A Byzantine weight validated by Al-Walid / by George C. Miles

8/20/2019 A Byzantine weight validated by Al-Walid / by George C. Miles

1/19

A

BYZANTINE WEIGHT

VALIDATED BY

AL-WALÎD

BY

GEORGE C.

MILES

The

American

umismaticociety

BROADWAY

T

5ÓTHTREET

NEW ORK

1939

This content downloaded from 83.85.134.3 on Wed, 03 Feb 2016 11:12:43 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions


2/19


3/19

NUMISMATIC

NOTES

AND MONOGRAPHS

Number

87



4/19

Numismatic

otes

and Monographs

is

devoted

o

essays

nd

treatises

n

sub-

jects

relating

to

coins

paper

money

medals

and decorations

nd is

uniform

with

Hispanic

Notes

and

Monographs

published

by

the

Hispanic

Society

of

America

nd

with Indian

Notes and

Monographs

ssued

y

the

Museum

f the

American

ndian

Heye

Foundation.

Publication

Committee

Agnes

Baldwin

Brett

Chairman

Stephen

H.

P.

Pell

Thomas .

Mabbott

Editorial

Staff

Sydney

hilip

Noe

Editor

Sawyer

McA.

Mosser

Associateditor



5/19

COPYRIGHT

939

Y

THE

MERICAN

UMISMATIC

OCIETY

THE

NTELLIGENCER

RINTINGO.

LANCASTER

A.



6/19


7/19

Obverse

nd Reverse

f

ByzantineWeight

from he Collectionof

E

T

Newell



8/19


9/19

A BYZANTINE

WEIGHT

VALIDATED

BY

AL-WALÍD

By GeorgeC. Miles

The

names of the

Umayyad

Caliphs

Abd

al-

ivi lik nd his

on, l-Walld,

re ssociated

ot

nly

with he

pread

f

slameast

and

west

by

force

f

arms

ut also

with he

nternal

evelopment

f

the

state

and the

pursuits

f

peace.

'Abd al-Malik

especially

s credited

with

significant

eforms

n

administration,

nd under

l-Walīd

hese

reforms

were

ontinued

nd extended.

Two

innovationsf

a

nationalist

haracter

ntroduced

uring

he

period

of Abd l-Malik's ule 65-86A. H./685-705. D.)

are well-known:

he creation

f

a

purely

Arab

coinage

o

supplant

he mitative

yzantine-Arab

and

Sasanian-Arab

ssues, nd,

venmore

mportant,

the

change

of

the

language

n whichthe

state

registers

ere

kept

from

ersian

nd

Greek

nd

Coptic

o

Arabic.

In

the

matter

f the

coinage,

both historical

tradition

nd

archaeological

vidence

that

s,

the

coins

themselves)

re

in

agreement

hat the re-

formedoinagewas introducedetween 5and 77A.

H.;

thereafterhe ld makeshift

yzantine

ypes

for

he

dinar

nd

fais

n the

West

nd

the

dapted

Sasanian

irham

n

the

East

(except

n

Tabaristān)

were

bandoned.

The

change

was

not

a

difficult

oneto

effect:he

Christian

nd Zoroastrian

nsignia

together

ith he

mperial yzantine

nd Persian

portraits

ere

liminated,

nd

the rea

occupied

y

1



10/19

2 A

BYZANTINE

WEIGHT

these

figures

n the

mitation

oinage

was utilized

for Islamic

inscriptions,

hile

marginal egends

were dded

to

record he

date, nd,

n

the

case

of

the dirhamthe mint s well. The standardsnd

weights

emained

ssentially

he

same.

But

the

linguistic

eformn

the

diwanwas a farmore om-

plicated

nd troublesomeffair.

The new

order

could not

be

introduced

ver

night.

Even

in the

great

ities,

ecretaries hocouldwrite rabic

ad

to be trained

n

thewhole

omplex

usiness

f ad-

ministration

nd the

keeping

f the state

records

(matters

bout

which heArabsknew

ery

ittle

t

that

earlyperiod),

while n most f the

provinces

Arabicwas stillvirtually foreignanguage. It is

not

surprising

hatthe

reformrdered

y

Abd

al-

Malik and

naively

eported y

the historians

n

terms

mplying

hatthe

change

was an immediate

fait

ccompli,

as rather

gradual

rocess

arried

on

during

herest f that

Caliph's

ife nd

brought

to

completionnly

n

the

years

f al-Walïd's

eign

(86-96

A. H.

/705-

15

A.

