__UT_>r?

rt
lOMOoa
IN ED IT ED ARABIC COINS
 243

Art. XII.?Inedited Arabic Coins. By Stanley Lane Poole.

(Read Nov. IG, 1874.)

Few menhave done more for the science of Oriental Numis

matics than Frederic Soret. And yet among his writings
we may search in vain for any work of
great extent. The
largest ho over is his handbook, Fitments de. la
published
Numismalique Musnlmanc, and even this appeared in parts in
the Belgian Revue, and was reprinted as a separate work
after his death. Frederic Soret's work was done by small
pieces, which, when put together, form a very considerable
wholo. The line he took was chiefly that of publishing such
coins as he found in his own or other collections, and which
were as yet unknown to the numismatic world,?if I may
apply so large a term to so small a And those short
thing.
of his are the most to
monographs among precious additions
the knowledge of Oriental coins which the century has seen.
Nor docs Soret stand alone in this system of publishing in
edited coins. lie has been vigorously followed by a very
able and sufficiently numerous body of German and other
scholars, who have made known all the noteworthy coins
which have come across their path.
It is my wish to profit by the example of Soret and his
fellow-workers, and to endeavour to do for the English collec
tions what has so long ago and so efficiently been done for
those on the Continent. I now bring before the Society ten
inedited coins, seven of which are from the British Museum
collection, and thrco from that of Col. Guthrie. When I
say inedited coins, I mean that I havo been unable to find
any description of them in any work on Oriental Numis
matics, or in any Catalogue of Oriental Coins, or in any
serial publication which admits papers on Oriental subjects.
It is obvious from this definition '
that the term inedited'
is not absolute; for in the vast number of German and
other reviews and journals it is not unlikely that some of
 244 INEDITED ARABIC COINS.

the coins may be found described which I havo thought

inedited. Still, I have searched through all the more

important ones; and at all events if it should prove to be

the case that some of the coins now described have already
been noticed in some less-known continental re
journal, tho
of them may yet not be useless, as the Journal of
publishing
this Society passes into many hands, iuto which the supposed
continental journal may not fall.

*
I*1. Golh. Kinu ov KauhAn. Imdd-ad-dawlah Kara-Anldn Beg.
Struck at Yazdashlr, a.h. 462 (=a.d. 106U-70). (British Museum.)

*'
Obv. Area. ill a 11 H

Margin (iuncr) i?? -^JUj iJJb aJJI ~u*j

^^Jl jLjjJI l_JjJ

(outer) ^1^X1*11

ltcv. Area. aJJI Jj~^ &**sr+

JjUI cSLAJ\

uLx-j
^IL^l^J

JI dL>j\ AJJI
Margin. Jl^st*
J^
1An
asterisk (*) after tho number of tho coin iudicatcs .that it
is photographed in the accompanying Plate.
*
Some readers may not remember that JI is an abbreviation for
*?^ie en(* ?f*t' equivalent 1? etc.
ir*"' lJI
 INEDITED ARABIC COINS. 245

This coin at first caused me no little Its

perplexity.
appearance
closely a
general resembling badly-executed
Great-Seljuki coin, and tho date falling under Alp-Arsl&n's
was struck in the
reign, I was half inclined to think that it
name of that Sultan by some governor who did not know
tho orthography of tho name. This explanation, however,
did not appear to mo satisfactory, and I was very glad to be
able to reject it for a better ono. In searching for something
in that mine of historical facts, Ibn-al-Athir's Kdmil, I
stumbled upon tho name of a certain Kara-Arslan, lord of
the province of Karman, in tho south-eastern part of the
Persian kingdom. The passage in which this prince's name
occurs runs thus :?

"Account of the Rebellion of the King of Karman against

Alp-Arsl&n, and of his return to fealty.
"
In this year [459] tho King of Karra&n, Kari-Arslin,
rebelled against the Sult&n Alp-Arsldn. And the cause of
this was that he had a foolish wezir, whose soul commended
to him the obtaining [for himself] independent possession
of the province from the Sult&n. And his lord [Kara
Arslin], when ho rebelled, found it necessary to seize him;
but he made tho opposition to tho Sultdn seem good to his
lord, and Kard-Arslan consented to it, and cast away his

fealty, and discontinued the khutbeh for tho Suit An.

