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Sylloge Numorum Arabicorum Tübingen
Hamāh [IV Bilad aš-Šām III], by Lorenz Korn. 58 pages, 708 plates, notes, bibliography. Berlin: Ernst Wasmuth
Verlag, 1998. $54.00 (Paper) ISBN 3-8030-1102-7.
Nord- und Ostzentralasien [XV b Mittelasien II], by Tobias Mayer. 78 pages, 616 plates, notes, bibliography. Berlin: Ernst Wasmuth
Verlag, 1998. $65.00 (Paper) ISBN 3-8030-1103-5.
These, the third and fourth volumes to appear in the Sylloge Numorum Arabicorum Tübingen, make a substantial contribution to the study of Islamic coinage. These catalogues describe and illustrate all coin types found in the collection of the “Forschungsstelle für islamische Numismatik” at the Universität Tübingen for the city of H!amāh and those of north and east Central Asia, and give notes on all other relevant published types outside the collection.
The format of the sylloge series arranges the coins by mint rather than by dynasty or government, since mints are more easily and certainly documented and reflect better the circumstances behind the coins' production. The introduction gives an overview of the political and monetary history of the city or region where the
mint(s) was or were located over a span of hundreds of years.The volume
Nord- und Ostzentralasien presents the coins of approximately forty mints. The two volumes then order the coins according to ruler, metal, and date. The metal, die axis, and weight are listed as well as a short description of legends and, where appropriate, iconography (though the sylloge format requires brevity). The provenance of the coin is given to the extent it is known. Citations are provided where a type has been previously published. A somewhat terser description is given with citations to published specimens for types not represented in the collection. The lists of sources used for these citations, if not exhaustive, are nearly so. All coins in the Tübingen collection are illustrated, but no others.
The volume H!amāh gives unparallelled access to the Ayyūbid and Mamlūk coins of this city. It documents dirhams and coppers for the years 572 to ca. 840 H. In addition to the coins of Ayyubids and
Mamluks, it catalogues issues of usurpers and Mongols. It provides a reliable chronology for copper issues throughout this period, largely revising the work of P.
Balog. Die links are noted for both silver and copper issues. Notes on the provenance of the
collection’s dirhams record important information about a hoard of 690 H. recovered in Syria in 1985.
The volume Nord- und Ostzentralasien presents an excellent overview of many poorly documented and difficult series of coins struck between the end of the second and the end of the thirteenth centuries H. For groups such as the
Karakhanids, coins remain the most important source of political and administrative history. Mints are organized alphabetically according to their general name; the sometimes numerous different mint legends for the same mint appear below this heading. Many of the readings and attributions in the catalogue, as well as a large part of its organization, incorporate the work of E. A.
Davidovich, M. M. Fedorov, and B. D. Kochnev.[1] The catalogue points out and corrects many misreadings in E. Zambauer’s
work.[2]
These volumes are indispensable reference works and research tools for numismatists, historians, art historians, and collectors. The quality of the plates is far superior to most numismatic works. In the introductions, Korn and Mayer share many original and important observations from their own research, though their comments are terse and often lack references. Scholars will find here many fruitful lines of inquiry, such as the ninth century H. reforms in Syrian copper, the use of heraldic insignia on Mamluk coins and the steady and profound debasement of dirhams in Central Asia in the later Middle Ages. Published in folio, each volume is presented in a form suited for research and is reasonably priced.
Flaws in the two volumes do not undermine their value. The alphabetical rather than geographical organization of mints in the volume
Nord- und Ostzentralasien is cumbersome. The pagination in its table of contents does not correspond to the pagination of the text. In addition, it would have benefited from a map giving visual clarity to the forty-odd mints it describes. The format of the sylloge series could be improved generally by organizing the coins of each mint by metal and type, and then date. This method of classification would be more consistent with the principles of functionality governing the further organization and description of the coins.
As more catalogues appear in this series, one hopes that they will stimulate specialists and non-specialists in many different fields to use coins as an historical resource.
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