of Allāh: ordered the making of it, measure of kammūn, white, 'Ubaydullāh b. [al]-Ḥabḥāb, at the hands of [Ju]nādah, year eleven and one hundred... .....

Green, 41 × 36.

ANS 56.8 Plate II

Unpublished. For the name of the prefect see no.37, above. White cumin and its medicinal properties are discussed in EAG Suppl., pp. 15–16.

45. Executive stamp.

بيد...

ـله بن...

الحبحاب

['U]lbaydul]lāh b. al-Ḥabḥāb.

Green, 32.

ANS 54.14

Unpublished. The letters are exceptionally large and crude, and the father's name is written in semi-cursive fashion.

F. Ḥafṣ b. al-Walīd

Governor, 108 A.H. (part): 727 A.D.

Governor, 124–127 A.H.: 742–744 A.D.

Finance Director, 124–125 A.H.: 742–743 A.D.

Governor, 127–128 A.H.: 745–746 A.D.

VESSEL STAMPS

46. One-quarter qisṭ.

بسم الله

مر الامير..

ـفص بن الوليد..

بصنعه ربع

قسط واف

In the name of Allāh: [or]dered the amīr [Ḥa]fṣ b. al-Walīd the making of it: one-quarter qisṭ, full measure.

Green, 42.

ANS 56.8 Plate III

Similar to Cairo , 103 (errors in transcription).

47. Measure of pure lupine.

بسم الله امر

الله بالوفا وا

مر الامير حفص بن

وليد بن بصنعه ..

مكيلة وافية

(sic) للترمس

نفيس

In the name of Allāh: commanded Allāh honesty; and ordered the amīr Ḥafṣ b. [al]-Walīd the making of it, measure, full measure, for al-turmus pure

Green, 40 × 37.

ANS 54.15

Unpublished. For turmus, "lupine," and its medicinal properties, see EAG Suppl., pp. 14–15.

G. Al-Qāsim b. 'Ubaydullāh

Finance Director, 116–124 A.H.: 734–742 A.D.

COIN WEIGHTS

48. Fals of 33 (?) qīrāṭ.

بسم الله امر

مير القاسم..

بن عبيد الله

[ميزان فلس [ثلث و؟

ثلثين (؟) قيراط

؟) ف) image (وا (؟

In the name of Allāh: order of [the] amīr al-Qāsim b. 'Ubaydullāh: weight of fals [of three and ?] thirty (?) qīrāṭ, full weight (?).

Green, 27; 6.03.

ANS 54.164 Plate III

Unpublished. This weight is crudely inscribed and atypical. If the legend actually reads "33", the weight is light.

49–50. Fals al-kahīr of 30 kharrūbah.

بسم الله

مما امر به ا

لقاسم بن عبيد

(sic) الله مثقال فلس

الكبير ثلثين خر

وبة ان

ف

49. Green, 33; 5.87.

ANS 56.8

50. Pale blue-green, 33, frg. (½).

ANS 55.141

Similar to EAG Suppl., 8, and Cairo , 96–98, where the error in the spelling of the word fals is not noted. The curious spelling of the last word is discussed in EAG Suppl., p. 9. I now agree with John Walker (NC 1951, p. 149) that it is more probably a misspelling of wāfi than of wazn.

51. Fals of 30 kharrūbah. 119 A.H.: 737 A.D.

بسم الله ا

مر الله بالوفا

و امر بصنعه

مثقال فلس ثلثين

خروبة القاسم

بن عبيد الله على يدي

مسلم بن العا

ف سنة تسع

عشرة و ما

ئة

Green, 34; 5.86.

ANS 56.8

Similar to EAG, 30, and Cairo , 95, where the date is read 117 or 119. There can be no doubt that the digit here is "nine", as it is on other specimens that I have seen. As for the name of the prefect we again have a clear instance of the spelling of the father's name as al-'Āf, not al-'Arrāf, discussed in EAG Suppl., pp. 11–12. Giorgio Levi Della Vida has pointed out to me in correspondence that there could be no such name as 'Arāf, and that 'Arrāf is possible but still unlikely. On nos. 53, 56–57, 61 and 66, below, the name is clearly العراف. This prefect's name still remains a puzzle.

52. Fals of 24 kharrūbah.

بسم الله

مما امر به ا

image لقاسم بن

عبيد الله مثقا

ل فلس اربعة

و عشرين خرو

بة واف

In the name of Allāh: among those things ordered by a- 1-Qāsim b. 'Ubaydullāh: weigh- t of fals of four and twenty khar- rūbah, full weight.

Green, 31; 4.63.

ANS 54.168 Plate iii

Unpublished.

RING-WEIGHTS

53. Raṭl, 119 A.H.: 737 A.D.

سم الله ا...

ر الله بالو..

ـا و امر بصنعة..

هذا الرطل القا

سم بن عبيد الله

...على يدي مسلم

لعراف سنة

...تسع عشـ

و مئة

[In] the name of Allāh: [command]ed Allāh hon-

esty; and ordered the making of this raṭl al-Qā- sim b. 'Ubaydullāh, at the hands of Muslim [b. a]- l-'Arrāf, year ninetee[n] and one hundred.

Green, piece of top only, 59 × 48; height, 16+; chipped.

ANS 54.159 Plate iii

Unpublished. Cf. Jungfleisch, Ratls discoïdes, p. 64, a disk-weight with an almost identical legend, but هذا on line 3. Cf. no. 51, above, for the name of the prefect.

54. Raṭl of meat (?). 123 A.H.: 740/1 A.D. Raṭl of meat (?). 123 A.H.: 740/1 A.D.

م الله ا...

ـه بالوفا...

بصنعه ر...

(اللحم (؟) القا (؟...

بن عبيد الله على...

يزيد بن ابى يزيد...

نة ثلث و...

شرين و...

مئة

[In the n]ame of Allāh: com- [manded Allā]h honesty; [and ordered] the making if it, r- [aṭl] of meat (?), al-Qā- [sim] b. 'Ubaydullāh, at [the hands of] Yazīd b. abi-Yazīd, [yea]r three and [tw]enty and one hundred.

Green, part of top only, 55+ × 58; height, 40+; 197.34+.

ANS 51.119 Plate iii

Unpublished. Although the weight is fragmentary and unclear in several respects, it is important in that it definitely places Yazīd b. abi-Yazīd in office as prefect in the year 123 A.H. There are other ring-weights for meat issued in the year 123 (?), with the names of two other (uncertain) prefects: cf. EAG, 34, and EAG Suppl., 9, and the discussions of the names, pp. 89 and pp. 10–11, respectively.

VESSEL STAMPS

55. Qisṭ (?).

بسم الله

..امر القاسـ

بن عبيد الله

image قسطا

واف

In the name of Allāh: order of al-Qās[im] b. 'Ubaydullāh: qisṭ, full weight.

Green, 39 × 31, frgs. lacking.

ANS 54.164 Plate iii

Unpublished. This stamp, and no. 60, below, are very puzzling. One would be tempted to read قسطان, "two qisṭs," were it not for two considerations. The first is that no. 60 is a quarter, and "a quarter of two qisṭs" would be a very perverse way of designating a measure; and secondly the present piece has a pellet above O, which suggests that the element is not a letter but an ornament. Also the same element on no. 60 may perhaps have a star above it. If what appears to be a nūn is an ornament, we would then have قسطا, which might be an early variant of qisṭ (a borrowing from Greek). See the remarks under no. 60.

56.–57. Qisṭ 119 A.H.: 737 A.D.

بسم الله ا

مر الله بالوفا

وامر بصنعه

هذا القسط

لقاسم بن عبيد..

لله على يدي مسلم..

بن العراف سنة

تسع عشرة و

مائة

56. Dark green, 43 × 38, chipped at bottom.

ANS 54.161 Plate iii

54. Green, 43 × 40.

ANS 56.8

The transcription above is composite, ANS 56.8 being the less completely preserved. Similar to EAG Suppl., 10, with possible minor differences in the arrangement of the lines; also Cairo, 73–75, where the date is given as 117 or 119.

58. One-half qisṭ. 122 A.H.: 739/40 A.D.

.......

امر الله بالو

فا و امر بصنعه

نصف قسط القا

سم بن عبيد الله

على يدي صفار بن

شبة سنة اثـ

نتين و عشرين

و مائة

.........

Commanded Allāh hon- esty; and ordered the making of it, one-half qisṭ, al-Qā- sim b. 'Ubaydullāh, at the hands of Ṣaffār b. Shabbah, year t- wo and twenty and one hundred.

Green, 42 × 36.

ANS 54.159 Plate iii

Similar to University College, 120. This prefect's name also occurs on EAG, 36, EAG Suppl., 12, University College, 109 and 127, and others (see below). For my attempts to read the name see EAG, p. 87, and EAG Suppl., p. 12. It will be noted that I now retain the suggested name for the father, Shabbah, but that I now newly propose Ṣaffār for the pre- fect's own name. The letters of the name on the present specimen are quite distinct, but there is of course a choice of consonants.19 Cf. no. 62, below.

59.One-half qisṭ.

بسم الله

امر القاسم

بن عبيد الله

نصف قسط

image واف

In the name of Allāh: order of al-Qāsim b. 'Ubaydullāh: one-half qisṭ, full measure.

Green, 40 × 34.

ANS 56.163 Plate iv

Similar to University College, 124.

60. One-quarter qisṭ(?).

بسم الله

امر القاسم بن

عبيد الله ربع

(؟) image قسطا

وف..

In the name of Allāh: order of al-Qāsim b. 'Ubaydullāh: one-quarter qisṭ (?), .. full measure.

Green, 31.

ANS 56.8 Plate iv

Cf. no. 55, above. Similar to Fouquet Collection, 123–127, and Cairo , 60–64. Casanova found the legend "inexplicable, si l'on n'y voit une alteration assez étrange d'ailleurs de قسط واف and Mme Launois thinks "qu'il faut lire مسطار moût," which is hardly likely. The last line on the published spe-cimens. as well as on others which I have seen, is alwaysاوفinstead of واف.

61.One-quarter qisṭ. 11[9] A.H.: 737 A.D.

بسم الله ا

مر الله بالوفا

و امر بصنعه ر

بع قسط القا

بن عبيد الله(sic)لم..

على يدي مسلم

بن العراف سنة

..ـسع عشرة و..

...

Yellowish green, 37 × 33.

ANS 56.8

Similar to Cairo , 69–72, where the name of al-Qāsim is normally written (according to the transcription); cf. EAG Suppl., 11, with a slightly different alignment, and University College, 122 (incomplete).

62. One-quarter qisṭ. 122 A.H.: 739/40 A.D.

بسم الله

مر الله با..

و امر..

بصنعه ربع

...سم بن عبـ..

..لله على يدي صفـ..

..بن شبة سنة..

ين و عشرين و..

مائة

Green, 39 × 37.

ANS 54.159

Similar to EAG, 36, EAG Suppl., 12, University College, 127, and Cairo , 79–81. For the name of the prefect, see no.58, above.

63.–64. Measure of jujube. 122 A.H.: 739/40 A.D.

بسم الله امر

لقاسم بن عبيد..

الله مكيلة نبق

imageواف على يدي

صفار بن شبة سنة

اثنين و عشرين

و مئة *

In the name of Allāh: order of [a]l-Qāsim b. 'Ubayd- ullāh: measure of nabq, full measure, at the hands of Ṣaffār b. Shabbah, year twenty-two and one hundred.

63. Yellowish green, 51.

ANS 56.8 Plate iv

64. Brownish green, 47 × 43.

ANS 54.159

The date is not completely preserved on no. 64.

Unpublished. The name of the medicinal nabq 20 is here encountered for the first time on a vessel stamp. The word is variously defined as Rhamnus nabeca Forsk., Zizyphus lotus (Rhamnus lotus), Zizyphus sativus (Rhamnus zizyphus), or Zizyphus Spina Christi (Rhamnus Spina Christi), and is identified with the popular names "wild jujube," "lotus jujube," "Christ's thorn," etc.21 The lotus (or Zizyphus lotus) is sometimes held to be the Homeric plant which yielded the fruit of the Lotophagi; and Arabic philologists generally consider nabq as synonymous with sidr, which in turn is associated with the sidrat al-muntahā, "the lote-tree in the Seventh Heaven, beyond which neither angel nor prophet passes, and which shades the water and Paradise."22 But there is some question about this connection. At all events nabq (or sidr) was recognized by Arab pharmacological writers as having various medicinal properties: it was taken both fresh and dried, was good for the stomach, "evacuating the bile in the stomach and intestines," was antiphlogistic, and "sweetened the mouth."23 Similar and other properties in at least one race of the species were enumerated by Dioscorides: a beverage made from the seed relieved coughs, dissolved stones in the bladder, counteracted poisonous bites of snakes and wild animals.24 So also modern herbalists recognize jujube berries (whether Zizyphus vulgaris or similar species such as Z. lotos, Z. sativa, Z. jujuba , etc.) as a nutritive and demulcent pectoral fruit.25

65. Measure (?) of pure ........(?).

بسم الله امر

لقاسم بن عبيد..

....(؟)الله بصنعه مـ

نفيس على يدي يز

يد بن ابى يزيد

In the name of Allāh: ordered [a]l-Qāsim b. 'Ubayd- ullāh the making of it: m[easure]... pure; at the hands of Yaz- ād b. abi-Yazād.

Green, 27.

ANS 56.8 Plate iv

Unpublished. The legend is puzzling in that to judge by the length of the complete lines there is very little space at the end of the third line for the completion of the word mikyalah (?) and for the name of the substance or seed qualified by the word nafīs, "pure," which begins the fourth line. For other instances of the occurrence of the name Yazīd b. abi-Yazī d in conjunction with that of al-Qāsim b. 'Ubaydullāh, see University College, 121, Fouquet Collection, 128–129, Grohmann, 3, and Cairo , 83–84.

66. Measure of pure ....... (?). 121 A.H.: 738/9 A.D.

بسم الله

مما امر به الا

مير القاسم بن

عبيد الله مكيلة

سعاربه (؟) نفيس و..

على يدي مسلم بن

العراف سنة ا..

حدي وعشرين و

مائة

In the name of Allāh: among those things ordered by the a- mīr al-Qāsim b. 'Ubaydullāh: measure of ........, pure,.. ..., at the hands of Muslim b. al-'Arrāf, year o- ne and twenty and one hundred.

Brownish green, 47 × 46.

ANS 54.159. Plate iv

Unpublished. It is a pity that I cannot read the first part of the fifth line, for this stamp would seem to be for a hitherto unrecorded seed or substance. The first part of the preserved letters in that line may be a sīn or shīn, but this is by no means certain, and the letter following is indistinct and might be one of eight or ten different letters. In the circumstances I have had to abandon attempts to read the word, and we can only hope for the discovery of another and clearer specimen.

For Muslim b. al-'Arrāf see no. 51, above. The date, 121 A.H., occurs on other stamps of this prefect's: cf. Cairo , nos. 92–93.

End Notes
19
Mme Launois ( Cairo , 79–81) reads صفار بن سيف
20
Also nabaq, nabiq, nibq. See Muḥīt, II, p. 2035; Lisān, XII, p. 227; Freytag, s.v.; Dozy, Supplement, II, p. 637.
21
Issa Bey, pp. 155, 192; Bedevian, nos. 3651–3653; Sharaf, s.v. sidr; Schweinfurth, p. 71; Muschler, p. 617; Webster's New International Dictionary (2nd ed.), s.v. Zizyphus, lotus, jujube; Encyclopaedia Britannica (11th ed.), s.v. lotus.
22
Lane, I, p. 1331. See Qur'ān LIII:14, LVI:28. Cf. G. Lechler, "The Tree of Life in Indo-European and Islamic Cultures," Ars Islamica, IV (1937), p. 369, where the name of the tree is inexplicably spelled siḍra.
23
Ibn al-Baytār, Vol. XXV1, no. 1165, and XXVI1, no. 2212.
24
Dioscorides, Bk. I, 121 (p.65).
25
Grieve, II, p.451.

H. Yazīd b. abi-Yazīd

Prefect, ca. 116–127 A.H.: 734–745 A.D.

Finance Director (?), ca. 127 A.H.: 745 A.D.

COIN WEIGHT

67. One-third dīnār.

امر يزيد بن

مثقا * ابى يزيد

ل ثلث واف

Ordered Yazīd b. abi-Yazīd * weigh- t of one-third, full weight.

Green, 19; 1.42.

ANS 53.49

Similar to University College, 131; Cairo , 126–127.

VESSEL STAMPS

68.–69. Qisṭ of olive oil.

امر يزيد

بن ابى يزيد

قسط زيت و

اف

Order of Yazīd b. abi-Yazīd: qisṭ of olive oil, full measure.

Green, 37 × 33.

ANS 54.175 Plate iv

69.Green, 34.

ANS 56.8

Similar to University College, 93.

70. One-half qisṭ of olive oil.

امر يزيد

بن ابى يزيد نصف

قسط زيت

واف

Order of Yazīd b. abi-Yazīd: one-half qisṭ of olive oil, full measure.

Green, 35.

ANS 55.141 Plate iv

Probably similar to Cairo , 119, where بن is transcribed in brackets on the first line.

71. One-quarter qisṭ.

مر يزيد..