D.),

or,

in

some

areas,

even

ater.1

1

The

year

1A. H.

s

usually

iven

s

the ate f Abd l-

Malik's

rder

ffecting

he

hange

rom

reeko

Arabic

n

Syria

(BalSdhuri,

utūķ

l-Buldän,

d. e

Goeje,

g.

93

»

ransi.,

. K.

Hitti,he riginsf heslamictate,.Y„ 1916,g. 01;Mä-

wardi,

itäb

l-Ahkām

l-Sulļānīyah,

d.

Enger,

onn,853,

p.

349-350).

he

hange

rom

ersian

o

Arabic

n

l-'Iräq

nd

he

eastern

rovinces

nder

l-Hajjäj

ay

ave

een

arlier. l-

Jahshiyäri

nhisKitäbl-Wuzarä'

o'l-Kuttäb

ed.

n

facsimile,

Hans .

Mžik,

ibliothekrabischer

istoriker

nd

Geographen,

Leipzig,

926,

ol.

7a)

ives

specific

ate,

8

A.

H.,

whilehe

other

istorians

onot ate

he

vent

xactly

ut onnect

t

with

the

eath

f

he

amous

ecretary,

SdhSnfarrQkh,

n82

or

83

(BalSdhuri,

ext,

p.

00-301

*

ransi.,

p. 65-466;

bn-KhaldQn,



11/19

A

BYZANTINE

WEIGHT

3

From the collection f

Mr. EdwardT. Newell

comes remarkable

ouvenir

f

these imes

f ad-

ministrative

djustment,Byzantine

ronze

eight

inscribed ithwhatmight ecalled validationy

the

Caliph

l-Walīd. Mr.

Newellhas

kindly

er-

mittedme to

study

nd

publish

his

nteresting

piece;

for his

privilege

nd for

many

ther avours

I am

most

rateful

o him.

The

weight

s

a

circular

disk

diameter,

5.5

mm;

hickness,

mm)

with

two-grooved

ooled

profile,

he

piece having

een

turned n

a

lathe,

he

traces f the ive and

dead

centers

fwhich

re evident

n

slight

epressions

t

the exact center

f

the obverse nd

reverse. On

theobverse, ithin borderonsistingfrecurrent

semicircles

earing

ots

withinnd

at the

points

f

junction

f

the

semicircles,

s

a Greek

ross

the

horizontal

rm

patté);

nd,

left

nd

right

espect-

ively,

he etters and

B,

i.

e.,

oô-fxíoci

úo,

r two

ounces.

Border nd area are each enclosed

by

slightly

aised

idges,

nd

n

the enters

a

lowboss

bearing

he

mprint

f the athe

pindle.

Around

the

periphery

f the smooth

ndecorated

everse

runs

deep,

clearly

ncisedArabic

nscription

n

Muqaddamah,d.Quatremèie,oticest xtraitsvol. 7, 858,.

18;

ee

aetani,

hronographia

slamica

I4,

g.

89,

orhe ate

of ādhānfarrūkh's

eath).

M.

prengling,

n

polemic

rticle

n

whichew

rabists,

iving

r

dead,

ome ff

nscathed,

rgues

quite

onvincingly

orhe 8date f

l-Jahshiyāri;

he

anguage

reformas

robably

nitiated

uring

ādhānfarrūkh's

ifetime,

while

ālih

.

Abd

l-Rahmān

as is

ecretary

From

ersian

o

Arabic,

nAmericanournal

f

emitic

anguages

nd iteratures

Vol.

VI,

April,

939,

p.

90, 95,

11).

For

he

hange

rom

Coptic

ndGreeko

Arabicn

Egypt,

ee

elow.



12/19

4 A

BYZANTINE

WEIGHT

plain

Kufic

characters:

*X)'

jJj}'

JJI

Ac-

ross hecenter,nslightlyargeretters,he nscrip-tionis

completed

iththe words:

'y«*'

The

egend

an

be translated:

In

the

name f

God;

Muhammad

s

the

Messenger

f

God;

Equity

s

God's.

