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Lot 383
Samanids. temp. Mansur b. Nuh or Nuh II b. Mansur. AH 350-365 / AD 961-976 or AH 365-387 / AD 976-997. Æ Medallion (42mm, 15.55 g, 12h). Samarqand mint. Date off-flan. Good VF.
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Live Auction
Islamic Auction 9
Live bidding begins Apr 24, 2025 at 2:00 PM BST
(7d 23h 51m left for internet bidding)
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Description
Samanids. temp. Mansur b. Nuh or Nuh II b. Mansur. AH 350-365 / AD 961-976 or AH 365-387 / AD 976-997. Æ Medallion (42mm, 15.55 g, 12h). Samarqand mint. Date off-flan. Bism Allah al-rahman al-rahim duriba… […] …al-Imam ’Abd Allah al-Ta‘i lillah Samarqand, Snake, lion and scorpion (representations of Serpens, Leo and Scorpio) superimposed / Double marginal inscriptions, the outer legend largely unread, the inner apparently comprising repeated benedictions and ‘good luck’ phrases , Lion-headed man, with tail and crescent-shaped wings, standing left with head turned to right. Ilisch 35 = Bivar, M.D.H., ‘Mithraic Symbols on a Medallion of Buyid Iran?’ Journal of Mithraic Studies I (London 1976), pp. 20-25. With loop mount; about 20% broken away and missing. Good VF. Excessively rare .
The example published by Bivar and discussed by Ilisch was intact, but its inscriptions were either unread or unreadable.
Bivar identified the lion-headed man as the Zoroastrian god Ahriman, and suggested that the astrological symbols shown on the reverse were chosen for their associations with death. While he could not read the legends, he drew parallels between this piece and two famous Buwayhid gold medallions produced in Baghdad in AH 363, and proposed that all three might have been produced to mark the death of the caliph al-Muti‘. Ilisch argued that the gold medallions could not commemorate the death of al-Muti‘, since while he was deposed in AH 363 his death did not occur until the following year. But he did not dispute Bivar’s interpretation of the Zoroastrian symbolism, although he questioned whether the bronze piece might not be a purely Zoroastrian amulet, rather than an Islamic medallion.
On the piece offered here, the inscriptions are incomplete but generally legible. They are all written in Arabic. The marginal inscriptions on the reverse have not been fully read, but include phrases wishing good luck and blessings on the wearer. Rendered in beautiful but highly-stylised Kufic, similar ‘good luck’ words are found not only on Islamic coins, but also on a wide range of bronze and ceramic objects from the Islamic east.
But it is the obverse margin which is of particular importance, since this preserves both a place-name - Samarqand - and the name of the caliph al-Ta‘i (AH 363-381). This confirms that Bivar was right to identify the piece as an Islamic medallion, while the mention of Samarqand allows us to attribute it to the Samanids. The presence of al-Ta’i’s name, moreover, means that it must have been made during the reign of Mansur b. Nuh (died AH 365), or his successor Nuh II b. Mansur (AH 365-387). Bivar’s suggestion of a date in the 360s, which he made without being able to read this legend, thus proves to have been remarkably accurate.
The founder of the Samanid dynasty, Saman Khuda, was originally a Zoroastrian who converted to Islam in the first decade of the 2nd/8th century. Contemporary writers report that the Samanids showed leniency and tolerance towards the Zoroastrians living under their rule, and that Samanid rulers fostered a revival of pre-Islamic Persian art and culture. One modern scholar, Robert Hillenbrand, even described the Samanid mausoleum at Bukhara as ‘a fire temple in Islamic dress.’ It is not surprising, therefore that this Samanid medallion from Samarqand should combine pre-Islamic Zoroastrian symbolism with formal inscriptions in Arabic. While the imagery is purely Zoroastrian, the obverse legend, which presumably once included a date as well as a place of manufacture, is essentially the standard bism Allah duriba… formula used on Islamic donative coins for centuries. Whoever issued this remarkable medallion seems to have seen no contradiction here.
Bivar described the imagery on the obverse as a combination of Serpens, Leo and Cancer, although what he apparently interpreted as a crab’s claw looks more like a scorpion on this piece. Whether this is indeed a combination of Mithraic symbols, or perhaps an astrological reference (to a ruler’s horoscope?) is a matter for further research.