ابى يزيد ر..

ـع قسط..

واف

[Or]der of Yazīd [b.] abi-Yazīd: one-quar[ter] qisṭ, full measure.

Green, 30.

ANS 55.86 Plate iv

Unpublished.

72.-73. One-quarter qisṭ of olive oil.

امر يزيد

بن ابى يزيد ر

بع قسط ز

يت واف

72. Green, 34 × 31.

ANS 54.161 Plate iv

73. Green, 35 (fragmentary).

ANS 55.86

Similar to EAG Suppl., 14; Cairo , 116–118. The legend of no. 73 is only partially preserved.

74.–75. Executive stamp.

على يدي

يزيد بن ا

يزيد...

74. Green, 24 × 21.

ANS 54.159

75. Green, 27 × 22.

ANS 54.159

Cf. EAG, 48, with star beneath; EAG, 47, University College, 132, and Cairo , 120–125, with different alignment; and Fouquet Collection, 175–182, where the alignment is not indicated.

I. 'Isâ b. abi-'Aṭā

Finance Director, 125–127 A.H.: 743–745 A.D.

128–131 A.H.: 745–749 A.D.

COIN WEIGHTS

76. One-half dīnār.

بسم الله

(sic?) عيسى بن ابى

بصنعه مثقا

ل نصف على

يزيد بن ا..

يد...

Green, 22; 2.11.

ANS 56.8

The legend is abbreviated and in part garbled. Similar to EAG, 40, and Fouquet Collection, 24 (similar style); cf. Cairo , 114, and BM, 6d (different and not "barbaric").

77. One-third dīnār.

بسم الله

امر الله بالو

فا و امر عيسى بن

[ابى عطا [بصنعه؟

مثقال ثلث د

(ينر واف (؟

In the name of Allāh: commanded Allāh hon- esty; and ordered 'Isâ b. abi-'Aṭā [the making of it]: weight of one-third d- īnār, full weight (?).

Green, 20; 1.40.

ANS 53.123 Plate iv

Unpublished. The legend is much abbreviated throughout.

78. Dirhem.

بسم الله ا

مر الله بالوفا وا

مر عيسى بن ابى عطا

بصنعه مثقال درهم

على يدي يزيد بن ابى

(sic)يزيدا

In the name of Allāh: com- manded Allāh honesty; and or- dered 'Isâ b. abi-'Aṭā the making of it: weight of dirhem, at the hands of Yazīd b. abi- Yazīd.

Green, 25; 2.77.

ANS 53.50 Plate iv

Similar to University College, 133; cf. BM, 6, which lacks the | at the end of the last line.

DISK-WEIGHT

79. One-quarter raṭl.

Principal stamp:

............} Probably ............

............} two lines ............[hon]-

..فا و امر عيسى

...ابى عطا بصنعه

بع رطل واف

esty; and ordered 'Isī [b.] abi-'Aṭāthe making ot it:[quar]- ter raṭl, full weight.

Edge of a small secondary stamp (diameter about 16) at lower left.

Green, 63+, fragmentary (about 1/2 lacking); 40.10+.

ANS 51.119 Plate v

Unpublished.

RING-WEIGHT

80. One-half (raṭl) of meat.

Stamp A (at right): بسم الله ا

In the name of Allāh: com-

مر الله بالو manded Allāh hon-

و امر عيسى.. [esty]; and ordered 'Isī

عطا نصف... [b. abi]-'Aṭā: one-half

اللحم... [raṭl] of meat.

Stamp B (at left):

على يدي Cf. nos. 74–75.

يزيد بن ا

بى يزيد

Green, part of top and one side; 60 × 44 × 39+; stamp A: 33, stamp B: 21; 104.90+.

ANS 54.164 Plate v

Perhaps similar to EAG Suppl., 13, which lacks the indication of weight; cf. University College, 194, probably 'Isâ with Yazīd, a one-half raṭl, but not of meat.

VESSEL STAMPS

81.–82. One-half qisṭ.

..بسم اللـ

مر الامير..

..سى بن ابى عط..

ـنعه نصف..

(؟)سط وا..

In the name of Allā[h]: [or]dered the amīr [I]sī b. abi-'Aṭ[ā] [the ma]king of it, one-half [qi]sṭ, full [measure].

81. Green, 33 × 30.

ANS 56.8

82. Green, 43 × 36.

ANS 56.8

The above transcriptions are composite; both specimens are very fragmentary and uncertain. Probably similar to BM, 394 (p. 109), where the first line is omitted in the transcription but is visible in the plate.

83. One-quarter qisṭ.

سم الله...

مر الامير..

سى بن ابى عطا..

ـعه ربع قسط...

واف

Green, 40 × 38.

ANS 56.8

Similar to EAG, 42, and to Cairo , 106–109, where the missing عيسى is not indicated in the transcription; probably similar to Fouquet Collection, 134–135, alignment not given; cf. Cairo , 113, without الامير and with a different alignment.

84. Measure (?).

م الله...

ر الله بالوفا..

الامير عيسى..

طا بصنعه..

ـيلة واف..

[In the na]me of Allāh: [command]ed Allāh honesty; and [ordered] the amīr 'Isâ [b. abi-'A]ṭā the making of it, [meas]ure (?), full measure.

Green, 29.

Ans 56.8

Unpublished. The reading [mik]yalah in the last line cannot be considered certain; if it is correctly read it would be the first instance of the word without accompanying seed or substance.

85. Measure of whey (?).

...م اللـ...

ر الله بالو...

و امر الامير...

..سى بن ابى عط..

...ـصنعه مكيـ..

..المش وا

[In the na]me of Allā[h]: [command]ed Allāh hon- [esty]; and ordered the amīr ['I]sī b. abi-'Aṭā the making of it, mea[sure] of mishsh (?), full [measure].

Green, 36 × 31.

ANS 54.159

Unpublished. The word which I tentatively read al-mishsh occurs on several other stamps.26 I suggest with a good deal of reserve that the substance might be "whey," defined as "sorte de fromage qu'on tire du babeurre et du lait caillé."27 In ancient times whey (Orros Galaktos) was recognized as a mild purgative,28 but a major obstacle to the reading is the fact that it is not described under this name in any of the Arabic materia medica, nor do I find it in the classical dictionaries.29

86. Measure of ........(?).

...بسم الـ

مر الله بالو..

..ـا و امر اميـ..

..سى بن ابى عط..

...ـعه مكيـ...

......

In the name of Al[lāh]: [com]manded Allāh hon- [es]ty; and ordered the amī[r] ['I]sâ b. abi-'At[ā] [the mak]ing of it, meas[ure] ..........

Green, 34 × 31.

ANS 54.175

Cf. other undeciphered measures of 'Isâs: Fouquet Collection, 136; Cairo , 111–112.

End Notes
26
Nos. 117–119, 273, below, and several others, published and unpublished.
27
Dozy, Supplement, II, p. 593; cf. H. Wehr, Arabisches Wörterbuch (Leipzig, 1952), p. 811: "Molke."
28
Dioscorides, Bk. II, 76 (Gunther, p. 109).

J. Yazīd b. Tamīm

Prefect, ca. 128–132 A.H.: 745–749 A.D.30

VESSEL STAMPS

87. Measure of lupine.

مكيلة

ترمس على

يدي يز

يد

بن تميم

image

Measure of turmus, at the hands of Yaz- īd b. Tamīm.

Green, 41.

ANS 56.8 Plate v

Unpublished. For turmus, "lupine," and its pharmaceutical uses, see EAG Suppl., pp. 14–15.

88. Executive stamp.

على يدي

يزيد بن

تميم

At the hands of Yazīd b. Tamīm.

Green, 29.

ANS 56.8 Plate v

Similar to Cairo , 141–142; probably similar to Fouquet Collection, 190, where the alignment is not indicated.

End Notes
29
In Mohammad Sharaf "whey" is defined as māh al-jubn, maṣl, maṣālah, muḍārat al-laban, etc., but mishsh does not appear.
30
Cf. EAG, p. 96.

K. 'Abd al-Malik b. Marwān

Finance Director, 131–132 A.H.: 749 A.D.

Governor, 132–133 A.H.: 750 A.D.

COIN WEIGHTS

89. Dirhem.

بسم الله امر

الامير عبد الملك

...بن مـ [رو] ن بصنعه مثـ

* درهم واف..

...يدي يزيـ..

تميم

In the name of Allāh: ordered the amīr 'Abd al-Malik b.Ma[rwā]n the making of it: wei[gh]- [t] of dirhem, full weight, [at the] hands of Yazi[d b.] Tamīm.

Green, 26; 2.58 (frg. lacking).

ANS 54.168

Similar to Cairo , 136, except for the star, which appears not to be present there.

90. Fals of 30 kharrūbah.

بسم الله امر

الامير عبد الملك

بن مرون اصلحه الله

بصنعه مثقال فلس

ثلثين خروبة واف

على يدي يزيد بن

تميم

Green, 34; 5.87.

ANS 56.8 Plate v

Similar to EAG, 49; Cairo , 137–140.

DISK-WEIGHT

91. Three wuqīyah: one-quarter raṭl.

Published in Museum Notes, V (1952), pp. 179–180.

VESSEL STAMPS

92. One-quarter qisṭ.

سم الله امر..

ـله بالوفا و امر..

مير عبد الملك...

..مرون بصنعه ربـ..

قسط واف

[In] the name of Allāh: commanded [Al]lāh honesty; and ordered [the a]mīr 'Abd al-Malik [b.] Marwān the making of it: one-quar[ter] qisṭ, full measure.

Green, 36 × 31.

ANS 53.50 Plate v

Unpublished.

93.–94. Measure of woad-leaves.

...بسم الله

..لله بالوفا و امـ

لامير عبد الملك

مرون بصنعه..

مكيلة للو

سمة

وافية

In the name of Allāh: [commanded] [A]llāh honesty; and order [ed th]- e amīr 'Abd al-Malik [b.] Marwān the making of it: measure for wa- smah, full measure.

93. Green, 40 × 37.

ANS 56.8 Plate v

94. Green, 36.

ANS 54.199

No. 93 is the better preserved.

Unpublished. For wasmah (wusmah, wasimah), see EAG Suppl., pp. 5–6, in connection with a measure of 'Ubaydullāh b. al-Ḥabḥāb.

95. Uncertain measure.

...بسم الله

..الله بالوفا

..لامير عبد الـ...

....ون بصـ...

......

......

Green, 29 (frg.).

ANS 54.196


II. 'ABBĀSID OFFICIALS

A. Muḥammad b. Shuraḥbīl

Prefect, ca. 132–152 A.H.: 749–769 A.D.

DISK-WEIGHT

96. Wuqīyah.

.......

........

بن شرحبيل

وقية واف

............ ........... b. Shuraḥbīl, wuqīyah, full weight.

Green, 53 × 28 (about 1/3 lacking); thickness, 10; (19.69).

ANS 54.168 Plate v

Unpublished. For wuqīyah, "ounce," see EAG, pp. 17–18; EAG Suppl., 30.

VESSEL STAMPS

97.–98. One-half qisṭ.

بسم الله

على يدي محمد

(sic)بن شرحبيل نصيف

قسط واف

In the name of Allāh: at the hands of Muḥammad b. Shuraḥbīl. one-half qisṭ, full measure.

97. Green, 41 × 38.

ANS 56.8

98. Green, 40.

ANS 56.8 Plate vi

Similar to Fouquet Collection, 183, where the misseplling of the word for one-half is not noted although it is visible in the plate.

B. 'Abd al-Malik b. Yazīd

Governor and Finance Director

133–136 A.H.: 751–753 A.D.

137–141 A.H.: 755–758 A.D.

COIN WEIGHTS

99. Dīnār.

Obverse:

بسم الله

امر عبد ا

لملك بن يزيد

بمثقال دينر

واف

Reverse area (retrograde):

صنعة

كيل

Reverse margin (retrograde):

........على يدي محمد بن

Green, 28; 4.23.

ANS 56.8 Plate vi

Similar to EAG Suppl., 18; Cairo , 167–168. The name in the reverse margin is to be completed to read Muḥammad b. Shuraḥbīl. As for the name of the artisan who manufactured the weight and whose name appears in the center of the reverse, there is little doubt that he was a Copt named χλNλ, Chael, as originally suggested by Grohmann.31

100. Fals of 24 kharrūbah.

بسم الله

امر الامير عبد

الملك بن يزيد

بمثقال فلس اربعة

و عشرين خر

* و بة

Green, 30; 4.68.

ANS 56.8

Similar to EAG, 64; Cairo , 169–172.

101. Dirhem of 13 kharrūbah.

Obverse (square imprint):

بسم الله ا

مر عبد الملك

بن يزيد بمثقا

ل درهم و

زن ثلثلة (؟) عشر

خروبة

In the name of Allāh: or- dered 'Abd al-Malik b. Yazīd: weigh- t of dirhem, wei- ght of thirteen kharrūbah.

Reverse area (retrograde):

صنعة

كيل

Manufacture of Chael.

Reverse margin:

....صم بن حفـ...

....['Ā]ṣim b. Ḥaf[ṣ].

Green, 22; 2.50.

ANS 53.123 Plate vi

Similar to BM, 11, the reverse of which is illustrated but not described; same reverse as BM, 10, and EAG, 62–63; cf. Rogers, JRAS 1878, no. 10.

End Notes
31
Cf. EAG, p. 106. In addition to the reference given in footnote 21 there, see Grohmann, Arabic Papyri in the Egyptian Library, II (Cairo, 1936), pp. 182–183. Cf. no. 162, below. Other occurrences of his name are EAG, 59–60, 62–63, and below, no. 101. In EAG Suppl., p. 48, I stated that I was not satisfied that كيل is a name, but here I was doubtless influenced by the instances where a word with the same spelling occurrs in an unmistakably metrological sense (e.g., EAG, 124 and 132).

VESSEL STAMPS

102.–103. One-quarter qisṭ.

..سم الله امـ..

بد الملك بن يزيد..

ـصنعة ربع قسط..

واف على يدي محمد

بن شرحبيل

102. Green, 40 × 38.

ANS 56.163

103. Green, 40 × 36 (frg. lacking).

ANS 54.15

Similar to EAG Suppl., 20–21; cf. Cairo , 163–166, where the illegible portions are not indicated in the transcription. The above transcription is composite: no. 103 is only partially preserved.

C. Ṣāliḥ b. 'Ali

Governor, 133 A.H.: 750/1 A.D.

Governor and Finance Director, 136–137 A.H.: 753–755 A.D.

VESSEL STAMPS

104.–105. One-quarter qisṭ.

...مما امر

..صلح بن على اصلحـ

ـله بصنعه ربع..

قسط واف

Among those things ordered by ṣāliḥb. 'Ali (may keep [him] straight [Al]lāh) the making of it: one-quarter qisṭ, full measure.

104. Green, 47.

ANS 56.8

105. Green, 40 × 37.

ANS 52.84

Similar to Cairo , 158–160; cf. Fouquet Collection, 141 (alignment ?), and with al-amīr (?). The above transcription is composite.

D. 'Āṣim b. Ḥafṣ

Prefect, ca. 133–141 A.H.: 751–758 A.D. ca. 165–169 A.H.: 781–786 A.D.

COIN WEIGHTS32

106. Fals of 36 (kharrūbah).

Center:

مثقال

فلس

image

Around:

على يدي عاصم بن حفص

Semi-cursive characters.

Brownish green, 32; 7.01.

ANS 56.8

Similar to EAG, 68; Cairo , 237–239. The Coptic notation for 36 (line 3) is discussed in EAG Suppl., pp. 31–32; cf. the table in EAG, p. 10. The varieties of these Coptic numerals are clearly set forth in A. Mallon's Grammaire Copte (Beirut, 1904), p. 220, and it will be noted that the figures for 30 and 6 are exactly as on this and similar weights.33

107. Fals of 30 kharrūbah.

Center:

على

عاصم

image يدي

At 'Āṣim the hands of

Around (in form of square):

خروبة|ثلثين|فلس|مثقال

Weight | of fals | thirty | kharrūbah. kharrūbah.

Dark amber, 31; 5.77.

ANS 56.8 Plate vi

Unpublished. The semi-cursive letters are very similar to those of no. 106, on which 'Āṣim's name appears in full. There can be no doubt that this piece also belongs to 'Āṣim b. Ḥafṣ.

End Notes
32
These weights probably belong to the second term of 'Āṣim's office, but I have placed his pieces here because his first term probably began before al-Manṣūr's Caliphate.
33
Cf. Grohmann, Papyruskunde , p. 101; and also V. Garthausen, Die Schrift, Unterschriften und Chronologie in Altertum und im Byzantinischen Mittelalter (Vol. 2 of Griechische Palaeographie, 2nd ed., Leipzig, 1913), Taf. 4b and 5, where the Coptic derivation from the Greek is apparent. Fritz Heichelheim ("Zum Weiterleben der griechischen Zahlenbuchstaben," ZDMG, Vol. 81, 1927, pp. 78–81) has pointed out that the Copts took over the Greek system almost without change. See also, with respect to these numerals on glass weights, Jungfleisch, Notations conventionnelles, pp. 258, 267, 270. I find it difficult to accept the explanation that the symbol for 36 is "l'alef couché voulant dire 'un' et تم significant 'complet';" or perhaps I do not fully understand this argument and some of the other interpretations in this interesting article. See also my remarks under no. 150, p. 59, below.