"
When Alp-Arsl&n heard of this, he marched to Kar
man, and when ho drew near to it his scouts attacked the
scouts of Kara-Arslan, and after a contest the lattcr's scouts
were put to flight. And when KarA-Arslan and his array
heard of the rout of their scouts, they feared and were per
plexed and fled: no man paused for another. And Kara
ArsKin entered J (raft, and fortified himself there, and sent to
Sultdu Alp-Arsl&n, professing obedienco and asking forgive
ness for his fault: so he forgave him; and he presented
himself before tho Sult&n, who treated him with honour.
And he1 wept, and caused those who were with him to weep.

1We are left iu painful uncertainty whether it was the Sul^ua

or the King of Karman who wejit.
 246 INEDITED ARABIC COINS.

So lie restored him to his kingdom, and he changed not

aught of his condition."l
We learn, then, from this that Kara-Arsl&n was
ruling
the province of Karman, in feof to the Scljuki Sultan, in the
year 450 of the Flight. The coin proves him to have been
still ruling in 462, and the absence of the namo of his liege
lord would lead us to infer that the King of Karman had
again asserted his independence. Shortly after this he must

Ai_cll_? U---JI lUX* J l

Jl b^j?j (^^/' Jlc ^L^Sa jjL-a-c jS=>

i^Jl J1AJI ?LJ1 HdJb

j,
J-c^^jl \ji jJ&jJ^fbLiiX* L5-ai:

A^i; aj <U Jl cLS3\J c-^wjj

c^lj~? JaU- jj) ul= 'ul-?jl

Jl^l ^ Ul A^L Jj UUJ1 ^ jU\j jIjl^JI

Jl

^uy uilui cjiu'i a^u aj c?idi

ji j* er^i

c-Jl j-*mJ '<Uai:MjJaij iclUl

Jl jLj ^LjjI f-J^j lL&J

<uJi* A^xJi? L_^*Jj \^ij

L^-^ili U5L)1 ]i Jlc l^jli \J^\~=*

Aj$>\> iJ^+Zj ij$~>j\ J/5f*~? ^* tV?J

J^ ^jLj/1 ly <uJlb

lyiJrLjJ^T A^-l tjjb il

Jx lj-^li \j/^j IjiU. *?x*Ak

uM V-JIJLUI J^/lj I* t^lj

JI L^i^ Jt ^Lyl

Aj?xU*j
Ai^ibli JJaLJl JL__c^_i?j jC
?fc]j jixll JLmJj Axllai 1 .$li>

^ ^_/:*i Jl ijUU ijLi?

A A^=*U*? Ji O^^ LT^J

(.rv, n. X) *IU- j*
 INEDITED ARABIC COINS. 247

have died or been deposed, for we find K awart-beg, a brother

of Alp-Arsldn, Karman in 465. It seems not im
ruling
probable that when, as the coin suggests, the King of Karman
revolted a second
time, Alp-Arsl&n deposed him and ap
pointed in his stead his own brother.
Yazdashir is a town in Karman, described by Al-Idrisi
"
i. 420, 427)) as offrant beau
(transl. by Jaubert, jolie villc,
do rcssources, cntoureo de murs et de fosses, muuio dc
coup

porte8 ct possodant plusieurs bazars." It is not mentioned

by Y&kut in his Kitdb Mo\jam-al~l\ulddn (Geographiaches
Wdrlerbueh, ed. Wustenfcld), nor by the author of the
Mardsid- al-Ittild'.

The execution of the coin is uuusually bad. Tho inscrip

tion on the Obverse offers several inaccuracies, <tl for &\,
for for for <LjU, of which somo may
Lrj\ ^liil, <,-,_ ^~~), U
be due to want of space. The Reverse Area is double-struck,

2*. Silver. UuwayiiI. Shams-ad-dawlah-ibn-Fakhr-ad-dawlah.

Struck at Uamadhdn, a.u. 387-411. (British Museum.)

Obv. Area.
^jju^Jj

s\ a_II 1

(?J** <d!l**uj
Margin (ioner).\s+$) *AjjJI Ijjb

(outer). ddJ
jJl^JI
 248 INEDITED ARABIC COINS.

