Egypt & Syria (Pre-Fatimid). Tulunids. Khumarawaih, AH 270-282 / AD 884-896. Dinar (Gold, 22 mm, 4.36 g, 6 h), citing the ʿAbbāsid caliph al-Muʿtamid ʿalā Allāh and his first heir al-Mufawwiḍ ilā Allāh, Hims, AH 274 = AD 887/8. Central field, in four lines: lā ilāha illā / Allāh waḥdahū / lā sharīka lahū / al-Mufawwiḍ ilā Allāh (‘There is no deity but God alone; He has no associate / al-Mufawwiḍ ilā Allāh’ in Arabic). Inner margin: bi-sm Allāh ḍuriba hādhā al-dīnār bi-Ḥimṣ sanat arbaʿ wa-sabʿīn wa-miʾatayn (‘In the name of God, this dinar was struck in Ḥimṣ in the year two hundred and seventy-four’ in Arabic). Outer margin (Qurʾān 30:4-5): li-llāh al-amr min qabl wa-min baʿd wa-yawmaʾidhin yafraḥ al-muʾminūn bi-naṣr Allāh (‘To God belongs the command before and after, and on that day the believers will rejoice in the help of God’ in Arabic). Rev. Central field, in six lines: li-llāh / Muḥammad / rasūl / Allāh / al-Muʿtamid ʿalā Allāh / Khumārawayh ibn Aḥmad (‘For God / Muḥammad / Messenger / of God / al-Muʿtamid ʿalā Allāh / Khumārawayh son of Aḥmad’ in Arabic). Margin (Qurʾān 9:33): Muḥammad rasūl Allāh arsalahu bi-l-hudā wa-dīn al-ḥaqq li-yuẓhirahu ʿalā al-dīn kullihi wa-law kariha al-mushrikūn (‘Muḥammad is the Messenger of God, whom He sent with guidance and the religion of truth to make it prevail over all religion, even though the polytheists may dislike it’ in Arabic). Album 664. Bernardi 2611 Gd. Grabar 28. Extremely rare. Minor marks and areas of weakness, otherwise, nearly extremely fine.



The Ṭūlūnids were the first effectively independent dynasty to rule Egypt and Syria after the ʿAbbāsid conquest, while still maintaining formal acknowledgement of the ʿAbbāsid caliphate. Khumārawayh ibn Aḥmad, son and successor of Aḥmad ibn Ṭūlūn, inherited a powerful regional state extending from Egypt into Syria and continued to issue gold dinars in a format closely tied to ʿAbbāsid epigraphic practice.

This issue cites the ʿAbbāsid caliph al-Muʿtamid ʿalā Allāh and his first heir al-Mufawwiḍ ilā Allāh, while also naming Khumārawayh ibn Aḥmad. The arrangement expresses the layered political reality of the period: formal caliphal legitimacy, recognition of the ʿAbbāsid succession, and the practical authority of the Ṭūlūnid ruler in Egypt and Syria. The mint of Ḥimṣ is rare for Ṭūlūnid gold.