E. The Caliph al-Manṣūr. 34

136–158 A.H.: 754–775 A.D.

a) The Caliph Alone
VESSEL STAMPS

108.–110. One-half raṭl of grease.

..امر عبد

لله عبد الله ا..

(sic)مير المـومنين

بصنعه نصف

رطل دهن

واف

108. Green, 41 × 38.

ANS 54.158 Plate vi

109. Green, 34.

ANS 54.161

110. Green, 35 × 33.

ANS 56.8

Similar to EAG, 56; Cairo , 150. The transcription of EAG, 56, should be revised to show the error in the spelling of the word المؤمنين.

111. One-half (?) qisṭ.

مما امر به

عبد الله عبد

الله امير المؤمنين

اوفوا الكيل ولا تكو

[نوا من المخسرين [نصف؟

قسط واف

Green, 41.

ANS 54.160

Similar to EAG, 57, except that the latter is believed to be for a one-third qisṭ (see also no. 112, below); and cf. EAG, 55, a half qisṭ, with a different arrangement of the lines.

112. One-third (?) qisṭ.

مما امر به

عبد الله عبد

لله امير المؤمنين..

اوفوا الكيل ولا تكو

[من المخسرين [ثلث؟ ...

قـ .. ـط واف

Green, 41 × 37.

ANS 54.160 Plate vi

Similar to EAG, 57, where ثلث is dubious as here.

113.–115. One-quarter qisṭ.

مما امر به

عبد الله عبدا

..لله امير المؤمنين

وفوا الكيل ولا تكو

نوا من المخسرين ربع

قسط واف

Among those things ordered by the Servant of Allāh, 'Abdu- llāh, Commander of the Believers: "[Gi]- ve just measure, and not b- e among the defrauders;" one-quarter qisṭ, full measure.

113. Green, 39 × 37.

ANS 56.8

114. Green, 39 × 34.

ANS 56.8 Plate vi

115. Green, 39.

ANS 56.8

The last two lines of no. 115 are uncertain. Similar to Cairo , 151–154 where the alignment is not entirely correctly transcribed.

116. Measure of black cumin.

مر عبدا...

..ـله عبد اللـ..

...مير المؤمنيـ...

..مكبلـ(sic)صعه..

....كمون الاسـ

د واف

[Order]ed the Servant of A- [l]lāh, 'Abdullā[h], [Com]mander of the Believer[s], the making of it, measu[re] of kammūn, bla- ck, full measure.

Green, 36.

ANS 56.8 Plate vi

Unpublished. For "black cumin" and its medicinal properties, see EAG Suppl., pp. 16–17.35

117.–119. Measure of whey(?).

امر عبد

لله عبد الله..

مير المؤمنين..

..ـصنعه مكيلـ..

المش و

اف

Ordered the Servant of [A]llāh, 'Abdullāh, [Com]mander of the Believers, the making of it, measur[e] of mishsh (?), full measure.

117. Green, 40 × 39.

ANS 54.161 Plate vi

118. Green, 38 × 36.

ANS 54.161

119. Dark brownish green, 40.

ANS 56.8

Similar to Fouquet Collection, 151–152. Casanova did not suggest a reading of the word in the next to the last line and simply transcribed the outlines of the letters. See the discussion of mishsh, "whey," under no. 85, above; and cf. nos. 273–274, below.

End Notes
34
As in EAG, the arrangement of pieces issued by the authority of al-Manṣūur is as follows: first, those bearing his name alone; then, those also carrying the name of a subordinate.
35
Cf. G. C. Miles, "Cumin and Vinegar for Hiccups," in Archaeology, Vol. 4, No. 1 (1951), pp. 23–24.

b) With 'Abd al-Malik b. Yazīd
COIN WEIGHTS

120.–121. Dīnār.

Obverse:

مما امر به

عبد الله عبد

الله امير المؤ

منين مثقال دينر

واف

Among those things ordered by the Servant of Allāh. 'Abdullāh, Commander of the Believers, weight of dīnār, full weight.

Reverse area:

صنعة

كيل

Manufacture of Chael.

Reverse margin:

عبد الملك بن يزيد

'Abd al-Malik b. Yazīd.

120. Opaque black or very dark brown, 29; 4.22.

ANS 53.49

121. Very dark almost opaque aubergine, 29; 4.18.

ANS 56.8 Plate vi

Unpublished, but cf. EAG, 59 (incomplete), with the word dīnār divided between the last two lines. For Chael (Kayl) cf. nos. 99 and 101, above, and nos. 122–123, below.

122. One-half dīnār.

Obverse:

مما امر به

عبد الله عبد

الله امير المؤ

(sic)منين مثقا ـا

نصف وا

ف

Among those things ordered by the Servant of Allāh, 'Abdullāh, Commander of the Believers: weight of one-half, full weight.

Reverse area:

صنعة

كلى

Manufacture of ........?

Reverse margin:

(ك بن يزيد (؟ ...

['Abd al-Mali]k b. Yazīd(?).

Green, 22; 2.09.

ANS 56.163 Plate vii

Unpublished. EAG, 60, also a half dīnār, has a different obverse legend, but the reverse appears to be the sane as the present, and I believe the transcription "Kayl" on the former should be corrected to read as it does above. But the possibility remains that on these pieces as well as on Fouquet Collection, 34, a dirhem with the same reverse legend (read by Casanova "Koublī"), the name in the center is كيل, bungled.

123. One-third dīnār (?).

Obverse:

بسم الله

عبد الله

بد الله امير...

ـؤمنين...

(sic) ال لم...

ف..

In the name of Allāh: the Servant of Allāah, ['A]bdullāh, Commander [of the Be]lievers: [weig]ht of (one-third?), [full] weight.

Reverse area:

صنعة

كيل

Manufacture of Chael.

Reverse margin: traces.

Dark purple, 19; 1.15+ (about 1/4 missing).

ANS 50.40

Unpublished. It is probable that the unintelligible word on the fifth line is intended to be ثلث for the piece if complete would weigh in the neighbourhood of 1.43 grams. One cannot be certain that 'Abd al-Malik b. Yazīd was the prefect.

c) With Muḥammad b. Sa'īd
COIN WEIGHTS

124. Dīnār.

Obverse:

بسم الله

امر امير ا

لمؤمنين مثقال

دينر واف

In the name of Allāh: order of the Commander of the Believers, weight of dīnār, full weight.

Reverse area:

مصر

Miṣr

Linear border.

Reverse margin:

ـد بن سعيد....بسم الله عـ

In the name of Allāh: a[t the hands of Muḥamma]d b. Sa'īd.

Outer border of dots.

Yellowish green, 29; 4.25.

ANS 53.49 Plate vii

Unpublished. Cf. Cairo , 209, where the reverse is not transcribed but the name in the margin is given in translation. There is no mention of the word in the center, and the piece is not illustrated.

I have decided to assign this weight and nos. 125–126, below, to the Caliph al-Manṣūr rather than to al-Mahdi on the following grounds. There is no name accompanying the title "Commander of the Believers" on the obverse, and the Caliph could therefore be either al-Manṣūr or al-Mahdi. Although it might be argued that the Caliph in question is not al-Manṣūr because he commonly calls himself 'Abdullāh and precedes his name with the Caliphal epithet, "Servant of Allāh," so also one could decide against al-Mahdi in view of the fact that al-Mahdi's stamps usually bear his official name, with or without his personal name Muḥammad. Therefore the argument must rest on the chronology of the accompanying name, Muḥammad b. Sa'īd, whose dates are uncertain but probably between 152 and 157 A.H.36

Maṭar was governor from 157 to 159. In EAG, nos. 87–88, I read Maṭar in the reverses of somewhat similar pieces, but I believe now that all these should be revised to read Miṣr, that is, "Egypt." In the present piece we have the name of the prefect in the margin, and if the word in the center is to be read as a personal name, it should be that of the artisan. Furthermore there is a weight of Nawfal b. Furāt (no. 128, below), whose date is indisputably 141 A.H., with a similar legend in the center of the reverse, and it is most unlikely that Maṭar had been an artisan in 141 and governor 17 years later. Therefore I believe that these weights (nos. 124–126, as well as EAG, 87–88) must be placed not later than 157, i.e., within al-Manṣūr's Caliphate.

125. One-half dīnār.

Obverse:

بسم الله

امر امير ا

لمؤمنين مثقال

نصف واف

In the name of Allāh: ordered the Commander of the Believers: weight of one-half, full weight.

Reverse area:

مصر

Miṣr.

Reverse margin:

محمد بن سعيد....بسم

In the name of.......Muḥammad b. Sa'īd.

Green, 22; 2.12.

ANS 53.123 Plate vii

Similar to BM, 30 (Lane-Poole read مصر in the center, and Muḥammad b. Sa'īd's name is incomplete); and similar to University College, 199, assigned to al-Mahdi and misread in several respects.

126. One-third dīnār.

Obverse:

بسم الله

امر امير ا

لمؤمنين مثقال

ثلث واف

Reverse area:

*

مصر

Reverse margin:

يد... ...بسم الله

Yellowish green, 19; 1.41.

ANS 53.123 Plate vii

Similar to EAG, 88, where the star on the reverse (if any) and Muḥammad's father's name are off the flan.

End Notes
36
See EAG, p. 118.

F. Mūsī b. Ka'b

Governor and Finance Director, 141 A.H.: 758/9 A.D.

VESSEL STAMP

127. One-quarter qisṭ of ......(?).

...ـم الله ا...

...و سى بن كعـ..

[بع [قسط؟ ...

... ؟] واف على]...

....شر...

[In the na]me of Allāh: or[der of] [M]ūsī. Ka'[b].... .... [quar]ter [qisṭ] ...., full measure, at [the hands of] [Muḥammad b.] Shur[aḥbīl].

Green, 36.

ANS 54.158

Probably similar to Fouquet Collection, 143, where the alignment is not indicated.

G. Nawfal b. Furāt

Finance Director, 141–143 A.H.: 759–760 A.D.

COIN WEIGHT

128. One-half dīnār.

Obverse:

بسم الله

امر نوفل بن فرات

بالوفا مثقال نصف

دينر واف

In the name of Allāh: ordered Nawfal b. Furāt honesty: weight of one-half dīnār, full weight.

Reverse area:

مصر

Miṣr

Reverse margin:

(على يدي .... صير (؟

At the hands of .......ṣayr (?).

Green, 22; 2.11.

ANS 50.170 Plate vii

Unpublished. Cf. no. 124, above, for a discussion of the reading of the reverse area legend. As for the fragmentary name of the prefect, there is perhaps a possibility that it might be 'Abd al-Jabbār b. Nuṣayr, of whom we have several weights of 30 kharrūbah.37

VESSEL STAMPS

129.–130. One-quarter qisṭ.

امر نوفل

بن فرات

بصنعه ربع قسط

واف

Ordered Nawfal

b. Furāt the making of it, one-quarter qisṭ, full measure.

129. Green, 40 × 36.

ANS 56.8 Plate vii

130. Green, 38.

ANS 50.40

Unpublished.

H. Muḥammad b. al-Ash'ath

Governor, 141–143 A.H.: 759–760 A.D.

COIN WEIGHT

131. One-third dīnār.

الامير

محمد [بن] الا

شعث؟] مثقا]

ل ثلث واف

The amīr

Muḥammad [b.] al-A-[sh'ath ?]: weight of one-third, full weight.

Green, 19; 1.42.

ANS 54.184

Plate vii

Unpublished, if correctly read.

End Notes
37
EAG, 114–115; Cairo , 359–361; Fouquet Collection, 68–69; University College, 143; no. 205, below; and several others, unpublished.

VESSEL STAMPS

132.–133. One-quarter qisṭ.

بسم الله

...امر الامير محمـ

ـن الاشعث بصنعه..

ربع قسط واف

على يدي عبد الله

بن راشد

In the name of Allāh: ordered the amīr Muḥamma[d] b. al-Ash'ath the making of it, one-quarter qisṭ, full measure, at the hands of 'Abdullāh b. Rāshid.

132. Green, 42.

ANS 56.8

133. Green, 40.

ANS 54.14

These stamps are similar to EAG, 75, which was erroneously described as a qisṭ. A re-examination of the piece reveals the 'ayn of rub', preceding the word qisṭ.

134. Measure of white sesame-seed.

..سم الله امـ...

مير محمد بن..

..ـعث بصنعه..

يلة جلجلان...

...بيض..

.....

[In] the name of Allāh: or[dered] [the] amīr Muḥammad b. [al-Ash]'ath the making [of it], [mea]sure of juljulān, white..........

Green, 33×27+.

ANS 54.168

Plate vii

This is new, unless University College, 158, and Fouquet Collection, 144, both of which are obscure in the fifth line and continue with the name of the prefect, are the same. For white sesame-seed, see EAG Suppl., pp. 17–19.

I. 'Abd al-Raḥmān b. Yazīd 38

Prefect, ca. 141–152 A.H.: 759–769 A.D.

DISK-WEIGHT

135. One-sixth wuqīyah.

Obverse (square imprint):

سدس

وقية

One-sixth

wuqīyah.

Reverse area:

صنعة

كمل

Manufacture of Kāmil.

Reverse margin:

على يدي عبد الرحمن بن يزيد

At the hands of 'Abd al-Raḥmān b. Yazīd.

Pale blue-green, 31; 6.23.

ANS 56.8

Plate vii

Similar to BM, 18, which weighs 6.22 grams (96 grains). On the wuqīyah and its fractions, see EAG, pp. 17–18, and the references there; also, Grohmann, Papyruskunde, pp. 147–149; and cf. no. 91, above, for a three-ounce weight.

VESSEL STAMP

136. One-half qisṭ.

بسم الله

على يدي

عبد الرحمن

بن يزيد نصف

قسط واف

In the name of Allāh: at the hands of 'Abd al-Raḥmān

b. Yazīd, one-half qisṭ, full measure.

Green, 40.

ANS 56.8

Plate vii

Similar to University College, 187; Cairo , 319 (الرحمن transcribed as الرحمان).

137–139· One-quarter qisṭ.

بسم الله

على يدي

عبد الرحمن

بن يزيد ربع

قسط واف

137. Green, 40.

ANS 56.8

138. Green, 30.

ANS 56.8

139. Green, 33×27.

ANS 54.164

Similar to EAG Suppl., 22; Cairo , 320.

End Notes
38
Cf. EAG, p. III.

J. Yazīd b. Ḥātim

Governor, 144–152 A.H.: 762–769 A.D.

COIN WEIGHTS

140. Dīnār.

Obverse:

image

بسم الله

امر الامير

يزيد بن حاتم

مثقال دينر

ف image

Reverse area:

صنعة

كمل

Reverse margin:

ن بن يزيد...على يدي عبد الر

Green, 28; 4.23.

ANS 56.8

Similar to EAG, 77–78; cf. BM, 14–15, lacking the crescent and the last line (= Rogers, JRAS 1878, no. 16).

141. One-half dīnār.

Obverse:

بسم الله

امر الامير

يزيد بن حاتم

مثقال نصف

واف

Reverse area:

صنعة

كمل

Reverse margin:

....... ي عبد الرحمـ ...

Yellowish green, 22; 2.11.

ANS 56.8

Similar to EAG, 79; Cairo , 197–200 (incomplete).

142. One-half dīnār.

Obverse similar to no. 141.

Reverse area:

كتبه

كامل

Wrote it Kāmil.

Reverse margin:

[محمد بن شر [حبيل ....

[At the hands of] Muḥammad b. Shura[ḥbīl?].

Green, 22; 2.11.

ANS 53.123

Plate vii

Probably similar to University College, 164, where the name in the reverse margin is incomplete. On University College, 161, with a similar reverse area, the name of the prefect is completely preserved and certainly seems to be Muḥammad b. Shuraḥbīl, although, as here, the last group of letters is strangely written. The legend كتبه in place of صنعة is noteworthy.

VESSEL STAMPS

143. One-half qisṭ.

امر الا

مير يزيد بن حا

م على يدي..

لمة نصف...

سط وا..

ف

Order of the amīr Yazīd b. Ḥā[ti]m, at the hands of [Sa]lamah, one-half [qi]sṭ, full measure.

Green, 39×35.

ANS 54.15

Plate vii

Unpublished. This is an important piece, for despite its poor state of preservation (it is chipped at the lower right) it almost certainly confirms the association of Salamah with Yazīd b. Ḥātim.39 The approximate dates of Salamah's office have hitherto been uncertain. In EAG (pp. 127–128) I very tentatively proposed identifying him with Salamah b. Rajā', who was governor for a very short period from the end of 161 to the beginning of 162 A.H. I have now placed Salamah (whoever he was) between Yazīd b. Ḥātim and Muḥammad b. Sa'īd, because of his association with these two men, with a date range of ca. 144–157 A.H.

144. Executive stamp.

مر الامير..

يزيد بن حاتم

صلحه الله..

[Or]dered the amīr Yazīd b. Ḥātim, [may] Allāh keep him straight.

Green, 37×33.

ANS 56.8

Similar to University College, 169–170 (last line misread).