Iter. Area. <UlJ

<dll Aaj?*
Jj^j

,\
,J1^^J1

r: ^
**-IjjJl ^wu^-i

3 i
^yjAJ, j-jI

A_Jjj,_Jl ^J

J?Jl LX_iij

<Lj.J

Margtu. aJJI Ju^sr*

^1 aL>,1 Jj^j

When Fakhr-ad-da wlah, ofthe house of Buwayh, died, in

tho year 387 of the Flight (a.d. 997), his sons Majd-ad
dawlah and Shams-ad-dawlah succeeded liim, the former in
Ar-Ita}-)" and the principal part of his dominions, the hitter
in Ilainadhan and Karmasin.1 But Majd-ad-dawlah was
unfortunato enough to offend his mother, who had managed
the affairs of the kingdom during his minority; and was
deposed and imprisoned by her iu 397. Shams-ad-dawlah
was then summoned to take upon himself his brother's duties,
aud accordingly governed in Ar-llayy for about the space of
ono year; after which the dowager, ou
taking compassion
her captive son, restored him to his dignities, whereupon
Shams-ad-dawlah returned to Hamad ban. We hear of him
again in 405, when Badr-ibu-llasanwayh, the lord of Al

1
Or according to Ibn-al-Atki'r, from whoso Kdmil this
ll^uw<y
account of Skaius-ad-dawluk is drawn.
 INEDITED ARABIC COINS. 249

Jabal,1 died, and Shams-ad-dawlah obtained part of his

dominions. In tho same year he again entered Ar-Rayy, his
mother and brother retiring on his approach: but he vers"
speedily went his way back to Hamadhan, and suffered Majd
ad-dawlah to recover his twice-lost throne. Ibn-ai-Athir
docs not record the death of Shams-ad-dawlah; but as ho
mentions him as ruling in Hamadhan in 411, and also relates
that in 414 Sami-ad-dawlah Abu-1-1 lasan, tho son of Shams
was
ad-dawlah, deposed by 'Ala-ad-dawlah Abu-Jaafar ibn
K&kwayh, it is clear that Shams-ad-dawlah must have died
between 411 and 414.

3. SiLVEit. BowATJif. Sultan-ad-da wlah.

Struck at Shirdz, l.vl. 405 (= a,d. 1014-,). (British Museum.)

Obv.Area. <t i H ill 4_11 il

<t_I il
CS-ijZ* *Jo-j

<UJ\_?ol?JL?\\

aJJb v_JUll *j$_ ^J3

Margin ItXto c-r-V* *^JI +*?j

(inner). ^fcjjJI f^^r' t;r*^,~,''

(outer). Illegible, but apparently consisting of the

four words not uncommon on
liuwayht
coins.

1 Tho
mountain-district iu which is situated Hamadhan ; the
district is also called Al-Jabdl(jUxill *&? J-^^ f?l y* iSr~\
a] Jlib Yakut, Geogr. Wortcrb., in v., ii. rr). There
JUJl ^jA\
is also a called Al-Jabal, threo journey from Jazirat-iba
place days'
'Omar (Al-Idrtef, ii. 172). Hut tho district is here meant.
250 INEDITED ARABIC COINS.

Rev. Area.
Jjlc

4-1-II J_*_.s.
J^j

JL-Jx *, A .11
J^ ^Ju?

I_ihL_ JjLJI cJJLUII

.i_L_*JIj-xj U^juJI

cLs--1 4-*ilt
j-j| ^^-jJ^J

Margin. JI <dll ?**s"

<d~?j\ Jj-*;