This

is

[a weight]

f

two

ounces

which

1

Abdullāh

l-Walïd,2

ommander

f the

Faithful,

has

established.

There

re

several

rrors

n

gram-

mar:

the

demonstrative

nd

relative

ronouns

o

not

agree

n

gender,

he

denomination

s in the

wrong

ase,

nd

the

principal

tatement

s

faulty

n

that

heverb

hould

e followed

y

a

personal

ro-

noun,but thesentences neverthelesscceptable

and there

s no

question

f

the

authenticity

f the

colloquial

phraseology

r

of the

epigraphy.

Al-

Wafāf

ïllâhi

or amara1

lāhu

bťl-wafďi

s found

quite

commonly

n

Umayyad

opper

coins

and

glass

weights. Wuqlyatayn

s of course

he

oblique

dual

of

wuqîyah,

erived

rom

he Greek

úyxřa,

n

turn

from

atin

uncia.

The

form

qïyah

*-*?•)

is

actually

referred

n dictionaries

nd

in

modern

speech,

ut the

word

s

invariably

pelledwuqîyah

on the

glassweights,

nd

thisform s

given

s

a

colloquiallternatey exicographers.3

«

Abdullah,

s titleorne

y

ll

he

aliphs,

s n

he rue

ense

Servant

f

God.

thinkhat

herean

eno

doubt

hat

l-

Walïd

,

not

l-Walid

I,

who

uled

or

nly

little

ore

han

year125-126

.

H.

743-744

.

D.)

s

he

aliph

n

uestion.

he

discussion

elowhould

end

o

orroborate

he orrectnessf his

assumption.

*

E.

g.,

äj

l-'

rils,

,

pp.

96-397.



13/19

A BYZANTINE

WEIGHT

5

Although

he

inscription

tates that al-Walld

established

literally

created )

his

weight,

t

is

evident that

the

Arabic sentence s

essentially

merely translationf theGreek twoounces n

the

bverse,

nd we have

here

simple

onfirmation

or

validation

f

an

already xisting

weight

nd

standard.

The Arabic

tatement,hen,

erves o

informhe

Arabic-reading

erchantnd customer

that

the

weight

s that

of two

ounces,

nd also

to

makeknown

hefact

hat he

highest

uthority

n

theState

pronounces

he

Arabic

Islamic)

wuqîyah

to be

the

egal

equivalent

f the

Byzantine

Chris-

tian)

ounce.

According

o Sir

Flinders

etrie,4

he

Roman ibra and ts twelfthart, heuncia isde-

rived

rom

heEtruscan

ound,

which,

n

turn,

as

based n

the

Aeginetan

tandard

f

12.88

rams

the

pound

=

25

X

12.88),

n

origin

he

Egyptian eqa

of 12.96

rams.

In

actual

practice

he

uncia

varied

considerably

t differentimes

and in

different

areas,

anging

rom 5.46

grams

n the

tandard

f

six

Attic rachmae

o 28.20

the

Phoenician

tater).

Mr.

Newell's

weight

ow

weighs

2.15

rams;

t

has

lost

little,

robably

ot

more

han

gram, hrough

wear,

light

carring

f

he

aised bverse

dges,

nd

the ncisingf theArabic nscription.fwe arbi-

trarily

llow

gram

or oss f

weight

nd

a

fraction

ofa

gram

or

riginal eficiency

e would

rrive t

a

figure

f

pproximately

6.80

rams

or he

riginal

ounce

n this

ase,

which

would

all n

with wo

of

4

Measures

nd

Weights

London,934,

p.

0-21,

nd

Ancient

Weights

ndMesaures

British

chool

f

Archaeology

n

Egypt,

vol.

9),

ondon,

926,

g.

5.



14/19

6 A BYZANTINE

WEIGHT

Petrie'

hypothetical

roups

f

uncia

weights,

hose

of the aurei and solidi and

of the

Roman trade

standard,

xtending

rom

11-422

grains

26.63-

27.34 grams).5 The presentweights f similar

pieces

f

circular orm

ublished

y

Petrie or

Uni-

versity

ollege,

ondon,

ary,

when

educed o

the

one uncia

unit,

rom

5.53to

27.73

grams,

wide

range

whichs more

robably

ue to errornd wear

than to

a

diversity

f

standards. Four

circular

pieces

three

f one uncia and one of

three)

n

the

BritishMuseum

published

y

Dalton6

how

26.15

to 26.70

grams

or heuncia

unit.

