Seljuq gold dinar of Sanjar, dated 493 AH, with the Abbasid caliph named on one face
A Seljuq gold dinar with no figures, only Arabic in Kufic script on both faces. The lower lines of the left face's centre field read al-Imam al-Mustazhir bi-llah, the name and title of the reigning Abbasid caliph; the right face's legends are not read here. The tell is the caliph's name on the ruler's money: a religious authority vouches for the issue and, by extension, the issuer.
- Date
- 1099
- Period
- Pre-1914
- Made by
- Great Seljuq Empire, Sanjar (as issuing prince in Khurasan under Sultan Barkyaruq)
- Region
- Middle East and North Africa
- Country
- Great Seljuk Empire
- Medium
- Banknotes and coins
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Great Seljuk Empire
- Leader
- Barkyaruq
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Themes
- Religion, Elections and party politics
- Techniques
- Testimonial
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Open Access), retrieved September 29, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (The Met Open Access, CC0; isPublicDomain true in the Met API; object about 900 years old)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1939 (39.40.127.203), Open Access
Text on the object
Left face, centre field (Kufic, top to bottom): [illegible upper lines] الامام المستظهر بالله Left face, marginal legend: [illegible] Right face: [illegible]
Left face, lower lines: The Imam al-Mustazhir bi-llah (the caliph). The other legends are not read.
Kufic script on a slightly worn dinar. Only the two lower lines of the left face (the caliph's name and title) are read with reasonable confidence. The upper lines, both marginal legends and the whole right face are left [illegible] rather than guessed. Arabic text is machine-read by Claude, not checked by a reader of Arabic.
