Lot Essay
Both the balance and the steelyard were used in the Islamic world for measuring weight. The steelyard consisted of a metal bar with a suspension hook at one end. The metal weight was hung from the rod at the required point indicated by the calibrated notches. In this example the clip for the suspension ring is still intact. The rod is calibrated on two of its four sides for the ratl (pound) as follows: khamsa (five), 'ashara (ten), khamsa (for fifteen). On the other side are khamsa 'ashara (fifteen), 'ishrin (twenty), khamsa (for twenty-five), thalathin (thirty), khamsa (for thirty-five), arba'in (forty), khamsa (for forty-five), khamsin (fifty), khamsa (for fifty-five). There are chevron marks - presumably calibrations - on the other two sides of the rod.
At the end of the rod at the suspension clip there are three lines of Arabic inscribed in kufic:
['a]bd allah Marwan 'Amir al-Mu'minin
'amara bi-hadh-a'l-mizan al-'Amir Labib ibn
Murra (or Qurra) ihda wa thalathin wa mi'ah
Abdallah Marwan Commander of the Faithful
ordered this weight the Amir Labib son
of Murra (or Qurra) the year one hundred and thirty-one
Marwan here is the Umayyad caliph Marwan II who reigned from 127 to 132 AH. The name Abdallah was commonly prefixed to the name of the Umayyad caliphs. Although one Qurra b. Sharik was Governor of Egypt from 709 to 714. There seems to be no record of a son bearing either of the names given on the measure. Murra is also the more probable reading. The year 131 ran from 31 August 748 AD to 19 August 749 AD.
There is another engraved inscription in Greek characters on the reverse of the Arabic inscription. This includes the letter phi and the word horon (horos: boundary, measure)
Surviving steelyards and balances of the early Islamic period are rare. There is a balance in the Musée du Louvre which has an engraved inscription at the point 'ordered by al-Qasim son of 'Ubaidullah - may God favour him - for the weight of ...' (Répertoire Chronologique d'Épigraphie Arabe, Cairo, Vol.1, 1931, no.31, pp.25ff.). Al-Qasim was Finance Director of Egypt from 116-124 (734-742 AD). That piece can therefore be attributed to Egypt not later than 124.
The steelyard presently offered cannot be attributed to Egypt since there is no record of a Labib as an office holder in Egypt. It could also have come from Syria; there is no surprise in finding a Greek inscription in the Umayyad period in what were recently provinces of the Byzantine Empire.
There is a considerably later steelyard of bronze in the Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyya Collection, Kuwait, complete with hook and weight, demonstrating the precise mechanics of its use. (Science in the Arab-Islamic Civilisation, Collection of the Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyya, Museum of Islamic Arts, Kuwait 1989, inv. no. LNS 65 M, ill.p.32 under no.16). This example has been dated to the eleventh to thirteenth century
We are grateful to Dr. A.H.Morton for his help in the cataloguing of this lot.
At the end of the rod at the suspension clip there are three lines of Arabic inscribed in kufic:
['a]bd allah Marwan 'Amir al-Mu'minin
'amara bi-hadh-a'l-mizan al-'Amir Labib ibn
Murra (or Qurra) ihda wa thalathin wa mi'ah
Abdallah Marwan Commander of the Faithful
ordered this weight the Amir Labib son
of Murra (or Qurra) the year one hundred and thirty-one
Marwan here is the Umayyad caliph Marwan II who reigned from 127 to 132 AH. The name Abdallah was commonly prefixed to the name of the Umayyad caliphs. Although one Qurra b. Sharik was Governor of Egypt from 709 to 714. There seems to be no record of a son bearing either of the names given on the measure. Murra is also the more probable reading. The year 131 ran from 31 August 748 AD to 19 August 749 AD.
There is another engraved inscription in Greek characters on the reverse of the Arabic inscription. This includes the letter phi and the word horon (horos: boundary, measure)
Surviving steelyards and balances of the early Islamic period are rare. There is a balance in the Musée du Louvre which has an engraved inscription at the point 'ordered by al-Qasim son of 'Ubaidullah - may God favour him - for the weight of ...' (Répertoire Chronologique d'Épigraphie Arabe, Cairo, Vol.1, 1931, no.31, pp.25ff.). Al-Qasim was Finance Director of Egypt from 116-124 (734-742 AD). That piece can therefore be attributed to Egypt not later than 124.
The steelyard presently offered cannot be attributed to Egypt since there is no record of a Labib as an office holder in Egypt. It could also have come from Syria; there is no surprise in finding a Greek inscription in the Umayyad period in what were recently provinces of the Byzantine Empire.
There is a considerably later steelyard of bronze in the Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyya Collection, Kuwait, complete with hook and weight, demonstrating the precise mechanics of its use. (Science in the Arab-Islamic Civilisation, Collection of the Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyya, Museum of Islamic Arts, Kuwait 1989, inv. no. LNS 65 M, ill.p.32 under no.16). This example has been dated to the eleventh to thirteenth century
We are grateful to Dr. A.H.Morton for his help in the cataloguing of this lot.