Anatolia & al-Jazira (Post-Seljuk). Artuqids (Mardin). Najm al-Din Alpi, AH 547-572 / AD 1152-1176. Dirham (Bronze, 33 mm, 14.75 g, 3 h), Pictorial type with two long-haired busts facing, without mint and date. Diademed and draped male busts facing one another; above, Najm al-Dīn; below, malik Diyārbakr (‘King of Diyarbakr’ in Arabic); tamgha to lower left.. Rev. On left, Byzantine emperor standing facing, wearing crown and loros, holding globus cruciger; on right, the Virgin (Theotokos) standing facing, crowning the emperor; around, genealogy of Alpi in Arabic as: Abū al-Muẓaffar Alpī / Timurtāsh ibn Īl Ghāzī / ibn / Artuq. Album 1827.3. Spengler & Sayles 28. Whelan Type II. An attractive and well-centered example of this highly popular and visually distinctive type. Minor marks, deposits and a small crack on the edge, otherwise, good very fine.


The bronze dirhams of Najm al-Dīn Alpī are among the most distinctive issues of the Artuqids, notable for their extensive use of figural imagery drawn from earlier Mediterranean traditions. The obverse, showing two confronted busts in a Hellenistic style, ultimately derives from Seleucid prototypes, though here adapted into a simplified and more schematic form.

The reverse type is based on Byzantine coinage, most closely related to issues of emperors such as Romanos III, depicting the ruler being crowned by the Virgin. Its appearance on Artuqid coinage illustrates the continued circulation and visual influence of Byzantine models in northern Mesopotamia during the 12th century, even under Islamic rule.

Rather than representing direct copying, these designs reflect a process of adaptation in which established motifs were reused within a new political and cultural context. The combination of classical-style portraiture on the obverse and a Byzantine imperial scene on the reverse makes this type particularly appealing to collectors. Well-centered examples with strong detail and attractive patina, such as the present piece, are especially desirable, as many specimens are weakly struck.