Part 1 (2/2)
The Seleucid coins are remarkable for the unique series of portraits they give us. One of the commonest types of the Seleucid series has the king's head on the obverse, and a seated Apollo with bow and arrow on the reverse (Plate I. 8, gold stater of Antiochus I., 280-266 B.C.; Plate I. 10, silver tetradrachm of Antiochus IV., 175-166 B.C.).
_Bactria._--About the middle of the third century B.C. the empire founded by Seleucus began to break up. A line of kings was founded in Bactria by Diodotos, a revolted satrap, whose independence Antiochus II.
had to acknowledge. The earlier coins of these kings, who afterwards crossed into India and gradually lost their h.e.l.lenism, present some of the finest examples of portraiture on Greek coins (Plate I. 9, gold stater of Diodotos I., _c._ 250 B.C.).
_Judaea._--Among the smaller kingdoms who became independent of the Seleucids in the second century B.C. may be mentioned that of the Jews.
Certain shekels, bearing on the obverse a chalice with the legend ”shekel of Israel,” and on the reverse a branch with three buds and the legend ”Jerusalem the Holy” (Plate II. 1), have been attributed to Simon Maccabaeus (143-135 B.C.), but they may belong to the First Revolt (66-70 A.D.).
_Parthia._--About the same period, the great Parthian kingdom was founded in Central Asia and lasted till 220 A.D. The Parthian coinage is of silver (drachms and tetradrachms) and bronze. Although Parthian drachms are at the present day one of the most extensive of ancient coinages, their cla.s.sification is exceedingly difficult on account of our ignorance of Parthian history, and the fact that the coins do not bear the name of the issuer but of Arsakes, the founder of the dynasty.
The silver drachms bear on the obverse the portrait of the reigning king, and on the reverse the first king Arsakes seated holding a bow, with a legend in Greek characters which is at first simply (coin of) ”the king Arsakes” (Plate II. 2, drachm of Mithridates I. the Great, 171-138 B.C.), but gradually increases in length till a century later it a.s.sumes the form (coin of) ”the king of kings Arsakes, the just, the ill.u.s.trious, the beneficent, the friend of the Greeks,” which remains the usual legend. Tetradrachms with similar legends were also struck in large numbers; their usual reverse type is the Parthian king seated, receiving a wreath from the G.o.ddess of Victory or from a City G.o.ddess (Plate II. 3, tetradrachm of Phraates IV., 38-3 B.C.). After the reign of Phraates IV. the coins are dated in the Seleucid era, while the later coins bear a Pehlevi legend in addition to the Greek inscription which is by this time almost unintelligible.
_Sa.s.sanian Empire._--Early in the third century A.D. the last remnants of Parthian power were destroyed by Ardas.h.i.+r, a Persian prince, who founded the Sa.s.sanian empire, which after successfully disputing the supremacy of Asia with the Romans for four centuries finally fell before the conquering hosts of Islam. The Sa.s.sanian silver coins, particularly of the later kings, are exceedingly numerous at the present day, but the gold and copper are rare. The types of the gold and silver are throughout the dynasty the same; on the obverse is the head of the king with a long legend of the form, ”Ardas.h.i.+r, wors.h.i.+pper of Ahura Mazda, divine king of kings of Iran, a scion of the celestial race,” on the reverse a fire-altar, usually with two attendant priests, and at first the legend ”the fire of Ardas.h.i.+r” (etc.), later the mint and regnal year of issue. The earlier coins are of remarkably good workmans.h.i.+p, and give us fine portraits of the Sa.s.sanian kings (Plate II. 4, gold coin of Ardas.h.i.+r I., 226-241 A.D.; Plate II. 5, silver drachm of Sapor I., 241-272 A.D.). The gold coins weigh rather less than an English sovereign, and their standard appears to be derived from Roman solidi; the silver coins are drachms following the Parthian standard, and, particularly the latter pieces, are remarkable for their thin fabric (_e.g._ Plate II. 7, Khusrau (Chosroes) II., Parvez, 590-628 A.D.) which was copied by the Arabs in their silver coins, and can be traced in certain Mohammadan series to the present day.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--B. V. Head, _Historia Numorum_ (Oxford, 1911), pp.
643-845; B. V. Head, _Coinage of Lydia and Persia_ (London, 1878); British Museum Catalogue of Greek Coins, _Lydia_ (1901), _Syria_ (1878), _Parthia_ (1905), _Phoenicia_ (1910); E. Babelon, _Perses Achemenides_ (Paris, 1893); E. Babelon, _Rois de Syrie_ (Paris, 1890); Dorn & Bartholomaei, _Monnaies Sa.s.sanides_ (St. Petersburg, 1875).
