Artuqids of Mardin. Nasir al-Din Artuq Arslan. AH 597-637 / AD 1201-1239. Dated AH 618 (AD 1221/2). One with male bust facing slightly left, the other with bust facing slightly right. Citing the Ayyubid ruler al-Kamil Muhammad as overlord. 22mm, 6.27 grams. NM (Mardin?). S&S 42.1; Album 1830.6; ICV 1216. 

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.