Although

have

chosen

he

circular

ieces

s

comparative

aterial,

it s very oubtfulhat he hape f theweightan

be taken s a criterionf basic

standard,

ince

he

style

f

decoration

nd

epigraphy

s

the

same

on

numerous

yzantine

ncia and

nomisma

weights

regardless

f

shape,

which s

sometimes

ircular,

sometimes

quare,

ometimes

olygonal.

With

regard

o

the

weight

f

the

Umayyad

wuqîyah

r

ūqīyaĶ

we havetwo

ources

f

nforma-

tion the ccounts f

Arabhistoriansho

ouched

n

metrology,

nd the

glass

coin

weights

hat

have

survived nd are

preserved

n

museums

r

private

collections. he immenseuantity fmaterialn

6

Petrie,

ncient

eights

nd

Measures,

g.

6 nd

lates

LVI,

LU.

nd 1II.

•

O.

M.

Dalton,

atalogue

f

arly

hristian

ntiquities,

tc.,

London,

901,

p.

5-96

nos. 60, 64, 65,

78).

No. 78

s

illustratednd as

profile

imilar

o he

eight

nder

iscussion.

Otherllustrations

f

Byzantine

ncia

ungia)

f his orm

re

o

befound

n

Petrie,

p.

it.,

lates

IV-XV,

otably

os.

310,

5319,

nd

376,

nd

late

VI,

n

the

ray

f

he

emarkably

preserved

ox

f

weights.



15/19

A BYZANTINE

WEIGHT

7

Arab

metrology

rom rabic

ources

athered ears

ago

by

H.

Sauvaire7 emonstrated

factwhichs in

no

way

surprising,

hat

n

the

matter f

weight

standardsherewasa great ivergencehroughout

the

ges

nd

n

different

arts

f

the

Muslimworld.

However,

everal acts

which oncern s are almost

universally

greed

upon:

in

early

timesthe rati

{libra)

was made

up

of

welve

uqîyahs

unciae

-

so

also

generally

oday

and the

wuqîyah,

lthough

t

varied

normously,

as

more ften han not the

equivalent

f about

seven

mithqals

r ten dirhams.

The

weight

f

thedirham

as to the

mithqãl

s 7 is

to

10;

and the

mithqãl

as

equivalent

o the

egal

dīnār . e.,4.25grams.8 heresultantiguref2.97

grams

orthe

dirham

greesquite

well

with the

weight

f

ctual

dirhams

nd the

glass

oin

weights;

but

our

two-wuqîyah

iece

s

obviously

uch nder

weight

f

we

accept

he

tandard

f 1

wuqîyah

10

dirhams

approximately

9.70

grams.

Also the

ratiwas

generally

28

4/7

irhams

9

gain

too

high

for he

present

iece.

Turning

o the

glass

weights,

which hould e

more

eliable,

etrie as

attempted

7

Matériaux

our

ervir

V

istoiree

a

numismatique

tde a

métrologieusulmanesinJournalsiatique,thnd th eries.See speciallyorhe uqlyah8theries,ol. , 884,p. 80-397,

and

ol.

,

pp.

01-304.

8

auvaire

op.

it.,

th

eries,

ol.

,

pp.

39-440)

asmistaken

in

ccepting

he

irham

eight

f

he

gyptian

ommissionf

1845

3.0898rams)

sthe

eight

f

he

oin,

nd husnvalidated

all

f is

alculations

cf.

.

von

ambaur

n

he

ncyclopaedia

f

Isiàm,

. v.

Dirham).

ee

lso . v.

Bergmann,

ieNominale

er

Münzreform

er

halifen

bdulmelik,

n

itzungsberichte

er

hil.-

hist.lasse

er .Ak. er

W/ss.,ien,

ol.

5,

870,

p.

39-266.

•Sauvaire,

p.

it.,

th

eries,

ol.

,

pp.

07-316.



16/19

8

A

BYZANTINE

WEIGHT

to

show10

hat,

s

with he

Roman ncia nd

Byzan-

tine

ungia

there

were everal

wuqïyah

tandards

influenced

y

various

ocal

metrologicaleritages.