This is, I believe, the only silver coin of this prince as yet
published. Ho seems to havo rejoiced in a considerable
number of titles: The Just King, Shah of Shahs, Pillar of the
Religion, and Might of the State, and Power of theMoral Law,
and Aider of the People, Father of Valour. Tho subject of
these epithets, however, scarccl}r played so important a part
in histoiy as they would seem to imply: ho ruled tho pro
vince of Faris from the death of his father, Baha-ad-dawlah,
in 403, to his own death in 415, and his
reign is chiefly re
markable for his contests with two of his brothers, which
Mould seem to have occupied his attention throughout tho
twelve years of his rule.
Al-Ghiilib-bi-llah, whose name appears beneath Al-K&dir's
on the Obverse of the coin, was tho son and successor
desig
nate of the Khalifah. He died, howover, in 400, during his
father's lifetime.
It is to remark that the word J^&,
" scarcely necessary
just," which appears on tho Reverse, aud which is so com
mon on most kinds of Arabic coins, is iutended to indicate
the accuracy of tho weight.
 INED1TED ARABIC COINS. 251

4. 8ilvbr. ILamdAnI. Ahu-l-Barak&t Lafaf-Allah.

8truckat (?), a.u. 359 (=a.d. 9G9-W). (Britiih Muttum.)

Obv. Area. t_Ul SI i_11 )

*_J_!lt_i_y

Margin Zi__ ..
(inner).Sii, ^jju^^i-, ^.a?J

(outer). *U
^I^SI

Rev. Area. [dJJIJj*^] iX**-*

.r

<L__i_J
j-^UI
aJJI ,J*aJ
^.Jlib jj|
\.c *H
jk

Margin. Jl aL/I aUI j^s^

Jj^

Abu-1-Barakat, though known in history, has never before

come into the field of numismatics. His father, the cele
brated Nasir-ad-dawlah, died in 358, and was succeeded
by
Abu-Taghlib Al-Ghadanfir, whoso name appears on tho
Reverse of this coin. Abu-1-Barakat was killed in 359;
so the shortness of the time between his father's death and
his own makes it probable that this coin will continuo ono of
a very few, or oven The name of the mint-place is
unique.
unfortunately illegible, and I am unablo to discover from
Prof. Frcytag's Geschichte der Dynastien der Ilamdanidcn,1
the best authority on tho subject, what city or cities were
under the rule of Abu-1-Barakat, in fcof to his brother Abu

Taghlib.
1
Zeitschrifl der deutschen moryenldndischen Gesellschafl, x. xi.
 252 INEDITED ARABIC COINS.

Tho lakab Lataf Allah is, I Jbeliove, nowhere else to bo

"
found on coins. It may bo rendered Bounty of God," or
"
Benefit of God "; whilst Abu-l-Barakdt, which is equally
means "The Father of
uuitjuc on coins, Blessings."

:>.* Goi.ii. 'Aiuusf. Al-MutV-ltfldh.

Struck at
^s. (?), a.h. 348 (=a.d. 959-^)- (BritishMuseum.)

Obv. Area. <d2l

j-^LJI

A-Ll

*-jo aJJ\ **uj

Margin. iUj {j^j^ ^^ ^ jL;jJI \jjb
c-^J

Rev. Area. Aasl-*

aLJI

Margin. Lc J^sH^Oj Ij^lb <du^l<dllJj^ Ji^sr*

^aJ

(The margin stops at L: for want of space. Ij^ll is for u^Jtgll.)

The size of this dinar is exceptionally small; tho inscrip

tions are arranged in a very peculiar manner, totally different
from the ordinary arrangement on 'Abbasi coins; and, lastly,
the mint-name is quito new. The letters of tho mint-name
aro clearly cut, and what ambiguity thero is arises not from
any indistinctness in the coin, but from the different values
which may bo given to each letter in the name. The first
letter, after tho prefixed preposition <--->, is unquestionably
either anPora the next is a simple short stroke, which
J;
may be c_j, eu, l_>, ^,, or ?$; and the last is a short stroke
of exactly the samo height as the second letter, and there
fore can scarcely be a J or an I (for in other words on this
 1NEDITED ARABIC COINS. 253

coin these two letters arc distinguished by height above the

line), and is not long enough in tho horizontal part to be
a s->, o, or CU ; nor would it serve for a lJ ; but it closely
resembles the final <j of and I am therefore inclined
^^jl,
to regard it as a {Jj.
But having determined the letters within certain limits,
what can the name be ? Tho most obvious interpretation is

