Lot 50: A RARE UMAYYAD LEAD ADMINISTRATIVE SEAL OF CALIPH ABD AL-MALIK IBN MARWAN, 685 TO 705 A.D.

This lead administrative seal dates to the reign of the Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, who ruled from 685 to 705 AD. The obverse features three lines of Kufic Arabic script. The inscription includes the name of the ruler and his title, Amir al-Mu’minin, which translates to Commander of the Faithful. This type of seal was utilized within the early Islamic administrative and postal systems to secure official documents and correspondence before they were dispatched. Abd al-Malik is historically significant as the founder and unifier of the Islamic Empire, the ruler who commissioned the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem circa 696 AD, and the innovator who instigated the first fully gold Islamic Dinar in 77 AH. The seal is struck on a thick, circular lead flan.