Oliver White
Head of Department
Lot 214
An Umayyad glass vessel-stamp for a measure of kamun "white cumin" dated AH 123/AD 740-41 in the name of al-Qasim b. 'Ubayd Allah, Finance Director of Egypt (AH 116-124/AD 734-742), and Dawud b. al-Murr, Executive Egypt
23 April 2013, 10:30 BST
London, New Bond Street£2,000 - £3,000
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An Umayyad glass vessel-stamp for a measure of kamun "white cumin" dated AH 123/AD 740-41 in the name of al-Qasim b. 'Ubayd Allah, Finance Director of Egypt (AH 116-124/AD 734-742), and Dawud b. al-Murr, Executive
Egypt
Egypt
Of pale green colour
50mm. diam., 16.64gr.
50mm. diam., 16.64gr.
Footnotes
Provenance: Frank Linville Collection, Malter Sale XXXIX, 2 April 1989, 115, ill.
Eight line inscription:
bi-sm Allah a-/[mara] Allah bi-l-wafa' [wa]/ amara bi-tab'a/ mikyalat kamun al-a-byadh/ byadh al-Qasim ibin Ubayd/ Allah 'ala yaday Dawud/ ibin al-Murr sanat thalath wa/ 'ashrin wa mi'a
"In the name of God O-/ rdered God honesty and/ ordered the stamping/ of a measure of cumin, the wh-/ ite, al-Qasim b. 'Ubayd/ Allah at the hands of Dawud/ b. al-Murr in the year three and/ twenty and one hundred"
Several dated specimens of white cumin, bearing the name of the Executive Dawud b. al-Murr have been published, but all are from a different die and the writing of the commodity and the date are perfectly clear.
Dawud b. al-Murr is one of these little know officials (called "Executive") whose name are preceded by the 'ala yaday "at the hands" formula. A.H. Morton published several stamps showing that these officials were sometimes muhtasib in charge of the control of the "system" (Morton, 1991). A debate is still open about the status of these officials: some short names correspond to a position of a "state slaves" (see nos. 30-31 in the name of Salama) a status incompatible with the high position of muhtasib