}Ayn, and we find in the Mardsid-al-Ittild* that {^ is

Jx.
used in El-'Irak to mean and this
Ayn-at-Tamaryci\ ^-x,!
in the samo work as i^UI
j*A\ ^j-x ia described L-iJo ?j *>&}

u\Lj t?i/tjj 15^ {&* ^^.j*

^^jJI W^j c^l^ill ^c-J/^ J

(MF, ii) '^Lill^L Jl l^ \j^rj u^lill \^krJt?=>\

*&
In Yakut's Mojamal-JJulddn (iii, 1), 'Ay n-at-Tamar is thus

described: al J lib j-^>y \^jSj&j?II^yJjUill ^ JjJj

iwyi
l3o- t*>*^")l# y&$ oLJI jL? ^j^Lsr U^.?
v^^AMJill
UlLi
JI^JIj
<UjJj
y^ L5^ f*^ L5* tj^-***^ If^'jJl ^ybjL^JI u-J^L
Jx ^yj.^

d** uJ uUi? Jr* c>^ erfulr^J **'H

JyY. <M u*^
c^ls^l ^j <Uoe^Jl?=> AUjj ^ aUI j^
J J^IJ^I ^ o /

ill
Ijc^U IjjI^lJI ^^Ixjcj^I ^I^Jb ^l-^ill ^'1 Ja
'
IJxIj aX*Si K^\ UJ J^sM ^
^\S=i ^ ij'b U^iiljj {*z~*hh

I think, therefore, that wo may reasonably suppose the

to be i.e.
mint-place 'Ayn, 'Ayn-at-Tamar.

1
(Mr, ii)jtf^Sl J? J* jl/JI J JO^
 254 INEDITED ARABIC COINS.

6.* SlLVEA. AllAWl.

Struck at Sdbur, a.h. x 2. (Col. Guthrie's Collection.)

Obv. Area. ill 4_ll il

*jo-j <lUI

^Jbiwvll \&b ^ **{

Margin.e^r*^ <k-?jjjl***J **r*j*

Within double outer circle of dots (uot merely serrated).

Rev. Area. aAII Jc*-I <UJI

A__J_I ^?UUw.C

With a row of dots between the second and third lines ; the whole
area inclosed two circles of dots; between tho circles five
by
unnulets. No marginal inscription.

This is the only Amawi dirhem with which I am ac

with a word beneath the regular Roverse-Area in
quainted
to the bad preservation of tho coin, I am as
scription.2 Owing
unable to make out the new word. The first letter
yet might
be a viim or an 'ayn (or ghayn), but its large size iuduces tho

1
Sic.
8 Dr. re
Two coins, by Born and Br. Mordtmann
published

spectively, have tho Pahlawf word .ifamarwun (for so it may surely

bo read in preference to merlin) benealh tho Obv. Area. They also

both bear the mint-name iu the usual Arabic marginal

j** inscrip
tion. Tho dates of these two coins are 81 aud 101. (See Tieseu
hauscn, 294 and 494.)
 INEDITED ARABIC COINS. 255

belief that it is an 9ayn (or ghayn). The second letter might

be bd, U, the\, nun, or yi. The third letter must be sin or
shin. The fourth letter is, I feel almost sure, iodic; but there
is just the possibility of its being kdf After this wdw comes
what may either bo a separate word <0J (' to God'), or may
form the termination ?J of the word, or again (but I think
most <d ('to him'),
improbably) may bo the scparato word
.
composed of tho preposition J and the pronoun
We may tabulate theso possibilities (many of which, how
evor, aro euphonical impossibilities) thus:?

6 6 4 3 2 1

* * *
)
* Nj (*
4
^ ] l J ?)h]l -&J u I
J \ t

I must leave the task of interpreting these letters to some

one else: a loss to under
for I confess myself completely at
stand their meaning.
The coin is rendered even more extraordinary by the
absence of any marginal on the Reverse.
inscription

7. Silver. Amawi.

Struck at Arminiyah,1 a.h. 81 700-,).

(=a.d.

(Col. Guthrie's Collection.)

This coin is of the usual Amawi type, exhibiting nothing
remarkable, except the position of the conjunction ^ at the

1This
(or Irmfniyah) not Arminiyah (with the ye mushaddad) is
the correct spelling.

