Sultan al-Ḥasan ibn Ghafras (Gabras) (twelfth century, second half)
Obverse
Half-length bearded figure wearing a crown with pendilia, holding a lance in his right hand and an akakia in his left. Border of dots.
Obverse
Half-length bearded figure wearing a crown with pendilia, holding a lance in his right hand and an akakia in his left. Border of dots.
Reverse
Arabic inscription of four lines. Border of dots.
السلطان اختيار الدين الحسن بن غفرس
Accession number | BZS.1951.31.5.3735 |
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Diameter | 26.0 mm |
Previous Editions | DO Seals 5 no. 114.1. |
Credit Line | Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Thomas Whittemore. |
Translation
السلطان اختيار الدين الحسن بن غفرس (al-sulṭān Ikhtiyār al-Dīn al-Ḥasan ibn Ghafras)
The sultan Ikhtiyar al-Din al-Ḥasan ibn Ghafras.
Bibliography
- Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Volume 5: The East (continued), Constantinople and Environs, Unknown Locations, Addenda, Uncertain Readings (Open in Zotero)
Commentary
For an extensive commentary on this seal by S. Heidemann and C. Sode, as well as discussion of the evidence that seals with Arabic inscriptions provide for correspondence between Constantinople and the eastern parts of the empire, see DO Seals 5, 149–50.
The individual named on this seal must be identified with al-Ḥasan ibn Gabras, the amir and chamberlain in the service of Qilij Arslān (551/1156–599/1192).