Item number: A1243

Year: AD 1142-1145

Material: Gold

Size: 25.6 x 24.7 mm

Weight: 4.14 g

Provenance: Spink 2024

This is a Dinar gold coin minted during the reign of the Almoravid dynasty, which once spanned the Maghreb region of North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula. It was issued under the rule of Emir Tashfin ibn Ali, who governed from AD 1142 to AD 1145.

The obverse design of the gold coin features two concentric circles, inscribed with a local variant of Arabic Kufic script known as Maghrebi. At the centre is the Shahada, the Islamic declaration of faith: “لا اله الا الله محمد رسول الله” (“There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah”). Below this inscription is the title and name of Emir Tashfin ibn Ali.

The surrounding circular inscription contains a verse from the Qur’an (3:85): “وَمَنۡ يَّبۡتَغِ غَيۡرَ الۡاِسۡلَامِ دِيۡنًا فَلَنۡ يُّقۡبَلَ مِنۡهُ وَهُوَ فِى الۡاٰخِرَةِ مِنَ الۡخٰسِرِيۡنَ” (“And whoever seeks a way other than submission (Islam), it will not be accepted from him, and in the Hereafter, he will be among the losers”).

The reverse side of the coin also features a design of two concentric circles. At the centre, it bears the standard inscriptions found on Almoravid dinars: “الامام” (Al-Imam), “عبد الله” (Abd Allah), and “أمير المؤمنين” (Commander of the Faithful), titles that emphasise the ruler’s religious authority. The outer circular inscription states that the coin was minted in the name of Allah in Aghmat, a significant commercial city of the Berbers in North Africa, and marks the coin’s minting year according to the Islamic Hijri calendar.

The Almoravid dynasty was an Islamic empire established by the Sanhaja Berbers of North Africa in the 11th century. At its peak, the dynasty controlled the Maghreb region of North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula. Due to its dominance over the trans-Saharan gold trade, which linked West Africa with the Mediterranean, the Almoravid dinar became widely accepted in both Europe and the Islamic world.

However, by the time Tashfin ibn Ali ascended the throne in AD 1142, the Almoravid dynasty was facing the rising challenge of the Almohad dynasty, founded by the Masmuda Berbers. In AD 1145, Tashfin ibn Ali was besieged by Almohad forces in Oran, Algeria. While attempting to escape on horseback towards the sea, he fell from a cliff and died. Following his death, internal succession disputes weakened the Almoravids, and in AD 1147, the Almohad dynasty successfully overthrew the Almoravid dynasty.

物件編號: A1243

年代: 公元 1142-1145 年

材質: 黃金

尺寸: 25.6 x 24.7 mm

重量: 4.14

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2024

這是一度橫跨北非馬格里布地區和伊比利亞半島的穆拉比特王朝，在埃米爾塔什芬·本·阿里統治期間(公元1142至1145年)鑄造的第納爾金幣。

金幣正面設計為兩道同心圓，以本土化的阿拉伯庫法書法變體「馬格里布體」，於正中央打印穆斯林熟悉的清真言禱詞「لا اله الا الله محمد رسول الله」即「萬物非主，唯有真主，穆罕默德是真主唯一的使者」，下半段則是塔什芬·本·阿里的埃米爾頭銜和名諱。外圍的環形銘文「وَمَنۡ يَّبۡتَغِ غَيۡرَ الۡاِسۡلَامِ دِيۡنًا فَلَنۡ يُّقۡبَلَ مِنۡهُ  وَهُوَ فِى الۡاٰخِرَةِ مِنَ الۡخٰسِرِيۡنَ」，出自《古蘭經3:85》：「捨伊斯蘭教而尋求別的宗教的人，他所尋求的宗教，絕不被接受，他在後世，是虧折的」。

錢幣背面亦有兩道同心圓設計，中央是穆拉比特王朝第納爾通用的銘文「الامام」(伊瑪目)、「عبد الله」(阿不都阿拉) 和「أمير المؤمنين」(信士的長官)等凸顯統治者宗教權威的頭銜。外圍的銘文則描述這枚錢幣奉真主的名義於阿格馬特，即北非柏柏爾人重要的商業城市鑄造和標示其回曆年份。

穆拉比特王朝為北非的桑哈賈柏柏爾人在公元11世紀建立的伊斯蘭王朝，鼎盛時期控制北非馬格里布地區和伊比利亞半島。由於穆拉比特王朝控制西非和環地中海之間的跨撒哈拉沙漠黃金貿易，使得穆拉比特王朝鑄造的第納爾金幣在歐洲和伊斯蘭世界被廣為接納。然而公元1142年，塔什芬·本·阿里繼承之際，面臨新崛起的馬斯穆達柏柏爾人所創立的穆瓦希德王朝挑戰。公元1145年，塔什芬·本·阿里在阿爾及利亞的瓦赫蘭面臨穆瓦希德軍隊的包圍，在意圖騎馬逃往海上之際墜崖身亡。隨著塔什芬·本·阿里的去世，公元1147年因為內部繼承的紛爭使得穆瓦希德王朝成功消滅穆拉比特王朝。