ISLAMIC, Anatolia & al-Jazira (Post-Seljuk). Artuqids (Mardin). Husam al-Din Yuluq Arslan. AH 580-597 / AD 1184-1200. Dated AH 589 (AD 1193). Three standing figures around central female figure seated left in attitude of mourning / Name and titles of Abbasid caliph in three lines; name and title of Ayyubid overlord, Saif al-Din Abu Bakr in margins; name and titles of Husam al-Din Yuluq Arslan and AH date in outer margin. 30mm, 14.88 grams. NM (Mardin[?]). Whelan Type III, 54-6; S&S Type 35.1; Album 1829.3; ICV 1208.

This remarkable Artuqid bronze dirham, issued in 1193 CE, features an extraordinary scene of mourning, traditionally associated with the death of the great Muslim ruler Saladin in that same year. The unusual and emotionally expressive composition is among the most intriguing examples of medieval Islamic figural coinage, combining classical artistic influences with contemporary historical events.

The medieval figural copper coins of the Artuqids, Zangids, and other contemporary Islamic dynasties are among the most remarkable and unusual issues in Islamic numismatics. Their designs frequently borrowed from ancient Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Persian coinage, reproducing classical busts, imperial portraits, mythological figures, astrological symbols and even the bust of Christ alongside Arabic inscriptions naming Muslim rulers and their titles. This extraordinary fusion of classical imagery and Islamic epigraphy produced a distinctive and often strikingly beautiful coinage, virtually unparalleled in the medieval Islamic world.