(Ydkut i. Ml) Jl >:hr. *~i| i^yJut isu&?-

^.A^il Mjj ujJlyuu?=jj

VOL. TlI.-r-[NEW BEH1B8.] 17

 256 INEDITED ARABIC COINS.

of the third lino of the Revorse-Area, a position

beginning
usual on coins of the 3'cars 80, 81, 82, but not afterwards, it
transposed to the end of the second line.
being subsequently
The whole style, however, is curious. No coin of this mint
has hitherto been known of a date earlier than 92 of the

Flight (sec Dr. Tiesenhausen's Table, p. 323), so this specimen

is an interesting addition to the published series of tho coin
age of this Dynasty. The collection to which this belongs con
tained before but one example of the mintage of Armiuiych.1

8*. Gold. Amawi. (Col. Guthrie*s Collection.)

Obv. Heraclius and his two sons, all standing, and each one hold
a cross-bearing orb.
ing

Rev. The Cross, modified into a pillar with a globular capital, but
not yet changed into a <f>. On either side, B |.

X*_-*
Around.?t)JI
J^ *Jc>-j jJJI Jl all il

I am not acquainted with any gold coin of this Obverse

type: and the Reverse type is, I think, quito unique. The
form of the Cross upon the stops is unliko the ordinary, and
the letters B I are, so far as I can find out, unknown on
Mohammadan coins. B I is merely | B reversed (in Arab
and I B = is the value-iudcx to the
fashion); ( 12) peculiar
coinage of the Alexandrian mint, denoting that the value of
the coin was that of twelve vovpfila.2
I do not think, however, that it can bo doduccd from this

1 See
my Catalogue of tho Collection of Oriental Coins belonging to
Colonel C. Scton Guthrie, Fuse. I. Coins of the Amawf Khalffoha
(Stephen Austin & Sous, Hertford, 1874), p. 7, and pi. i. fig. 38.
1 I am indebted for this
explanation to my uncle, Mr. Iteginaid
Stuart Poole, who has tho of Byzantine aud
investigated question
Alexandrian value-iudexcs iu a paper iu the Numismatic Chronicle,
1853.
 INEDITED ARABIC COINS. 257

occurrence of the Alexandrian index that the coin was struck

at Alexandria; a priori,
though it is not, unlikely that such
was the case. Tho date of the coin is also doubtful.

9*. Gold. FAtim(.

=
Struck atMadinat IjCns, /l.u. 51J ( a.d. 112$).'
(British Museum.)

Obv. Area. JU

Ajli

Margin (inner). <JJI ali\ ?*jsl<* aDI HIAJI ^1

Jj Jx Jj^

(outer). *J\ aLo/1 ddjlJ^j _x^_s^

Itev. Area.
^L-^ill

jj-_ai*!l

Margin (inner). aJJI

^^^j^ll^^l Afr\^\jj*^ Jx yl

(outer). '^ ^
yV,^' S-^ (***J\ \j**~fl (*"*!
1
<CwJ
*U<u**.<jykx J^J ^y <^.J^

Thecity of Kiis ^y is a now addition to tho mint-list of

Arabic numismatics, for it has never before been found on
coins. The best account of the city is that by Quatreraere,
in his Me1 moires gdographiqrtes el historiques sur VEgypte; but
as it extends ovor moro than twenty pages (t. i. pp. 192-210)
I must content myself with some extracts,
"
ko2, KOS. Cost ainsi quo lo lexicpio copto do Mont
pcllier e*crit lo nom do la villo que les Arabes appcllent Kous.
On lit Kgj? ou Koo<; dans les vocabulaircs saidiqucs do la

1
The i of is omitted; bo too the ^j whicli emould support
iylx
*
the of ?JU, the latter probably for want of space.
258 INEDITED ARABIC COINS.

