拍品专文
Lead bullae are well known from the classical Roman and Byzantine world but are virtually unknown in the Islamic. They are seal impressions which were used either to seal documents or, more frequently, to seal chambers, stores or chests in an official manner to stop the contents being pilfered. The edges were clipped since lead was a rare metal and they could be re-used for another seal. This factor is probably also why so few have come down to the present; they were melted to be re-used once their immediate use had finished.
Al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf (b. Al-Hakam b. 'Akil al-Thakafi, Abu Muhammad) was the most famous and able governor of the Ummayyads. He was born to a poor family in Ta'if in 661. He first came to the notice of 'Abd al-Malik by restoring discipline amongst mutinous troops. He did this with a severity for which he later became renowned. He was equally brave in action and became a trusted commander of the caliph. In the process he was instrumental in recapturing Mecca from the anti-caliph, Ibn al-Zubayr and thereby re-uniting the Islamic state. He was appointed governor of Iraq and, in addition to this, four years later, governor of Khorassan and Sidjistan. By 702, from his fortified base at Wasit which he had founded, he was master of the entire Islamic East. From there he organised the conquests of Transoxiana, 'Uman and India.
On the civil side it was he who organised the division of the qur'an into thirty ajza, and he who was instrumental in striking the first purely arabic coinage. He was also an important agricultural reformer, ensuring greater productivity in his lands. His administrative powers were equally great when organising his territory peacefully as they had been when he was conquering it. He died aged fifty-two in June 714. He had left such a powerful legacy however that verses about him and anecdotes, not always in his favour, continued to be circulated until the present day.
Al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf (b. Al-Hakam b. 'Akil al-Thakafi, Abu Muhammad) was the most famous and able governor of the Ummayyads. He was born to a poor family in Ta'if in 661. He first came to the notice of 'Abd al-Malik by restoring discipline amongst mutinous troops. He did this with a severity for which he later became renowned. He was equally brave in action and became a trusted commander of the caliph. In the process he was instrumental in recapturing Mecca from the anti-caliph, Ibn al-Zubayr and thereby re-uniting the Islamic state. He was appointed governor of Iraq and, in addition to this, four years later, governor of Khorassan and Sidjistan. By 702, from his fortified base at Wasit which he had founded, he was master of the entire Islamic East. From there he organised the conquests of Transoxiana, 'Uman and India.
On the civil side it was he who organised the division of the qur'an into thirty ajza, and he who was instrumental in striking the first purely arabic coinage. He was also an important agricultural reformer, ensuring greater productivity in his lands. His administrative powers were equally great when organising his territory peacefully as they had been when he was conquering it. He died aged fifty-two in June 714. He had left such a powerful legacy however that verses about him and anecdotes, not always in his favour, continued to be circulated until the present day.