Glass Stamps and Weights by W.M. Flinders Petrie;

Author:W.M. Flinders Petrie;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY / Ancient / Egypt
Publisher: Casemate Publishers & Book Distributors, LLC
Published: 2023-04-29T00:00:00+00:00

7. FATIMITE ARABIC WEIGHTS

ALTHOUGH the weights of the previous periods bear the clearest statements that they are for dinars, dirhems, and other quantities, yet there has been a curious reluctance to allow this to have been the purpose of the later weights. Casanova states (p. 354) “il est peu vraisemblable, en l’absence d’une mention précise, d’y voir des poids du genre des pièces examinées plus haut,” that is the pre-Fatimite. Somewhat of the same reluctance appears in the British Museum catalogue, p. 83, where of the private issues it is said “The metrology of the Memlook period is so variable that it has not been considered desirable to hazard any identifications of the intended weights.” If this refers solely to the Memluk coins it may be true; but the private weights–which, as we shall see, are not Memluk but Fatimite–are nearly all as regular as the royal weights. Such hesitation has led Casanova to classing the Fatimite weights as amulets.

The earliest of all the Fatimite weights (287) is one of Ism‘ayl el Mançur (946–953 A.D.) who united the west, but never entered Egypt, so far as we know. The work of it is excellent, better than that of his successor Mo’ezz, who conquered Egypt; and there is no reason to suppose that this weight was not made in Egypt. It seems–according to Prof. Margoliouth–that there was an active Fatimite party in Egypt before the conquest; this agrees with a coin of Mo’ezz being struck in Cairo eighteen years before he entered Egypt. We can only conclude that this weight was made by partisans of Isma‘yl in Egypt.

(341–365; 953–975.) El Mo’ezz Ma‘ad settled the Fatimite dynasty in Egypt. His weights are scarce, not a twentieth of those of El Hakim.

(365–; 975–.) The weights of El ‘Azyz are common; the lettering is good and simple, and clear spaces are left around it, which aid it. At the end of this group is placed a wooden reel, which seems to belong to this age.

(386–; 996–.) El Hakim has left innumerable weights, and only Mustançir rivals him; there are a hundred of each here, and about two thirds of that number in Brit. Mus. and Casanova’s catalogues. The double dinars are fine weights, but on the smaller sizes the lettering begins to be corrupt. The marked peculiarity of the weights of this madman is the placing the name of his adopted successor, ‘Abd er Rahman, as heir presumptive of the Muslimin, along with Hakim’s own name; also the addition to the orthodox formula, of “‘Aly favourite of Allah.”

(411–; 1021–). Ez Zahir or Dhahir, the son of Hakim, succeeded. Further decay of the lettering is seen, only the large weights being well executed.

(427–; 1036–.) El Mustançir shows much variety of work in his long reign of fifty-nine years, during which the degradation of style was established. This accords with the times, when the untold riches and magnificence of the court was plundered by the Turkish troops, and famine and disorganization ruined the land.

(487–; 1094–.) Under El Must‘aly the inscriptions become fossilised and are often barely legible.

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