II.--MOHAMMADAN COINAGES
(_Exclusive of India_)
_Beginnings of Arab Coinage._--The Arabs were unacquainted with the art of coinage till they learned it on their campaigns of conquest in Syria (Byzantine) and Persia (Sa.s.sanian). At first they were content to issue gold and copper pieces imitated from contemporary Byzantine coins (Plate II. 9, early copper coin of Abd-al-Malik; obverse, figure of the Caliph; reverse, modified Byzantine cross), while their silver pieces were copies of late Sa.s.sanian coins (like Plate II. 7), with the addition of _bismillah_ (in the name of G.o.d) on the margin.
_Abd-al-Malik's Reformed Currency._--Though one traditionist says that even Adam felt the need for money and struck dinars and dirhems, more reliable authorities agree in attributing to Abd-al-Malik, the fifth Omayyad Caliph (684-705 A.D.), the inst.i.tution in 696 A.D. of a purely Muslim coinage, worthy of the great Arab empire and the foundations on which it was built. This coinage was of gold, silver, and copper, and the names _dinar_ (denarius aureus), _dirhem_ (drachma), and _falus_ (follis), which have remained in use practically to the present day, were borrowed from the Byzantines. The dinar originally weighed rather more than half a sovereign, while the dirhem was a little less than sixpence in English money, but the names came to mean simply gold and silver coin respectively.
Mohammad's interdiction of any form of image-making, as savouring of idolatry, limited the orthodox Caliph to legends on his coins, but thereby gave Arab coins an importance as historical doc.u.ments possessed by no other series. From the earliest times they bore the mint and date (in the Mohammadan era dating from 622 A.D.), and later the ruler's name and t.i.tles, often including valuable genealogical data, were added. The right of striking coins was one of the privileges of sovereignty, and Muslim coins thus throw a good deal of light on Arab history.
Plate II. 6 is a dinar, and Plate II. 8 a dirhem of Abd-al-Malik; both bear on the obverse the profession of faith, ”There is no G.o.d but G.o.d; He hath no a.s.sociate:” around the reverse of the dinar is the legend, ”In the name of G.o.d this dinar was struck in the year 77” (696 A.D.), while the similar inscription on the dirhem includes the mint (Damascus, 79 A.H.) and is placed around the obverse. On both the reverse areas is ”G.o.d is alone; G.o.d is eternal; He begets not and is not begotten” (the dinar ends here, but the dirhem continues) ”nor is there any one like unto Him” (Koran, cxii.). Around the obverse of the dinar and reverse of the dirhem is, ”Mohammad is the prophet of G.o.d, sent with guidance and the religion of truth to make it prevail over all other religions”
(dinar stops here), ”averse though the idolaters may be” (Koran ix. 33).
_Abbasids._--In 750 A.D. the Abbasids overthrew the Omayyads, and at first made but superficial alterations in the coinage; the long reverse formula was replaced by the simple profession, ”Mohammad is the prophet of G.o.d.” Plate III. 2, a dinar of the ”good” Caliph Harun-al-Ras.h.i.+d (786-809 _A.D._) is typical of the period, except that it bears the name of his ill-fated vizier, Ja'afar, who will be remembered by readers of the _Arabian Nights_ as the companion of the Caliph's nocturnal ramblings, on whom this signal honour was conferred. In the ninth century a second marginal inscription, ”To G.o.d belongs the order before and after, and in that day the believers shall rejoice in the help of G.o.d” (Koran, x.x.x. 3, 4) was added on the obverse, while the Caliph's name begins to appear regularly on the reverse area.
_Contemporaries of the Caliphs._--Coins with similar legends were struck by the various dynasties which arose on the weakening of the authority of the Caliph in the ninth and tenth centuries. In addition to the ruler's name they usually bear the name of the reigning Caliph, whose spiritual authority was still recognised; such are Plate III. 1, a dirhem of the Samanid Nasr b. Ahmad struck in 300 A.H. at Samarkand, which was then one of the great centres of Mohammadan learning and literary activity; Plate III. 4, a Buwayhid dinar of Rukn-al-Daula (932-976 A.D.), struck at Hamadan in 352 A.H., bearing the name of the _faineant_ Caliph al-Muti; and Plate III. 6, a dinar, struck at Rayy, 447 A.H., of the Great Seljuk Toghrul Beg (1037-1063 A.D.), the Turkish conqueror of Western Asia whose descendants were among the most redoubtable of the ”Saracens.” Plate III. 3, a dinar of the last Abbasid Caliph--Al-Mustasim (1242-1258 A.D.), ill.u.s.trates the change in the fabric and calligraphy of the coinage which had taken place in six centuries. Plate III. 5 is a dinar of Mahmud of Ghazni (998-1030 A.D.), with the reverse legend in Sanskrit for the benefit of his Indian subjects.