End Notes
39
Even less of the names is preserved on the disk-weight, EAG, 82.

K. Salamah

Prefect or Finance Director, sometime ca. 144–157 A.H.: 762–774 A.D.

COIN WEIGHTS

145.–146. Thirty-three kharrūbạh.

image

سلمة مثقال

ثلثة و ثلثين

image

خروبة

Salamah: weight of thirty-three kharrūbah.

145. Green, 32; 6.38.

ANS 56.8

146. Green, 31; (4.31+, ⅓ lacking).

ANS 54.159

Plate viii

Similar to Fouquet Collection, 60.

For the dating of Salamah, see p. 57, above. Sometime between the years 144 and 157 A.H. Salamah must have been prefect (على يدي with Yazīd b. Ḥātim and with Muḥammad b. Sa'īd), and still within the same period but presumably after 152, Finance Director. It was in the latter capacity that he must have issued these weights and nos. 147–152, but it is curious that he never gives his father's name and that his weights do not bear the usual executive formulae.

147.–149. Fals of 30 kharrūbah.

سلمة

image

147. Green, 31; 5.82.

ANS 56.8

148. Green, 32; 5.81.

ANS 56.8

149. Green, 31; 5.80.

ANS 56.8

Similar to EAG, 99–100; Cairo , 372–380.

For the Coptic symbol for 30, see EAG, p. II, EAG Suppl., P· 31.

150. Fals of 26 kharrūbah.

image

سلمة

image

image

image

Salamah: 26.

Yellowish green, 31; 5.02.

ANS 56.163

Plate viii

Similar to University College, 190 (77.1 grains = 5.00 grams), and Cairo , 381 (weight not given). Jungfleisch (Notations conventionnelles, p. 272) has one in his collection weighing 4.95 grams.40 The weight of these pieces fairly closely approximates the theoretical weight of 26 kharrūbah, 5.119 grams (EAG, p. 10). The Coptic notation for 20 on this piece more nearly resembles the Greek form41 than it does the derived Coptic cursive variety.42 The figure for 6 is quite clear and is simply a variation of the form on no. 106, above.

151.–152. Fals of 24 kharrūbah.

* سلمة

مثقال فلس

اربعة و عشر

ين خروبة

Salamah: weight of fals of four and twenty kharrūbah.

Square imprint.

151. Green, 20; 4.62.

ANS 56.163

152. Green, 29; 4.64.

ANS 56.8

Plate viii

Similar to Fouquet Collection, 61; University College, 188.

End Notes
40
It would seem to me that his no. 563, mentioned on p. 271 of the same article, an anonymous weight with, I gather, the same symbols, is also 26 kharrūbah, although for some reason which I do not understand he interprets these symbols as signifying 29. As the piece is not illustrated one can judge only by his drawing of the symbols on p. 269, which differs in no essential manner from that for his 26-kharrūbah piece on p. 272. Furthermore, both these sets of symbols closely resemble his drawing of the symbols for 26 in a table (p. 270) presenting "numéros d'ordre, sans doute d'origine grecque ou copte mais fortement déformés par l'usage, numéros d'ordre qui ont parfois servi à paginer les premiers manuscrits arabes." See also the observations under no. 106, p. 42, above.
41
Cf. Garthausen (op. cit. under no. 106), Taf. 5 (a MS of 835 A. D.) and Taf. 4b (a MS of 839 A. D.).
42
As given in Mallon's table (loc. cit. under no. 106).

VESSEL STAMP

153. Executive stamp.

على يدي

سلمة

Green, 27×25.

ANS 54.160

Similar to EAG, 101; Cairo , 312–315.

L. 'Umar b. Yaḥyâ 43

Prefect or Finance Director, sometime ca. 152–157 (?) A.H.: 769–774 (?) A.D.

COIN WEIGHTS

154. Fals of 33 kharrūbah.

·∴·

عمر

image

'Umar 33.

Green, 33; 6.26 (small chip missing).

ANS 56.8

Similar to EAG Suppl., 35;44 Cairo , 370–371. For the Coptic symbols signifying 33, see EAG Suppl., pp. 31–32. The 30 is as on no. 106, above; and the 3 closely resembles the figure in Mallon's table as well as the Greek form in a MS of 633 A.D. and several MSS of the 9th century.45

155.–159. Fals of 32 kharrūbah.

عمر

اثنين و ثلثين

خروبة

155. Green, 31; 6.23.

ANS 56.8

156. Yellowish green, 31; 6.23.

ANS 56.163

157. Green, 31; 6.21.

ANS 56.8

158. Green, 31; 6.17.

ANS 56.8

159. Green, 30; 5.89 (frg. lacking).

ANS 56.8

Plate viii

Similar to EAG, 120–120a; Cairo , 363–367.

160. Fals of 30 kharrūbah.

عمر مثقال

فلس ثلثين

خروبة

'Umar: weight of fals, thirty kharrūbah.

Green, 33; 5.82.

ANS 56.8

Plate viii

Similar to Rogers, JRAS 1878, no. 6; Fouquet Collection, 58–59; University College, 215; Cairo , 362 (points omitted in transcription).

End Notes
43
See p. 62 for the proposed identification of 'Umar with 'Umar b. Yaḥyâ and his probable dates.
44
The several points above and below the name and symbols on this piece are not correctly transcribed; they are exactly as here.
45
Cf. Garthausen (op. cit. under no. 106), Taf. 4b and 5.

VESSEL STAMP

161. Executive stamp.

على يدي

عمر بن

يحيى

At the hands of 'Umar b. Yaḥyâ.

Green, 27 × 24.

ANS 54.175

Plate viii

Unpublished, but cf. Fouquet Collection, 197, with...... عمر بن, possibly the same.

I have been unable to find the name of 'Umar b. Yaḥyâ in the chronicles, but I am assigning him roughly to the period of Muḥammad b. Sa'īd (ca. 152–157 A.H.) because of his association with the latter on two unpublished disk-weights which I have seen in the Benaki Museum in Athens.46As for the proposed identity of 'Umar b. Yaḥyâ with the man who simply calls himself 'Umar on the coin weights (nos. 154–160), this hypothesis is based on the argument that there are many points of resemblance between these weights and those of Salamah (nos. 145–152, above), whose dates are roughly contemporary with Muḥammad b. Sa'īd and hence with 'Umar b. Yaḥyâ.

M. Muḥammad b. Sa'īd

Governor, 152–157 (?) A.H.: 769–774 (?) A.D.

COIN WEIGHTS

162. Dīnār.

Obverse:

بسم الله

امر الامير

محمد بن سعيد

مثقال دينر

In the name of Allāh: order of the amīr Muḥammad b. Sa'īd, weight of dīnār.

Reverse area:

صنعة

[سوير [س

Manufacture of Souerous.

Reverse margin:

يدي سلمة...

[At] the hands of Salamah.

Yellowish green, 29; 4.23.

ANS 53.123

Plate viii

Unpublished. Cf. Cairo , 207 (reverse margin effaced); BM, 19, with similar obverse and reverse areas, but a different marginal legend; University College, 185, with ....سعيد بن.

The decipherment of the name in the reverse area, which occurs also in association with Yazīd b. Ḥātim, has hitherto been a puzzle, but I believe that I now have the correct solution. Lane-Poole read بموزين, "by weight," which is surely wrong; Petrie read "Sueyzy" (?); Grohmann recognized the name تمويوس, which cannot be read here nor on many other unpublished specimens which I have examined, but which would certainly be a possibility on no. 163, below;47 and Mme Launois transcribes ( Cairo , nos. 203–207) سو بن مر, with the suggestion (no. 193) that the first group of letters might be the end of يوسف, which is clearly impossible. I think there can be little doubt that the name is an Arabic rendering of cεʏʜρoc, a Coptic version of the Greek (ultimately Latin) name which appears in papyri in the forms Σoυεpoΰς, Σoυηpoΰς, Σoυαιpoΰς, Σoυηpις, Σoήpις, etc. (i.e., Severus).48 On almost every weight bearing the name that I have seen, the final sīn is incomplete because of lack of room. As remarked above, there are specimens (such as no. 163, immediately below) on which the name appears to be تمويرس, but after searching unsuccessfully for a Coptic or Greek name which might be transliterated into Arabic in this form, I have come to the conclusion that what appears to be a group of two letters before the waw is actually a slip on the part of the die-engraver and that the elements are intended to be a sīn as on the other specimens. It is indeed improbable that there should have been two craftsmen placing their names on these products in the same shop (presumably) at the same time with names identical except for the first one or two letters.

163. One-half dīnār.

Obverse:

امر الا

مير محمد

بن سعيد

مثقال نصف

Order of the amīr Muḥammad b. Sa'īd: weight of one-half.

Reverse area:

صنعة

مو يرس

Manufacture of [Souerous?].

Reverse margin:

....على يدي سعيد

At the hands of Sa'īd.........

Green, 22; 2.10.

ANS 56.8

Plate viii

Probably similar to Cairo , 208 (reverse margin effaced); and cf. BM, 19 (a dīnār) with سعيد بن المسيب in the reverse margin, and University College, 185 (also a dīnār) with part of the same name preserved in the margin. For the name in the reverse area see the discussion under no. 162, above.

164. Dirhem.

امر الا

مير محمد

بن سعيد

مثقال در

هم

Order of the amīr Muḥammad b. Sa'īd: weight of dirhem.

Green, 25; 2.84.

ANS 56.8

Plate viii

Unpublished.

End Notes
46
I am indebted to Dr. M. Chatzidakis, Director, for furnishing me with photographs of these and other glass weights in his charge.
47
Providing one assumed the fourth letter to be a و wrongly engraved (so also with University College, 185).
48
Friedrich Preisigke, Namenbuch (Heidelberg, 1922), col. 391; Gustav Heuser, Die Personennamen der Kopten, I (Studien zur Epigraphik und Papyruskunde, Bd. I, Schrift 2, Leipzig, 1929), p. 103, and (a shortened form) p. 105. Another variant Arabic form appears to be سبويرس, Sabawīrus, as in a papyrus of 247 A.H. (A. Grohmann, Arabic Papyri in the Egyptian Library, II, Cairo, 1936, pp. 182–183).

DISK-WEIGHT

165. Uncertain Weight.

ـه......

*ير......

ن سعيد....

imageاوا...

[In the name of Allā]h (?): [order of the am]īr (?) [Muḥammad ib]n Sa'īd:..............

Green, 537×38; 30.88 (frg.).

ANS 54.168

Plate viii

Unpublished. The symbol at the end of the last line appears to be the same as that on a ring-weight of Muḥammad b. Sa'īd's (no. 166, below), on a raṭi in the University College collection (no. 184), another raṭl in the Fouquet Collection (no. 50, and perhaps no. 51), and on several other unpublished heavy weights. I am unable to suggest an explanation of its significance. It is perhaps related to the symbol on an anonymous weight (no. 214, below), which in turn is probably the same as that on two weights discussed by M. Jungfleisch under the title,"Notations en 'abjad'sur des poids arabes en verre..." (Bulletin de l'Institut d'Egypte, 1950–1951, pp. 207–212). I fear I cannot go along with M. Jungfleisch's ingenious theory that the symbol is a date written according to the abjad system.

RING-WEIGHT

166. Raṭl.

Stamp A:

بسم الله

*امر الامير

محمد بن سعيد

imageرطل واف

In the name of Allāh: order of the amīr Muḥammad b. Sa'īd, raṭl, full weight.

Stamp B:

على يدي

سلمة

At the hands of Salamah.

Dark green, frg. (top and part of one side), width 62, height 5o+, thickness 45; stamp A: 35; stamp B: 21; 170.20+.

ANS 54.155

Plate viii

Similar to Fouquet Collection, 50 (symbol at end of 4th line not transcribed in text). Cf. no. 165, above.

VESSEL STAMPS

167.–169. One-half qisṭ.

بسم الله

امر الامير

محمد بن سعيد

نصف قسط

واف

In the name of Allāh: order of the amīr Muḥammad b. Sa'īd, one-half qisṭ, full measure.

167. Green, 41 (with large rim frg.).

ANS 56.8

168. Green, 38×34.

ANS 56.8

169. Green, 35×27 (one-quarter lacking).

ANS 54.159

Similar to Cairo , 204. The name "Sa'īd" appears to be miswritten "Sa'd" on no. 167; on the two others it is incompletely preserved.

170.–171. One-quarter qisṭ.

بسم الله

امر الامير

محمد بن سعيد

بع قسط و..

اف

In the name of Allāh: order of the amīr Muḥammad b. Sa'īd, [one-quar]ter qisṭ, full measure.

170. Green, 38.

ANS 56.8

171. Green, 37x34.

ANS 56.8

Plate ix

Similar to Fouquet Collection, 168, and Cairo, 205–206 (و of واف incorrectly transcribed as being on the 5th line).

N. The Caliph al-Mahdi

158–169 A.H.: 775–785 A.D.

COIN WEIGHTS

172. Dīnār.

Obverse:

*

بسم الله امر

المهدي محمد

امير المؤمنين

امتع الله به

مثقال دينر

واف

In the name of Allāh: order of al-Mahdi Muḥammad, Commander of the Believers, may Allāh give him long enjoyment: weight of dīnār, full weight.

Reverse area:

.....صـ

[⸮ لمهاجر]

.....

Man[ufacture of a]- [l-Muhājir?].

......

Reverse margin:

على يدي الامير محمد بن سليمن

At the hands of Muḥammad b.

Sulaymān.

Green, 30; 4.25.

ANS 56.8

Plate ix

Unpublished. For al-Muhājir (?), see EAG, p. 123, and cf. nos. 174–175, below; Muḥammad b. Sulaymān, EAG, pp. 126–127, and cf. nos. 174–175, below.

173. Dīnār.

Obverse:

*

...بسم الله امـ

المهدي محمد

امير المؤمنين

امتع الله به

مثقال دينر

واف

In the name of Allāh: ord[er of] al-Mahdi Muḥammad, Commander of the Believers, may Allāh grant him long enjoyment: weight of dīnār, full weight.

Reverse area:

المؤ

منين

the Believers.

Reverse margin:

ي مولى....على يدي الامير

امير

At the hands of the amīr [Yaḥy]â, Client of the Commander of

Green, 29; 4.23.

ANS 56.8

Plate ix

Unpublished. I have been able to restore the name in the reverse margin through knowledge of a similar piece in the Muntaza Palace collection in Alexandria, where "Yaḥyâ" is preserved. Cf. no. 178, below, a disk-weight of his. A half dīnār of al-Mahdi in the University College collection (no. 197), with مولى امير المؤمنين ..., is doubtless his also.

174. One-half dīnār.

Obverse:

بسم الله

المهدي امير

المؤمنين مثقا

ل نصف و

اف

In the name of Allāh: al-Mahdi, Commander of the Believers: weight of one-half, full weight.

Reverse area:

ضعة ا

[⸮ لمهاجر]

......

Manufacture of a- [l-Muhājir?],

............

Reverse margin:

على يدي الامير محمد بن سليمن

At the hands of the amīr Muḥammad b. Sulaymān.

Green, 12; 2.12.

ANS 56.8

Plate ix

Similar to Cairo, 215; probably similar to BM, 20 (last name in reverse margin transcribed "...SMR").

175. One-third dīnār.

Obverse:

بسم الله

امر المهدي ا

مير المؤمنين

مثقال ثلث

واف

Reverse area:

صنعة ا

لمهاجر

• * •

Reverse margin:

.......الامير محمد بن سلـ...

Brownish green, 20; 1.41.

ANS 56.8

Similar to EAG, 89; probably similar to BM, 21–22 ("....SMR"), and University College, 200–201.

176. One-third dīnār.

Obverse:

بسم الله

امر المهدي ا

مير المؤمنين

مثقال ثلث

واف

Reverse area:

بن ابر

هيم

Reverse margin:

ي اسمعيل ..... (⸮) بسم

Green, 19; 1.39.

ANS 53.123

Plate ix

Similar to EAG Suppl., 26. See the discussion there, pp. 25–26. Here the name Ismā'īl b. Ibrāhīm is quite clear.

177. Fals of 20 (?) kharrūbah.

Obverse:

بسم الله

المهدي محمد

امير المؤمنين

...امتع الله

[⸮ ...فلس ـعـ]

.....

In the name of Allāh: al-Mahdi Muḥammad, Commander of the Believers, may Allāh give him long enjoyment, fals of ........?

.....

Reverse: traces of area and marginal legend?

Pale green, 27; 3.93, oxidized and flaked.

ANS 54.175

Unpublished. The weight would be approximately that of 20 kharrūbah.

O. Yaḥyâ, Mawlâ of al-Mahdi

Ca. 158–169 A.H.: 775–785 A.D.

DISK-WEIGHT

178. (Wuqīyah?).

بسم الله امر

الامير يحيى مولى

.....امير المؤمـ

.....

.....

In the name of Allāh: ordered the amīr Yaḥyâ, mawlâ of the Commander of the Believers ............

............

Yellowish green, 54x32+; circular imprint, 33; 17.34+ (frg., about ½ or more).

ANS 51.119

Plate ix

Unpublished. This Yaḥyâ is doubtless the same individual whose name occurs in association with that of the Caliph al-Mahdi; see no. 173, above.

