UMAYYAD, SULAYMAN B. ‘ABD AL-MALIK (96-99h) Uniface lead weight, dated 99h Obverse: In field: Muhammad ra- | sul Allah | sanat tis‘a | wa tisa‘in | ibn Muslim (?) In margin: ‘amr bihi Sulayman amir al-mu’minin, Hayyan ibn Shurayh, Qudama (?) Weight: 87.11g Some encrustation, very fine and extremely rare, apparently unpublished. 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 96-99h, and Hayyan b. Shurayh served as Finance Director between 99h and 101h, 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).

Estimate: GBP 4000 - 6000