ISLAMIC, Seljuks. Rum. Ghiyath al-Din Kay Khusraw II, first reign, AH 634-644 / AD 1237-1246. Dirham (Silver, 23 mm, 3.00 g, 12 h), Siwas, AH 638 = AD 1240/1. Lion advancing right; personification of sun above; in field to left, eight-pointed star; below lion, two pellets; around, legend bearing the name of the Abbasid caliph Al-Mustansir bi' Allah, Commander of the Faithful.
Rev. Legend bearing the name and title of Kay Khusraw II; in outer margin, mint and AH date. Broome 270 Dv(iv)a. Izmirlier -. A well struck and lightly toned example. The reverse a bit rough
, otherwise, good very fine.
From the collection of J. Knudsen, formed from the late 1970s to the late 1990s.
The sun face and lion on this coin type, which are sometimes shown together with other celestial bodies, probably represent the constellation of Leo. A different - but not necessarily contradicting - theory interprets the sun face as standing for the famous Georgian princess Tamar, the beloved wife of Kay Khusraw II, while the lion symbolizes the Sultan. This interpretation is based on Bar Hebraeus (1226-1286), a bishop of the Syriac Orthodox Church, who noted that Kay Khusraw was so much in love with Tamar that he expressed the wish to place an image of her on his dirhams.