P.Al-Muhājir

Prefect, ca. 158–169 A.H.: 775–785 A.D.

VESSEL STAMP

179. Executive stamp.

على يدي

المهاجر

At the hands of al-Muhājir.

Green, 31.

ANS 56.8

Plate ix

Unpublished, unless Fouquet Collection, 192, which Casanova transcribes image, be similar. The dates of al-Muhājir must fall within the rule of al-Mahdi, with whom he is associated on other glass pieces. Cf. EAG, p. 123.

Q. Wāḍiḥ, Mawlâ of al-Mahdi

Governor and Finance Director, 162 A.H.: 779 A.D.

COIN WEIGHT

180. One-half dīnār.

Obverse:

image

بسم الله

مثقال نصف

دينر

واف

In the name of Allāh: weight of one-half dīnār, full weight.

Reverse area:

واضح

*

Wāḍiḥ.

Reverse margin:

المهـ[⸮ على يدي]

[At the hands of?] al-Mu[hājir].

Green, 22; 2.12.

ANS 56.163

Plate ix

Unpublished. This weight and the vessel stamp immediately following must have been issued when Wāḍiḥ was governor,49 and al-Muhājir was prefect under him (see no. 179, above).

End Notes
49
EAG, p. 129.

VESSEL STAMP

181. One-quarter qist.

مر الامير و..

..ضح مولى اميـ..

لمؤمنين ربع..

قسط واف

[Or]der of the amīr W- [ā]ḍiḥ, mawlâ of the Comman[der] [of t]he Believers: one-quarter qisṭ, full measure.

Brownish green, 29.

ANS 56.8

Plate ix

Unpublished, but cf. Fouquet Collection, 155–156, fragments with ...الامير [وا] ضح مولى امير المؤمنين ...

R. Mūsâ b. Muṡ'ab (?)

Governor and Finance Director, 167–168 A.H.: 784–785 A.D.

DISK-WEIGHT

182. One-quarter (great?) raṭl.

Central stamp, A(rectangular):

ربع رطل

.....كـ

.....

One-quarter raṭl k[abir?]...... ........

Stamp at right, B(rectangular):

....مما ا

....الاميـ

.....بن مصـ

......اصـ

Among those things o[rdered by] the amī[r Mūsâ?] b. Mus['ab]...... ............

Stamp at left, C(rectangular):

......

صر...

........

[M]iṡr?

Green, fragmentary (perhaps one half), 86x37+(oval); max. thickness, 17;stamp A: 33x16+;stamp B: 22x9+;stamp C: 12+ x8+;60.10+grm.

ANS 51.119

Unpublished. Mūsâ b. Muṡ'ab al-Khash'ami was Governor and Finance Director of Egypt on behalf of al-Mahdi from 7 Dhu'l-Ḥijjah 167 until 9 Shawwāl 168 (1 July 784–24 April 785 A.D.).50

S. Mūsâ b. Sābiq and Ṣāliḥ b. Muslim

Prefects, ca. 171–180 A.H. (?): 787–796 A.D.(?)

DISK-WEIGHTS

183. Wuqīyah?

Stamp A (circular):

على يدي

موسى بن سا

بق و صلح

بن مسلم

At the hands of Mūsâ b. Sā-biq and Ṣāliḥ b. Muslim.

Stamp B (circular, 1/5 missing): Identical with A.

Stamp C (rectangular, fragmentary):

.......

واف

..........

full weight.

Pale blue-green, 56 (oval); max. thickness, 12; Stamps A & B: 20; stamp C: 13+; 19.08+ (perhaps up to one half missing).

ANS 56.8

Plate ix

Unpublished. If the rectangular stamp (C) was placed in the center, there were probably two more circular stamps located around it, as are the circular stamps A and B.

Mūsâ b. Sābiq and Ṣāliḥ b. Muslim are, so far as I have been able to determine, unknown in the chronicles, but as there are weights and stamps of Ṣāliḥ b. Muslim associated with Mūsâ b. 'Isâ ( Cairo, 235–236), and the latter is known to have been Governor of Egypt from 171–172, 175–176 and again from 179–180 A.H.,51 I have placed Mūsâ b. Sābiq and Ṣāliḥ b. Muslim between these dates.

184. Uncertain weight.

Stamp A (circular):

على يدي

وسى بن سا..

صلح ...

سلم ...

Stamp A (circular): nothing preserved.

Green, 39+x25+; max. thickness, 11; stamp A: 21; stamp B:?;

9.98+ (fragmentary).

ANS 51.119

Plate ix

Unpublished. The stamp is, of course, the same as that appearing twice on no. 183.

End Notes
50
Al-Kindi (ed. Guest), pp. 124–128; cf. Ṝabari, III, p. 521.
51
Al-Kindi (ed. Guest), pp. 132, 134, 137.

VESSEL STAMP

185. Executive stamp.

...ـى بن..

و صلح..

مسلم..

[Mūs]â b. [Sā]- [biq] and Ṣāliḥ [b.] Muslim.

Green, 19.

ANS 56.8

Unpublished.

T. 'Ubaydullāh b. al-Mahdi

Governor and Finance Director, 179 and 180–181 A.H.: 795 and 796–797 A.D.

DISK-WEIGHT

186. One-half wuqīyah (?).

مما امر به

الامير عبيد

Among those things ordered by the amīr 'Ubaydullāh [son of] the Commander of the Believers, may prolong Allāh his life.

الله امير المؤ

منين اطال

الله بقاه

Roughly circular, pale blue-green, 46; square imprint, 30; 17.33+ (chips lacking).

ANS 56.8

Plate x

Unpublished. There can be little doubt about the attribution of this piece despite what I assume to be an engraver's error in the third line (the omission of bn).52 'Ubaydullāh, son of the Caliph al-Mahdi, was appointed Governor and Finance Director of Egypt by Hārūn al-Rashīd on 13 Muharram 179 (8 April 795), but until his arrival in Egypt on 11 Rabī' I of that year (June 795) he was represented by 'Abdullāh b. al-Musayyib. On the 3rd of Ramadān (20 November 795) 'Ubaydullāh was relieved by Mūsâ b. 'Isâ (see p. 74, above), and he left Egypt on 2 Shawwāl. He was reappointed to the position in Jumādâ II 180 (August 796) and arrived at his post on 4 Sha'bān of that year (12 October 796). He remained in office until 3 Ramadan 181 (29 October 797).53

This is the first glass piece of 'Ubaydullāh to be published. A few dirhems struck at Armīnīyah when he was governor of that province in 172 and 174 A.H. bear his name.54

End Notes
52
The weight could not be one of the first Fāṭimid Caliph al-Mahdi 'Ubaydullāh. The piece came from Egypt, is typically Egyptian, and the epigraphy does not suit the late 3rd or early 4th centuries of the Hijrah.
53
The full sources are cited in A. Grohmann, Corpus Papyrorum Raineri, Series III, Arabica, I2, p. 141.
54
172: Aḥmed Ziya, Meskukāt-i Islāmīyeh (Constantinople, 1910), no. 420 (with 'Ubaydullāh mistranscribed 'Abdullāh); 174: H. Nützel, Katalog der orientalischen Münzen, I (Berlin, 1898), no. 960, and A. Markov, Inventarnii Katalog Musulmartskikh Monet (St. Petersbourg, 1896), p. 27, no. 378. Cf. R. Vasmer, Chronologie der arabischen Statthalter von Armenien unter den Abbasiden, von as-Saffach bis zur Krönung Aschots I., 750–887(Vienna, 1931), p. 31 (Markov does not record 'Ubaydullāh's name, but Vasmer must have examined the coin himself).

U. Mu'āwiyah b. Zufar

Prefect ca. 180–190 A.H.(?): ca. 796–806 A.D.(?)

DISK-WEIGHT

187. [One-half wuqīyah?].

على يدي معو

...ية بن زفر (؟) المحسـ

مولى الامير

.......

At the hands of Mu'āwi- yah b. Zufar (?) al-Muḥs[ini?], mawlâ of the amīr ..............

Green, frg. (about 2/3), 35x29+; square imprint, 19; 9.30+.

ANS 54.15

Plate x

Unpublished.

RING-WEIGHT

188. Great raṭl.

Stamp A (square, in center):

رطل

كبير

واف

Raṭl

kabīr,

full weight.

Stamp B (square, at right):

على يدي معو

... المـ (⸮)ية بن زفر

الامير......

.......

At the hands of Mu'āwi yah b. Zufar(?) al-M.... mawlâ of the amīr ..............

Stamp C (rectangular, at left):

....الامـ

.......

......و

....كرمه

The amīr........... ............... w..............., [may Allāh] be generous to him.

Green, intact but large chip off two sides and smaller chips, 82x78x 44;imprints, A:22; B:20; C:11+x21;464.00+.

ANS 54.157

Plate x

Unpublished. Stamp B is in all probability the same as the stamp on no. 187, above.

The suggested identification of the prefect whose name appears on nos. 187 and 188 is made with great reserve. Tabari55 mentions a certain Mu'āwiyah b. Zufar b. 'Āsim, who led the summer raids into Anatolia in the years 178 and 180. This is the only person with this name that I have been able to find in the chronicles; it is not altogether out of the question that this man was later (or even before his duties in the field) prefect in Egypt. Eventually we may turn up other specimens bearing this man's stamps, and let us hope with the name of the governor preserved.

V. Al-Ḥusayn b. al-Baḥbāḥ

Governor, 193–194 A.H.: 808–810 A.D.

COIN WEIGHT

189. Dīnār.

Area:

مثقال

∴دينر

واف

Margin:

...مما امر به الامير الحسين بن

Very pale blue-green, 29; 4.24.

ANS 56.8

Plate x

Similar to EAG 108–109. I am now convinced that this man's name was not al-Ḥasan, but al-Ḥusayn. The name is obscure here but on the ring-weight described below it is quite clear. My doubts about the reading of his name were expressed in EAG, loc. cit.

End Notes
55
III, pp. 637, 645.

RING-WEIGHT

190. Great raṭl.

مما امر به الامير الحسين

ن البحباح ابقاه الله *

ف......رطل كبير

على يدي عبد الله بن عثمن

Among those things ordered by the amīr al-Ḥusayn

b. al-Baḥbāḥ, may Allāh preserve him: raṭl kabīr, full weight; at the hands of 'Abdullāh b.

'Uthmān.

Green, frg., about 1/2–2/3?, 76 x 49 x 60+; rectangular stamp, 52 x 33; 324.50+.

ANS 54.161

Plate x

Unpublished. The prefect 'Abdullāh b. 'Uthmān (or the father's name could just possibly be 'Āmir) is not only new in the literature of glass weights and measure stamps, but also, so far as I have been able to determine, is unrecorded in the chronicles.

W.'Isâ b. Manṡūr

Prefect, 216–217 and 229–233 A.H.: 831–832 and 843–847 A.D.

DISK-WEIGHT

191. [One-half wuqīyah].

على يدي الامير

عيسى بن منصور

[مولى امير المؤمنين]?

At the hands of the amīr 'Isâ b. Manṡūr,

[mawlâ of the Commander of the Believers?].

Pale blue-green, circular, 37; max. thickness, 8; circular imprint, 20; 14.09 (intact but pitted by oxidation).

ANS 56.8

The inscription is very faint, and the last two lines are virtually illegible. Around the circular imprint are four "thumb-nail" prints.

Unpublished. Cf. a ring-weight in the University College collection, no. 218; and two executive stamps in Cairo, 247–248. There is some uncertainty about the dates of the two prefectures of 'Isâ b. Manṡūr b. Mūsâ al-Rāfi'i (or al- Rāfiqi?).56 His first term began sometime in 216 and ended evidentally on 18 Ṣafar 217 (831- 25 March 832); his second began on 7 Muḥarram 229 and appears to have ended on 15 Rabī' I, 233 (6 October 843- 29 October 847).57

X. The Caliph al-Mu'taṡim (?)

218–227 A.H.: 833–842 A.D.

VESSEL STAMP

192. Uncertain Stamp.

....مما امر

....لامام المعـ..

...لله امير المـ..

......

Among those things ordered [by] [the] Imām al-Mu'[taṡim?] [bi']llāh, Commander of the B[e]- [lievers].

Green, 21; small frg. of rim preserved.

ANS 56.176

Unpublished. The attribution is not certain, but the style of epigraphy suggests the period of al-Mu'tṡaim. Ring-weights of his are known: e.g., Fouquet Collection, 45, and University College, 219.

End Notes
56
Actually he was acting governor on behalf of al-Mu'taṡim, Abu-Ja'far Ashinās and Itākh al-Turki.
57
Al-Kindi, pp. 190, 192, 196; al-Maqrīzi, Khitat, I, pp. 311–312; cf. Grohmann, op. cit. under no. 186, above, I2, p. 146. Zambaur's dates (Manuel, p. 27) differ somewhat; I believe he misread Maqrīzi's "governed the first time" as "l Muharram."

Y. Mūsā b.abi'l-'Abbās

Governor, 219–224 A.H.: 834–839 A.D.

DISK-WEIGHT

193. [One-half wuqīyah].

على يدي

موسى بن

ابى العباس

At the hands of Mūsā b. abi'l-'Abbās.

Dark amber, 37; square imprint, 2I; I5.74 (intact). ANS 56.8

Plate x

Unpublished. For Mūsā b. abi'l-'Abbās, see EAG Suppl., pp. 27–28.58

VESSEL STAMP

194. Executive stamp.

على يدي

ـسى بن ...

..باسـ ...

Pale green, 14.

ANS 54.154

Unpublished as a separate vessel stamp, but the legend is the same as that on no. 193; and cf. EAG Suppl., 30; Fouquet Collection, 172 and an unspecified number between 199 and 235.

End Notes
58
There are two typographical errors on p. 27: "934" for "834," and "perfect" for "prefect."

Z. 'Ali b. Yaḥyâ

Governor, 226–229 A.H.: 841–843 A.D.

DISK-WEIGHT

195. [One-half wuqīyah].

الامير على

بن يحيى مولى

امير المؤمنين

ابقاه الله

The amīr 'Ali b. Yaīyâ, mawlâ of the Commander of the Believers, may Allāh preserve him.

Yellowish green, 36; max. thickness, 9; square imprint, 19x20; 16.06 (intact).

ANS 53.49

Plate x

Unpublished. 'Ali b. Yaīyâ al-Armani governed on behalf of Abu-Ja'far Ashinās from 9 Rabī' II 226 (5 February 841) until (officially)7 Dhu'l-Ḥijjah 228 (6 September 843) and probably continued in office until7 Muḥarram 229 (6 October 843)1 when he was succeeded by 'Isâ b. Manṣūr (see p. 80, above).59 So far as I know this is the first glass piece of 'Ali b. Yaīyâ to be published.

AA. The Caliph al-Wāthiq

227–232 A.H.: 842–847 A.D.

RING-WEIGHT

196. Uncertain weight.

........

...مر الله بالعدل..

...ذلك امر به عبـ...

.................. [Com]manded Allah justice..... [and ac]cordingly ordered the Servant of Allāh]

...رون الامام الو...

....امير المؤمـ...

...ـه الله...

[Hā]rūn, the Imām, al-W[āthiq]

[bi'llāh], Commanderof the Be[lievers],

may Allāh ....... him.

Green, small frg. of top only, 57 X 37 X 22; 35.38.

ANS 54.159

Plate xi

This weight is in all probability identical with one described by M. Jungfleisch in Un poids et une estampille, p. 2; cf. also a ring-weight (?) with possibly the same legend (although differently read) and an additional date stamp (228 A.H.?), in the Innès collection.60

End Notes
59
Al-Kindi, pp. 195–197; cf. Grohmann, op. cit. under no. 186, above, I2, P· 154

BB. Yazīd b.'Abdullāh

Governor, 242–253 A.H.: 856–867 A.D.

RING-WEIGHT

197. [Raṭl?].

بسم الله بركة مما امر

به الامير يزيد بن عبد الله

مولى امير المؤمنين

اطال الله بقاهما

In the name of Allāh: blessing; among those things ordered by the amārYazīd b. 'Abdullāh, mawlâ of the Commander of the Believers, may Allāh prolong their lives.

Green, with iridescent patina, fragmentary, 43x46+X36+; square imprint, 27;104.07+.

ANS 54.155

Plate xi

Probably similar to University College, 238–239, partially misread,and to Fouquet Collection, 56, also party misread. For a disk-weight ofYazīd b. 'Abdullāh, see EAG Suppl., 32, where(pp. 30–31) other weights of his are mentioned.61 It isof interest to note that the stamp on our piece has an empty space, sufficient fortwo lines, at the bottom, and that in this respect it resembles University College, 238–239. University College, 237, evidently had another lineor two. M. Jungfleisch, who donated the present piece to the Museum of the American Numismatic Society, remarked that this was a "2e émission avecla malédiction contre les prévaricateurs- 5e ligne-bouchée." It doesindeed appear that the lower part of the legend had been obliterated on the die.Yazīd b.'Abdullāh's career is summarized in EAG Suppl., p. 30.

End Notes
60
M. Casanova, Étude surles inscriptions arabes des poids et mesures en verre (Communication faite à l'lnstitut Égyptien dans la séance du 6 Mars 1891), Cairo, 1891, p. 25.
61
The specimen in theFouquet Collection is there mistakenly referred to as a disk-weight; it is a ring-weight.