Ces
differens ouvrages joignent au
bibliothcque imperiale.
nom de cette ville celui ou fitpffip, dont je no vois
de fepftep
pas trop Torigino. Seulement 1'autour do l'un des vocabu
laires sauliqucs separo du mot Kw? celui do ftepftep, ct rend ce
dernier par Ahsorcin ; ce qui sembleroit devoir meritcr plus
d'attention. Eu etlbt, commes nous Favons appris d'un
passage dc la ville d'Aksor ou Aksorein passoit
Macrizy,
pour etre habitec par une colonic de Maris, peuple de la
.Nubie. D'un autre cote, il est difiicilo do recusor lo teruoign
uiianime de tons les vocabulaircs aus
ago prcsque coptes,

quels se joint encore

l'autorite du manuscrit consulte par
Vanslet. Quoiqu'il on soit, Golius a cm que la ville de Kous

repondait ti rancienne Thebes ou Dioseopolis magna, ct cette

opinion paroit avoir ete adoptee par A. Schultens. Mais le
pere Lequien, d'An ville, ct Michaclis ponsent avee raison quo
Kous represente la ville d!Apollinopolis parva, dont il est parle
dans Strabon. Quant au nom Arabo de cette ville, il est
certain qu'il doit s'ecrire Kous par un sad, et non par un sin,
comiue on lit dans l'ouvrage de Boha-ed-diu. Suivaut Aboul
feda, 'Kous, situce dans le Said, i\ 1'orient du Nil, etoit, apres
Fostat, la plus grande ville do l'Fgypte. C'ctoit la quarri
voient les marchands d'Aden.' Sa distance, i\ l'^gard de
Keft, est d'une suivant ou do milles,
parasaugc, Iakouty, sept
suivaut TEdrisy. L'auteur du Mesalek-al-absar et Macrizy
out consacre & cette ville des articles assez etendus, dont je
vais transcrire uno partic, en elcguant les fables quo lo
*
dernier do ces (Scrivains suivant son Kous,
y joint, usago.
la plus grande ville du Said, est sitae"o sur la rivo oriental?
du Nil, et est lo chef-lieu d'une province tres-iniportante.
C'est le endroit ou s'arr.tent les caravanes
premier qui
viennent des mors do l'lndo, de l'Abyssinie, du Ycmon, et
du Hedjaz, eu traversant le desert d'Aidab.
Au rapport d'Al-Adfouy, dans son llistoire du Said, Kous
est placed au oot^ de Keft, et si Ton en croit quelques
e*crivains, Kous a commence a devenir llorisaute, et Keft
& se depeupler depuis I'an 400 de Thegire.
Depuis Tan 800 de l'h^gire, cette ville est entiercment
dechue de spn ancienne splendeur. Pendant les desas
 INEDITED ARADIC COINS. 250

tres et les malhcurs qui aflligerent VEgypte, dans le cours

de l'uniido il p6rit & Kous dix-sept milles
806, personnes.
Avant cette epoque, cotte villc etoifc si pcuplee, que, dans la
se*cheresse de 1'an 77G, il cut cent cinquante Moglak, qui
resterent abandonnes. On en tend dans cette province par le
mot Moglak, un jardin dc 20 fcddans et au-dessus, accom

pagtn5 d'uno machine hydrauliquo a quatre faces. Et cela

sans compter une foule do jardins moins considerables, qui
dcmeurerent sans ctro nous
egalcment occupies.' Macrixy
appreud ailleurs, quo Kous reiifermoit un hotel des monnaies,
ct quo Ton voyait sur lo territoirc dc cetto villc de nombreux