Theonly ieces hat hould omento onsideration

in the

present

ase are

the

early,

ompletely

re-

served

lass

weights

marked

ith he

word

wuqïyah

or its

fractions.11

hilethere

re

some

amazing

divergences

n

the

weights

f

the

known

pecimens,

it

appears

that

the

wuqïyah

nit was

around31

grams there

re too

fewwell

preserved

ieces

o

warrant he

quoting

f

a

more

xact

figure).

This,

as

Petrie

points

ut,

s

far

higher

han the

usual

Roman

uncia

but

therewas

a

specially

heavy

varietynEgypt,nfluencedybeingnoctodrachmofthePtolemaic rAlexandrian

ystem. 12

ome

10

ir

linders

etrie,

lass

tamps

nd

Weights

British

chool

of

Archaeology

n

Egypt,

ol.

0), ondon,

926,

g.

3 nd

late

XXVI.His

alculationsre

erhaps

oo

efined,

onsidering

he

relative

carcity

f

material

earingirectly

n

he

wuqïyah,

nd

the eferences

n

he

wuqïyah

ablesre

onfusing,

f

notncorrect

in

ome

articulars.

»

The

ollowing

uqïyahlass eights

re

nown

o

me:

tanley

Lane-Poole,

atalogue

f

Arabic

lass

Weights

n he

ritish

u-

seum,ondon,

891,

os.

8, 7G,

5;

auvaire,

p.

it.,

th

eries,

Vol.

,

pg.

97

cf.

.

T.

Rogers,

lasss

Material

or

tandard

Coin

Weights,

n

Numismatic

hronicle,

873,

g.

8);

.

Casanova,

Catalogue

es

pièces

e

verre

.. de

a

collection

ouquet

(Mémoires. . de aMissionrchéologiquerançaiseuCaire,

Vol.

I,

e

ascicule),

aris,893,

g.

85

four

pecimens);

etrie,

Glass

tamps

nd

Weights,

os.

54-256;

nd

our

pecimens

n

he

Museumf

he

merican

umismatic

ociety,

ew

ork.

have

not

een

note

escribing

20

wuqïyahlass

eight

n

Annales

e

l'Institut

'Études

rientales

e

a

Faculté

es

ettres

e

'Université

d'Alger

Vol.

ll,

pp.

-18.

12

lass

tamps

nd

Weights,

.

10. The

ange

f

wuqiyahs

according

o

Petrie's

alculationss for

he

most

art

etween

roughly

8K

nd 1

grams.



17/19

A BYZANTINE

WEIGHT

9

Arabic

ronze

uninscribed) weights

isted ut

not

described

n

full

by

Petrie all ntoa lower

ange

around

6

grams,

nd

these,

n his

pinion,

epresent

a continuationfthe Roman nciastandard; ut

they

re

the

exception

ather han

the

rule.

It

appears

then

that

in

general

he

Arabicwritten

authoritiesnd

the

glassweights

re

in

quite

fair

conformity,

nd

we

must raw

he conclusionhat

the

wuqîyah

alidated

y

al-Walīd

s attested

y

Mr. Newell's

weight

as

notthe

ounce

epresented

by

the

glass

weights.

It remainso

make few emarksbout hedate

and

probable lace

of manufacture

f

the

weight

under iscussion.Mr.Newell oesnotrecallwhere

he

acquired

he

piece.

Even

f

hiswere

nown,

he

inferencehat he

place

f

purchase

ere he

ame

s

the

place

f

origin

ould

ot

be

ustifiable,

owever

plausible.

n all

probability

he

riginal

rovenance

ofthe

weight

s

Egypt,

lthough

heres

no conclu-

sive evidence hat it

may

not

have been

Syria.

Weights

fthis

ype

re

usually

ssigned

o

the5th

or 6th

Centuries;

he

presence

f theGreek

ross

n

itself

recludes

n

earlier

ating.

In this

articular

instancet

is

unlikely

hatthe

official

ho

caused

al-Walîd'sname and order o be inscribed ould

have hosen

weight

more

han,

ay,

fifty

ears

ld

if this

ssumption

s

correct,

e can

then

ostulate

themiddle

th

Century

s

the

pproximate

ate

of

the

manufacture

f the

piece.