III. ṬŪLŪNIDS

A. Aḥmad b. Ṭūlūn

Governor (and Semi-Independent Ruler) of Egypt 254–270 A.H.: 868–884 A.D.

DISK-WEIGHTS

198.-199. [One-half wuqīyah].

مما امر به الا

مير احمد بن طو

لون مولى امير

المؤمنين

Among those things ordered by the amīr Aḥmad b. Ṭūlūn, mawlâ of the Commander of the Believers.

198. Green, 38; max. thickness, 8; circular imprint, 22; 16.52 (intact). ANS 56.163

199. Green, 37 X34; max. thickness, 9; circular imprint, 21; 15.83 (intact).

ANS 54.175

Plate xi

Unpublished. Two other weights and a vessel stamp of Ahmad b. Ṭūlūn have been published: a disk-weight (one- quarter raṭl),62 a ring-weight dated 259,63 and a vessel stamp,64not bearing Ahmad's name but dated 260 A.H. See also no. 200, below.

RING-WEIGHT

200. [Raṭl?].

بسم الله بركة من الله

امر به الامير احمد بن طو

In the name of Allāh: blessing from Allāh; ordered it the amīr Aḥmad b. Ṭūlūn mawlâ of the Commander of the Believers, in the year nine and fifty and two hundred.

لون مولى امير المؤ

منين فى سنة

تسع و خمسين

و مائتين

Green, frg. of top and right side only, 53 X 38+x 38+; rectangular imprint, 27x25; 10349+.

ANS 54.160

Plate xi

Similar to Jungfleisch, Un poids et une estampille, except that he transcribesالبركة in place ofبركة. As that piece is illustrated only by a drawing it is impossible to verify whether the definite article is present or not. Here the article is definitely lacking.

End Notes
62
Rogers, JRAS 1878, no. 19 (name misread).
63
Jungfleisch, Un poids et une estampille, p. 7.
64
Ibid., p. 4.

B. Khumārawayh b. Aḥmad

Ruler of Egypt, 270–282 A.H.: 884–896 A.D.

RING-WEIGHT

201. [Raṭl?].

Stamp A:

بركة من الله

للامير خمارويه

[⸮ ......]

Blessing from Allāh on the amīr Khumārawayh ................... (Possibly no 3rd line)

Stamp B:

....بركـ

.....للا

[⸮......]

As stamp A.

Dark brown, frg. of top and right side only, 50+X43x43+; square imprints A and B: 24; 142.06+.

ANS 54.168

Plate xi

Unpublished. This is the first known weight of the Ṭūlūnid prince Khumārawayh, and, unless I am mistaken, the latest weight of the 'Abb?sid period to be published.65

End Notes
65
The pieces of the later 'Abbāsid CAliphs (al-Mustaḍi, al-Nāṣir, etc., BM, pp. 36–38, etc., are actually Ayyūbid. I am sceptical about the attribution by Rogers of a one-third dīnār weight supposedly of the CAliph al-Muq- tadir (BM, p. xxviii). Exception, however, should be made with regard to nos. 260–261, below, if indeed my proposal to date this piece in the 3rd century of the Hijrah is acceptable.

IV. UNIDENTIFIED OFFICIALS 66

A. Abān b. Ibrāhīm

VESSEL STAMP

202. Executive stamp.

على يدي

ابان بن

ابرهيم

Green, 30.

ANS 56.8

Similar to EAG, III; EAG Suppl., 33; Cairo, 317–318.

B. Idrīs and Mūsâ

COIN WEIGHT?

203. [Fals of 36 kharrūbah?].

ادريس و موسى

ابنى مهدي

*

Idrīs and Mūsâ, sons of (?) Mahdi.

Dark amber, 33; 7.07.

ANS 53.49

Plate xi

Unpublished. This curious weight closely resembles one in the Llewelyn-PhillipsCollection in the British Museum, and also is not unlike another in that collection and one in the University College Collection (no. 249), with ....... and 'Isâ, يحيى image. At the present time I have no explanation of the anomalous legend to propose. أَبْنَى is a quasi-plural of ابن.67

End Notes
66
Arranged alphabetically.
67
Lane, I, p. 262, col. 2.

C. Ḥakam b.Yaḥyâ (?)

VESSEL STAMP

204. Executive stamp.

على يدي

حكم

(⸮) بن يحيى

At the hands of Ḥakam b.Yaḥyâ (?).

Green, 36x33.

ANS 53.49

Plate xi

Unpublished.

D. 'Abd al-Jabbār b. NuṢayr

COIN WEIGHT

205. Fals of 30 kharrūbah.

على يدي عبد

الجبار بن نصير

مثقال فلس

image خروبة

(*)

Green, 32; 5.73.

ANS 56.8

Similar to EAG, 114–115; Cairo, 359–361 (symbol omitted from the transcription). For the Coptic figure, see EAG, p. 11, EAG Suppl., p. 31, and supra, p. 58.

E. Muhammad b. 'Amr

COIN WEIGHTS

206.-207. Fals of 20 kharrūbah.

مما امر به

محمد بن عمرو

مثقال فلس وزن

عشرين خروبة

Among those things ordered by Muḥammad b. 'Amr: weight of fals, weight twenty kharrūbah.

206. Green, 28; 3.85.

ANS 56.8

Plate xi

207. Green, 28; 3.84.

ANS 56.8

Similar to Rogers, JRAS 1878, no. 4 (partly misread); Fouquet Collection, 45–47; Cairo, 354–356.

F. Maslamah?

COIN WEIGHT?

208. Fals of 24 kharrūbah?.

(⸮)مسلمة

Maslamah (?).

Pale green, 26X24; 4.73.

ANS 56.164

Unpublished. The piece is crudely made, of irregular thickness, and imperfectly inscribed. It is possibly of a much later period.

G. Hilāl b. al-Jabbār?

COIN WEIGHT

209. One-half dīnār.

Obverse:

٢٣

بسم الله

مثقال نصف

دينر

واف

In the name of Allāh: weight of one-half dīnār, full weight.

Reverse area:

(⸮)الجبار

al-Jabbār (?).

Reverse margin:

هلال بن...على يدي

At the hands of ..... Hilāl b.

Green, 22; 2.12

ANS 56.163

Plate xi

Unpublished. The prefect might possibly be the same individual whose name was read Hilāl al-Jabbār (?) on EAG, 125. The two elements above b'ism look very much like the Arabic figures٢٣, but they are not altogether clear and this may be an illusion.

H. Yaḥyā b. Ḥātim

RING-WEIGHT

210. Uncertain weight.

مما امر

به يحيى

بن حاتم

Among those things ordered by Yaḥyā b. Ḥātim.

Pale bluish green, part of top only, 54+X59X33+; 140.84+.

ANS 55.145

Plate xii

Unpublished. The epigraphy is curious: it is difficult to say whether it is a crude early script or a later semi-cursive style.


V. ANONYMOUS COIN WEIGHTS

A. "Al Muḥammad"

211.-212. dīnār.

بسم الله

امر ال محمد

مثقال دينر

واف

*

In the name of Allāh: order of the Family of Muḥammad: weight of dīnār, full weight.

211. Green, 30; 4.23.

ANS 56.8

Plate xii

212. Green, 30; 2.854–0/3 lacking).

ANS 51.119

Plate xii

Similar to Cairo, 145. Quite a few weights and stamps with the enigmatic legend "Al Muḥammad" have been published: dirhems of 13 kharrūbah; 68 half-raṭl of duhn;69and quarter-qisṭ.70 The problem of the significance of "the Family of Muḥammad" as the issuing authority for these pieces remains unsolved. Certainly these weights and stamps are not, asCasanova suggested, to be dated in the Fāṭimid period.71

End Notes

68
BM, 33; Fouquet Collection, 44; University College, 94; Cairo, 146.
69
Fouquet Collection, 165.
70
Fouquet Collection, 162–164; University College, 95; Cairo, 143.
71
Might the governor Wāḍ;iḥ (cf. nos. 180–181) perhaps have issued these pieces? Ibn Taghribirdi tells us that he "inclined toward" the 'Alids and actually these sympathies led to his execution in 169 A. H. (ed.Juynboll, I, p. 433). This is pure speculation, needless to say, and it is doubtful that the hypothesis could ever be substantiated.

B. Pious Phrase Only

213. [Dīnār?].

الو

فا لله

Pale blue-green, 27; 4.25.

ANS s6.8

Similar to EAG, 214, the weight of which was not given. With a small fragment missing it weighs 2.98, but the missing fragment is not large enough to bringthe weight up to that of a full dīnār. The weight of the present piece, quite suitable for a dīnār, may simply be a coincidence, and it is not improbable that pieces of this type are not weights but tokens of some sort.

214. [Dīnār].

See illustration.

Green, 25; 4.23.

ANS 56.8

Plate xii

This curious piece is obviously related to BM, 46, and to two weights (4.22 and 1.40 grams respectively) published by M. Jungfleisch.72 The legend on the present piece is retrograde, the first line clearly بسم الله ason the published specimens. The second line on the latter is ربى الله ("Allāhis my Lord"); here the is missing, unless it is the small mark above the line at the left. Lane-Poole read دينار in the third line, although I wouldsay to judge by the illustration that this is not certain. Here the symbol resembles the transcribed figure on Jungfleisch's specimens. I regret to say that I findit impossible to subscribe to Jungfleisch's ingenious inter- pretation of this symbol to the effect that the curious element in the center of the second line is an abjad notation for the date 160; but I have no explanation of my own.

End Notes

72
"Notations en 'abjad' sur des poids arabes en verre," Bulletin de l'institut d'Égypte, XXXIII (1950–1951), pp. 207–212.

C. Standard Anonymous Weights

215. One-third Dīnār.

بسم الله

مثقال ثلث

دينر واف

*

In the name of Allāh: weight of one-third Dīnār, full weight.

Amber, 18; 1.42.

ANS 56.163

Plate xii

Unpublished. The only published anonymous one-third Dīnār weight that I am aware of is University College, 202, which has a different legend.

216. Fals of 30 kharrūbah.

مثقال

فلس

ثلثين

خروبة

Weight of fals of thirty kharrūbah.

Green, 31; 5.80.

ANS 56.8

Plate xii

Similar to Fouquet Collection, 15–16.

217. Fals of 30 kharrūbah.

Retrograde:

مثقال فلـ

س ثلثين خر

و] بة واف]

Weight of fals of thirty kharr-[ū]bah, full weight.

(Shallow imprint)

Pale green, 29X26; 4.13.

ANS 53.50

Similar to BM, 38, where Lane-Poole transcribed قيراط, but the illustration suggests that the word is mithqāl, as here.

218. Fals of 27 kharrūbah.

هذا مثقا

ل فلس سبع

و عشرين

خرو

*بة

Green, 31; 5.29.

ANS 56.8

Plate xii

Similar to EAG Suppl., 37.

219. Fals of 26 qīrāṭ.

[⸮ مثقال [فلس

ستة و عشرين

قيرط

Weight [of fals?] of six and twenty qīrāṭ.

Green, 30; 5.12.

ANS 56.8

Unpublished.

220. Fulūs of 26 kharrūbah.

هذا مثقال

الفلوس ستة

و عشرين خروبة

This is the weight of the fulūs of six and twenty kharrūbah.

Green, 33; 5.37 (broken and mended).

ANS 54.164

Unpublished. Especially noteworthy is the use of the word fulūs in place of the usual singular fals.

221. Fals of 25 kharrūbah.

image

فلس

خمس و

عشرين

خروبة

Pale green, 30; 5.17.

ANS 56.8

Similar to EAG, 134–137; EAG Suppl., 38.

222.–223. Fals of 25 kharrūbah.

Within square and circle:

مثقال فلس

(sic) خمس و علس

ين خروبة

Weight of fals of five and twenty kharrūbah.

222. Opaque black, 29; 4.87.

ANS 56.8

223. Opaque black, 29; 4.93.

ANS 54.159

Plate xii

Probably similar to BM 39, 39G (not illustrated). Note the curious spelling of the first part of "twenty-five."

224.–225. Fals of 25 kharrūbah.

هذا مثقا

خمس (sic) افس

و عشرين

خرو

*بة

224. Pale bluish green, 30; 4.86.

ANS 56.8

225. Green, 31; 4.88.

ANS 56.8

Plate xii

Similar to EAG Suppl., 39, where it is noted that the ل of مثقال is reversed; actually it is simply ا as here, and فلس in each case is written as transcribed above.

226. Fals of 25 qīrāṭ.

مثقال فلس

واف وزن

خمسة و عشر

ين قيرط

Green, 30; 4.84.

ANS 56.8

Similar to EAG, 138.

227. [Fals] of 24 qīrāṭ.

وزن ار

بعة و عشر

ين قيرطا

Green, 29; 4.83.

ANS 56.8

Similar to EAG, 139.

228. [Fals] of 24 qīrāṭ.

image

وزن ار

بعة و عشر

ين قيرط و

اف

Weight of four and twenty qīrāṭ, full weight.

Pale bluish green, 27; 4.88.

ANS 56.8

Plate xii

Unpublished.

229. Fals [of 22 kharrūbah ?].

مثقال

فلس

Very crude lettering.

Green, 24; 3.34.

ANS 50.170

Similar to EAG, 142–143.

230. Fals of 20 kharrūbah.

فلس

عشرين

خروبة

*

Green, 29; 4.10.

ANS 56.8

Similar to EAG, 144–146; Cairo , 343–347.

231. Fals of 20 kharrūbah .

بسم الله

مثقال فلس

عشرين

خروبة

In the name of Allāh: weight of fals of twenty kharrūbah .

Green, 29; 3.88.

ANS 56.8

Plate xii

Unpublished.

232. Fals of 20 kharrūbah .

مثقال فلس

عشرين خروبة

واف

• * •

Weight of fals of twenty kharrūbah , full weight.

Brownish green, 28; 3.85.

ANS 56.8

Plate xii

Unpublished.

233. Fals of 20 qīrāṭ.

...مثقا

...فلس عشـ

...ين قيرط

......

Weigh[t] of fals of tw[en]ty qīrāṭ, [full] [weight].

Green, 25; 4.17.

ANS 54.159

Unpublished.

234.–235. Fals of 18 qīrāṭ.

بسم الله

مثقال فلس

واف وزن

ثمنية عشر

قيرط

234. Yellowish green, 27; 3.53.

ANS 54.159

235. Brownish green, 27; 3.53.

ANS 56.8

Plate xii

Similar to EAG, 148, but no traces of a reverse legend.

236. Fals of 15 kharrūbah.

مثقال فلس

خمس عشر

ة خروبة

Weight of fals of fifteen kharrūbah.

Green, 26; 3.04.

ANS 56.8

Plate xii

Similar to BM 49 (and probably 50, which is described as "same as 48," but 49 is probably intended); also Cairo, 328–329.

237. Fals of 13 kharrūbah.

مثقال فلس

ثلثة عشر

خروبة

Weight of fals of thirteen kharrūbah.

Green, 24; 2.55.

ANS 56.8

Plate xiii

Similar to Fouquet Collection, 12.

238. One-half fals of 9 qīrāṭ.

*مثقال

نصف فلس

تسعة image وزن

*قرريطر

Pale green, 23; 1.79.

ANS 53.123

Similar to EAG, 150.


VI. ANONYMOUS AND UNIDENTIFIED DISK-WEIGHTS 73

239. [2 wuqīyah?].

Illegible four or five line legend within square imprint.

Yellowish green with 4 cobalt splotches, 48; thickness, 17; square imprint, 20; 58.55 (intact).

This piece might possibly date from the Fāṭimid period,74 but the general outlines of the epigraphy suggest a 3rd century date.

240. [Wuqīyah].

Traces of 2-line legend, possibly:

الوفا

لله

Bluish green, 44; thickness, 12; circular imprint, 24; 31.50 (intact, but pitted and partly flaked).

ANS (E.T. Newell Coll.)

241. [Wuqīyah].

Traces of 3(?)-line legend.

Yellowish brown, 44×41; thickness, 11; rectangular imprint, 21×19; 29.30 (intact, but chipped on the reverse).

ANS (E.T. Newell Coll.)

242. [Wuqīyah].

Traces of 2 or 3-line legend.

Yellowish brown, gray and iridescent patina, 36; thickness, 15; rectangular imprint, 15×14; 28.79 (intact, but chipped and worn).

ANS 56.163

243. [One-half wuqīyah?].

A. Large square imprint with traces of 4(?)-line legend, including a star; b. Small circular stamp at side, wholly effaced.

Green, 43×39; thickness, 8; stamp A: 34; stamp B: 12; 17.98 (intact, but slightly worn).

ANS 46.134

244. [One-half wuqīyah?].

No trace of legend.

Pale dirty green, 36; thickness, 9; circular imprint, 18; 16.86 (intact, but slightly worn).

ANS (Nies Coll.)

245. [One-half wuqīyah].

....مما امر

...(⸮) مير مواحـ

[⸮ اطال الله [بقاه

......

Among those things ordered.... mīr MWAḤ (?)....

May Allāh prolong his life? ............

Green, 37; thickness, 9; circular imprint, 22; 16.11 (intact).

