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298 a Note on Al-Maqr Z 'S Remarks Regarding The 298 A NOTE ON AL-MAQR�Z�'S REMARKS REGARDING THE SILVER COINAGE OF BAYBARS In his discussion of the quality of the silver coinage of Baybars I, al-Maqrizi (1364-1422 A.D.), the chief authority of medieval Egyptian coinage, stated that: "Al-Malik al-Zdhir Rukn al-Din Baybars I, who was one of the greatest kings in Islamic history and whose biography should be known to every king, struck the Zdhirl dirhams, making each one hundred dirhams consist of 70 dirhams of pure silver and 30 dirhams of pure copper, and engraved his blason, the lion, on the dirhams. From then on the Kamili and the Zdhiri dirhams continued to circulate in Egypt and Syria until they deteriorated in A.H. 781 due to the introduction of the Hamawi dirhams, which caused much trouble for the population; this took place under Zahir Barquq before he became A. Ehrenkreutz, in his article "Contribution to the Knowledge of the Fiscal Administration of Egypt in the Middle Ages"2), also adduced al-Maqrizi's report regarding the standard of fineness of the early Mamluk dirhams. His conclusions were based, on the one hand, on exchange rate data and, on the other hand, on the information obtained from Sauvaire3). Likewise, modern numismatists and monetary historians including P. Balog4) and J. Bacharachl) have corroborated Ehrenkreutz's viewpoint in their investigations; thereby supporting al-Maqrizi's report. New numismatic evidence also supports al-Maqrizi's assertion. This new evidence is based on the results of the neutron activation analysis of the standard of fineness of a large number of early Mamluk silver coins from the Karak Hoard. The analysis of the contents of the hoard was performed by Professor A. Gordus and his laboratory team at the University of Michigan. Description of the Hoard An impressive hoard of Mamluk coinage was accidentally unearthed in April of 1963 near the tower of al-Sultdn Zdhir Baybars I at the site of the citadel of the city of Karak in southern Jordan. Workers who were digging the foundation for a new hospital discovered an earthenware pot containing the hoard. It was then 299 transferred intact to the numismatic collection of the Department of Antiquities of the Jordanian Archeological Museum in Amman. Fourteen hundred and fifty two coins have been identified, the majority of these being full dirhams and the balance being half and quarter dirhams. All of the coins were issued during a relatively short time span, 39 years. The earliest ones were struck by Qutuz, the early Mamluk sultan, who came to power in 657 A.H./1257 A.D., and the latest were struck by Kitbugha who was deposed in 696 A.H./1296 A.D. The presence of only one coin of 696 A. H. suggests that the hoard was aban- doned in that year. The bulk of the hoard belongs to the reigns of sultans Baybars I and Qalawun, and there is a comparative paucity of coins minted under their suc- cessors. The overwhelming majority of the body of the hoard comes from the mints of Cairo and Damascus. A number of the specimens were also produced in Hamah of northern Syria, and one coin originates from Alexandria. While the Karak hoard is extremely important from a strictly numismatic point of view, it also allows an inquiry into the intrinsic or "economic" quality of its contents. Composition of the Coins A neutron activation analysis of the hoard has revealed that the majority of the coins displays a standard of purity of 65 percent and above. This can be seen in the following tabulation of the distribution of the 1452 coins according to their stan- dard of fineness. Distribution of 1452 Mamluk Coins According to their Standard of Fineness The implication provided by the large number of coins between 65 and 75 per- cent fine is that the minters in Egypt and Syria, being under the same system of administration, used a refining process which allowed them to produce the uniform silver alloy displayed by the Karak hoard6). Examination of the standard of fineness of the coins attributed to sultans Baybars, ?alawun, and Khalil, in whose names the majority of the coins of the hoard was minted, shows that each of these sultans produced coinage largely be- tween 65 and 75 percent fine. The following tables for each of the forenamed sultans show this clearly: .
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