plants d'acacias. Le memo ecrivain, parlant. du lieu nommd

l
Minict-al-Basek, s'cxprime ainsi: Cette ville, situee dans le
canton d'Atfih, a pris son nom dc Basck, frerc dc Behram
rArmenieu, qui fut vizir du Khalife Hafed-li-din-Allah.
I/an Basek ete nomme son frerc au
529, ayant par gouvcrne
ment de Kous qui lc plus important de l'Egypte,
ctoit alors
excrca contrcles Musulmancs toutes sortes d'injusticcs et de
vexations. Cela dura jusqu'au mois de djoumady second, de
Tan 531. A cette epoque, les habitans dc Kous, ayant appris
que Behram avoit <5te supplante ct expulse par Itadwan ben
la charge de vizir, se
Dulkeschy, qui lui avoit succede dans
souleverent contrc Basek, et le massacre rent. Ensuite, apies
lui avoir attache un chieu au pied, il trainerent son corps
dans les rue dc la ville, et finircnt par le jeter sur le fumicr.
Basek la ehrotienne.' . , . On trouve
professoit religion
les noms de deux de ses cveques \j$c. dc Kous], Theodore et
Mcrcure, dans l'histoire des patriarches d'Alexandrie. Du
temps du pere Sicard, Jean, eveque de Ncquade, l'etoit en
memo temps de Coptos, dc Kous et d'Ibrim. Abou-Selah
sur le territoire de Kous."
parlo do plusieurs eglises situees
Tho following extract from Brugsch (Gcographische Tn
sehriften altdggplischer Denhnalcr i. 197 f.) supplies tbe
defectiveness of Quatrcmere's account of the names of K lis.
"
Noch weiter nordlich auf der Strasse, welche von Karnak
dem alten Koptos, .
nach der Stadt Qeft, fiihrt, liegt eine
Stadt mit Namcn Qus, dio zur Zcit Abulfeda's oder
^y
im 14. Jahrhuudert nach Fostat die bedeutendste >Stadt
 2G0 INEDITED ARABIC COINS.

Aegyptens war. Grosse Triimmerhaufeu bei derselben sind

heut zu Tage die einzigen Ueberrcste eines tiitercn ansehn
lichen Ortes. : . . Dio Griechen, das wissen wir mit
vollatcr Sichorkoit, nannten dio Stadt AttoWcjpo^ ttoXk;,
mit dem Zusatze rj zum Unterschiedo von
gewohlich pitcpd,
der grossen Apolloustadt, dercn bedeutcnde Ruincn inmitteu
des heut igen Dories Edfu liegen. Die ICoptcn bezeiehncten sie,
wahrscheinlich nach alter Tradition, mit dem Vulgiiruamcn
KUJC RcpRep (dialcktisch ilp&ip, fip&ep), wolches
Ohampollion, L'Egyptc sous les Pharaons, vol. ii. p. 221 "das
brennende" odor "das heisse JCtXJC" iibersetzt. Ein Wort kes
oder qes est mir mit Ausnahiue des oben besprochonen kes,
das aber bier nicht her gehoren kann, nirgeud in den Iu
schriften und Texten aufgestosscn, wohl aber eine Local

benennung brbr, eutsprechend dem koptischen In

fi.pii.Gp.
dem hieratischen Kalendar Sallier No. 4, p. 11, erscheint
niimlich eine Gruppe lia-brbr (898) "das Hans brbr" mit dem

6pecielleu Determinativ der Pyraniide oder des Obelisken,

das sehr wohl dio in Redo stehendo Stadt bezcicluien konnte.
Wie gesagt ist aber die Sache nicht ausgemacht und wir
inussen es dem gliicklichen Zufall iiberlassen, ob fur dicse
Zusamineu6tellung griindlicho Beweise gefunden werden.
Jenes lift-brbr konnte namlich nach dem Zusammonhange in
dem beregten Papyrus eben so gut eineu bestimmten Theil in
ein em lleiligthunie bezeichnen."
The mention by El-Makrizi of an hotel des monnaies at
Kus is highly interesting, and this coin is the first to confirm
the historian's statement.

*
10*. Goi.n. MuwAuuin Abd-Al-Mu-min.
(Alraohado).
Struck at Sabtah. (British Museum.)

Similar to tho coin described by me in tho Numismatic

Chronicle, n.s., vol. xiii. p. 154, art. Muwahhids, No. 1. Tho
difference consists in the occurrence of the mint-name Sabtah
*-^~? between the lines of tho encadrcment, on each side,
beneath the area-inscription. Cuius with these finely-written
 INEDITED ARABIC COINS. 261

mint-names between the lines arc, I believe, peculiar to the

of the Muwahhids, and very rare even among them.
dynasty
I am not aware of this coin having been already published.
The diacritical points differ somewhat from those on the
specimen described in the Num. Chron., as a comparison of
the plates will show. A curious thing is tho way in which
the tail of the e>of +^ on the Obv. is cut through by the
encadrement. I need scarcely remark that Sab tab is the
Arabic form of Ceuta; or rather, Ceuta is tho European form
of Sab tab.