ANS 54.175

Plate xiii

246. [One-half wuqīyah].

بركة

من الله

واف

Blessing from Allāh; full weight.

Yellowish green, 35; thickness, 11; deep square imprint, 13; 15.85 (intact, but slightly worn).

ANS 54.15

Plate xiii

Unpublished. Probably 3rd century.

247.–248. [One-half wuqīyah].

على يدي

بن(⸮)يوسف.

.......

At the hands of Yūsuf (?) b.

.............. (short and crowded)

247. Dirty green, 30; thickness, 11; circular imprint, 14; 14.67 (intact).

ANS 56.13

248. Bluish green, 31; thickness, 10; circular imprint, 13; 14.62 (intact).

ANS 54.175

249. [One-half wuqīyah].

Traces of 2 (?)-line legend.

Bluish green with brown patina, 32; thickness, 11; circular imprint, 14; 14.52 (intact).

ANS

250. [One-half wuqīyah].

Legend effaced.

Dirty yellowish green, 32; thickness, 10; square imprint, 13; 14.14 (intact, but slightly worn).

ANS (Nies Coll.)

251. (Qualified?) wuqīyah.

Stamp A (center):

وقية

*

كل...

واف

Wuqīyah ............, full weight.

Stamp B (at right): effaced.

Pale blue-green, oval, 42×38; thickness, 5; stamp A: 30; stamp B: 15; 11.02 (intact, but slightly chipped).

ANS 56.8

End Notes

73
Arranged in descending order of weight.
74
The splashes of color are characteristically Fāṭimid, but the large square imprint is typical of the earlier weights. Cf. M. Jungfleisch,"Poids fatimites en verre polychrome," in Bulletin de l'Institut d'Égypte, X (1927–1928), pp. 19–31.

VII. ANONYMOUS AND UNIDENTIFIED RING-WEIGHTS 75

252. Uncertain weight.

Large ring-weight with single square 4 or 5-line imprint on top, entirely effaced; marks of die-prongs at either side of imprint.

Gray-green, 82×83×55; imprint, 31; 725.00 (intact, but slightly chipped and flaked).

ANS 54.154

253. Uncertain weight.

(⸮)و الله ..ا...

.......

.......

Four prong marks, two on each side of imprint.

Dirty gray-green, 55×34×52; rectangular imprint, 22×20; 194.62 (intact, but slightly chipped and flaked).

ANS 48.98

Plate xiii

The three-line legend appears to be quite legible but I have been unable to decipher it. The characters are typical of the mid-3rd (9th) century.

254. Uncertain weight.

عيار

(⸮)رسف

(⸮)المعمري

Standard of ............ al-Mu'amari (?).

Green (with gray core), 56×35×61; circular imprint, 24; 171.00 (intact, but severely flaked).

ANS (E.T. Newell Coll.)

Plate xiii

The glass is imperfectly fused and the surface has flaked off almost completely on all faces except the top (where the stamp is impressed) and part of the bottom, which bears an effaced circular imprint, traces of which suggest that the stamp was the same as that on the top. The exposed core is heavily pitted and has the appearance of slag.

This anomalous piece is difficult to date. The epigraphy is semi-cursive in character, and this feature together with the use of the word عيار, 'ayār, which does not appear on any of the early datable glass, so far as I know, suggests a late 3rd century, or even a later, date. For another occurrence of the word 'ayār, on a type of weight which I have tentatively assigned to 288 H., see below, nos. 260–261.

255. Two wuqīyah(?).

.......

[⸮الوفا لله..]

[⸮وقيتين]

اكـ...

........ [... honesty to Allāh? two wuqīyah?] ..........

Blue-green, 50×45×29; circular imprint, 23; 96.40 (intact, but slightly chipped).

ANS 54.15

256. Uncertain weight.

.......

مولى امير

المؤمنين

.......

............ mawlâ of the Commander of the Believers, ............

Green, iridescent patina, top, most of one side and part of the other, 40×31×50+; circular imprint, 29; 86.85+.

ANS 54.164

257. Uncertain weight.

Traces of 3 or 4-line legend.

Green, frg. of top only, 46+×36+×19+; rectangular imprint, 31+ ×24+; 43.61+.

ANS 54.175

The epigraphy appears to be late 2nd (8th) century.

258.–259. Great wuqīyah.

وقية

كبير

واف

Wuqīyah, great, full weight.

258. Green, gray patina, frg. top and part of one side, 30×22×38+; circular imprint, 20×18; 27.86+.

ANS 56.98

259. Green, frg., top and part of sides; 36×20×18+; circular imprint, 20; 16.78+.

ANS 51.119

Plate xiii

Similar to University College, 252.

260.–261. Weight of the standard, of the year 88.

image

image ثقل

عيار سنة ثمان و

ثمنين *

Weight standard of year eight and eighty.

260. Gray-green, top and part of sides only, 38×23×28+; oblong imprint, 26×20; 25.30+.

ANS (E.T. Newell Coll).

Plate xiii

261. Pale amber, oval lump, 33×28; thickness, 9; (12.52).

ANS

The first of these two pieces is unmistakably a fragment of a ring-weight of normal shape; its small size, however, as well as the legend, discussed below, is unusual. The second specimen, while bearing a stamp identical with the first, is entirely anomalous in that there are no traces of fracture either at the sides or on the bottom, and its classification here as a ring-weight is justified only on the grounds of convenience in view of the identical legend. The wrinkled bottom of the piece is not unlike that of many disk-weights, but it differs from most of them in that it is more irregular and lumpy. Just possibly the piece was made separately to be sunk into the top of a ring-weight, and the latter operation either was not carried out or else this lump did not fuse with the main body of the weight.

Just recently two pieces with an identical stamp and legend have been published by Dr. Paul Balog.76 One of these is a ring-weight (65×66×42 mm.) of which the glass is "dévitrifié, écaillé, tendre et mal brassé, d'une couleur jaune-pâle, sale, grisâtre, presque partout opaque, sauf quelques points translucides." It weighs 291.60 grams. The other is a fragment (55×26×35 mm.) weighing 105 grams,"meulé postérieurement en forme d'un bloc oblong... Ses surfaces dépolies et sa forme indiquent nettement qu'on a essayé de lui donner un aspect de pièce intacte." The description suggests analogies with our no. 261. After discussing the metrology of the ring-weight (making allowance for loss of weight through wear and comparing it with Byzantine standards) and remarking on the epigraphy, Dr. Balog concludes that the date of these pieces is indeed exactly what the engraver wrote, i.e., 88 A.H.

I wish I could agree with Dr. Balog that we have here specimens of the earliest dated Arabic glass weights to be recorded, but chiefly on the evidence of the epigraphy I am reluctantly very sceptical. Dr. Balog indicates by his drawn transcription that the legend is to be read: |ثقل | عمل فى سنة ثمان و but an examination of the illustration of our no. 260 (Plate XIII) I think clearly demonstrates that the second line reads عيار سنة ثمان و. I was at first inclined to read the word at the top as يعر, but I now agree with Dr. Balog that this word is in all probability ثقل (thiql, "weight") and that what I had imagined to be an 'ayn is in fact a qāf with a crescent immediately above it. Aside from questioning Dr. Balog's reading of the second line I find it difficult to concur in his view that the epigraphy is similar to that of Wāsiṭ dirhems of the late 1st century of the Hijrah . The forked crochets of the thā and lām of thiql, and of the alifs of 'ayār and thamān appear to me to exclude an Umayyad date; and this feature, together with the use of the words thiql and 'ayār,77 hitherto unrecorded on any glass weights, suggests to me the probability that the hundred has been omitted from the date and that either "one hundred" or more probably "two hundred" is to be supplied. I would incline toward the latter because we have nothing similar in either form or content of epigraphy around 188 A.H., and while we have no comparative material at all in glass weights for 288, the forked terminations of the letters mentioned above resemble fairly closely epigraphical traits of the Tūlūnid weights and of certain late 3rd century Egyptian tombstones.78

End Notes

75
Arranged in descending order of weight.
76
"Deux poids forts omayyades en verre, datés de l'an 88 H.," in Bulletin de l'Institut d'Égypte, XXXVII (1954–1955), pp. 25–30.
77
Thiql appears to have no specific technical meaning. Lane (I, p. 344) gives the Arab lexicographers' definitions simply as "heaviness, weight or weightiness, ponderousness, gravity." 'Ayār means "a standard of measure or weight," "that which is made, or appointed, a standard thereof, by which to regulate or adjust it" (Lane, I, p. 2209). The only other occurrence of the word on a glass piece which has come to my attention is on no. 254, above.
78
See, for example, nos. 198–201, above, and cf. G. Wiet,"Stèles coufiques d'Égypte et du Soudan," Journal Asiatique, 1952, p. 295, no. 19 (pl. I, at left), dated 264 A.H.; also G.C. Miles,"Early Islamic Tombstones from Egypt," Ars Orientalis II (1957), pp. 215–226, especially nos. 1, 4, 5, 9, 11 and 14, all dated in the 3rd century H. As for the omission of the century in writing the date on glass pieces, there are analogies in later periods: e.g., Mamlūk weights or tokens, BM, nos. 337–390, passim.

VIII. ANONYMOUS VESSEL STAMPS

262.–263. Qisṭ of olive oil.

قسط

...زيت وا..

Qisṭ of zayt, full [measure].

262. Green, 20.

ANS 54.175

263. Green, 20×;17 (fragmentary inscription).

ANS 54.184

Possibly similar to Fouquet Collection, 47–49, read قسط زيت فيه

264.–265. Qisṭ of pure olive oil.

قسط

زيت

نفيس

Qisṭ of zayt, pure.

264. Green, 19.

ANS 54.159

265. Green, 18 (fragmentary inscription).

ANS 56.8

Plate xiii

Similar to Fouquet Collection, 50.

266.–267. One-half of one-quarter qisṭ.

نصف

ربع

قسط

266. Green, 26×24.

ANS 54.159

267. Green, 23.

ANS 54.159

Plate xiii

Similar to EAG, 176–178; Cairo, 270.

268. Measure of lupine.

...ـكـ...

.....تر مـ

[Mea]s[ure] of turm[us].

Pale blue-green, 21×17.

ANS 54.175

Probably similar to EAG, 182. For turmus, "lupine," see EAG Suppl., pp. 14–15.

269. Measure of dessicated pomegranate.

مكيل

جلنار

محشوش

Measure of jullanār, dessicated.

Pale blue-green, 33.

ANS 56.8

Plate xiii

Similar to Grohmann, no. 1. He read جلبان, julubbān or jilbān, translating "Erbsen," and rendered the adjective as محسوس, "gedorrter."79 It would seem to me, however, that محشوش (maḥshūsh) is a more likely reading of the second word, and the meaning remains the same. The stem حشّ has the fundamental significance, "dried up."80 As for the substance, the word julubbān (jilbān)81 "chickling vetch," can of course be read, but I doubt that this seed or blossom was sold by the druggists and I suggest that jullanār (identical in Kufic letters) is the proper reading. The seed of "chickling vetch" or Lathyrus sativus of the family Leguminosae, while cultivated and naturalized widely in Europe and the Near East and used as a food for both man and animals, produces, when taken too freely, a condition known as lathyrismus, a paralysis of the muscles of the lower extremities.82 The reading جلبان should therefore, I believe, be eliminated from the list of pharmaceutical materials of which the names are preserved on glass measures.83

Various elements of the pomegranate (jullanār), however, are recognized to have medicinal properties. Dioscorides recommended the fruit, flower and rind, especially as astringents; so also al-Ghāfiqi, and Ibn al-Bayṭār (citing various authorities) speak of the astringent and desiccative effects of the flower.84 Today the medicinal value of the bark (Granati cortex), both of the stem and of the root, of Punica Granatum is scientifically recognized. The Dispensatory, for example, referring to its use in the treatment of tape-worm, states: "The efficacy of its alkaloids as taeniacides has been abundantly confirmed, and it appears to be established that the tannate of the alkaloids is the most effective and least dangerous form of the remedy."85

The name itself is, of course, of Persian origin, gul-i anār, "flower of the pomegranate." The common Arabic name is رمان, rummān 86

The use of the word mikyal, in place of the usual mikyalah, for "measure," is noteworthy on this stamp.

270. Measure of white sesame-seed.

مكيلة

جلجلان ابيض

Green, 33.

ANS 56.8

Similar to EAG, 180; Cairo, 307; Royal Ontario Museum of Archaeology (see EAG Suppl., p. 47). For the pharmaceutical uses of sesame-seed, see EAG pp. 18–19.

271. Measure of fresh (?) chick-peas.

مكيلة

image حمص

Measure of ḥimmaṣ,.......(?).

Brownish green, 32.

ANS 56.8

Plate xiii

Measures for chick-peas are quite common: cf. EAG Suppl. 24, and ibid., p. 23, for the alleged medicinal properties of ḥimmaṣ. The qualification, however, is uncertain. The word here is similar to that on a piece in Cairo, 304, and the same as Fouquet Collection, 76, which Casanova read الياء(?), "gras," but the word on that specimen is not completely preserved. Mme Launois suggested a word deriving from بشر, "peel." I propose, without much confidence, the stem بسر, meaning "to be fresh" or "to begin to ripen,"87 but the word is unfamiliar except with the meaning "frowning" or "contracted."88

272. Measure of red lentils.

مكيلة

عدس احمر

Green, 28.

ANS 56.8

Similar to EAG, 179. The pharmaceutical uses of 'adas ahmar, "red lentils," are discussed in EAG Suppl., pp. 45–46.89

273. Measure of whey (?).

مكيلة

(⸮)المش

Measure of al-mishsh (?).

Green, 31×25.

ANS 54.175

Probably similar to Fouquet Collection, 93 and 93 bis, and to Cairo, 271, none of which is illustrated. University College, 224, appears to be the same, and the present specimen also seems to have a letter which I read as mīm. I should imagine, however, that all these are to be read al-mishsh (?), as on nos. 85 and 117–119, above, q.v.

274. Measure of..........(?).

...مكيلـ

...image

Measure of ..........

Green, 31.

ANS 56.8

Plate xiii

This cannot be mishsh, because there is very definitely another letter after what appears to be the definite article; and this letter, being of equal height with the second, would seem to be another lām. The surface "swirls" of glass have obliterated the end of the line.

275.–276. Pious expression.

الو

فا الله

275. Green, 25×23.

ANS 54.159

276. Green, 18.

ANS 54.175

Similar to EAG, 189–190.

277.–280. Pious expression.

الوفا

لله

image

277. Green, 24×19.

ANS 54.159

278. Green, 25.

ANS 54.159

279. Green, 25.

ANS 56.8

280. Green, 24.

ANS 56.8

Similar to EAG, 187–188, where the crescent is lacking (off the piece); and to Cairo, 260, where the crescent is omitted from the transcription but is evident in the plate.

End Notes

79
He refers to Fouquet Collection, no. 102 and p. 367, footnote 5, where Casanova cited 'Abd al-Laṭīf, Relation de l'Égypte (transl. Silvestre de Sacy, Paris, 1810, p. 398) for the use of this adjective.
80
Lane, 1, p. 573.
81
Lane, 1, p. 440; Bedevian, p. 353, no. 2043; Schweinfurth, p. 62; Muschler, p. 547.
82
Dispensatory, p. 1733. An alkaloid has been found in the seed which paralyzes both the central nervous system and the peripheral motor nerves.
83
EAG Suppl., p. 49.
84
Dioscorides, Bk. 1, 151–153 (Gunther, pp. 80–81); al-Ghāfiqi, pp. 105 and (translation and commentary) 370–371; ibn al-Bayṭār, Vol. 231, p. 358, no. 494. Lane (I, p. 446) translates this entertaining bit of classical Arabic lexicography: "It is said that whoever swallows three grains of it, of the smallest that may be, on the condition of his taking them with his mouth from the tree, before their opening, at sunrise, on a Wednesday, will not have ophthalmia in that year."
85
Dispensatory, pp. 1797–8; cf. Allport, pp. 217–218; Grieve, II, pp. 649650 (where also the demulcent property of the seed, and the mildly astringent character of the fruit, are mentioned); Lloyd, pp. 156–158 (summarizing the official recognition of the rind and of the bark of the stem and root from 1820 onward).
86
Lane, 1, p. 1161; al-Ghāfiqi, p. 371; Schweinfurth, pp. 76, 151; Muschler, p. 673; Bedevian, p. 494, no. 2880; Ahmed Issa, p. 151. Cf. Garbers, pp. 208–209, 317–318.
87
Lane, I, p. 202.
88
Ibid., p. 203.
89
The reference in EAG Suppl., p. 45, footnote 83, to EAG, no. 58, is mistaken: the latter is a specimen of a measure for black lentils.

IX. UNDECIPHERED VESSEL STAMPS

281.–292. Twelve fragmentary, obscure or illegible vessel stamps. Here and there a word is legible, but no useful purpose is served in describing each piece individually.