_Seljuks, Ortukids, and Ayyubids_ (_Saracens_).--Plate III. 7, a dirhem of Sulaiman II. (1199-1203 A.D.), a Seljuk of Asia Minor, is the first of a series of striking deviations from the orthodox Mohammadan type, prompted as much by necessities of commerce with Christian nations as by a lack of orthodoxy on the part of their issuers, heretics though they were. The obverse area is occupied by a horseman holding a mace over his shoulder, while around is the s.h.i.+a form of the Mohammadan creed (as above, with the addition of the words ”Ali is the friend of G.o.d”); the reverse bears the usual data. Plate III. 8 is a dirhem of one of his successors Kaikubad I. (1219-1236 A.D.), a fine specimen of the calligraphy of the period; Plate III. 9, is a dirhem of his successor, Kai-Khusru II. (1136-1245 A.D.), bearing the ”lion and sun,” the horoscope of his beautiful Georgian wife, whose portrait he wished to place on his coins, till his counsellors persuaded him to be content with her horoscope. The coins of the Ortukids, who were also prominent opponents of the Crusaders, are remarkable for their immense variety of types borrowed from all sources (Greek, Roman, Byzantine, etc.). Plate IV. 1, reverse of a copper coin of Kara Arslan (1148-1174 A.D.), and Plate IV. 2, of a copper coin of Alpi (1152-1176 A.D.), represent Christ seated and the Virgin crowning the emperor respectively, both well-known Byzantine types. The Saracen best known by name to English readers is Saladin the Ayyubid Sultan of Egypt and Syria (1169-93 A.D.) whose capture of Jerusalem in 1187 provoked the Third Crusade in which Richard I., Coeur-de-Lion, took a prominent part. Plate IV. 3 is a dirhem struck by him at Damascus, his Syrian capital, in 582 A.H. (1186 A.D.).
_Mongols._--In the thirteenth century the Mongols, led by the Chingiz Khan (1206-1227 A.D.), one of the greatest conquerors the world has known, subjugated practically all Asia with the exception of India.
Plate IV. 4 is one of the rare coins attributed to Chingiz Khan, while Plate IV. 5 is a handsome dinar struck by Arghun, one of the earliest (1284-1295 A.D.) of the Persian line of Mongols (obverse, Mohammadan (s.h.i.+a) creed and date, etc.; reverse, the Khan's t.i.tles, etc., in Mongol). Tamerlane (1369-1404 A.D.) (Timur Lang, Timur the Lame), a distant descendant of Chingiz Khan, is another great conqueror familiar to English readers through Marlowe and Gibbon. One of the coins struck by him, with the name of his nominal sovereign, Suyurghatmish, is figured on Plate IV. 6. Plate IV. 7 is a dirhem of his son and ultimate successor, Shah Rukh (1404-1447 A.D.), of a type (obverse, Mohammadan creed, with the names of the four orthodox Caliphs around the margin; reverse, t.i.tles) which was very popular in the fifteenth and sixteenth century. Plate IV. 8 is an early Ottoman coin struck by Mohammad I.
(1402-1421 A.D.) at Brusa in 822 A.H. (1419 A.D.), of a type which served the Turks for some centuries.
_Persia._--The earliest coins of the Shahs of Persia (_e.g._ Plate IV.
10, reverse of a silver coin of Ismail I. (1502-1524 A.D.) struck at Meshhed in 924 A.H. (1518 A.D.)) are of the type inst.i.tuted by Shah Rukh to which they may be traced through the Shaibanid coinage; the later Persian coins are smaller and thicker (Plate IV. 12, mohur of the great conqueror Nadir Shah (1736-1747 A.D.)). Plate IV. 11, a gold tuman of Fath-Ali Shah (1797-1834 A.D.), the first Shah with whom England entered into diplomatic relations, is a remarkable fine product of the Persian mint. Nasir-al-Din (1848-1896 A.D.) inst.i.tuted a mint on the European model in Teheran, and struck coins with his portrait (_e.g._ Plate IV. 13, a gold tuman), or the Lion and Sun, on the obverse and his t.i.tles on the reverse.
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