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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Parthicus, post: 2879634, member: 81887&quot;]I recently bought this coin from Warren Esty ([USER=44316]@Valentinian[/USER]):</p><p>[ATTACH=full]689886[/ATTACH] </p><p>Zengids of Halab (Aleppo).&nbsp; Nur ad-Din Mahmud b. Zengi (ruled 541-569 AH/ 1146-1174 AD).&nbsp; AE fals.&nbsp; Obverse: Two Byzantine-style figures standing, between them a labarum on three steps, blundered pseudo-Greek inscription around edges, Arabic inscription in two lines in middle &quot;al-Adil/ Nur ad-Din&quot; (The Just/ Light of the Faith).&nbsp; Reverse: Figure of Christ standing, with halo, holding Gospel book in left hand, blundered pseudo-Greek inscription along edges, Arabic inscription in two lines along middle &quot;Malik al-umara/ Mahmud&quot; (King of the Commanders/ Mahmud), upside-down Greek letters IC XC (abbreviation for &quot;Jesus Christ&quot;) to left and right of standing Christ.&nbsp; Album 1850, Spengler/Sayles type 73.</p><p><br /></p><p>This coin is part of the Turkoman figural bronze series, issued by the Artuqids, Zengids, and a few other Turkish dynasties that, unusually for Islamic coins, featured pictorial designs,often including human figures.&nbsp; Some of these were copied from contemporary Byzantine coins, while others copy much older Greek, Roman or Sasanian coins, and some feature entirely novel designs.&nbsp; This coin seems to copy a Byzantine coin of Constantine X (1059-1067 AD).&nbsp; There has been some de-Christianizing of the design- a cross inside Christ&#039;s halo was removed in the copying- but otherwise the figures are copied fairly accurately.&nbsp; The Greek legends are also completely degraded, probably deliberately to erase the names and titles of their Byzantine enemies.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Nur ad-Din was an energetic ruler, defender of the Muslim faith and enemy of the Crusaders.&nbsp; He conquered most of the territory around Antioch and successfully repulsed an attempt by the Crusaders to retake Edessa.&nbsp; In 1149 he killed Raymond of Poitiers and sent his head to the caliph in Baghdad.&nbsp; However, Nur ad-Din was not averse to diplomacy with the Christians, and in 1159 made an agreement with the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus to fight against the Seljuks.&nbsp; Nur ad-Din was also able to unite all of Syria and northern Iraq under his control, and then conquered Egypt from the Fatimids.&nbsp; However, his governor in Egypt, An-Nasir Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, better known as Saladin, had no intention of remaining subordinate, and in 1171 and 1173 refused to send troops to help the invasion of Jerusalem.&nbsp;&nbsp; A showdown seemed inevitable, but Nur ad-Din died in 1174, leaving a weak successor and paving the way for the most famous opponent of the Crusaders. </p><p><br /></p><p>This is an interesting coin historically, and part of a fascinating series.&nbsp; Anyone interested in these coins really needs to buy the standard reference, &quot;Turkoman Figural Bronze Coins and Their Iconography&quot; by William F. Spengler and Wayne G. Sayles (2 volumes- Volume I: The Artuqids, Volume II: The Zengids).&nbsp; It is packed with historical detail, art historical analysis, and full transcriptions of all legends (which is a useful feature for those of us whose Arabic is somewhere between &quot;poor&quot; and &quot;nonexistent&quot;).&nbsp; Post your relevant coins here.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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