These pieces have the following accession numbers:

  • 53.123
  • 54.164
  • 54.175 (3)
  • 54.199 (2)
  • 56.8 (5)

BACK

INDEX OF PROPER NAMES

  • Abān b. Ibrāhīm 88
  • 'Abd al-Jabbār b. Nuṣayr 52, 89
  • 'Abd al-Malik b. Marwān 35–7
  • 'Abd al-Malik b. Yazīd 39–41, 46–8
  • 'Abd al-Raḥmān b. Yazīd 54–5
  • 'Abdullāh b. 'Āmir 79
  • 'Abdullāh b. al-Musayyib 76
  • 'Abdullāh b. Rāshid 53
  • 'Abdullāh b. 'Uthmān 79
  • Abu-Ja'far Ashinās 80, 82
  • Aḥmad b. Ṭūlūn 85–6
  • Al Muḥammad 92
  • 'Ali b. Yaḥyâ 82
  • Armīnīyah 76
  • 'Āṣim 43
  • 'Āṣim b. Ḥafṣ 40, 42–3
  • Chael 39–40, 46–8
  • Ḥafṣ b. al-Walīd 17
  • Ḥakam b. Yahyâ 89
  • Hārūn see al-Wāthiq
  • Hārūn al-Rashīd 76
  • Ḥayyān b. Shurayḥ 4–8
  • Hilāl al-Jabbār 91
  • Hilāl b. al-Jabbār 90–1
  • al-Ḥusayn b. al-BaḤbāḤ 78–9
  • Idrīs 88
  • 'Īsa 15
  • 'Īsâ b. abi-'Aṭā 29–34
  • 'Īsâ b. Manṣūr 79, 80, 82
  • Ismā 'īl b. Ibrāhīm 70
  • Itākh al-Turki 80
  • al-J abbār 90
  • Junādah 16
  • Junādah b. Maysarah 14
  • Kāmil 54, 56
  • Kayl see Chael
  • Khumārawayh b. Aḥmad 86–7
  • Khurrah 14
  • Mahdi 88
  • al-Mahdi (Caliph) 49–50, 67–72, 74, 76
  • al-Mahdi 'Ubaydullāh 76
  • al-Manṣūr 42–51
  • Maslamah 90
  • Maṭar 49–50
  • Miṣr 49–50, 52, 73
  • ...al-Mu'amari(?) 104
  • Mu'āwiyah b. Zufar 77–8
  • al-Muājir 67–9, 71–2
  • Muḥammad b. 'Amr 89–90
  • Muḥammad b. al-Ash'ath 52–3
  • Muḥammad b. Sa'īd 48–51, 57–8, 62–7
  • Muḥammad b. Shuraḥbx012B;l 38–9, 56–7
  • Muḥammad b. Sulaymān 68–9
  • al-Muqtadir 87
  • Mūsâ 88
  • Mūsâ b. abi'l-'Abbās 81
  • Mūsâ b. 'Īsâ 74, 76
  • Mūsâ b. Ka'b 51
  • Mūsâ b. Muṣ'ab 73–4
  • Mūsâ b. Sābiq 74–5
  • Muslim b. al-'Arrāf 20, 27
  • al-Mu'taṣim 80
  • Nawfal b. Furāt 50–2
  • al-Qāsim b. 'Ubaydullāh 18–27
  • Quarrah b. Sharīk 1–2
  • Sa'īd 66
  • Ṣaffār b. Shabbah 22, 25
  • Sa'id... 64
  • Salamah 57–60, 62–3, 66
  • Salamah b. Rajā' 57
  • Ṣāliḥ b. 'Ali 41
  • Ṣāliḥ b. Muslim 74–5
  • Severus 63
  • Souerous 63–4
  • "Sueyzy" 63
  • 'Ubaydullāh b. al-Ḥabḥāb 9–16, 37
  • 'Ubaydullāh [b] al-Mahdi 75–6
  • 'Umar 15, 60–2
  • 'Umar b. Yaḥyâ 60–2
  • Usāmah b. Zayd 2–3
  • Wāḍiḥ, mawlâ of al-Mahdi 72–3
  • al-Wāthiq 82–3
  • Yaḥyâ 68, 71
  • Yaḥyâ, mawlâ of al-Mahdi 71
  • Yaḥyâ b. Ḥātim 91
  • Yazīd II 7–8
  • Yazīd b. 'Abdullāh 83–4
  • Yazīd b. abi-Yazīd 20–1, 26–30
  • Yazīd b. Ḥātim 55–8, 63
  • Yazīd b. Tamīm 34–5
  • Yūsuf (?) b. .... 103

INDEX OF WORDS, DENOMINATIONS ETC.

  • amīr 1, 17–8, 27, 32–4, 36, 41, 52–3, 57, 62, 64–9, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 82, 85–6
  • 'ayār 105, 108
  • chick-peas 112
  • Christ's thorn 25
  • Coptic figures 42, 58–61, 89
  • cumin, black 45
  • cumin, white 14, 16
  • dīnār 39, 46–8, 55, 62, 67–8, 78, 92–3
  • 1/2 dīnār 1–2, 9, 29, 47, 50–1, 56, 64, 68–9, 72, 90
  • 1/3 dīnār 27, 30, 48, 50, 52, 69–70, 87, 94
  • dirhem 30, 35, 40, 48, 65, 76, 92
  • executive stamps 16, 29, 35, 57, 60, 62, 71, 75, 81, 88–9
  • fals 2, 9–11, 18–9, 35, 40, 42–3, 58–61, 70, 88–90, 94–100
  • 1/2 fals 11, 100
  • great fals 18
  • Ficus Carica 5
  • figs 4–5
  • fulūs 95
  • Granati cortex 111
  • grease 43
  • honey 5–6
  • jujube 25–6
  • kharrūbah , 12 12
    13 40, 92, 100
    15 99
    18 11
    20 70–1, 89, 98
    22 98
    24 10, 19, 40, 60, 90
    25 96
    26 59, 95
    27 95
    30 18–9, 35, 43, 52, 58, 61, 89, 94
    32 61
    33 58, 60
    36 42, 88
  • Lathyrus sativus 111
  • lentils, black 113
  • lentils, red 113
  • lotus 25
  • lotus jujube 25
  • lupine 17, 34, 110
  • mawlâ 68, 71, 73, 77, 79, 82–3,85–6, 105
  • measure 16–7, 25–7, 33–4, 36, 45–6, 53, 110, 112–4
  • meat 20, 31
  • ointment 7
  • olive oil 6, 8, 13, 15, 28–9, 109
  • Orros Galaktos 33
  • part 12
  • pomegranate, dessicated 110
  • Punica Granatum 111
  • qīrāṭ, 9 100
    14 2
    15 11
    18 99
    19 11
    20 10, 99
    24 97
    25 97
    26 95
    33 18
    34 9
  • qisṭ 4–5, 7, 13, 21, 28, 53, 109
  • 1/2 qisṭ 3, 6, 14, 22–3, 28, 32, 38, 44, 54, 57, 66
  • 1/3 qisṭ 44
  • 1/4 qisṭ 2–3, 6–8, 14–5, 17, 23–4, 28–9, 32, 36, 41, 45, 51–3, 55, 67, 73, 92
  • 2 qisṭs 21
  • 1/4 of 2 qisṭs 21
  • 1/2 of 1/4 qisṭ 109
  • raṭl 13, 20, 65–6, 83, 85–6
  • great raṭl 77, 79
  • 1/4 great raṭl 73
  • 1/2 raṭl 1, 3, 13, 31–2, 43, 92
  • 1/4 raṭl 31, 36, 85
  • Rhamnus lotus 25
  • R. nabeca 25
  • R. Spina Christi 25
  • R. zizyphus 25
  • sesame-seed, white 53, 112
  • sidr 25–6
  • sidrat al-muntahā 25
  • thiql 108
  • whey 33–4, 46, 113
  • woad-leaves 36
  • wuqīyah 38, 54, 71, 74, 101–3
  • 2 wuqīyah 101, 105
  • 3 wuqīyah 12, 36
  • 1/2 wuqīyah 75, 77, 79, 81–2, 85, 102–3
  • 1/6 wuqīyah 54
  • great wuqīyah 106
  • Zizyphus jujuba 26
  • Z. lotos 26
  • Z. lotus 25
  • Z. sativa 26
  • Z. sativus 25
  • Z. Spina Christi 25
  • Z. vulgaris 26

ARABIC INDEX OF PROPER NAMES

  • عاصم 43
  • عاصم بن حفص 40,42
  • 7–8, 43–8, 82 عبد الله
  • عبد الله بن راشد 53
  • عبد الله بن عثمن 79
  • عبد الجبار بن نصير 89
  • 54–6 عبد الرحمن بن يزيد
  • 35–7 عبد الملك بن مرون
  • 39–41, 47 عبد الملك بن يزيد
  • عبيد الله 75
  • 9–16 عبيد الله بن الحبحاب
  • على بن يحيى 82
  • 60–1 عمر
  • عمر بن يحيى 62
  • 29–34 عيسى بن ابى عطا
  • عيسى بن منصور 79
  • 18–27 القاسم بن عبيد الله
  • 1–2 قرة
  • كامل 56
  • 55–6 كمل
  • ك مل 54
  • 39–40, 46, 48 كيل
  • كيلى 47
  • 52–3 محمد بن الاشعث
  • 49–50,62, 64–7 محمد بن سعيد
  • 68–70 محمد بن سليمن
  • 38–9, 41, 51, 56 محمد بن شرحبيل
  • محمد بن عمرو 89
  • مسلم بن العاف 19
  • ابان بن ابرهيم 88
  • احمد بن طولون 85
  • ادريس 88
  • اسامة بن زيد 2,3
  • اسمعيل بن ابرهيم 70
  • ال محمد 92
  • تمويرس 64
  • تمويوس 63
  • جنادة 16
  • جنادة بن ميسرة 14
  • 78–9 الحسين بن البحباح
  • حفص بن الوليد 17
  • حكم بن يحيى 89
  • 4–8 حيان بن شريح
  • خمارويه 86
  • رسف المعمري 104
  • سبويرس 63
  • سعيد 64
  • سعيد بن المسيب 64
  • 57–60, 63, 66 سلمة
  • 63–4 سويرس
  • 22,24–5 صفار بن شبة
  • صلح بن على 41
  • 74–5 صلح بن مسلم
  • 51–2 نوفل بن فرات
  • هرون 83
  • 90–1 هلال بن الجبار
  • الواثق 83
  • 72–3 واضح
  • يحيى 68,71
  • يحيى بن حاتم 91
  • 7–8 يزيد
  • 20,26–31 يزيد بن ابى يزيد
  • 34–5 يزيد بن تميم
  • 55–7 يزيد بن حاتم
  • يزيد بن عبد الله 83
  • يوسف بن ..... 103
  • مسلم بن العراف 20, 22, 24, 27
  • مسلمة 90
  • 49–52, 73 مصر
  • المعتصم 80
  • معوية بن زفر المحسـ ....77
  • 67,69,71–2 المهاجر
  • مهدي 88
  • 69–70 المهدي
  • 67–8, 70 المهدي محمد
  • مواحـ ....102
  • موسى 88
  • موسى بن ابى العباس 81
  • 74–5 موسى بن سابق
  • موسى بن كعب 51
  • موسى بن منصور 73

ARABIC INDEX OF WORDS AND PHRASES

  • 110–1 جلبان
  • جلجلان 53, 112
  • جلنار 110
  • حمص الناسر 112
  • 10–12, 18–9, 35, 40, 43, 58, 60–1, 89, 94–6, 98–100 خروبة
  • درهم 30, 35, 40, 65
  • دهن 1, 43
  • 30, 39, 46, 48, 51, 55, 62, 67–8, 72, 78, 90, 92, 94 دينر
  • 2–3, 6–8, 15, 17, 23–4, 28–9, 31–2, 36, 41, 45, 51–3, 55, 67, 73, 109 ربع
  • ربى الله 93
  • 1, 20, 31, 43, 66 رطل — الرطل
  • رطل كبير 73, 77, 79
  • رمان 112
  • 6, 8, 13, 15, 28–9, 109 زيت
  • سدس 54
  • 14, 16, 19–20, 22, 24–5, 27, 86, 106 سنة
  • 27 سعاربة
  • شطر 12
  • 12, 14, 16–7, 19–20, 22, 24, 26, 29–37, 41 43, 45–6, 52–3 صنعه
  • 20–1, 39–40, 46–8, 54–6, 63–4, 67, 69 صنعة
  • ابقاه الله 79, 82
  • ابنى 88
  • ابيض 16, 53, 112
  • احمر 113
  • الاسود 45
  • اصلحه الله 35, 41, 57
  • اطال الله بقاه 76, 102
  • اطال الله بقاهما 83
  • اكرمه الله 77
  • الامام 80, 83
  • 67–8, 70 امتع الله به
  • passim امر
  • امر الله بالعدل 82
  • 17, 19–22, 24, 30–1, 33–4, 36–7, 51 امر الله بالوفا
  • امر به 85
  • 1–2, 17–8, 27, 32–7, 40, 52–3, 55–7, 62, 64–71, 73, 75, 77–9, 82–3, 85–6, 102 الامير
  • 8, 43–8, 50, 67–71, 73, 76, 79–80, 82–3, 85–6, 105 امير المؤمنين
  • اوف 23
  • 44–5 etc. اوفوا الكيل
  • بركة 83
  • 85–6, 102 بركة من الله
  • بسر 113
  • passim بسم الله
  • بشر 113
  • ترمس - الترمس 17, 34, 110
  • تين 4
  • 106–7 ثقل
  • 27, 30, 44, 48, 48, 50, 52, 69–70, 94 ثلث
  • محسوس 110
  • محشوش 110
  • المش 33, 46, 113
  • مكيل 110
  • 16–7, 25–7, 33–4, 36, 45–6, 53, 110, 112–4 مكيلة
  • 9, 11, 13–5, 18–9, 27, 41, 44–7, 73, 75, 78–80, 83, 85, 89, 91, 102 مما امر به
  • 68, 71, 73, 77, 79, 82–3, 85–6, 105 مولى
  • 1–2, 9, 18 ميزان
  • نبق 25
  • 1–3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 22–3, 30, 32, 38, 43–4, 47, 50–1, 54, 56–7, 64, 66, 69, 72, 90, 100, 109 نصف
  • 17, 26–7, 109 نفيس
  • passim واف
  • وافية 12, 17, 36
  • 9, 40, 89, 97, 99–100 وزن
  • الوسمة 36
  • الوفاء لله 93, 101, 105, 114
  • وقيتين 105
  • وقية 38, 54, 103
  • وقية كبير 106
  • عدس 113
  • العسل 5
  • 8, 14, 16, 19–20, 22, 24–7, 29–31, 34–5, 38–9, 41–3, 49, 51–8, 60, 62–4, 66, 68–72, 74–5, 77, 79, 81, 88–9, 91, 103 على يدي
  • عيار 104, 106
  • 2, 9–11, 18–9, 35, 40, 42–3, 60, 70, 89, 94–100 فلس
  • فلس الكبير 18
  • الفلوس 95
  • قرريطر 100
  • 2–8, 13–5, 17, 21–4, 28–9, 32, 36, 38, 41, 44–5, 51–5, 57, 66–7, 73 قسط-القسط
  • قسطا 21, 23
  • قسطان 21
  • 9–11, 18, 95, 97, 99 قيراط-قيرط
  • قيرطا 2, 97
  • 56–7 كتبه
  • كمون-الكمون 16, 45
  • اللحم 20, 31
  • 114 image
  • 9–11, 18–9, 27, 29–30, 35, 39–40, 42–3, 46–8, 50–2, 55–6, 58, 60, 62, 64–5, 67–70, 72, 78, 89–90, 92, 94–100 مثقال

PLATES

I

COIN WEIGHTS: 1–6, 23–25. VESSEL STAMPS: 8–20.

image

II

COIN WEIGHTS: 26–31. DISK WEIGHT: 32. VESSEL STAMPS: 33–44.

image

III

COIN WEIGHTS: 48–52. RING WEIGHTS: 53–54. VESSEL STAMPS: 46, 55–58.

image

IV

COIN WEIGHTS: 67, 77–78. VESSEL STAMPS: 59–66, 68–72.

image

V

COIN WEIGHT: 90. DISK WEIGHTS: 79, 96. RING WEIGHT: 80. VESSEL STAMPS: 85–88, 92–93.

image

VI

COIN WEIGHTS: 99, 101, 107, 121. VESSEL STAMPS: 98, 108–117.

image

VII

COIN WEIGHTS: 122–128, 131, 142. DISK WEIGHT: 135. VESSEL STAMPS: 129, 134, 136, 143.

image

VIII

COIN WEIGHTS: 145–160, 162–164. DISK WEIGHT: 165. RING WEIGHT: 166. VESSEL STAMP: 161.

image

IX

COIN WEIGHTS: 172–176, 180. DISK WEIGHTS: 178, 183–184. VESSEL STAMPS: 171, 179, 181.

image

X

COIN WEIGHT: 189. DISK WEIGHTS: 186–187, 193–195. RING WEIGHTS: 188, 190.

image

XI

COIN WEIGHTS: 203, 206–209. DISK WEIGHT: 198. RING WEIGHTS: 196–197, 200–201. VESSEL STAMP: 204.

image

XII

COIN WEIGHTS: 211–236. RING WEIGHT: 210.

image

XIII

COIN WEIGHT: 237. DISK WEIGHTS: 245–246. RING WEIGHTS: 253–260. VESSEL STAMPS: 264–274.

image