ISLAMIC, Seljuks. Rum. Ghiyath al-Din Kay Khusraw II, first reign, AH 634-644 / AD 1237-1246. Dirham (Silver, 22 mm, 3.00 g, 12 h), Sivas, AH 638 = AD 1240/1. Lion and sun; citing the ʿAbbasid caliph al-Mustansir billah (AH 623-640 / AD 1226-1242), ‘al-imām al-Mustanṣir billāh amīr al-muʾminīn’ (‘Imam al-Mustansir billah, Commander of the Believers’ in Arabic), all within a dotted circle. Rev. ‘al-sulṭān / al-aʿẓam / Kaykhusraw / ibn Kayqubād’ (‘The supreme sultan Kaykhusraw son of Kayqubad’ in Arabic); around, ‘ḍuriba hādhā al-dirham / bi Sīwās fī / sana thamān thalāthīn / sitta miʾa’ (‘This dirham was struck in Sivas in the year 638’ in Arabic), all within a dotted circle. Album 1218. Darkly toned. Some light nicks and with a few deposits, otherwise, very fine.



The sun face and lion, sometimes depicted alongside other celestial bodies, likely represent the constellation of Leo. An alternative, though not necessarily conflicting, theory suggests that the sun face symbolizes Princess Tamar, the beloved Georgian wife of Kay Khusraw II, while the lion represents the Sultan. This interpretation is based on the writings of Bar Hebraeus (1226–1286), a bishop of the Syriac Orthodox Church, who noted that Kay Khusraw was so enamored with Tamar that he wished to feature her image on his dirhams.