ISLAMIC, Anatolia & al-Jazira (Post-Mongol). Eretnids, AH 736-782 = AD 1336-1381. Weight (Bronze, 72x100 mm, 802.00 g), a trapezoid uniface commercial weight. lil-Aratnā[...] ('For the Eretnid [territory?]') Eretnid double-headed eagle above an intricate design of volutes ending in fabulous creatures. Rev. Blank. Unique. An exceptionally large and impressive Islamic weight. Minor deposits, otherwise, good very fine.


The Eretnids were an Islamic dynasty established in central and eastern Asia Minor by an Ilkhanid officer of Uyghur origin, ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn Eretna. Initially serving as the Ilkhanid Viceroy of Anatolia, Eretna declared his full independence following an unexpected victory against Mongol warlords in AH 743/4 = AD 1343. A competent and enlightened ruler, he was nicknamed Köse Peyghamber ('the beardless prophet') by his subjects and controlled much of central and eastern Asia Minor in his heyday. With his death in AH 753 = AD 1352, the Eretnid sultanate gradually disintegrated, and the last sultan of the dynasty, the seven-year-old Muḥammad II Chelebī, was deposed by his vizier Kadi Burhan al-Din in AH 782 = AD 1381 and killed ten years later. Despite its historical importance as a temporary pillar of stability during a time of turmoil in Asia Minor, few architectural and historiographical evidence of Eretnid rule remains today, making the discovery of this extremely impressive and exceptionally large weight all the more exciting.