Umayyad Caliphate. Sulayman ibn 'Abd al-Malik. AH 96-99

Umayyad Caliphate. Sulayman ibn 'Abd al-Malik. AH 96-99 / AD 714-7. Uniface lead weight (49.3mm, 87.11g). Dated AH 99 / AD 717/8. In field: Muhammad ra- / sul Allah / sanat tis'a / wa tisa'in / bin Muslim. In margin: 'amr bihi Sulayman amir al-mu'minin, Hayyan ibn Shurayh, Qudama (?). Some encrustation. VF. Extremely rare.

The inscriptions on this remarkable object are difficult to read in places. The version proposed here, where the final line of the field is interpreted as the patronymic following Qudama at the end of the margin, translates as 'Muhammad is the Messenger of God. In the year nine and ninety. Ordered by Sulayman, Commander of the Faithful, Hayyan b. Shurayh, [and] Qudama b. Muslim.'

Sulayman b. 'Abd al-Malik was caliph from AH 96-99, and Hayyan b. Shurayh served as Finance Director between AH 99-101, replacing 'Usama b. Zayd. Qudama b. Muslim, if this name is correctly read, has yet to be identified. The legends on this object tell us nothing about its original purpose, but there is no evidence that it has been used as a seal, and the reverse has been carefully prepared to give a flat circular base. It has been suggested that it may have been prepared as an official treasury weight, equivalent to 20-dinars (vide Baldwin's of St James's Auction 4 (9 May 2017), lot 110).