The final winners of all CNG Islamic Auction 9 lots will be determined during the live sale that will be held on 24-25 April 2025.
Islamic Auction 9 – Session Two – Lots 256–529 will be held Thursday afternoon, 25 April 2025 beginning at 2:00 PM GMT.
Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.
We recognize that our users may have various Internet Browsers and Operating Systems. We like our visitors to have the best possible experience when using our bidding platform. However, we do recognize that it is impossible to develop applications that work identically, efficiently and effectively on all web browsers. The CNG bidding platform supports the latest stable major version and stable previous version of Chrome and Firefox.
The example published by Bivar and discussed by Ilisch was intact, but its inscriptions were either unread or unreadable.
Bivar identified the lion-headed man as the Zoroastrian god Ahriman, and suggested that the astrological symbols shown on the reverse were chosen for their associations with death. While he could not read the legends, he drew parallels between this piece and two famous Buwayhid gold medallions produced in Baghdad in AH 363, and proposed that all three might have been produced to mark the death of the caliph al-Muti‘. Ilisch argued that the gold medallions could not commemorate the death of al-Muti‘, since while he was deposed in AH 363 his death did not occur until the following year. But he did not dispute Bivar’s interpretation of the Zoroastrian symbolism, although he questioned whether the bronze piece might not be a purely Zoroastrian amulet, rather than an Islamic medallion.
On the piece offered here, the inscriptions are incomplete but generally legible. They are all written in Arabic. The marginal inscriptions on the reverse have not been fully read, but include phrases wishing good luck and blessings on the wearer. Rendered in beautiful but highly-stylised Kufic, similar ‘good luck’ words are found not only on Islamic coins, but also on a wide range of bronze and ceramic objects from the Islamic east.
But it is the obverse margin which is of particular importance, since this preserves both a place-name - Samarqand - and the name of the caliph al-Ta‘i (AH 363-381). This confirms that Bivar was right to identify the piece as an Islamic medallion, while the mention of Samarqand allows us to attribute it to the Samanids. The presence of al-Ta’i’s name, moreover, means that it must have been made during the reign of Mansur b. Nuh (died AH 365), or his successor Nuh II b. Mansur (AH 365-387). Bivar’s suggestion of a date in the 360s, which he made without being able to read this legend, thus proves to have been remarkably accurate.
The founder of the Samanid dynasty, Saman Khuda, was originally a Zoroastrian who converted to Islam in the first decade of the 2nd/8th century. Contemporary writers report that the Samanids showed leniency and tolerance towards the Zoroastrians living under their rule, and that Samanid rulers fostered a revival of pre-Islamic Persian art and culture. One modern scholar, Robert Hillenbrand, even described the Samanid mausoleum at Bukhara as ‘a fire temple in Islamic dress.’ It is not surprising, therefore that this Samanid medallion from Samarqand should combine pre-Islamic Zoroastrian symbolism with formal inscriptions in Arabic. While the imagery is purely Zoroastrian, the obverse legend, which presumably once included a date as well as a place of manufacture, is essentially the standard bism Allah duriba… formula used on Islamic donative coins for centuries. Whoever issued this remarkable medallion seems to have seen no contradiction here.
Bivar described the imagery on the obverse as a combination of Serpens, Leo and Cancer, although what he apparently interpreted as a crab’s claw looks more like a scorpion on this piece. Whether this is indeed a combination of Mithraic symbols, or perhaps an astrological reference (to a ruler’s horoscope?) is a matter for further research.
The final winners of all CNG Islamic Auction 9 lots will be determined during the live sale that will be held on 24-25 April 2025.
Islamic Auction 9 – Session Two – Lots 256–529 will be held Thursday afternoon, 25 April 2025 beginning at 2:00 PM GMT.
Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.
We recognize that our users may have various Internet Browsers and Operating Systems. We like our visitors to have the best possible experience when using our bidding platform. However, we do recognize that it is impossible to develop applications that work identically, efficiently and effectively on all web browsers. The CNG bidding platform supports the latest stable major version and stable previous version of Chrome and Firefox.