Or,

f t

be

objected

that

he

weight

as

probably

adebeforehe

Arab

conquest

Syria

n

635,

Egypt

n

641),

we

may

t

least

ropose

he

irst

uarter

f he

7th

entury

s

a



18/19

10

A

BYZANTINE

WEIGHT

terminus

quo

In

any

case there

s a

strong

ikeli-

hood

hat

his

weight

s

to

be

placed

ater

han he

date

usually

ssigned

o

similar

ieces.

As for he

date of theArabicvalidation,t clearlymustfall

between 6

and

96

A.

H.

(705-715

A.

D.),

the

years

of

al-Walïd's

eign.

Several

glass stamps

arlier

than his re

known,

ut theearliest

lass

weights

were ssued

when

Usāmah b.

Zayd

was

Finance

Minister

n

Egypt;

one

is

dated

n the

year

96.13

This

weight,

herefore,

s

an

Arab

weight, roviding

it were

not

engraved

n

the ast

year

of

al-Walïd's

reign,

ntedates he

earliest

nown

lass weights,

and

s of

bout

qual

date with he

very

nteresting

bronzeweightssuedbyal-Hajjāj andpublishedfew

years

go by

Mr.

John

Walker.14

f

Egypt

be

the

provenance

f

our

piece,

we

may

assume

hat

the fficial

ho

gave

he rder o nscribehe

weight

was

Qurrah

.

Sharlk,

Governorf

Egypt

from 0

to 96

A.

H.,

a

manof

considerablealent

whowas

appointed y

al-Walïd

o

carry

ut the

new

dmin-

istrative

eforms

n

that

province,

nd who

s

known

to

us not

nly

n the

histories

ut lso

throughlass

stamps

nd certain

apyri.15

We

have it on

the

15

. T.

Rogers,

npublished

lass

Weights

nd

Measures,

n

J.R.A.S.,N.S.,Vol. ,pg. 07.Cf. etrie,lasstampsnd

Weights,

g.

.

14

.

Walker,

ome

ecentrientaloin

Acquisitions

f

the

British

useum,

n

Numismatic

hronicle

1935,

p.

246-248.

This

weight

s inscribed:

j-j

A*-«

0/Ä4

L

t

. e. six

mithqãls.

15

.H.

Becker,

apyrichott-Reinhardt,

(Vol.

ll of

Veröffent-

lichungen

usder

Heidelberger

apyrus-Sammlung),eidelberg,

t906.

H.

Lammens

as

ontributed

monograph

n

Qurrah:



19/19

A BYZANTINE

WEIGHT

11

authority

f al-Kindi16hat heorderwas

given

o

change

he

records

n

Egypt

ntoArabic

n

the

year

87,

early

n

al-Walld's

reign.

As elsewhere

he

changewasaccomplishednly radually;hepapyri

demonstratehat here as

official

ilingualism

nto

the

beginning

f

the 2nd

Century

f the

Hijrah.17

There re Greek-

rabic

dicts ated

87,

91,

nd

101

A.

H.,

and Greek nd

Coptic

were sed

n

theout-

lying

rovinces

ntilmuch ater.

This

weight,

hen,

with

ts 'nationalistic'

Arabic

inscription,

atable

bout

90

A. H.

/708-709

.

D.,

is an

interesting

nd valuable ocument

eflecting

general

endency

nd

the

specific

eforms hich

werebeing ntroduced hile the great Umayyad

period

was

at

its

highest

evel.

UnGouverneur

mayyade'ÊgyPle

Qorra

bn

arík,

'après

es

papyrus

rabes

in

Études

ur

eSièclees

mayyades,

eyrouth,

1930,

p.

05-323.

16

d.

Rhuvon

uest,

he

overnors

nd

udges

f gypt,

.

J.

W.Gibb

emorial

eries,

ol.

IX,

eyden,

912,

p.

8-59.

17

ecker,

p.

it.,

p.

7-29. f.Walther

jörkman,eiträge

zur

eschichteer taatskanzlei

m

slamischen

gypten,

amburg,

1928,

p.

-3.

A Byzantine weight validated by Al-Walid / by George C. Miles

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Transcript of A Byzantine weight validated by Al-Walid / by George C. Miles