ISLAMIC, Ayyubid, AL-KAMEL MOHAMMAD AL ‘AWWAL IBN AL-’ADIL I MOHAMMAD, 615-635 AH/1218-1238 AD, gold dinar, 4.20 grms, struck at the mint of Al-Kahira (present day Cairo, Egypt) in the year 627 AH; mint and date perfectly legible and both obv/rev margins complete. The legends are in NASKHI script. Al-Kamel struck dinars in Kufic script which are much scarcer than this coin. Obv. : in the field four lines inscriptions : Al-Imam Al-Mansur Abu-Jaafar Al-Mustansir Billah Amir Al-Mu’menin; Margin : Bismillah Al-Rahman Al-Rahim Duriba Haza Al Dinar Bi’l Kahira Sanat Thalathin Wa Suttuma’a. Rev. In the field four lines inscriptions Ayyub/ Al-Malik Al-Kamel Abul Ma’ali Muhammad/ Ibn Abi Bakr Bin (the last line continues with Ayyub in the first line) Marginal inscription Kalima Quraan 9:33. Please note that the Ayyubids retained the Fatimid tradition of citing the Abbassid caliph as spiritual authority (and thus the word Imam on the Obv, as contrasted to the word Malik for King on the rev.) The coin is in VF+/XF condition. This is Album type # 811, Balog (the most important refernce on Ayyubid coinage) # 374, Kazan # 651. Lane-Poole Cairo Khedivial collection # ---- this year missing from the collection. Please check my feedback and bid with CONFIDENCE. As always I fully guarantee both the AUTHENTICITY and ATTRIBUTIONS of my coins. A BEAUTIFUL COIN
WHO ARE THE AYYUBIDS AND WHO IS AL-KAMEL MOHAMMAD I ? The Ayyubids are of Kurdish origins. Ayyub and his brother Shirquah were recruited among others by the Zangui Nur Al-Din. Shirquah gained control over Egypt, and died almost immediately, leaving his nephew Salah El-Din Ibn Ayyub (Saladin) as his successor and soon was recognized by his troops. Saladin (probably the most respected figure of the middle ages by both friends and foes) was the real founder of the Dynasty. With his victory at Hittin in 583 AH/ 1187 AD, the holy city of Jerusalem returned to the Muslims after eight years in Christian hands. He extinguished the last Fatimids of Egypt and replaced the Isma’ili Shiism by a strongly Orthodox Sunni religious and educational policy.
AL-KAMEL MOHAMMAD (this coin) was the nephew of SALADIN. His father is Al-Adil I, Saladin’s brother. The most important and significant HISTORICAL EVENT of his rule is the treaty he signed in Gaza with the Crusaders in 1226 AD. Frederick II Hohenstaufen under pressure by the Pope in Rome and threatened to be excommunicated, was to lead an expedition to free Jerusalem by force. From his part Al-Kamel, threatened by rebelleous relatives in his Syrian territories, was neither willing nor able to defend Jerusalem. He finally signed the treaty giving the crusaders access to the holy city and one or two other towns including Nazareth. From one point of view the summit at Gaza was a remarkable diplomatic achievement (for middle ages standards) where the two superpowers avoided bloodshed and came to a peaceful resolution of the conflict. From another point of view Al-Kamel simply and easily surrendered Jerusalem which just a generation ago his uncle SALADIN conquered by force of arms.

Price: 190.00  1     # ISAV-0727